Some thought on "Love side by side"

I had seen Partha Sarathi Sen Sharma at a conference in Chennai.  He was the lead speaker and from the talk I thought he is a no-nonsense and to-the-point person. Coincidentally, he was my boss’ ex-colleague and I heard a little about his fascinating journey to become one of the top bureaucrats in the state of Uttar Pradesh.  A few weeks later I heard that he has published a novel.  For the past few years, I have dreamt of writing and publishing a book. I had even made a few attempts unsuccessfully.  I always blamed it on my career but this book has proved me wrong.  It teases me with "if you have the will to write, you will write". 

Will is the central concept of this book.   The story is driven by the will and decisiveness shown by the central characters.  Each character in the book have made their decisions on how to live their lives and are not ready to compromise their position even for love.  This is in contrary to what is usually seen in our movies and books.  The book brings in practicality rather than divinity to the concept of love.  It is amazing to see the practicality is displayed by all the central characters.  They know how and where they want to lead their lives; love cannot dictate this.  This is contrary to what is shown in many of the popular movies and books today, which influences the upcoming generations.

The book describes the choices faced by the three central characters in their twenties.  It deals with the clash between their life and career choices.  While reading the book, I tended to prefer one character over the other but thinking back I realize that none of them are more right than the other.  At that age, many of us went through similar choices and our selection was more based on our feelings than logic.  The book brings this out well and strikes a chord with our own experiences.

The love aspect of the book is only a catalyst – a medium of sorts. “What should I do with my life?” is the central question.  Love is only a part of the question.  This question and the thought that life cannot be split into right and wrong is an important lesson that the book provides to the generations stepping out of their childhood.  As we grow the way we think changes and hence our priorities change.

The writing style of the book is simple and easy to read.  It is something that most of us can identify with.  We have used such language while talking to friends and family.  Many a times, it seemed I was reading a letter from a friend.  A letter that I wished had some more pages and did not end so soon,

On the whole, I am so glad to have come across Partha and this book.  I hope this inspires me to write a book (a novel to be precise) in not too distant future.