With a
plethora of urban romances, structured around the lives, careers and relationships of young women (I choose not to use the term “chick lit” since I’m
not terribly fond of it and feel that it undermines the character of a book,
narrowing the perception of a reader) , written by young and educated, career women, filling up book shelves swiftly these days,
here’s another one in the form of Priya Narendra’s, You Never Know When You’ll
get Lucky! Narendra has worked in advertising and according to her many of the
hilarious incidents in the book have come from her stint in the industry. The
book follows the hilarious life of Kajal, a young, independent and bold copy
writer who works in advertising agency in Delhi and always ends up finding
herself in clumsy and embarrassing situations. Kajal firmly believes that one
should marry for love and furiously fends off her mother’s many unsuccessful
attempts at trying to hook her up with prospective grooms.
The book begins with Kajal trying to evade her
mother and annoying childhood companion turned pursuer Bunty, at a wedding,
where she ends up hiding under a table and bumping into Dhir, a handsome and
suave investment banker from Bombay. Though there is an instant spark between
the both of them, Kajal puts everything behind her since Dhir lives in Bombay
and she can’t see how they can ever be together. Kajal finds herself in another
short lived relationship and eventually dumps the guy at a family dinner where
she realizes that he is a mamma’s boy and can’t up for her. This is when Kajal
decides to get serious about her career and finds herself in the middle of an
important ad campaign. Kajal ends up going to Bombay for a shoot related to
this campaign and ends up meeting Dhir again, but this time the attraction is
stronger and the pair of them realizes that there’s something deeper to what
they feel for each other- the challenge remaining a long distance relationship
which can often cause misunderstandings, as it does with Kajal and Dhir. The
rest of the book follows how Kajal pulls off the ad campaign she was heading
successfully and how Dhir and she finally work their relationship out.
The
book is funny and engaging and Narendra has done justice in fleshing out the
characters of Kajal, Dhir and other minor characters who add to the fun of the plot
and the short chapters add to the pace and momentum of the book. But, frankly
there’s nothing that sets this book apart from others in its genre and the
predictability of some parts of the book are a tad disappointing as well. If
you must, this book is best read on a long commute to work or during a slow day
in the office.
(This is a book review requested by the publisher)
(This is a book review requested by the publisher)
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