When you want to pass time on a train or on a long flight, or you wish to hole yourself up for a private sunday, then there is no better way than reading a chicklit book. Last month when I was browsing the shelves of Crossword in Bangalore, I came across this book called Almost Single by a first-time authoress Advaita Kala.
The book cover said something like this "
My name is Aisha Bhatia, I am twenty-nine years old and single. I work as a Guest Relations Manager at the Grand Orchid Hotel. I dine at luxury hotels and stay in five-stars during my travels; I can name old and new world wines with great élan, and can tell my cheeses apart.I tolerate my job, hate my boss, and bond big-time with my friends, while routinely suffering from umbilical cord whiplash. I don’t really care for my vital stats at the moment, and I don’t have a cute/funny nickname either. Hence this introduction: it stinks, but it sticks. In fact, sometimes I think there should be support groups like the AA out there for people like me…’
Wickedly irreverent and laugh-aloud funny, Almost Single is a delightful romp through the five-star world of champagne brunches, gay soirées, and the dilemmas of hip, young girls on the lookout for love and matrimony."
This definitely attracted my attention, and I bought it just on a whim (which I rarely do!!) for Rs. 195. The investment was definitely worth it. The book is mainly about this girl Aisha, who is constantly confused about where her life is going. (Who isn't anyways!!) She is under pressure from her mother to find a suitable boy and get married, because the Mama thinks she is almost over the hill. Her boss always breathes down her neck to make sure she is on her toes all the time at work. She has two friends Misha and Anushka, and all three make up quite a gang who act not only as confidantes to each other but also as Stress relievers for one another. Misha is always on a lookout for a NRI guy to get married to, and settle down in a life of comforts and bliss. But life is not easy on her, she always runs into trouble mostly because of her miscalculations. And Anushka, who has tried marriage and failed at it when she found her beloved husband was cheating on her, tries to find peace with herself by trying weird things. To add to the comedy part, there are tales about their friends who are gays who make no bones about their status. Plus the moms add to the drollery of the story, exhibiting typical Indian mommy concerns and attitudes towards marriage and lives of these girls!!
When its a chicklit novel, there has to be a hero who has dropped right from the sets of Hollywood who has everything right.. Right from the his profession to vital stats!! So there is this another Mills and Boons-character called Karan, who has everything going for him except the girl he wants.
The deep humor, the weird twists in everyone's lives, the silly mistakes of the girls, the tippling and the smoking habits of today's generation women - all make a good read on your beanbag with a pack of nachos! There are a lot of parts in it, where every woman would feel she identifies with this. This familiarity quotient definitely would keep one's nose buried into it till the last page.
Advaita Kala, the authoress of the book, has come out with a book where I again see the bollywood flavor in it. I would definitely recommend Sushmita Sen for Aisha, Ameesha Patel for Misha and Vidya Balan for Anushka,and for Karan, it definitely has to be Salman Khan. I am sure Ritesh Deshmukh and Zayed Khan can also try for the cameo roles :D
