No Man's Land!

No Man's Land is a tale which might not be racy but nevertheless engrossing. So engrossing even John Abraham recommends it. In his words "This book has all the makings of a page-turner: an interesting setting, strongly-etched characters, thought-provoking writing, and a very compelling storyline". The IIM grad author definitely makes his Alma-mater proud with this fine work.

It progressively involves you in the story. What stands out in this tale is that this is a tale of common people like you and me, having all the shades. There’s no good guy or a bad guy. Each guy has different shades.

In the fast evolving civilization we live in, some generations have to go through sudden shifts because of unforeseen circumstances urbanization poses right on their face. Needless to say, one such swing has transformed a cluster of farmlands, 'Gurgaon', into a greedily sought after gold mine.

“No man’s land” has set the plot on this reality a generation is living through, and has successfully brought alive every character with the true shades of both good and bad, as they are bound to react to the real situations.

The story is spun around five main characters. Ramdev, a simple man with humble origins, who makes his living by selling paints. His son Agastya happens to nurture an extra-marital affair with his neighbour’s daughter ‘Sailja’, eight years older to him. And still he does not hesitate to marry him off to Shubhangi. As if these turmoils are not enough to complicate their lives, the third generation is introduced, ‘Pranay’ and ‘Karan’, the step-brothers.

If you are wondering, what is the land business, yes, the strong plot is driven over a dispute over a 50-acre land that Ramdev had purchased when it was hardly any penny’s worth. The way the protagonists are bring forth their real inside, you would be left biting teeth, as in – Could have I afford to act any different?

At occasions, it is very apparent that the novel has drawn inspiration from the epic “Mahabharata”. The characterization is so strong that you deep inside you will jump with joy and drown in sorrow, as everything falls into a ‘can be you and me’ situation. Ensnared in the drama, but when it’s about the climax, I wish it were kept the same materialistically real.

Nevertheless, the book is worth a dive. See if you can confront the shades of black in you, which even you might be hiding from yourself.

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Signing Off
Nirvaan