I'm not twenty-four? I've been nineteen for five years?

The book makes an amazing read for all but might charm the youth who are in the transition stage i.e. from college to companies. If you are among those who don't like reading or think, then this book would be a great starter.

FROM THE author of best selling novel ‘A Sunny shady life' (2009) comes an interesting and intriguing story yet again. Author Sachin Garg’s books are inspired by intricacies of life and his novels are known to leave the reader with a long lasting hangover and his latest ‘I’m not twenty four...I’ve been nineteen for five years…” is a perfect example of this.

 

On reading the first four pages you suspect that it is one of those novels based on sudden changes in life of a horny male protagonist after campus recruitments but as the story moves, the fifth page itself makes this novel way apart from the others as the protagonist this time is a female.

This story revolves around a female character ‘Soumya’ who is mistaken to be a male due to her unisexual name by the HR of the company and thrown to a small township of Toranagallu in the interiors of Karnataka as an employee of Lala Steel.

 

The book encapsulates this typical Delhi girl’s experiences in a ‘Fourth World’ leading to a 360 degree change in her life.

 

She meets many new people like Malappa, who becomes her good friend and Shubhro in whom she finds her true love but despite this, she faces a tough time at Toranagallu.

 

Tracking the story line, Soumya, a college girl of Delhi gets a job in an interior part of Karnaraka and is put on one of the most challenging tasks. Soon signs of her failure at the job become quite evident and finally unfortunate death of Malappa makes her leave the job and she starts serving her three months notice period in the HR department.

 

At this moment when she is completely disoriented with life, there comes a fresh breeze of air in her life in the form of Shubhro, who is a Hippi moving from place to place exactly after every three months without hinting the people around him about his next destination.

 

In due course of time, Soumya starts loving Shubhro and in return he also proposes her but only on his last day at Toranagallu and leaves the next morning to continue his journey. Soumya is shattered but for the first time, takes a mature decision to continue working with Lala Steel. It is much later i.e. after two weeks that through an extraordinary incident, she learns the truth about Shubhro, who was travelling not for fun but for a noble mission.

 

To know more about this mysterious Shubhro and his wonderful mission, the reason behind Malappa’s death and how Soumya finds her first love, read this wonderful journey of love, hate, romance and respect, all encapsulated in one book ‘I’m not twenty four...I’ve been nineteen for five years…”

 

It is an easy to read book with not much emphasis on grammar and language but on emotions and narration. One has to read though the pages to understand the story’s intensity. The book succeeds in holding the reader’s attention through effectively narrating extraordinary incidents that take place in a typical Delhi girl’s life after she is displaced to some interior village of Karnataka.

 

The book talks about serious subjects like the differences between North India and South India and the beliefs they hold against each other in a very subtle manner. The book often draws parallel between quite and silent life at Toranagallu in some interior part of Karnataka to that of hustling- bustling Delhi. Moreover, it highlights the transition in a city youth’s life as he/she enters in a job after their glamorous posh college life.

 

The author goes a long way and provides interesting titles to the chapters, which give a deeper meaning once you read them. He meticulously pens down the emotions of Soumya, Shubhro and Malappa.

 

The story of these characters is woven in such a way that the reader feels angry for Malappa’s tragedy; sympathize with Soumya’s state and loves Shubhro’s mission. Although Soumya is the protagonist but Shubhro’s character and his words “Life is not a sprint. It is a marathon” mesmerizes the reader and leaves a long lasting impression on them.

 

The book lives up to its name i.e. I’m not twenty- four… I’ve been nineteen for five years… as the character of Soumya is very bubbly in the beginning and she refused to behave like adults even at the age of twenty- four. But four months at Toranagallu change her so much that the same Soumya who wanted to run away from that small township decides to continue her job and that too in the Social Service department. She actually starts behaving like a 24-year old adult female thus living up to the title “I’m not twenty- four… I’ve been nineteen for five years…” and after reading the book, one could complete the half sentence by adding “…till I reached Toranagallu.”

 

So go and grab a copy for yourself and enjoy Soumya’s journey in the fourth world. This 223-page novel is brought out by Shristi Publishers.