That Kiss in the Rain by Novoneel Chakraborty (Book Review)!!!

     

     So, on the same day, I am done reading Novoneel Chakraborty's second novel- That Kiss in the Rain. This is a 204 pages novel which also has the tagline- "Love is the weather of life". This book is yet another book by Srishti Publication while Novoneel C is one of those writers who turned Bestseller with Srishti and later left it for Random House Publication at the time when his 3rd book was about to come in market. Novoneel has surprisingly done very well since the start of his writing career. It's just that he is little cut off from the social world that is making his fans get little disloyal towards him. I hope he interacts with his fans more often that he does. Let me give his introduction once again- Novoneel Chakraborty has written three bestselling novels. He also writes screenplays. As a screenwriter, he has collaborated with a National Award winning filmmaker from Bengal. His other novels are - A Thing Beyond Forever - The Reward For Every True Love is Not Love..., and How About A Sin Tonight? The author also works as a scriptwriter for the Hindi film industry. He maintains a blog called Novosphere, which he regularly updates with his writings and updates on his novels.

            Coming to the synopsis of the book-

Hasil is a young businessman, who had everything he wanted in life. He had married the girl he loved, and the business he had started with his friend Nitin is going well. Then, his world turns upside down when he is involved in an accident in which he loses his beloved wife, and also loses his memory.

The story of That Kiss In The Rain..: Love Is The Weather Of Life begins when his friend Nitin visits him at the hospital. Talking to him, Nitin soon realizes that Hasil has lost his memory and does not know that his wife is dead. Nitin decides that it is better not to reveal that fact to him. He helps Hasil realize who he is and comes up with various explanations for his wife’s absence.

Meanwhile, Hasil has to get on with his life. But his life is different as he keeps wondering about Palki. Two other women enter his life. Pallavi, a girl who was adopted by a rich family, and Swadha, who was rejected by her family because she is a female.

These two women could not be more different, and their contrasting characters are highlighted by the author.

Pallavi had loved and lost once. This failed romance makes her believe that it has killed her capability to truly fall in love again.

Swadha is a simple girl with modest ambitions. She just wants a job that will take care of her needs. And then, she meets Hasil.

Meanwhile, Hasil is still puzzled about what happened to his wife. When Pallavi and Swadha enter his life, it just gets more complicated. He knows how much he loves his wife, but what happened to her? And what about the two girls who are in love with him?

The personalities of the main players in the story are well developed, with background stories providing the reasons for their attitudes towards life. The three main characters drive the story as the author unravels the romantic tangle they have got themselves into.

     

  Coming to the author Novoneel, I would say that yet again with this book, he hasn't surprised me as he again delivered his best. It seems as if he has millions of thoughts in his mind which he has to put in a book and he ends up putting only 1% of it. The desperation of giving the best can be seen in every sentence that is a part of his stories. With this book, I am now done with all the three books of Novoneel and I can undoubtedly say that he is one among the rare authors who love to write a character-based novel where we are told everything about the characters since their birth. It gives us an insight into the characters of the people involved in the book which makes us understand their state of mind before reading what they actually think during an important scenario of the book. His language might seem difficult for some starters but its as smooth as the flowing water of river. Oops, even I started writing like him. Haha!!!

          This book is an exceptionally well-written story where the character of each of the three main characters is portrayed descriptively which makes us feel attached with each and every sentence. Again, I would say, the way Novoneel narrates the teenage love does not make the part look cheesy and childish but even that has so much of philosophy and deep meaning involved in it. As a youth, I also got to learn as to what shortcomings a parent goes through while nourishing a child which I'll have to take care when I will become a father. :-) This book consists of everything- a boy losing his memory, he forgetting everything about his wife and wanting to meet her, his friend trying to fool him, his childhood admirer coming back to his life, a new girl wanting to get close to her, the changes that a girl feels when she attains puberty, experience of a girl during her first period, feeling during the first sex encounter, a family's outlook towards a baby girl, how a girl gets physically abused by a respected member of the family just because there's no respect for girls involved in the family's culture, what consequences an ambitious model faces in the Bollywood industry, how a girl saves herself when a MMS of hers is recorded etc etc etc. 

           This book is full of twists and turns and everything that you want in a book. Though, I felt that the second half gets stretched too much. Or to be precise, the pre-climax part of the book. The climax is once again not satisfying as it does not happen the way we predict the story to end. :-) And I am also doubtful about Novoneel C's style of closing a story that you feel something is incomplete. He leaves the end for the reader to decide. This is something that may be his specialty but I find it very contradicting to my choice for the climaxes of the beautiful stories as of those Novoneel C writes. :-) In all, I would give this novel 3.75/5. Waiting for the 4th novel of the author to release soon. :)

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!