Book Review: Once upon the tracks of Mumbai by Rishi Vohra

Once upon the tracks of Mumbai does not fall into the usual genre of books which I pick up to read. The author asked me if I would like to do a review, and I thought why not... its been eons since I read something romantic to say.

The setting is Mumbai, small, crammed & crowded spaces, families living in any space available and a government quarters is where the protagonist lives. From the onset, one does realize that there is a medical condition which is being described and as the book draws to a close you do come to your conclusion on why the events in the book takes place as it does. As you read on, you would come across many details which have been drawn from real life India and how they attribute and gel into the story the author has weaved.

Characters have been laid out methodically and as you read you see the stereotypes which have also been given a role to play. The college crowd, the ones who skip college, the Indian husband and wife scenes, it is something which will certainly appear to the masses and also where many will have drawn parallels to their own lives. The author has done a good job in diversifying characters building on the different cultures which are present in Mumbai.

When I read the first few pages, I thought the language was good and it did not have the simple tones of a metro read, but as I moved ahead, I saw that the author had toned down the language, maybe to express feelings easier understood by many in a language which would be understood by them also. So, apart from the first 20 pages, the book is very simple and straight forward to read. And, this in turn makes it a quick read also.

The book proves to be entertaining, fast paced and as said before, with many instances which you might draw from real life incidents which has occurred in India over the years. It does give one a deja vu sense with such incidents and also Slumdog Millionaire which was aired so many times in the past years on television. I believe that this is the book which will appeal to the masses, it has been written about the masses and it comes out at a time when women and the problems/discrimination that the gender faces has reached its peak. It is sure to strike a chord with many.