2014-11-10

Book REVIEW: MEGHNA is pure entertainment, blissful tale of love

MEGHNA
By
Sundari Venkatraman
Rating: Three and a half
Genre: Romance
Banner: Flaming Sun


THANK YOU NOTE
When author Sundari Venkatraman contacted me on Facebook to review her book MEGHNA, I jumped on the occasion since I drooled over her last outing, ‘Double Jeopardy and am in awe of her writing style that connects with my soul. I’ve been excited to read and review, MEGHNA, since it’s the name sake of one of my best friend and college pal.
Disclaimer by Sundari:
It's only for entertainment and has no special value like Double Jeopardy
So don't look for one :D

BLURB:

The young and dashing Rahul Sinha lives in England with his parents, Shyam and Rajni. Rahul is exulted with his efforts at work paying off and plans a holiday with his best friend Sanjay Srivastav who lives in Mumbai with his wife Reema, kids Sanya and Rehaan and most importantly, his sister, Meghna. Rahul recalls meeting Meghna just before they parted six years ago. 
Meghna who teaches modern dance for the pure love of it is thrown for a toss when Rahul comes visiting. She had thought he had forgotten them.
Thus begins the story between Rahul and Meghna, the teasing, the flirting, the anger, the tears… …will they find love? 


VERDICT:

Author Sundari Venkatraman has the knack of story-telling that captures your attention from start-to-finish and writes in a unique style that makes you relate to the characters etched in her world of ‘romance.’ The best thing about the writer’s style that she writes in a simple language that connects with the youth. This is what makes MEGHNA works. However, I feel it somewhat falls short of expectation if I compare Meghna with Double Jeopardy. Nevertheless, MEGHNA is a smart read, weaving tale of love that will make you connect with the world of Meghna and Rahul. Thus, the author is successful in telling a good story and injecting the right dose of love, emotions, sadness and drama, like our Hindi movies pot boilers. It’s enough to say that Sundari Venkatraman has concocted pure entertainment to break the routine in your life. Grab it for the pure joy of reading this tale of love.

Narration:

What makes MEGHNA works is the chemistry among the main protagonists, Rahul and Meghna.  The characters, Sanjay, Reema, Shyam, Rajni and, of course, Prashant and Aisha add to the drama that unfurls to set your pulses racing like the Mumbai local trains. The plot does suffer at times when the narration loses steam and grip. However, the author swiftly hit the right nail by sprucing up things through the ‘wicked characters’ of Rajni and Aisha and drama with Meghna running away in the plane. This is the mark of a good writer who feels that when the balance is not tilted in favor of the book, she injects drama in a timely fashion to lift the narration to pique the readers’ interest. We want to know what will happen next and the novel recovers at the right time. I feel that the main characters, Rahul and Meghna are sketched in a detailed manner which one can easily relate to.  

Extracts: The Tango Lines

Dialogues are a forte of a good novel and this is where Sundari Venkatraman scores a high note.

“Meghna was just the perfect name for her. Her grey eyes reminded him of dark, rain-bearing clouds. The lightning temper in her eyes and the thunder in her expression added to his conviction. Just now the grey eyes were smiling guilelessly up at him…Rahul found her lips again and gave her a deep, soul-searing kiss. His tongue danced a tango with hers and both were gasping for breath as they came up for air…..Meghna thought that she had been the only one mooning about her love over the past years of staying apart. The sense of having found a kindred spirit grew by the second.

What’s Not!!!

1.      The miss-and-blink characters of Prashant and Aisha. Perhaps, both should have been developed further and given an extended leash to build up suspense.

2.      Post the break up towards the climax, I find Meghna melt a bit too easily into Rahul’s arms. How about playing hard to get?!

Final words:
 Sundari Venkatraman’s MEGHNA is a light, fun-filled read that comes like a breath of fresh air. The objective of entertainment has been attained to make the heart dance to the tune of love and romance. Sundari Venkatraman is among the few authors that struck a chord with the masses and the intimate scenes cum sexual tension is dealt in an effective manner, something very few authors can narrate in a sensitive manner. She lends credence to the adage, ‘sensuality, intimacy can be told in a dignified and beautiful manner.
At one glance: Sundari Venkatraman’s MEGHNA is a smart and joyful ride.

The book can be purchased on http://www.amazon.in/dp/B00KUPUURS/ and the author can be reached out to on http://sundarivenkat.wix.com/flamingsun/ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSundariVenkatraman

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