The Soft Target by – Kalyan Nanda
Publisher: Notion Press
Pages:214
Price: Rs. 249 INR(paperback), Rs. 175 INR(Kindle edition)
ISBN: 978–9386073686
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2XG89jX
Is God good? Or is He a manipulative villain who plays with the lives of his creations in the name of karma? As far as Mohan Mishra is concerned, God is a villain. Mohan is God’s soft target, for He ‘blesses’ him with a strange mental problem and kills his support system when he needed it the most. The Soft Target is the story of a boy’s journey into manhood, as he takes on God with his mental prowess, defeating Him at every stage, thus making God his soft target. Supported by great friends and a loving wife, Mohan fights an epic battle against the murderous society, the conniving legal system and ultimately God himself, with remarkable courage and spirit.
About the author:
Kalyan Nanda lives in Mumbai with his wife. He enjoys theater and movies of all genres, and is a voracious reader. His favourite authors are Sir P G Wodehouse and George Orwell. He can be reached on kalyan.nanda@gmail.com.
My take on the book:
Mohan Mishra is the only child of his parents, who are from a very simple and middle class background, has a peculiar mental problem from birth. While he knows in his mind what to speak, he always ended up saying something else, giving an impression to the listener that either he didnt understand their question or he is blabbering random stuff. His teachers, school mates, even close relatives all bullied him and branding him as mentally unstable, but his parents understood his condition and supported him unconditionally.
Inspite of all this negativity around him, Mohan’s mother continues to have undeterred faith in God, which makes Mohan assume that he is God’s soft target. This in turn makes him stubborn to fight any challenge that is thrown at him. Along side runs the story of a corrupt politician and his son, a social worker and a slum. What does Mohan got to do with this socio-political scenario? Is Mohan indeed God’s soft target or is it the other way round, forms the rest of the story.
This is a very inspiring story of a boy with a strange mental condition who faces all challenges head-on with sheer grit, self confidence and determination. All the characters in the story have their own beautiful graph and are well developed. The story traces the various stages in Mohan’s life starting from childhood to adolescence, to college days, to his married life. Each stage portrays his happy moments along with the challenges thrown at him and how he faces them in his own way.
The author succeeds in weaving an interesting story with the minute details all finally tied up together. All the parallel stories merge in unexpected ways, with the story having equal doses of suspense and emotions. There is never a dull moment in the narration and the reader is kept engaged all through the story till the end.
Pick this one for the unique concept, and to enjoy the journey of Mohan, as he aces through life’s ups and downs with the same passion and at the end to be motivated by the message of how any challenge can be overcome if we decide to face it.
This book review is a part of “The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program and Blog Tours, for details log on tohttp://www.thereaderscosmos.com/”
My rating:
5/5.