Introduction
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ISBN -978-0-473-17480-4
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Genre:
Fiction
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Publishers:
Southpac Publishers
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Price:
Rs. 350/- (I got this book from Blog Adda for a review)
The title is an attitude - our tendency to feel defeated by the scale and
nature of certain problems. Rather than meet them head on, we circumvent them
with a sigh and a consoling “never mind, yaar”.
When long time friends Binaifer Desai and Louella D’Costa meet Shalini Dayal
at Gyan Shakti College, a true friendship that transcends cultural and
religious backgrounds is born. Louella is a Christian, Binaifer, a Parsi and
Shalini, a Hindu.
The novel’s main plotline surrounds Shalini who has fallen for an impetuous
student activist, Bhagu. Where does his desire to help the less fortunate lead
him? The challenges are many - Shalini’s tradition bound family, the couple’s
youth and inexperience and the travails of life in Mumbai, a city the girls
love but know, is fraught with communal tension.
This edition of Never Mind Yaar is for India where explanations of Indian
words and phrases are redundant. More about the book on the author's website. http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.co.nz/p/about-book.html
Behind
The book
About
the author
Born and brought up in Mumbai, K.Mathur lives with her family in New
Zealand.Mathur showcases her unique perspective into her city’s psyche in Never Mind
Yaar.“I’ve always enjoyed my city except when violence has erupted between
communities. On the whole people seem to get along fine. We are proud of our
own community but accept that others are proud of theirs. The food we eat, the
clothes we wear and the languages and dialects we converse in are diverse and
most of us say vive la difference. But there’s a handful in every community who
are extremely suspicious of those differences.”
“Why is secularism or a different way of doing things such a threat to these
people? This issue has disturbed me since the 1980s when I witnessed communal
riots in Mumbai. I felt compelled to talk about it in Never Mind Yaar. But
first and foremost, the book is a love story and a story of friendship and fun
between three young girls from different backgrounds – Hindu, Parsi and
Christian - who meet at college.”
Me
thinks
I have
always loved Mumbai and I call it my first love for that city breathes every
moment of the day. And I love feeling its breath! When I read the blurb and
found that this story is based in Mumbai I knew I had to read this tale of
friendship and love set in my most favourite city.
The
title has been very aptly chosen as it talks about an attitude that we all
carry. We all look at the problems
standing before us, gasp at their size and then suddenly exclaim Never mind
yaar. That attitude is very much reflective throughout this book.
The
story begins with a chanced meeting between 2 girls from different religious
backgrounds in their college and takes off from there to an interesting array
of incidents making it a very interesting read.
Somewhere
amidst these pages I was reminded about the movie Ranjhana as the character
Shalini falls for a student activist Bhagu. Though the entire story revolves
around them and their struggles as a couple in love the other aspects of Mumbai
being a city where communal tension is triggered in the blink of an eye, the
beautiful history that our country carries and ofcourse the friendship all of
them share is beautifully narrated. I loved the way the author has described
the nuances of Mumbai in a manner which brings the city alive even as you read
about it.
Recommended
for readers who enjoy reading light fiction which is not completely about love
and friendship but also about the other realities we are surrounded with in our
country.
Foodie Verdict
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