BOOK REVIEW: WINDOW SEAT
With characters from all shades of life, Window Seat paints the city in all its vivid colours.
Window Seat is an anthology of short stories in which Janhavi Acharekar skilfully illustrates life in contemporary Mumbai. Some of her stories mention Kolkata, Varanasi, and have links to southern India. Her characters come from all shades of life. The thread that connects them is that all have embarked on an adventurous journey called life.
In “The Couple” we see how sometimes, horror tales can be good for couples who meet in the dead of the night.
The character China in the eponymous short story “China”, who regarded her own appearance as an eyesore during childhood, has now grown to be a famous novelist. A deeper reading tells us how a rather plain little girl from Kolkata makes it big in life one day. The beauty of this story lies in the nomenclature — China (or “chai-na”) is also Bengali for “unwanted”.
“The Birthday Party” is about a grandfather celebrating his birthday, thinking all the while whether he will be able to celebrate the day next year or not. It is a poignant story about life in its final moments, and the shadow of approaching death.
A phony character and his cyberspace affair is the subject of “Sneha 25”. A girl, head over heels in love with her e-boyfriend, only finds later that the boy was fooling around.
“Play It Again Sam” is about the advertising legend of Hot Sam who gets a foothold in an advertising agency through his networking skills and by keeping up a protracted supply of samosas to his creative director. Nobody in the agency has the faintest clue of him being a charlatan.
In “Driving Mr Dasgupta”, the master develops a fling outside his marriage. The sudden disappearance of his driver from the scene makes everyone curious. Several assumptions and many stories crop up. The driver, being the sole witness to his master’s fling, starts blackmailing him later. The driver’s friends finally learn that he will not have to work at least for 10 years with the hefty sum he has earned through blackmailing.
“Moksha” is the story of a girl who finds her new life in Mumbai infinitely more exciting as compared to her own city of Bhopal. As the author writes, “She had always been an independent soul, but nothing had prepared her for the freedom that Mumbai had offered.” This freedom — in the selection of clothes, of having a live-in relationship, of being able to go to weekend parties and movies — is what her name Moksha denotes.
With characters from all shades of life, Window Seat paints the city in all its vivid colours.
Window Seat is an anthology of short stories in which Janhavi Acharekar skilfully illustrates life in contemporary Mumbai. Some of her stories mention Kolkata, Varanasi, and have links to southern India. Her characters come from all shades of life. The thread that connects them is that all have embarked on an adventurous journey called life.
In “The Couple” we see how sometimes, horror tales can be good for couples who meet in the dead of the night.
The character China in the eponymous short story “China”, who regarded her own appearance as an eyesore during childhood, has now grown to be a famous novelist. A deeper reading tells us how a rather plain little girl from Kolkata makes it big in life one day. The beauty of this story lies in the nomenclature — China (or “chai-na”) is also Bengali for “unwanted”.
“The Birthday Party” is about a grandfather celebrating his birthday, thinking all the while whether he will be able to celebrate the day next year or not. It is a poignant story about life in its final moments, and the shadow of approaching death.
A phony character and his cyberspace affair is the subject of “Sneha 25”. A girl, head over heels in love with her e-boyfriend, only finds later that the boy was fooling around.
“Play It Again Sam” is about the advertising legend of Hot Sam who gets a foothold in an advertising agency through his networking skills and by keeping up a protracted supply of samosas to his creative director. Nobody in the agency has the faintest clue of him being a charlatan.
In “Driving Mr Dasgupta”, the master develops a fling outside his marriage. The sudden disappearance of his driver from the scene makes everyone curious. Several assumptions and many stories crop up. The driver, being the sole witness to his master’s fling, starts blackmailing him later. The driver’s friends finally learn that he will not have to work at least for 10 years with the hefty sum he has earned through blackmailing.
“Moksha” is the story of a girl who finds her new life in Mumbai infinitely more exciting as compared to her own city of Bhopal. As the author writes, “She had always been an independent soul, but nothing had prepared her for the freedom that Mumbai had offered.” This freedom — in the selection of clothes, of having a live-in relationship, of being able to go to weekend parties and movies — is what her name Moksha denotes.
Acharekar’s writing has the earthy flavour of a diverse India. Next time you go to Mumbai, take the Window Seat.
Window Seat
Author:Janhavi Acharekar
Publisher : HarperCollins
Price: Rs 250
Posts
Eager to read this book
ReplyDeleteI have this book at home. Must read it. I picked it for my wife who used to work with Jahnvi for a while in an ad agency
ReplyDeleteThanks Knife. Must go ahead and for you I won't even have to say 'Next time you go to Mumbai, take the Window Seat'. But ofcourse madness at Mumbai coffee house would be real fun.
ReplyDeletei am usually averse to reading chetan bhagat genre of books, although that's a silly prejudice maybe....i tend to avoid Indian city Blicks (in line with Flicks) but ur post makes me want to read this book...thanks!
ReplyDeletei am usually averse to reading chetan bhagat genre of books, although that's a silly prejudice maybe....i tend to avoid Indian city Blicks (in line with Flicks) but ur post makes me want to read this book...thanks!
ReplyDelete@ Delphic Oracle I am sure Acharekar has something in for store for your wishes too. Well but I too am averse to reading Chetan Bhagat and his ilks kind of book. Candidly i must admit that it was more like part of an assignment but sometimes a good read can pacify all anguishes.Good that you want to read something you don't want.
ReplyDelete