“And when I told her that I bathed the gobi in Ganga-jal and did aarti of it also….”
That sentence made me spit out my coffee all over my clothes, phone and book! The witty-yet-conversational way in which it has been written is indicative of the tone of the rest of the book. Which book you ask?It’s….
“There’s Something About You” by Yashodhara Lal isn’t your standard run-off-the-mill chick-lit or rom-com. The female protagonist here isn’t a young, cheerful, friendly, romantic girl, innocently unaware of how charming/attractive she is. Rather, Trish is nearing her 30s, is overweight, wears bulky, shapeless kurtas, has no friends (except one), and tries to do her work without seeking accolades. She soon finds herself without a job. But she still has to deal with “mundane” things such as her parents’ and their quibbles, the maid who can’t get along with her mother, the well-meaning but “ditzy” neighbour….
And then Sahil enters her life, though she tries her best to keep him out of it. He’s 35, cute-ish, gets along well with her parents AND seems genuinely interested in getting to know Trish! Now, this is no girl-meets-boy, girl-hates-boy-but-neither-can-ignore-the-s*xual-vibes kind of book. Rather, what we have is an intriguing story that you can’t help staying up late into the night to finish.
What I love about this book is the simple, yet fun narrative peppered with dry wit and sarcasm. Relationships with parents are showcased in a way that most of us can relate to. It also brings to light how shallow and judgmental we as a society can be and how much importance we give to a person’s appearance. However, there is nothing preachy in here and overall, it is a fun read. What I especially loved reading are Trish’s sarcastic replies to the “agony-aunt” letters.
“There’s Something About You” touches on things that we deal with on a daily basis; office politics, a parent’s illness, being a referee between the maid and the mother (or mother-in-law as in my case) and keeping both happy and even death of a loved one. Yashodhara Lal’s style of writing makes for a nice, easy weekend read and I certainly loved it. It makes me wonder why I haven’t read any of her earlier books (Yashodhara Lal is the best-selling author of Just Married, Please Excuse and Sorting Out Sid) and I am going to read them soon to make amends.
Have you read “There’s Something About You” by Yashodhara Lal???
I have not read a Yashodhara Lal before, but I might try this one. If you like reading books, there a book review on my blog too, check it out.