28 campus tales by 16 authors. 225 pages. I’ll finish it over a weekend, or so I thought. Surprisingly, I found myself taking more than a few days to relive the nostalgia the foreword promised.
The book kicks off with Down the Road, a geek finding himself to the backdrop of a love story by Ahmed Faiyaz. The next one by Ira Trivedi takes an interesting look at a girl’s guilt for losing a good friend and lover to temptation from the dark side. More stories explore dealing with bully professors, a bully in love, falling out of love; falling back in, belongingness and coming of age.
Ira Trivedi takes another dark turn with The Music Room. It comes as no surprise when the end notes list her other published work. The book seems to have a good mix of established names and first timers. Finding this at the end, shows that it is a good read.
A few i would recommend reading
- The silent way in which men bond – The Cafe with No Name, Sneh Thakur
- Kane and Able of campus politics – One And One Eleven, Prateek Gupta
- The jhol to arrange your love marriage – Setting, Ahmed Faiyaz
- I am a sucker for old man young boy stories – The Worm That Turned, Malathi Jaikumar
- It’s different! – Bellow Yellow, Chinmayi Bali
- Have experienced this first hand. – Strangers in Strange Places, Abhijit Bhaduri
As a future reader a few notes to the authors – Tell me stories; don’t think how to figure a big word in your narration. As much as I hate to agree with Chetan Bhagat, don’t write to impress your English teachers. If you write stories about the head boy falling for the head girl, who will write about the fumbling middle benchers? 🙂
Final Verdict: Read it for some nostalgia, there is a story that will resonate with you.
Disclaimer: I had been asked by the publishers to review the book, found it worth my time.
Baat Bakwas 