Review- Those Pricey Thakur Girls.- Anuja Chauhan

Those Pricey Thakur Girls- Anuja Chauhan (Jan 2013)

Anuja Chauhan's new book comes across as breezy and entertaining.

The main plot is pretty predictable. An insanely handsome, flirtatious dude, and a beautiful posh lass. Of course, the reader knows that who is going to end up with who. But Chauhan succeeds at making it not boring. In fact, it is as much a page turner as it could be - you want to know how exactly are they going to end up together. The whats and the whys are not there, like they should not be for any self respecting rom-com.

But the real enjoyment lies in the vividly alive portrait of Delhi society in the late eighties as Chauhan paints it. The card-sessions, and teas are immaculately presented, as are the continuous conversations. The dialogues really add a lot of spunk and merriment to the novel. They are laced with pun and some detectable wit, not to mention the oh-so-dilli-waala style jo-to is present throughout. Her advertising career shows in her intelligently crafted dialogues.

She also has this unique style of writing. Conversations are essential but they don’t drive the narrative. The narrative makes small jumps in time and space that keep you at a fast pace. The pace aside, there are portions where you are distantly reminded of Jane Austen's innocent style and vivid social representation. (No, I am not implying a comparison!)

Chauhan does deserve credit for providing an extremely strong backdrop to the whole story. Behind all the niceties, and  embroidered table covers, Chauhan gives a glimpse into the very disturbing world of dirty politics, and the anti-Sikh pogrom of the eighties. She also brings in the powder coated face of state sponsored media. In case your frivolous rom-com spirits are getting a thumbs-down because of the serious stuff, don’t worry. She never lets it gets intense. Just when she could have gone further, and dived into messy waters, she swims back to Hailey Road, and engrosses you in the whirlwind romance of the beautiful Debjani and the D for Dylan.

The stubbly Dylan Singh Shekhawat is sure to get girls swooning. Who wouldn't for a tall, cowboy jawed,  half Christian-half Rajput fiery journalist from the eighties who owns a Mac. That may excuse him and Chauhan for the mathematically unexplained free fall with which he saves Chachiji. How do you jump off a building, and save another person falling below you by changing her trajectory of falling in the horizontal direction? But then he is the hero, and this is the land of Bollywood.
Being a Muslim  and a Kashmiri, I did not like the digs Chauhan took at both these attributes. She may be forgiven of course, because they weren't directed at me (!), there was no Muslim character in the novel, and the Kashmiri pandit boy whom her character calls a terrorist is not at all important for the story. And yes, why exactly the Thakur girls are pricey is something you'll have to figure out on your own as you go along.

Overall the book is a treat for its refreshing style, for its lead characters and yeah, the romance.