Adulting by Neharika Gupta

 

There was a time when I used to relish escapist urban chick lit works by Indian Authors. The likes of Advaita Kala, Ahmed Faiyas, and Durjoy Dutta came to my rescue whenever I used to suffer from reader's block. For that matter, I had even enjoyed the then-teen sensation Kavya Vishwanathan's How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, got wild, and got a life (which incidentally was pulled off the shelves due to plagiarism charges).

I picked up Adulting by Neharika Guptha, expecting it to be an entertaining young urban chick lit. The cover was somewhat attractive, and the blurb promised a 'Bold, unapologetic story of love and self-discovery, heartache, and book launches. Harper Collins had put faith in a debutant Indian author was another bait for picking up this one. Also, it's cool to get indulged in reading about rich people's problems once in a while, right?

The principal characters are Aisha, a famous blogger; Ruhi, a publishing consultant and Tejas, a budding author. The snail-paced plot tries to trace their lives, ambitions, and love life.

With bland, unlikeable characters, tedious scenes, and an unimaginative setting, Adulting suffers from pacing issues and a flimsy plot. The writer herself seems confused about the core theme of the book, and the narrative drags aimlessly, trying to fit in so many themes topically, parenting,  the cut-throat world of trade publishing, urban love, and body issues with none managing to leave any kind of impression with the hapless reader. Pages and Pages of boring text ensue, and even the love triangle involving Ruhi-Tejas-Aisha comes a cropper. The insipid journal entries by Aisha only serve to add to the boredom. The track involving the writer, Litracy Publishing House and the writer's block also comes across as half baked and monotonous and the reader never gets to sympathise with the predicaments of Tejas.

On the whole, I picked up this one expecting to read a fun, Indian Chick-lit after a long time. Sad that I couldn't even finish this one published by Harper Collins.Also, I don't think I will pick up an Indian Chick-lit any time in the near future, again!

Ps- Why the title, by the way?

-nikhimenon