Rainy Days by Samarth Prakash- Book Review

‘Rainy Days’ by Samarth Prakash

The title and the cover photo had given me enough drive to start reading the book. The book deals with the usual a guy and a girl centric love story.  Raghav, the protagonist, meets Megha, a pretty face, accidentally at a cricket match at Bangalore. The match is called of due to rain when the two catch up a bit of conversation. After few minutes of talking Megha leaves the stadium. Just like how it happens in every other love story the hero falls in love with the pretty face at the first sight. He chases her and finds her workplace. He waits at the entrance of her office quite a few times. Though Raghav is shown as a very ambitious person who took up an unconventional career the brightness in the character is dissolved in the way he forgoes work just to wait for a stranger he had met recently, about whom he knows nothing. He is a part of a small group of friends who host a website called RS3. RS3 addresses real social issues and news.

The story starts with the Raghav’s journey to meet Megha after a long gap. This was a clever way to make the readers run through the chapters to know how they fell in love and why they departed. The love and romance between the two, again, is just described in a very shallow manner. In spite of a very little romance the author has managed to instil feel that they were deeply in love, appreciable. Though the love between them does drizzle inside the readers mind it at least gives a breezy before-rain feel.

The curiosity to know the reason for their separation makes us travel through pages quickly; book was a  page turner in this part. Feels like the smell of sand before the rain. When we reach the page where she writes a letter stating that they would meet on the same day after 5 years. Cyclone expected but did not even pour out a drop.

With a conscious effort of making the story sound different author has brought in an unexpected or more bluntly, unwanted twist in the story involving a criminal case against Megha, who is already married when she meets him after 5 years.

The guys who are a part of RS3 are described as true, dedicated and hardworking youths whom Vivekananda asked for, to change the world. But Raghav involves himself in an unethical way to save her from the case.

Though the ending is unexpected it doesn’t surprise the reader even a bit.

Lighting positives:

-Starting with the reunion was a clever suspense kindler

- Megha marrying someone else was completely unexpected

-Ending was unexpected and good

Thunder Negatives:

-Unwanted and rushed up twist with the criminal case

-Confused picture about the character of Raghav

-The romance ending before we could feel the depth of it

Over all it was a good plot which could have been much better if it had been handled properly.

If you are too choosy about books you read, just read the review and appreciate the efforts the author has taken to build the story and make it a book.

If you are a voracious reader and read a lot and if you looking for another book to pass time then this can be a good read and a good entertainer though in few places the book fails to keep up the promise of being an excellent book.

My rating: 2/5

One liner: It rained heavily but I did not get wet.