My Rating - 5 out of 5 stars
Publisher - Harper CollinsGenre - Fiction
Publishing year - 2018
Language - English
ISBN - 978-93-5277-905-5
Pages - 382
My Review -
If I need to express my feelings for this book in one word, I will say wow. The story is brutally honest, and it is Zarreen Khan's second book. It is in my tbr for more than a year, and I am so glad that I finally picked it. The review includes many spoilers, so if you haven't read this book, I suggest you not read it further.
The main protagonist is Mona Mathur and Ramit Deol. She clung to the marriage of a cousin, and her husband ditched her among all his relatives. They have been married for four years, and everyone has only one question to ask, when will Mona deliver the good news? Married into a Punjabi family, Mona struggles with her identity, and it comes with tons of relatives and cousins. They both called them crowds and try to avoid them as much as they can.
Mona's mother-in-law is a retired school principal who is initially portrayed as a no-nonsense woman, but her real color unveils shortly. She is way too dominating and orthodox. Neither Mona nor Ramit has the guts to oppose her, even when she talks bullshit. Her demeanor made them all sweaty. While Mona's mother and mother-in-law don't see eye-to-eye. They are so competitive and selfish that, at one point, I start appreciating my mother; for not having this controlling and nosy attitude. LOL.
Both Mona's and Ramit's fathers are just for the namesake in the story; they don't care what is going on. In one chapter, when Mona was in the labor room, they both offer Ramit a chance to drink with them, that too in the early morning. What kind of crazy people are they? Who does that? Mona's sister Shania is twice absurd. She has no explicit goals and always goes through extreme phases. She passes all the nasty comments to Mona and lives like a hippie.
Apart from that, Laila and Shashi are the only ones who feel like the sensible characters in the whole story. They are Mona and Ramit's neighbors. They are independent and modern and don't believe in the foolishness of Indian society. Mona was super jealous of them, and I think the real reason is her lack of self-respect.
She is living with a human who continually puts his head into the mobile phone, ignores whatever she says, and calls her a crazy pregnant lady, most of the time. Trust me, there was a time when I elevated up so much that all I want to kick Ramit's ass and punch him in the face. Mona has nothing to do with her life, she left her job to start working on a business idea, but all she did is waste her time and energy on pity things. So, when she sees how much Laila is successful, it made her more uncomfortable.
Now, here is the thing, instead of focusing on her own life and thinking about how she can make it better after the pregnancy, she gets super competitive. Comparing everything with Laila and gets happy if she wins. I pity her, to be honest. Mona's husband, Ramit, is the typical Indian boy growing up without any emotional intelligence. Don't get me started on the myths Indian families support when it comes to anything or everything. God save me or every woman out there.
Zarreen Khan narrated a true saga of pregnancy with a pinch of mad family members and a stupid, workaholic, shallow husband. Many women go through this drama without uttering a word, a harsh reality of Indian marriages where people prefer to stay with all the craziness instead of love, passion, and peace.
Apart from all the fun and quirkiness, this kind of book made you think about how much a woman suffers after marriage and how she lost her dignity to many people. For me, this book is not just about public pregnancy but a tale for understanding how critical it is to live life on your terms and create boundaries.
If you read this book, you'll learn not to settle for a person like Ramit and his doctrinal family. I just want to say don't make unwanted sacrifices to please a bunch of morons. Women, you're born to express, not to impress. Also, the story is written in informal English, and you'll find lots of Hindi words. It made me laugh, irritated, and think about some crucial things, so yes, I am going to recommend this book big time. It is a fast-paced, fun book, and I can't wait to see it on the big screen.
No comments:
Post a Comment