Book Review #37: The Great Indian wedding Conspiracy

No. of Pages: 351

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Jufic Books (An Imprint of Leadstart Publishing)

Price: Rs. 299/-

Published in: 2016

How did I get it? From the publisher.

The blurb of the book says:

The Puyickal family, a reputed Mallu clan based in Mumbai, is going through a huge crisis.One of their younger scions, Neeraja wants to marry her Punjabi boyfriend.Her father wants to hear none of it. Her aunts would rather die than allow it.

Her uncles don’t care a damn about it.
And her poor cousin, idyllic existence is screwed by it…

Arjun never wanted to have anything to do with his distant and more successful cousin; Neeraja. However, her decision to marry a non-Mallu, an unheard-of scandal in her family, changes his life forever. Forced to take part in the family ‘discussions’ by his mother, he tries to devise ways to get out of this mess, when he finds out Neeraja’s beau’s sister is his college crush. Desiring to win her back, he realizes it can only happen if Neeraja gets married to her boyfriend. With no option left, he forms an uneasy alliance with his hateful cousin, as they work in tandem to emotionally manipulate the elders into making this marriage happen…until one day, a dark secret gets revealed that threatens to unravel all their efforts…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sreeju Sudhakaran is a hotel management graduate, who never managed to show any affinity to the concept of hospitality for money. Career-wise, he has been a proverbial jack of all trades – right from working in a fast food chain, teaching, writing soothing emails to disgruntled British Airways passengers, appeasing hard-hearted insurance clients, dabbling in short film-making to finally attaining Nirvana in the blogosphere. Currently, he has set up a small production company with the help of similarly cuckolded friends, where they are working on a TV series for a renowned Malayalam channel. He is also a huge movie and book aficionado, and has a site dedicated to his love for movies (http://theunseenticketpayer.com). In between all this, the little time that he has is spent on his first passion - writing. His first book ‘Love and That Bitch Called Life…’, an unconventional romantic drama, hit the stands in 2012. Presently, he stays in Dombivli with his family. For any praises or abuses with regards his work and otherwise, you can connect with him via his personal blog - https://theconstantblabberer.wordpress.com, Or via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sreeju.sudhakaran.84. His twitter handle is @sree_thru_me.  

MY THOUGHTS:

Cover: It depicts a bride's henna-patterned hands symbolizing a wedding.

Writing: The writing style is engaging and laced with humour.

Plot: A romantic relationship between a Malayali girl and a Punjabi boy becomes a huge family drama as immediate relatives are dragged into it. Due to personal interests, the protagonist, Arjun takes part in a conspiracy to make the wedding happen but another conspiracy slowly unfolds.

I loved the humour. It is sassy and the punches leave you chuckling. The story is also well-paced and entertaining. It has included all the ingredients pertaining to any inter-cultural marriage scenario like how parents react, how relatives react, the people who enjoy the situation from the sidelines, the opportunists in it, the usual prejudices and concerns we all uphold regarding caste and creed, the open-minded advisors and so on. The climax is quite dramatic. Whatever be the obstacles, love finally triumphs.

The only letdown I feel are a few typographical errors here and there. Overall it is an enjoyable and entertaining read.