The Part I Left With You-Rahul Saini

Book: The Part I Left With You
Author: Rahul Saini
Publisher: Juggernaut.in

Does the meaning of Love change over time?

The Part I Left With You by Rahul Saini is the story of a young, starry-eyed Ratna, who finds herself on the doorstep of an author she idolizes, Ronit Sukhdev, and manages to stay with him for a few days. Ronit, after his break up with Nitasha, however, has decided to stop writing stories while she is trying to move ahead in her life. This is a story of three different people, intertwined by fate, finding their way in life.

The plot of the book is an attempt to explore the idea of love, and how each of the characters attempt to understand love in their own way. The story explores how different are Ronit and Ratna as they discuss the way love changed their lives, and not just romantic love, familial and the way it paved the path of their lives. The storytelling is interesting with a non-linear narrative as it explores the current and past lives of Nitasha, Ronit and Ratna. Rahul’s usage of imagery and audio-visual cues is laudable. There are parts of the story which are quite imaginative and will make you laugh, and at the next moment bring you to tears, but at the same time these are scattered and there is a certain disconnect among some scenes in the book. Nitasha’s story track seemed a bit away from the Ronit-Ratna track and this disturbed me a bit. Another thing that I would have loved in the book was an epilogue with Ratna’s essay and her take on the happenings which would have added a wonderful dimension to the plot. The climax however was well rounded in the way it was presented.

Rahul’s characters have a very relatable quality about them. Be it Ratna, a harrowed student worrying about assignments, or the world-weary jilted lover in the form of Ronit, their descriptions are detailed. From their mannerisms to the situation, they are in, Rahul has given them a distinctive identity that makes them stand out from the crowd. I loved the way their backstories drive their present lived and how each person loved, lost, and thus loved the meaning of love.

Overall, the story is an interesting one that shows how love affects each of us differently. It scores a 4.25/5 for me.

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