A Turbulent Tale of Love by Shalu Thakur Dhillon | Book Reviews

We at ThinkerViews love to read a lot of books :). And, we strongly believe in sharing our unbiased views and reviews for the same with all our readers. We understand that it is easy (and sometimes unjust too) to read a book and give it a few stars out of 5 or 10; then actually putting in efforts to write it. Since the idea is conceived in the author’s mind to pen down his/her thoughts, edit and edit and edit it brutally, and getting it published is a tough job. And, even tougher is the job to reach to the right readers. At the same time, a reader can favor the author by sharing his/her unbiased book reviews with him/her. And, genuine reviews help other readers to make their read and purchase decisions.

We mostly love reading thriller, mythology, inspirational, fictions, biographies and all other genres with a substance. We, however, keep ourselves away from adult and paranormal stuff. We love to read love stories only if they have a substance. And without reading one, how can we find if one has a substance or not!?

Well, when we are approached by Shalu Thakur Dhillon, a lady married to an Indian Armed Forces personnel, currently living in Goa, India, informing about her debut book A Turbulent Tale of Love and offering a copy of the same in exchange of honest and unbiased book reviews, we accepted it. But, we were not very sure about what to expect from the book. Fortunately, I got a chance to read it from our team, and I must say, I enjoyed it :). So here are my personal and unbiased views and reviews for “A Turbulent Tale of Love”.

Let us start with the cover page of the book.

While I strongly believe in not judging a book by its cover, I also know the influence a cover page can make on book purchase/borrow/read decision. Actually, no one can deny the fact that we like something attractive, neat and tidy. Admiring beauty is natural to species, so there is nothing wrong in that.

The cover page of the book is not super attractive, but once you explore the story, you shall be able to connect the elements of the cover page. The only thing that gives the wrong impression is illustrations on the cover page. Actually, the Royal Enfield bullet and airplane, are very much weaved in the story effectively. But the illustrations of the same gives an impression of the book as a kids or young adults special read. Which it is not. The fonts used for title adds to the same impression. Possibly real photographs and use of different fonts could have made it better. The cheerful colors used on the cover page gives it a good lift though. So, we can say that the cover page is moderately good and reflects various elements of the tale explored within quite effectively, it could have been better at some elements.

Book Plot:

Nihal Singh Bajwa aka Nihal is a young and charming fellow who has a really magnetic personality. He is quite extrovert and flirting comes easily to him. One day he saw a girl in pink. The girl became an apple of his eye in the very moment he saw her approaching from her Royal Enfield. His primary goal from the point forward is to know more about her including her name!

Nihal’s family is small and we cannot call it very happy at the moment. His father Prof. Nirmaljit Singh Bajwa had to leave his job to take care of his wife Neena. Prof. Nirmal was now doing all he can; not just for his wife Neena, but he asked Nihal to go ahead and live in a different city to concentrate on his job and move ahead in his life.

Nihal lives with Neil who is much more than his friend. Both of them can communicate without using words.

Neil is engaged to Mannat and soon they are going to marry each other. Mannat’s father Col. Sanghu and mother Maninder are a happy couple who loves enjoying the life as it comes. And they raised their kids fantastically. The kids knew the values, morals, and ethics and care for the same when being modern.

Why prof Nirmal had to leave his job and what his wife is diagnosed with? Will Nihal move ahead in his personal life but at the same time be able to realize his duty towards his parents also? Who is the girl in the pink? Will Nihal be able to find her? So many questions right? Well, you need to read “A Turbulent Tale of Love” to know the answers. And over the course of the story, you will meet Rabani Sandhu, Ajay, Barkat, Resham, and others.

The book starts with some fantastic lines in the prologue itself.

… “Papa this is what I miss the most in Bangalore; Ma’s food and your jokes.” He looked at his mother. “Food is amazing ma. Yummy food, a loving mom and a doting father, what more can one ask from life?”
“You are lucky. For me, it’s a nagging wife, boiled food and all those ‘saas-bahu’ serials. My day starts with cereal and ends with serial,” Prof. Nirmal hyperbolized.

A happy and joyous middle-class family environment that one wants to live in, right? And, you can expect an interesting story to unfold. The scene however on the very next moment converted into an emotional one and you realize that despite being the first book of her as an author Shalu is good at exploring emotions and switching scenes.

