The Great Indian Tamasha — Adventures of A Wedding Planner by Rasika Bhatia
My take on the book:
The Great Indian Tamasha by Rasika Bhatia is a collection of twenty-two real life experiences of the author as a wedding planner. Wedding planning as a profession is still not popular in many parts of our country, for majority of us the knowledge of this profession has come from the hit Bollywood movie — Band Baaja Baaraat.
As one character from this movie says — neighborhood uncles and families still help plan marriages. But when professional wedding planners are hired for a marriage, how much effort and crisis management goes into the entire process is well narrated by the author.
Each chapter in the book deals with one marriage and especially focuses on the issues and challenges faced and how the author’s team has addressed them. Late or totally missed payments, rude clients, grooms who would back off a day before the marriage, bringing to life the difficult themes chosen by the brides, marriage venues totally messed up and destroyed by heavy winds and rains — the author lists such complex and unexpected scenarios faced by her.
The reader hence will get a closer look at the reality of what planning and performing marriages entails beyond the grandeur and gloss that we associate with the big-fat-Indian weddings. There are few cool illustrations that add humor to the narrative. The author has a lucid writing style that makes the book engaging.
While I understand the pain the author and her team had to go through dealing with few difficult clients, especially where financial frauds were involved, I felt at places that the author mocked the personality traits of such clients. The humor also gets obnoxious at places. Also, since the whole book revolves around marriage and preparations for the accompanying functions, the book will appeal to those who prefer reading on the topic.
If wedding planning as a profession always intrigued you or you want to read a fun book about real life stories revolving around marriages, then this book will make for a delightful read, as the author highlights the realistic side of this profession.
My rating:
3.5/5.