Circle of Three by Rohit Gore: Impressions

If anything, Rohit Gore wins more brownie points for unexpectedness. I was revisiting my blog for when I reviewed his debut book, Focus, Sam and remembered liking it for exactly the same reason. So when he wrote to me asking to read and review his two new books, Circle of Three and Guardian Angels, I had to agree.

Circle of Three is another unique story by Gore. With three interesting protagonists - each vastly different from another - Gore's story is about finding hope and strength in the most unexpected places. 13-year-old student Aryan, 30-something screenwriter Ria Marathe and 60-something forgotten author Rana Singh Rathod are struggling to come to terms with life, until they cross each other's dark paths and become inadvertent beacons. With each other, Rana finds inspiration to write again, Aryan finds his identity and Ria, the courage to live again.

Gore's writing does not make any dents in your heart, but he has a good eye for detail. He paints his characters with deliberate care, bringing them effortlessly to life. It isn't hard to imagine a Rana in his delusional pomposity, an Aryan with his insecurities and a Ria withering away with her terrible loneliness and misplaced guilt. From these depths of despair, you see Gore pull them out gently, his story dripping with tender emotions. The unlikely trio help each other overcome the darkest phases of their lives and emerge better, stronger people.

What Gore lacks is a capacity for humour and finesse. The plot, while tragic, offers a fair scope for comic relief, but Gore's brand of funny is hardly that. Secondly, he is too casual a writer. His pedestrian use of language doesn't charm me, but may work for people who favour 'light' reading. And oh, Gore also needs to work with better publishers and cover designers.

Gore may have some way to go before he becomes a master storyteller, but he pulls the most unusual stories out of his literary hat. With fresh stories like this, Gore might just evolve into one of the better Indian English authors of our times.

Shades of Love: Impressions

The last time I read an anthology was during my BA days, when hours would be spent trying to thrash a Keating or a Chekov into submitting all interpretations of their work in the Lit. class. I think it was the nostalgia that prompted me to accept a review copy of 'Shades of Love', despite my professed fatigue of reading Indian English writing. Also, the endless intrigue of love pushed me further. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad pick.

Edited by Ankit Mittal (who needs to find a better proofreader, considering the number of errors I spotted), 'Shades of Love' is a collection of short love stories by Indian authors, known and unknown. Some names I was familiar with; Sachin Garg, Naman Kapur, Aastha Atray Banan and Rohit Gore among them. The other new names, were as good, if not better, than the published crop. Mittal needs to be credited for making mostly poignant choices, reflecting indeed the many shades of love in this anthology. However, some stories are entirely forgettable.

I shall recall, here, the most unforgettable ones.

'A Pop Tart's Psychotic Love Story' by Aastha Atray Banan with its 'LOOK AT ME!' title, also has the meat to go with it. We have the story of a girl, unable to forget the lover who has ditched her, pushed to the threshold of madness. She will do what it takes to have him back, even if it means to kill him or his present girlfriend. When she finally walks up to the ex's house, all guns blazing, she is met with a rather unexpected turn of events...

'A Hero Greater Than Shahrukh Khan' by Rohit Gore has a cheesy title (Gore has a penchant for those), but is deserving of mention because of its tenderness. Caught in Mumbai's infamous deluge, an underdog becomes his family's hero; winning love at the cost of his life.

'Stolen' by Naman Kapur is a sharp little story about love between two equals - in crime and in bed. A pickpocket zooms into a target, sparks fly, and the one out to steal is stolen from. Fun.

Apart from these, 'The Remedy' by Sachin Garg, and 'She Called It, Kikugasane' by Tushar Rai are also fair reads.

However, Durjoy Datta's 'The English Teacher' is the most remarkable and shocking story of the whole lot, about an obsessive love, and that's all I am going to say about it for fear of ruining it for a reader. If you need a reason to buy this book, buy it for Datta's story. Yes, ignore the horrible paper quality of the book, ignore the lame stories, even ignore the choice of font on the book cover. Read Datta's story and ask Grapevine India to rope him in to write a novel that would stick to a reader's mind forever.

Focus, Sam by Rohit Gore: Impressions

If anything, this book is 'unexpected'.

Although a Rupa Publication warrants some quality, I was rather skeptical about Focus, Sam, when I bought it. The title was chiefly to blame. What else does one think of a book that sounds like a dubious imitation of the wonderful English, August? And if, even after reading the book, I have my doubts, the title is largely to blame. I still don't get it. I'm not sure the author gets it either. It is, as if to assuage his own doubts, the author inserts the phrase 'Focus, Sam, focus' at many random points in the book. The vague purpose of the story is about the protagonist Sameer Sathe understanding what he wants from life, but it doesn't quite justify the title.

In fact, I find little justification for the entire story. Focus, Sam doesn't really start with a purpose; it doesn't really reach a conclusion. But the funny part is that it is a nice novel. Its plot is so unlike anything I've read before, that it left me pleasantly confused. In the briefest possible summary, Sameer Sathe is an engineer-turned-bookseller, who is curiously affected by accidents every year of his life. A mysterious seer tells him it's a curse and that the next accident would kill him. The only way to lift the curse is to revisit every 'love' of his life, and find his saviour. The book describes how Sameer, with the help of his best friend, Jai, go about the process.

It is in describing this process that the merit of the author, Rohit Gore, lies. The introduction of the medieval idea of a curse in a modern setting and the choosing of some extremely varied characters (even caricatures), who have been the protagonist's past loves is definitely the book's high point. But it never becomes clear in the book what exactly the curse is, or how revisiting these women will right it. Right to the end, the reader can make only half guesses as to what the message of each of these episodes is. There is no clear pattern; only a vague indication about finishing the unfinished businesses in these relationships. My best guess is that these past issues block his future happiness; but it is never clearly stated. The author never explicitly spells out that that is his curse, and one is left wondering how resolving these will change the status of his physical safety.

The language is crisp and modern, although the author is given to frequent 'cheesy' slips. There are a fair number of well-sketched characters and they hold their place well in the story. But the author often goes OTT in showing off how well read he is and throws around names of famous books whenever he can. My other minor grouse is that the book has not been edited thoroughly and despite a frenetic reading pace, I noticed a handful of errors. The most jarring of all was the name of the protagonist spelt as 'Samir' instead of 'Sameer' on Pg. 195.

There is a final disappointment in the lack of a solid premise in the book, but as long as you are reading it, you can't help but enjoy it. Read it once, I would say.

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