Book: Call It Coincidence
Author: Nona Uppal
Publisher: Penguin India
Meet Naina: a twenty-five-year-old with big dreams and a sceptical heart,
searching for love that lasts and a job that doesn’t make her dread mornings. Enter
Vatsal: a charming, unpredictable twenty-eight-year-old lawyer-to-be, interning
in Delhi before jetting off to London for his master’s degree. Their worlds
collide unexpectedly, leading to a whirlwind first date. Naina feels an instant
connection, like fate brought them together. In days, they go from strangers to
friends, best friends and then something more. Everyone thinks it’s just a
matter of a few days until they make it official, call it love. How could they
not, when it feels this right? But then comes the Diwali party―the best and
worst day of Naina’s life. A devastating event shatters their bond, and they
don’t speak. For three whole years. As fate would have it, Naina and Vatsal
meet again. This time, Naina is cautious; Vatsal overfamiliar. Everything feels
just as intense as it once did―but can Naina handle the pain that took her
years to overcome, if at all? And can Vatsal fight his fears and stay to watch
Naina overcome it?
Call It Coincidence is a story that explores the experiences we have growing up impact our perception of reality and our reactions to situations in life. The book explores the story of Naina and Vatsal, and how their paths keep crossing even after 3 years of being apart. Nona’s storytelling is quite gripping, and it is not difficult to imagine yourself in the shoes of either character. The writing is simple, easy to understand and contemporary in the way we see choice of partner, career and life choices. The romance between the leads is wonderfully written and the spark is nicely captured. What works in the book is the to and fro between Naina and Vatsal the first time around and how it ends, specially how it ends. When their paths cross again three years later, Nona recreates these meet-cute moments drawing parallels from the first time around. While Naina is cautiously optimistic, the author keeps Vatsal’s emotions a bit hidden till the very end. Another aspect that I loved was how Nona writes the relationship between Naina and Sarina. The climax was predictable, but the execution was interesting and I could feel a lot of inspiration from Yeh Jawaani hai Deewani in the climax.
Coming to the characters, Naina is wonderfully penned and her anxieties,
character traits and relationships come out quite nicely. I loved how she is frank
and her honesty come out with each scene. Vatsal’s character was also something
I really enjoyed reading. A guy battling his own demons yet has the space to
love unconditionally was quite refreshing to read. I also like the fact that
until the reveal is done, you are mildly annoyed at Vatsal, and I think drawing
emotions like that from a reader exhibits good reading. The best-friend-cum-big-sister
relationship between Naina and Sarina is wonderfully penned. The one scene
where Sarina and Nipun are sleeping, and Vatsal is the one waiting for her was
quite visual, and that I think, established quite a bit of the relationships
for me.
Overall, Call It Coincidence is a story of falling in love, falling out
of love, and how you need to keep falling in love with the same person day
after day for a relationship to work. The book scores a 4.75/5 for me.
Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or a Bookstore Near you.
