Finished on:23rd November 2013
This book was a rare read for me. It was given as a gift to me by my colleague and that’s why i read it. And i’m glad that i read the book.
Saraswati Park is the name of the place where the protagonist Mohan Karekar lives. Mohan Karekar is a 58 year old letter writer,one of the few that are left, and is the protagonist of the story. He’s a semi retiree and he lives with his wife Lakshmi, in his flat. Although he doesn’t earns much at his job but he loves going there as an habit.
They live a normal life with Mohan going to office and his wife doing her chores at the place.Then Mohan’s nephew Ashish has to move in with them as his parents have been transferred.
The story unfolds with the changes that come in the life of Mohan, his wife Lakshmi and Ashish.
We get to see the lives of the three protagonist, their desires and their dreams. There is Mohan who had wanted to be a writer but couldn’t do it due to family problems. He’s an introvert and contemplative man. On the other hand there’s his wife Lakshmi who had always felt that Mohan’s presence in their family matter was not that great due to his reserved nature. When her brother dies , this difference in their marriage increases and she moves to her relatives’ place on pretext of taking care of her relatives.
Then there is Ashish who’s discovering his sexuality and often his relationships end up hurting him.
The book is beautifully written. Often travelling to work we encounter people. Mohan Karekar can be any of these people and this makes the book special. I really wanted to know what happened to the characters and how their lives progressed. i was happy when Mohan finally achieves his dream of becoming a writer. i was happy for both Mohan and Lakshmi when they mended the rift in their marriage and i was happy for Ashish too when he could finally achieve his dream of studying abroad.
All in all it was a simple book and reading it has been a delight for me.
I usually don’t read stories like this but i’m glad that i read it. This book is special for me because i could relate to the protagonist of the story. I saw Mohan in me albeit a younger version of him. This helped me in connecting to the story.It felt like it was my own story. I could definitely see my life turning out to be like Mohan’s life.
The book may feel slow sometimes but it’s because it’s showing the life of middle class people doing their mundane things. If you read for the thrill, then this book is not definitely for you. But if lives of a common man interests you then you’ll certainly like this book and may be you’ll be able to see some part of yourself or somebody you know in the characters of this novel.
If you have read this book then what did you think of it? If you haven’t and want to read the book you can get it from the following link:
Paperback
