Title: Sunshine Town
Author: Maniish Aroraa
Blurb:
Shlok, a lanky teenager, a daydreamer, doesn't want much from his life. A dream to make his parents happy and affection of a neighbourhood sweetheart, Natasha. Though both are poles apart, their interests bring them close. Together, they experience new emotions. But, just when they are ready to acknowledge their feeling of love for each other, it is too late.
The rapids of life set Shlok on an unexpected journey, and he realizes one can't always be in control of circumstances. Unable to crack an important entrance exam and geographical difficulties affecting his love life, Shlok's life goes through turbulent times.
All the while, his faith in God ebbs and flows, but like a wave, it ends up breaking on the shore before returning to the sea. He is confronted with a perennial question-am I good enough for anything? Holding a mirror to himself, he is faced with a decision to give up on everything he thought was right for him.
Set in Varanasi, a city in North India, during the late 90s, before the pervasiveness of technology, Sunshine Town is about the aspirations and emotional turmoil of being a teenager. This story deals with the themes of love, career, and personal fulfillment.
My Views:
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Shweta Kesari
Author: Maniish Aroraa
Blurb:
Shlok, a lanky teenager, a daydreamer, doesn't want much from his life. A dream to make his parents happy and affection of a neighbourhood sweetheart, Natasha. Though both are poles apart, their interests bring them close. Together, they experience new emotions. But, just when they are ready to acknowledge their feeling of love for each other, it is too late.
The rapids of life set Shlok on an unexpected journey, and he realizes one can't always be in control of circumstances. Unable to crack an important entrance exam and geographical difficulties affecting his love life, Shlok's life goes through turbulent times.
All the while, his faith in God ebbs and flows, but like a wave, it ends up breaking on the shore before returning to the sea. He is confronted with a perennial question-am I good enough for anything? Holding a mirror to himself, he is faced with a decision to give up on everything he thought was right for him.
Set in Varanasi, a city in North India, during the late 90s, before the pervasiveness of technology, Sunshine Town is about the aspirations and emotional turmoil of being a teenager. This story deals with the themes of love, career, and personal fulfillment.
My Views:
School memories are one of the best things to reminisce about life. Friends, board exams, anxiety about results, fear about bad results, parent's worry about results and what not. One way or the other, we all went through this unforgettable stage of life.There was no such excitement and attachment hooked to the story, but I liked the way the story is being narrated. Though the story is of teenage life, it is not penned in an immature style. His style is mature and used in a proper manner.One thing I learned from Shlok's story is proper planning and execution and help you achieve anything.His chart making activity inspired me to do the same to cut down my bucket list.
The zeal and enthusiasm one possesses during teenage days are unimaginable. Reading the story of Sholk, stirs the same zeal and enthusiasm within you, to complete your tasks at hand my crafting a proper plan. The story remains focused on the protagonist. Never for a split second, it diverts from its target. This thing helped in building a good bond with the protagonist. Also, that helps the reader to remain attached to the story, and the reader starts to find his/her own life fragments in that story. And since, this is one such story where one can easily find such spots, focusing only on the protagonist and the events nearby him, and limiting the participation of characters helps a lot and does a great good to the story.
I wish the story welcomes the reader with a good start, it would've been much impactful. The reason our protagonist started narrating the story to a friend who accidentally met her friend on a flight travel doesn't sound that interesting. Manish possesses a good narrating style, one that can engage readers. This is a very simple story, with little-unexpected events and a very common tale to tell. I wish to see this writing style adorned with a beautiful story.
One thing I would like to talk about this book is - it's end! Although it serves a common story of a common boy, the end remains unpredictable. I was in doubt what it could serve in the end. Does the end would be as simple as the story or it has something exciting stored for the readers? I read till the end to solve this query, go fetch this book if you find this book good enough to be fed by your mind.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Shweta Kesari
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