Book: Trending in Love
Author: Pankaj Dubey
Publisher:
Penguin Random House India
What id the
biggest thing that motivates you?
Trending in
Love by Pankaj Dubey is the story of Sanam, a
carefree but headstrong woman from Delhi, and Aamir, a young main from Kashmir
who has hope in his heart. Both of them aspire to become an IAS officer, though
the motivation for both is poles apart. Their hard work pays off when the
results are announced and both of them are on the podium. They meet at the IAS
Training Academy in Mussoorie. As the days pass, the distance between the two
starts to blur and love starts blossoming in the mountain air. Things take a
murky turn when they decide to spend their lives together, because of the religious
divide. The book explores the love story of Sanam and Aamir and how they face
the odds and choose love over society.
The first thing
that jumps out when you finish the book is that the blurb isn’t that accurate
to the plot. The book claims that it is the story about undying love in the
face of society’s most dangerous beliefs, but as far as I understood, it was a love
story, period. The part about the society felt was added as an afterthought,
because it had no semblance to the entire narrative. With that part cast aside,
the story was quite fresh and the author took time to get the details right. Creating
a setting in the IAS Academy in Mussoorie was an interesting POV to use. The storytelling
was quite imaginative with the scenes coming out alive as they progress, and I
commend the author for such a visual treat. The climax of the story was a tad
bit disappointing, with the societal pressure part coming out of the blue.
Coming to the
characters in the book, Pankaj has created Sanam and Aamir in mirror image of
each other, while one was headstrong and outgoing, the other preferred
isolation and solitude. The character of
Sanam was quite intriguing with all her character quirks. Aamir was an
interesting character study due to his growth as a character during the story. Kuldeep
was another quirky character that made the story what it is with his timely
interruptions and reactions that added nuance to the plot.
Overall, a good read which scores a 3.5/5 for me.
Grab a copy of the book here.
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