Our Song-Milan Vohra

Book: Our Song
Author: Milan Vohra
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Music has the ability to invoke something deep inside a person and to bring out the raw emotion one has in them.

Our Song by Milan Vohra explores the story of Ragini, a struggling music composer who walked away from her training of Hindustani Classical Music to find her own tunes in Bengaluru, to do something which her heart desired, and Andrew, the head of a mega pharma company. Andrew being Indian on his father’s side, and British on his maternal, has a personality that is magnetic. They cross paths when Andrew’s company needs a song composed for the silver jubilee celebrations and he zeroes in on her. Ragini needs this collaboration to be able to do what she loves doing, make her own music. The problem-they set off sparks in each other and that is something neither of them wants to focus on. This is the Jugalbandi of emotions and music that the story explores.

There are stories that you can imagine and then there are the ones that make you feel the emotions in the plot. Our Song falls in the second bucket. The plot of the book is simple, but the way it has been told is quite interesting. It is primarily a love story, but it talks about love at multiple levels. The music of the book is so deeply entrenched that one can actually hum the songs that Ragini composes. Milan unravels the story bit by bit, so much so that taking a break between the book becomes a challenge in itself. Another thing that interested me was the way the perspectives in the scenes change from Ragini to Andrew and back, such that you can imagine yourself hovering over the scene, living it with them. The exquisite details in the story make it a worthwhile journey from the crowded city of Bengaluru to the enticing hills of Kasauli. One thing that I would love to mention here is the fact that while each of the character had a past, the way it was unveiled was quite interesting and added a different flavor to it. There are a couple of grammatical errors, nothing that a second edit cannot fix. The climax was extremely filmy and considering the way the plot moves, this is actually a fitting way it would have ended. The underlying feeling of hope is something that would surely catch the attention of a reader.

Coming to the characters in the book, Ragini as a character amazed me with the way her story was told. With the chirpiness and the spring in her step, she was a bubbly character that added the jazz to the story. her dedication to music, her emotions and her reactions were beautifully crafted, and it was as if I could see her walking down the road on the flyover. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Andrew is the non-nonsense guy, focused on his work, enjoying the carefree life. His detachment adds the serious notes to the jazz that Ragini brings to the story. The manner in which he evolves was something that surprising as well. Anand Arya was a surprise character for me, and I did not bet on his appearance at all.

Overall, it is a musical journey that will drive you to open your music app and create a playlist of the songs mentioned in the book. I have my fingers crossed to hear the Livin’On song quite soon!

The book scores a 4.5/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book here.