ZIDD! by Hetansh Desai | Book Review

Since a few months, we are getting overwhelming response to our unbiased book reviews and we are happy for that, obviously :). Adding to the list, Hetansh Desai approached us with his book – Zidd!. This book review is unbiased as always.

We have a special feeling for the author who genuinely come up with fresh writing. The genre could be fantasy fiction, self help, motivational, crime thriller, a simple love story or something similar; but only an author with good imagination can come up with something very fresh.

Zidd! contains many things which you might already have read somewhere else, but there are some unique elements and fresh attributes, which makes it a delightful read, at least in parts.

Let us take a look at the book cover page.

Book Cover:

If you are a regular reader of ThinkerViews, you are familiar with our feelings for the cover page of the book. No matter how many times we say “Never judge a book from its cover” but we tend to do the same. We love beauty and attractive cover page attracts (that is why it is attractive :)) towards the media it is associated with it, and there can be no denial for that fact.

The cover page of the book interesting. If a cover page reflect the content of the book rightly, it can be considered perfect. The cover page of the book (as you can see above), shows the railway station board (Maninagar) in Gujarati, and many other objects, which all are important part of the book. And thus, we can give distinction mark to the cover page, for its attractiveness and details combined.

Book Plot:

The book is revolved around two young and aspiring fellows from Gujarat, India. Parth is the only son of a tea-stall (if we can consider it – a stall) owner, who stands outside of the Maninagar Railway station in Ahmadabad. His father is not a wealthy one, but he knows the basics of business quite well. As it is said, the business (or shall we say bijness – as it is referred in the book 🙂 ) runs in the vein of the Gujarati people. And he considers “selling” as the first step of business (rightly). So, Parth (well, he is still Chotu – pronounce: Chhotu) got the first lesson of business from his father. Why? Well, Makar Sankranti (the day remembered for kite flying – 14^th of January) is approaching, and Chotu wanted to buy a kite, but it needs him to spend two rupees! And, his father want his son to earn those two rupees.

There is a businessman from Rajkot who wanted his son to learn the basics of business (and they don’t call it bijness 🙂 ). He want his son Vihaan to come up with something which can let them sell a large number of kites! And, the boy comes up with an idea that worked!

Time doesn’t stop for anyone or anything. Eventually, the kids are grown into youth. Chotu’s father are no more! But the lessons he taught Chotu are with him. And, Chotu got moderate success by following them. In fact, he is doing good. And he is very good at sales. He helps a company in selling the copies of its accounting software. Over the course, we meet with Mr. Vraj Jadeja from Morbi.

Chotu is given a name now, Parth. By whom? Well, you can get it from the book. Somehow, Parth and Vihaan meet, and they get along quite well. They become friends, partners and brothers! There comes a girl named Raina. No, no, it is not a love triangle 🙂 . What is the “Zidd!” then? And, how does the title fits in with the story? You can read the book to get answers.

Views and Reviews:

I will try my level best to avoid as many spoilers as possible, but please read with the consent that some of them are inevitable. We will talk about various aspects of the book by quoting some stuff from it to give you a fair idea about its content and quality.

It is one of the rare English books where the plot is setup in Rajkot, Ahmedabad and other areas of Gujarat. The book has explored the middle class people’s way of living quite well in the book. These days it is getting off the board and lavish lifestyle and modern setups are taking over the same. The author must be appreciated for the same.

I like the way the basics of business is implanted into Parth by his father; Earning two rupees to buy a kite – the first step to be self-sufficient. The author infuses a fantastic business lesson in the book:

Do sales. Being a good salesman is the first step to being a good bijnessman.

If you have such a great teacher who has learnt the lessons from the life itself, he don’t need to be an MBA, for sure. And, sometimes, life leave you no scope, but do come as a winner from the tagic most situations and circumstance. It is not a choice, it is the only way to survive.

With due respect to negotiation abilities of people, there are occasions when life throws circumstances at them with absolutely no scope for discussion.

The author is good at wordplays. Here is an interesting piece of writing from the book, in the same context:

You wanted checkmate. Here is your cheque, mate.

Simply brilliant!

And it is not just the only one. There are many such lines we can quote. For example:

Under the Board of Governors, there were people who were bored of governors – the DG and the deans of various schools.

You are going to love it while reading, for sure.

If you love exploring poetic lines, the book has some for you. Eg:

At some place, far off in the twilight,
There existed some charm.
That night it was in the sight,
When Vihaan’s hype met Raina’s calm.

And, unlike some Bollywood movie songs, it explores some aspects of the story as well.

The book is primarily written for young adults. In some aspects it is inspirational, and at the same time, the author takes care that it make a connection with the target readers. He explores the college life pretty effectively in the book. And, when you come across lines like the following, you won’t be able to forget them soon.

College life, has a life of its own.

Very true! Right? For many readers, it will start the flashback chain of incidents.

And, at the same time, the author doesn’t let go a chance to have a sarcastic take on the boring lectures :).

If education exists, it exists in those numb, hefty morning lectures, where knowledge is loaded like ammunition in a tank and blasted at the students.

The sarcasm is not limited to studies only…

He was awarded a stare by his dear papa.

The author is good at exploring characters. Be it a young one or a mature one, be it a rich one or a poor one. The characters got alive in the book. And, that is the success of the author. And, he creates some parallel stream where you can easily compare. Of course, Parth-Vihaan duo is one of the examples, so does the character of Dave-Wagh. While, Dave was a man of rich philosophy; Wagh was only very rich.

The book also explores the political games played in almost all the aspects of a life. Be it a student life or professional one, be it family relations or friendship, business competition or anything else. The world is competitive, and that is the reality. The author also mentions some harsh rules to play by, during these tricky times.

Trap the queen, disturb the king and then unleash your queen.

By now you must have got a fair idea about the book content. It is like a masala film, a complete commercial package that you will enjoy reading.

The book has its share of proof reading errors also, for example:

The PDP in PDPU stands for Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya – the celebrated Indian….

Actually PDPU stands for Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Petrolium Univeristy – so, PDP’s full form misses a word – Petrolium.

However, a regular reader may ignore these misses and enjoy reading it as a whole package. The book, though explores philosphy doesn’t get philosophical, explores realities but doesn’t get boring. And, that is what a regular reader is looking for, during his reading escapades over the weekend or during a travel.

Summary:

A book exploring parallel threads of various lives belong to different social and economical setup. It eventually explore business lessons and elaborates “games of life”! Reading this book is like watching a commercial film, setup in Gujarati arena.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 7.5 stars out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - Zidd! by Hetansh Desai - Paperback - Amazon IN
• Buy - Zidd! by Hetansh Desai - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
• Buy - Zidd! by Hetansh Desai - Paperback - Amazon US
• Buy - Zidd! by Hetansh Desai - Kindle EBook - Amazon US

Over To You:

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