I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would re-start my book review with a Chetan Bhagat’s One Indian Girl. But it has happened. Life does have it’s fair share of surprises. The last Chetan Bhagat book that I read was Five Point Someone and rest were strictly limited to viewing on the big screen.
A best – selling author speaks in a feminine voice for the first time. So is it a path -breaking novel. The answer is a big fat no. To me the feminine voice was a clever switch which makes it a definite luring factor. Radhika could have been Rajesh with the roles reversed and most of us would have dismissed it as old wine in new bottle and having Radhika as the main protagonist creates intent in the mind of the readers. You would pick up the book atleast to find out how Radhika is different from his other protagonists.
One Indian Girl comes to life whenever Radhika’s inner voice takes over. It’s fresh, enticing and exciting. Radhika’s choices too make sense as we are all flawed beings who make muddled choices. And it seems like Chetan Bhagat has an affinity towards sequences involving food. It’s sprinkled throughout the book and almost makes the reader yearn for his/her own favourite dish.
Radhika’s aspirations as a career woman worked for me. Her conflicts begin to add up as she moves up the career ladder. For a while the plot revolves around career – marriage conflict before it settles down to resolve the question of Choice.
One Indian girl falls short whenever Chetan Bhagat tries to crack the Feminist muddle. There is no real attempt to convey the right ideals of feminism through the book and Radhika too seems lost in places where Feminism is discussed. Chetan uses Feminism as a resolution point and messes it up. Feminism works more as a promotional strategy for the book than as a concept.
The sex sequences were shabbily written. I dozed off after reading the sequences. If you write an erotic scene write it well or else chop it off like the Indian censor board. Unfortunately a lot of authors seem to mess up when it comes to Erotica. We don’t need a Fifty Shades of Grey but give us something which doesn’t make us cringe. You may wonder why I am talking about sex because it is one of the many conflict points for Radhika.
One Indian girl isn’t path- breaking literature. It is a form of escapism we all secretly yearn for. It might not make you think but it will definitely keep you entertained throughout the duration of your read and the language isn’t too bad either.
To me One Indian Girl is a girl’s search for her Mr Right, the one true thing in her life. I enjoyed the book from that perspective. Does she find her mister right or does fate have a different twist for Radhika ? Read the book to find out.
Pick it up if you like light entertaining books.
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