The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini
Publisher: Juggernaut
Pages: 236
Price: Rs. 199 INR(Paperback), Rs. 84 INR(Kindle edition)
ISBN: 978–9353451585
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2Puyn64
My take on the book:
Ratna, a journalism student is a die-hard fan of author Ronit Sukhdev. She loved his writings from her school days to the extent of having a serious crush on him. When a college assignment required her to interview an author and document it, Ratna lands at Ronit’s doorstep. However, Ronit is living in seclusion, away from the world and had become cynical after few recent experiences.
In parallel runs the story of Nitasha and Vikas, working together on an art restoration project; Nitasha is still recuperating from a breakup, trying to figure out if her decision to move out of the relationship was right or not. How are the lives of these four people related, what love means to each of them and how its meaning changes over time, forms the rest of the story.
This is a story about love — not a typical love story but about falling in and out of love. Even the tone alternates between enthusiasm and melancholy as the narration shifts between Ratna and Nitasha. The author presents an interesting perspective on how different individuals react differently to love and breakup, and how individuals evolve over years as they keep experiencing new relationships. The protagonists being a book lover and a famous writer also add to the freshness of the concept picked up by the author.
The characters are well layered and as the story progresses, the reader will relish the character graphs. The short stories from Ronit’s unpublished collection are equally interesting, so are his diary entries. I would have loved reading more about Nitasha and Vikas’s relationship, as they have lesser footage when compared to Ratna and Ronit.
Pick this one for a unique and mature take on relationships as the story will leave the reader introspecting.
My rating:
4/5.