Book Review: The Wedding Photographer

My rating: ●●○○○

Sakshama Puri Dhariwal

The Wedding Photographer

India: Penguin Books Ltd, 2016

219 pp. ₹299

ISBN: 9789386057266

Summary: This rom-com by the debutante Sakshama Puri Dhariwal would sound tad too clichéd if you’ve been fascinated by Fifty Shades and likes; also, if you are looking for some offbeat storyline or out-of-the-box romanticism, I am afraid this would not prove to be your cup-of-tea. This one is brief, simple, straightforward no-brainer, which will also occasionally make you laugh along the way.

My take: Risha, on her flight from LA to Delhi, ends up meeting ‘a billionaire with a Greek bod’ Arjun and this meeting ends in a flash with both of them taking some part of it sown inside them while they part. Risha, who is a full-time journalist and a part-time wedding photographer starts working on an assignment of covering Arjun’s sister’s wedding which turns out to be not only an extravagant but also a fun-filled affair. A typical Punjabi wedding that it is, Risha comes across various characters with distinctive features to their personalities and, also, gets to know Arjun too good to stay away from. A few other characters like Nidhi (Risha’s friend), Vikram (Nidhi’s husband and a famous cricketer), Rishabh (Risha’s gay friend) and Nani, too, have strong roles to play, helping the story shape to a perfect, predictable end.

A lot of readers have claimed this book to be an ideal script for a Bollywood flick and I dare to differ here. I think this will make for a stereotypical story heard over a million times, since you cannot really balance the entire story on occasional jokes you crack. I find the story well-researched, backed with relevant details and I particularly liked the writing style of the author – too good for a first timer! The language is on-point and the words all flow in perfect rhythm while making sense and not overdoing it at any point.

This book should interest teens as much as it would do the adults, for the author has cautiously refrained from including any adult content. The title fits perfectly fine, for the entire book is about this protagonist and her way with how her love life comes across her through the story. The cover would make a perfect poster for a movie; in fact, I find it vaguely similar to the poster of Hum Apke Hain Kaun! Putting it all together, you won’t really get bored if you’d pick this one for a quick read, but it surely would not be a great option if you love reading fresh every time you get your hands on any book.

Final word: The plot of a billionaire boy falling for a not-so-rich girl has been beaten shit out of following Fifty Shades success, yet this rom-com by the author promises to bring some fresh air to the room. I liked her writing style in particular, the one that keeps you glued till the last page, but unfortunately she chose the path which has been, I think, trodden on a million times. May be, that is why it all sounded tad too predictable and boring towards the end. Nevertheless, this brief read serves as an ideal recipe for a Prem-Suman-sort of Bollywood masala flick, the only difference being the female protagonist here has a knack for photography and socializing!   

Book Review: The PCOD - Thyroid Book

My ratings: ●●●●○

Rujuta Diwekar      

The PCOD - Thyroid Book

India: Westland, 2016

201 pp. ₹100

ISBN: 9789385724411

Summary: While this one might appear as another extremely informative, refreshing read from Rujuta, it, in reality, sounds starkly familiar if you have been following all her writings till this time. On the contrary, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if bible or any of your religious scriptures for that matter is read to you time and again, would you? Yes, this one is another health reference book for keeps.    

My take: I find the title of the book a bit deceiving, for the author does talk about the hormones and the problems them going haywire might cause to your body, a majority of it is about your general health and how changing your lifestyle actually reflects directly on your well-being. So, here, she loses marks for not being able to decide the title well. But you know what, I read on a popular website that one in seven people all through the world suffer from diseases related to thyroid and there she scored a homerun! She pretty well knows what she’s talking about.

To be honest, this one, health, is one of my favorite genres. I love reading any new content I get my hands on and I must have digested by now the books Rujuta has written, three in the past. There’s a problem with good authors being extremely explanatory to their readers – it leaves them with very little they could possibly share in their next compositions. She’s kind of tried to drain everything she ever knew down her reader’s mind in the past and, now, no matter what new she comes up with, it all sounds old-hat.

This book, though clearly says that it’s been compiled from Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha, follows similar line of content as her previous books. I see a lot of her readers scoffing at her writing style – I find that totally appropriate considering the segment of readers she is writing for, Indian women who love being told what to do. Her writing style, while on one hand is colloquial and desi, on the other it’s tad too authoritative and casual. I think she could surprise her readers with better English next time!

Furthermore, this low-priced edition addressed exclusively to PCOD- and thyroid-related disease sufferers is actually meant for everyone who wants to know the key to a healthy life. The author has been actively advocating the value of local, fresh food and that pretty much sums up the storyline of this book. She is also one of those few sports nutrionists and diet counselors we have in India who push people to eat what they have been asked to avoid. Not only this, she appears as a beacon of hope to people who hate working out, for she shows so many cool after-effects to ‘gymming’ that everyone reading her feels inspired to pull up his socks, like literally.

I did not like the cover much, for I just could not relate with the acronym “PT” used in bolds on the face of the book. Was it to sum up to use the initials of both the diseases she’s tried to talk about in the book – PCOD and thyroid? Very bad and unimaginative choice, I must say.     

Final word: This book would not disappoint you if you have been looking for any answers to PCOD- or thyroid-related questions and it wouldn’t disappoint you either if you have been just trying to find an informative health non-fiction in this. This fourth book by Rujuta Diwekar is a brief, informatory book about women’s health in general and sounds totally applicable to men’s health, too.