>The Reverse Journey

fiction

by admin | on November 25th, 2011 | 0 comments

Author: Vivek Kumar Singh

Price: Rs. 95/-

Publisher: Frog Books

The reverse journey is a semi-autobiographical of a young man who is living a dream life. He works his way through college, lands a decent job and takes the obvious step forward by changing jobs. As monotony starts setting in he decides to do what his friends have been doing, i.e. of moving to U.S.A. and then he decides to leave it all to come back to India. His friends discourage his move & so do his parents but he has made his mind and thus begins his reverse journey.

Written in flashback the book takes us through various phases of Vivek’ s life. His college days, new job, movement to US et al. The theme of the book is something which makes the book stand apart. The mere fact that we are reading the story of a guy who has been there & done that and feels disillusioned with the so called glamorous western life is something novel.

My issue with the book was that often it goes into an essay mode. There are passages where he compares Indian Culture with western culture or the airlines etc which becomes boring for me after a point of time. If you see it from another angle the book is something more than a simple story telling. So, though what the author is saying here is true but I didn’t like the preachy or essay kind of tone. Or maybe I could not relate to the angst/ emotions which he felt because I have never left my country & have never gone through that kind of emotions.

To sum it up I would say that it is a thought provoking book about brain drain that is happening in India and the disillusion that many youngsters face post moving out of India. The author puts up a much defined view in front of us, that it is not really rosy out there & though you might live a comfortable life there it can never be your home.

I am sure that people who have settled abroad or have come back will surely relate to the book & emotions. For rest of us I would say if you like the theme of the book this one is for you. As far as I am concerned it is an average book & a bit too slow for my taste.

Rating – 2.5/5

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