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Book Name : Brothers Sen Gogh
Author : Manik Bal
Website : http://www.manikbal.com/
Publisher : Nivant Publishing
Genre : Literary Fiction/Contemporary Fiction/Contemporary Romance

Amazon URL : http://mybook.to/BrothersSenGogh

BOOK REVIEW: 3/5

The book opens to a young man moving to the city away from home, away from his little circle of loved ones in pursuit for the needs of a person with dreams and a family . But did he live his dream or did they? It is the reader’s quest. I was lost when there was lots about music and its own wide vast world. It would have all been familiar for a reader with better music knowledge. It put me at a disadvantage because of this.

Though it was pretty rushed up with the supporting characters showing up quite early, the story reveals that they hold only minor roles. A more draggy storyline with more nuances with the happenings and the turmoil of emotions would grab the reader’s interest. It wholly depicts the miseries of leading more of a dependent life in the midst of yearning for scoring big with one’s dreams, sometimes that spills out the pathetic self of the dreamer. It is set in the background of a normal middle class family, the most prevailing scenario in most of this country, facing obstacles bigger than they were meant to handle. Sometimes as a reader I felt the whole bonding or the relationship that the author highlights to be burdensome at some places, though the brothers weren’t more centered or complaining about it but instead they go for love, maybe that’s how the author draws the characters. I feel it shows us the loading and unloading of burdens in the name of love. And that’s the stage the author builds for the actors to play their roles on.

And one subtle thing that I learned from this book is that the message is very clear everywhere, the dreams of a dreamer are of no one’s business when the dreamer gives up or dies. So always have it in you this question, what happens to my dreams when i don’t strive for it?

A little background about the author:

Manik Bal is an author who resides in the beautiful city of Bangalore, known for its contribution to the information technology revolution in India and also known for having the worst traffic among all cities in India. Once a pensioner’s paradise, Bangalore retains its phenomenal weather that attracted Manik to make it his home. Manik writes poetry, short stories and novels exploring the Indian middle class, its aspiration and its dilemmas. His characters explore life in situations that are not heroic or exceptional but are mundane and ordinary. They show their uniqueness by facing life as it is.

Manik lives with his wife and two kids in a buzzing neighborhood in the city allowing him to observe the young and the old chasing the Indian dream. Yes, it exists and is both similar and different than the American dream. It retains the career ambition, a desire for affluent life and the upward mobility that the American dream symbolizes but adds a unique flavor of family ties, emotional relationships with friends and love for melodrama just like the Bollywood movies.