Crossroads…
It’s about time
By Preeti
Singh
Review
By Ila Garg
Crossroads…
It’s about time is a novel by the authoress Preeti Singh, earlier
known for her debut book Flirting with Fate.
The book is decorated in the form of a very beautiful cover page. Two railway
tracks (representing the crossroads), one bench (where the whole story plays
around in a flashback, you will know the significance of this bench once you
read the book), a clock (representing the time obviously), the helpless pair of
eyes, and the red distorted bindi (you will understand the significance later
as you read on the book). Indeed, a captivating cover! The concept of cover
itself is so compelling that one would pick up the book. The title is tempting too.
Preeti Singh, is an award-winning author based at Panchkula, Chandigarh. She is qualified with an MA (Eng.), PGJMC (Journalism and Mass comm.) and a B.Ed. degree along with being an army wife and a school teacher for 14 years. Writing being her inherent passion, she believes in expressing her life’s experiences through words. Believing in living for now, she lives her life to the fullest, with a motto that, we reap what we sow; it was also the central theme of her exciting, debut thriller, Flirting with Fate.
The blurb of Crossroads…
It’s about time, reads as, ‘In the journey of life we
see dreams, we fall in love, we experience bliss but yet we often fall, never
to rise again.
But Kavita is a fighter.
From marrying the man she loves, to becoming a protective mother, to
tolerating abuse and emerging stronger from it, Kavita’s life is not different from
just another Indian woman.
Till how long can she take the domestic violence and humiliation? Does
Kavita leave her abusive husband Rajiv, in search of greener pastures with
Mihir or does she succumb to a passionate moment with a youngster, Abhinash?
Don’t we all have a right to make our identity, alone, or is marriage the
only bond where one must adjust to find happiness?
Is Kavita doing wrong by following her heart? If it takes two to tango,
where did she go wrong? Can she unpeel the child in her, defy the world and
live life on her own terms? Or does life give her a chance to make amends and
save her precious bonds?
She is standing at a crossroads of her life and wondering which path
should she follow to get some peace, something we all are seeking. Why don’t
YOU, my reader hold her hand and guide her?
It’s about time.’
Initial impressions of the book from the title, cover,
and the blurb - It’s gonna be yet another marriage story – a typical
Indian wife dedicated to her nonchalant husband, a daughter who suffers due to
the everlasting fights between her parents, etc. And yes it is a story of a
failed marriage (no doubt), but it is tackled quite intelligently giving a totally
different flavor to it.
This is the story of Kavita Singh, an epileptic
married to Rajiv Arora. Kavita being an epileptic since birth, was used to
living life full of precautions which included not driving. Both Kavita and
Rajiv meet on a train and fall for each other. Rajiv decides to marry her
against the will of his dominating sister, Anu.
Both of them come from a varied background; had a
different nurturing, have different desires and longings, different priorities,
and of course totally different sets of ideologies. While Kavita is more of a
dreamer and devoting lover, Rajiv is practical and considers his sister above
all. While Kavita is so blindly in love that she sees only Rajiv, he seems to
see everyone except her.
The novel further questions the Indian men mentality;
Rajiv can have one-night stands and affairs in absence of Kavita, but if Kavita
does the same, it is unforgivable and a taboo. A man can dump her wife but if a
wife leaves her husband’s home then he feels insulted and can do anything to
get her back, even if he lets his sister treat his wife like a ‘glorified maid’.
As simple as it seems, the story doesn’t go straight. The
book juggles between past and present; sometimes coming to the present and then
a long flashback into the past. It begins with Kavita driving (which she did
rarely) to pick her daughter from the station. There she has to wait for
prolonged hours on a bench, and sitting there she keeps reminiscing her past.
Her tale comes in front of the readers through nostalgia, and takes them into
her past gradually. From there, she keeps coming back to the present every now
and then.
This story is about how your decisions effect
your life in the long run, especially the decisions taken in a haste. It is
about being strong even when your decisions fail you sometimes. Well it is
about finding your ‘home’, a place that is not merely a house, and that
requires some struggles because it’s worth it. “Kavita had chosen the path to live her life with dignity, alone but
blissful. She had left the crossroads behind and began walking home, where her
happiness and peace dwelled with her.”
Further, the authoress has described the night Kavita
discovered what ‘making love’ is with a lot of panache. It nowhere seems
undignified because of her flair of narrating that moment well. “She had always
experienced ‘sex’ with Rajiv but today she understood the meaning of ‘making
love’ with Abhi.”
The best part of the book was the
conversations between Twitter, the
parrot and Amber, the dog. They are
well personified in the book and given some hilarious dialogues. They are later
joined by Sunoji, that’s how Twitter
calls her beau, the crow and Amberina,
Amber’s girlfriend, the bitch. They together manage to form ‘a zoo’ for Kavita
and keep her occupied. Also, they add lightness to the otherwise sombre novel.
Quoting lines from the book - “Twitter, Amber and Amberina, her loving mute companions, were waiting
for her. They never asked her anything as they always understood and accepted
her as she was. What more could she want?”
The 264 page book is undoubtedly appealing. The book
has sheer realism which is the USP according to me. The narrative skills of the
authoress are indeed commendable. It is an utterly transfixing roller coaster of emotions. The language and
pace is comfortable for all the readers.
The too many dilemmas of Kavita’s life is just one of the reasons you want to keep turning the pages to find
out what happens in Crossroads… It’s
about time. It is not every day that you encounter a talking parrot
(Twitter) and a dog like Amber.
To find out whether Kavita and Rajiv could make their
marriage work or not, what is their future, whether Kavita chooses to follow her
dreams in spite of the hurdles or resolve to give up and go by the destiny’s
decision, how does being a single mother affect Kavita, how she avoids Ranvijay’s
attraction towards her, how Kavita faces the failed marriage and loneliness of
her life, how she feels a sudden comfort in arms of Mihir (her husband’s best
friend), how she reacts to the closeness with him, where is she led by the
physical intimacy with Abhinash, who she chooses in the end at the crossroads:
Rajiv or Mihir; you will have to read the novel, Crossroads… It’s about time.
'Yay' Factors: Twitter, Amber, Sunoji, and Amberina :)
'Nay' Factors: Few editing errors.
Message for readers: "Once
in a while, we all find ourselves standing at the crossroads, just like the
protagonist, Kavita Singh. What we do at that point, which path wie take,
determine not only what kind of a person we are but also the course of our life
thereafter. So, remember to make a wise decision at the crossroads. It’s about
time."
Rating: 4.25/5
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