The Heart Asks Pleasure First-Karuna Ezara Parikh

Book: The Heart Asks Pleasure First
Author: Karuna Ezara Parikh
Publisher: Picador India

What do you understand by the idea of Love?

The Heart Asks Pleasure First by Karuna Ezara Parikh is set in 2001 and tells us the story of Daya, a ballet student who is sitting in a park in Wales far away from her home in India, and Aaftab, a young Muslim lawyer from Pakistan, who meet in that very park and fall inexplicably in love. Even as Aaftab battles his heart, their relationship transcends the divides of religion, nationality and language. They forge profound bonds but the cataclysmic events of the year will have dangerous ramifications and push them to confront the most difficult complexities of their lives.

There are very few books that make reading them feel like a meal that needs to be savored rather than gobbled up, and this was one such book for me. The story is written in a tone that makes you one with the characters and be it Aaftab, Daya, Wasim, or even Asha, connecting with them becomes extremely easy. The storyline moves in a non-linear fashion at some places where the focus on past becomes important, otherwise the timelines are easy to configure and align. The book is meticulously researched, and I was sold on the research the moment I read the names of the varieties of mangoes that are such a minute detail but are very crucial at that moment to help me, as a reader, understand the character I am painting a picture of. The book addresses the idea of love, boundaries and how the lines become an important part in our lives, sometimes to the extent that they start dictating the way we are supposed to live.

Reading this book was an extremely enriching experience, especially because of the language, and to be honest, I will have to now look at the book Wasim refers for collective nouns. While on this point, I would like to highlight how Karuna actually weaves these collective nouns into the plot is another thing that impressed me. There are moments in the book that make your eyes well up, and that is the extent of the impact that her storytelling has on you. The shayaris, the calligraphy and the poetry are something I truly loved and somehow all of this came together in a climax that I did not imagine while reading the story. The way Karuna ends the story is heart wrenching and somehow brings a sort of closure to all our primary characters.

Coming to the characters in the book, the thing that stands out about the characters is that the level of detail that has gone into the creation of the characters of Daya, Aaftab, and all the others is quite interesting. Each of them has been crafted exquisitely and they get their individual spaces to grow and develop throughout the story. I personally loved how Karuna keeps the focus on the meaning of people’s names, and I loved the story behind Daya’s name.

Overall, this is a book that is definitely recommended, and the book scores a 5/5 for me.

Get your copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest Bookstore!