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Blurb View:
One bizarre vacation marked a turning point in the lives of four teenage friends. It dawned upon them that corruption and malpractices had become rampant and deeply ingrained in our culture. They felt anguished and shocked at the shameful state of affairs. They pledged to redeem and change the destiny of the country. They had only two weeks of vacation left to take some big initiatives. The pressure on them was immense. Status quo or failure was not an option for them. Read the inspirational story of a unique movement masterminded by youngsters through innovative ideas and creative thinking. Not a single family could escape from its unrelenting onslaught. It was a rewarding outcome for their persistence and hard work, as they nostalgically recall in 2030.
Review:
A fiction on social reforms, that’s what the blurb suggested. It is a genre not much to my liking, but I read it with a free mind devoid of any bias. Since books on social reforms tend to be tedious and preachy, they need to maintain a racy plot and interesting story line throughout. This one lacked it, and yet its only the plot which scores.
The first few pages give the reader an inkling of what’s in store – yet another book with pedestrian English and complete Hindi sentences. The form is quite inferior than the content. There is a story, albeit loosely bound with a lot of loopholes, but the writing is below par.
I believe the author has the notion that content matters way above form, which is evident in the casual language he has used. The story revolves around four young people who go through a series of incidents on a vacation which compel them to start a movement against corruption in India. Sounds easy? It did appear too easy and idealistic to me. If social reforms were so easy to bring about, who knows, may be the author himself had done a few of them. The chapters move back and forth 2009 and 2030, the latter part narrating the story in flashback. The narration is not bad, I liked the style in which the flashback was handled. However, the plot had its flaws and it was too weak to hold the narrative together.
Might be recommended for teenagers if they want a story to motivate them in social reforms.
My Rating: 2/5
About the Author:
Suresh Taneja is a chartered accountant by profession and is looking after the financial affairs of a listed company. He published his first book We can pull it off in 2010. This book is an improved and complete version of his earlier book. Suresh aspires for maximum readership of the book, particularly by children and youth. Suresh strongly feels that the youth need to play a leading role in shaping up the future of our country which presently is plagued with alarming proportions of corruption, malpractices and declining moral values. The intent behind this book is to kindle a sense of awareness amongst the youngsters on their possible role, encouraging them to be creative in finding solutions and inspiring them to translate their thoughts into action. Suresh writes regularly to express himself on a variety of issues. His writings are generally inspired by his life experiences and keen observations. Suresh does not wish to confine himself to issue based books only; he is keen to experiment with different genres and capitalize on his knack for storytelling.
Book Details:
Language: English, Genre: Fiction
Author(s): Suresh Taneja
Publisher: Frog Books, Year Published: 2013
Binding: Paperback, Edition: First, Pages: 229
ISBN-13: 9789382473398, ISBN-10: 9382473394
Reviewed for: Author
This review is also shared with the Indian Quills Reading Challenge at The Tales Pensieve.
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