The characters in the book are strong and explored at length. It takes time to see various layers of each of the characters but ultimately you absorb their persona. And, once you know them, you cannot resist liking them. The good thing is that despite being a love story it is not what we see in the name of love stories in many modern-day movies, TV Series and even books. It is a “real love” story. The author has added an intimate scene here, but it doesn’t make the things much odd.

Some so-called feminists can learn from the book about how stronger a character can be made regardless of his/her gender. Just wearing exposing clothes, getting hooked into adulteries and using abusive language actually has nothing to do with being strong, bold and modern. In fact, the female protagonists say that:

You know, Nihal, we are raised in such a way so as to respect other’s decisions, but at the same time, not get influenced by them.

So, she is very clear about what she should do and what she doesn’t. The way she behaves like a rock-solid support to her lover and does nothing which should hurt him; is the representation of pure love where you want to give everything but expect nothing. Also the way prof. Nirmal takes care of her wife shows that it is not only a female’s responsibility to take care of the family. Possibly the time comes when the roles are switched and one has to accept it wholeheartedly, not just for the sake of it. In prof. Nirmal’s words:

Don’t think that I am doing some kind of a favour to your mother. She always stood by me through my thick and thin, then how can I leave her alone now, when it’s my turn to stand by her? I have seen the best of times with her. You don’t worry, everything will be alright. It’s just a matter of time. This too shall pass. You don’t understand the power of love. The day you find someone who would hold your hand throughout your life, it will all become very easy for you to understand. Life is not always as bad as it looks.

Some of the romantic lines are witty too:

You are late Mr. Bajwa, I have already fallen for you first.
…
You need a heart to hear what I said, not just ears, Nihal.

I like the way the female protagonist breaks away the stereotype, especially the one we see in the movies and TV Shows. She understands the importance of money and even gives advise in the same regards to her male counterpart. And, at the same time, she takes care in choosing words in a way to not to hurt him.

“You can, but when I ask you for one. Nihal, it takes a lot of effort to earn money and I don’t want you wasting it on me like that. I don’t even ask my dad for all these things now, since I have started earning” she said politely. “All I want from you is your love and affection. Bu the way, you brought this for me and I loved it”.

She is very wise and can utter something philosophical too.

All I mean to say is, things will change only if we try to change them.

And she is quite different in her attitude also.

“I don’t like to waste time fighting. Remember, you once told me that you never meant me any harm? I believe that…”

The author has a good way of showing emotions. For example:

Her eyes were swimming.

How beautifully and without using a lot of words she conveyed the emotional state of a character?! Through the character of a wise elder, the author gives some nice advise which you can expect from any genuine father.

“My son needs someone to hold his hand in his good times and bad, through his ups and downs, his thick and thin. I see that in you, Rabani. Hold him when he is low or weak. It’s just a difficult phase and shall pass soon. All you need to do is to be a bit patient with him and I know you can do it.

The positive attitude and optimism are there in the book. When a character utters the following you can understand her beliefs and can see her faith in the words she utter.

If He takes away something from us, He blesses us in many other ways. All you need to do is just to believe in Him. I am sure He has a plan for you and your Ma too.

So, when there come a few scenes where someone may find a female character submissive and a little vulnerable and may question the author’s inclination towards male-dominant society or something; you should be sure, that the author knows what she is writing and she never considers gender as the deciding factor.

I can see the flair of Indian tradition (which is rare to be seen these days) and values. A person raised in the typical Indian environment can relate to it quite easily. The author talks about marriage in quite simple words:

Marriage is a beautiful institution, a bond shared by two people. However different they may be from each other, they accept each other with all their differences and shortcomings.

So, this is a love story explored genuinely which is developed between Bangalore and Delhi. There are modern and traditional aspects weaved nicely. So despite a few limitations, the book is actually a nice read. It will remind you some movies by Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Barjatyas and others. The author’s love for the uniform is indirectly visible in the book :). Actually, there are some other points I want to mention, however I need to restrict myself as I want to keep the review as much spoiler free as much possible, like all other reviews at ThinkerViews.

Summary:

If you love to explore genuine love stories which talks about realities without being much melodramatic; and have a love for family values, morals and traditions India is loved fore, you will enjoy reading it for sure.

Definitely 7.5 to 8 out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Paperback Edition
• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle EBook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback Edition
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle EBook

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