Tick-Tock, We’re 30 -Milan Vohra

Book: Tick-Tock, We’re 30
Author: Milan Vohra
Publisher: Westland Books

Do you think reunions are a good idea to relive the heydays?

Tick-Tock, We’re 30 by Milan Vohra is the story of Lara Bagai who is about to turn thirty, and her old gang is planning to meet as per a pact they made when they were in their twenties. The catch in this reunion is another pact that Lara made one tipsy evening with Nishad, that is to marry each other if both of them were single till the time they turned thirty. To avoid giving him the satisfaction that he was right about Ranndeep being wrong for her, she plans something crazy, and so Perzaan, a Turkish dude enters the picture. As the weeklong celebrations of the past begin, we see audacious hook-ups and crazy things happening, all building up to Lara’s birthday. With late night drives to karaoke and some crazy stuff, it’s almost impossible to predict who ends up with whom, and most importantly, does the gang still stick together after what happens?

TTWT is an interesting book, one that explores relationships and friendships to the core. A group of friends coming together to celebrate a milestone years later might seem very mundane, but the way things pan out make the things extremely interesting. Milan has told the story in a very relevant voice, with simple language, and emphasizing accents and situations, adding to the flavour of the storyline. The sub-plots of the book be it Daniel-Maneka, or the curious case of Reeti, each of them have been given due importance despite the main story being about Lara and her birthday week. With extreme details of Tommy, the Dog, or the Pajama wala uncle, and Aunty Nair’s scenes, the story is very well written, and it has both serious, as well as humorous moments. With comedy of errors by various characters, and also some very heady decisions, TTWT is an interesting book. The climax of the book is quite filmy, and with reference to the book, quite fitting, in the way things unfolded.

TTWT is what is because of the ensemble cast that is a part of the SN Gang. Lara as a person was very well sketched, with her clear hatred for a set of people almost dripping from her. Her love-hate relationship with Nishad was quite interesting and I enjoyed the arc it develops over the book. Maneka as a character was a very catchy, and the way it develops with each member of the gang slowly was a revelation and something that adds a lot of flavour to the story. Nishad, with his very gentlemanly nature, was a study in himself, and reading him till the last page to predict his actions was utterly impossible, and almost everything predicted went down the drain.

Overall, a good book if you are looking to relive your days of being together with your gang, and I am pretty sure that it will excite you to plan a reunion.

The book scores a 4.19/5 from me.

P.S. Take a note of all the songs from page one of the book. It makes for a great playlist.

Grab a copy of the book here.