The latest book in the market, The Mumbai Monsoon, by Kanika Saini, is a contemporary fiction that deals with the journey of three women, Ruby, Simi and Ayesha, from different walks of life, and how a monsoon in Mumbai embarks them on a journey to take charge of their lives.
The young female author has very sensitively handled the character of a 20-year-old sex-worker, Ruby, in the book. She is a young woman with a truly young heart and carries big dreams and hopes in her eyes while seeking respect for herself. Having lived the worst of the traumas and betrayals, she comes out as a very strong woman, truly justifying her character. From having the strength to come out of the darkness of her past, to daring to dream, this woman’s character is empowering and will leave a lasting impact on the readers. The author has rightly managed to put to words the hardships of the most disrespected professions of all, and at the same time made it clear that how most of the time, prostitution is not a profession of choice, but a consequence of helplessness. Also, the issue of unprotected sex and violence comes to light in this book.
Being a Bollywood journalist, the author gives a sneak-peek into the life behind glamour which the world doesn’t often get to see. The book will introduce you to the world of Ayesha, a leading Bollywood actress, having all the fame and luxuries anyone could ever aspire to have. Hefty amounts of money, parties of grandeur, and trips sometimes we only dream for our entire lives, this woman is living a life full of glam. Keeping the glow on her face intact, and her health and physique absolutely fit, she is a dead woman inside. And that’s more or less, an understatement. Her life is a testimony to the saying that “Money doesn’t buy happiness”. The character is definitely relatable but surely not the one you would fall in love with. It somehow seems ironic how having lived in the city of dreams for most of her life and living the dream life of many, Ayesha herself lacks dreams for herself. She comes out as a rather depressing character.
Another prominent character in the book is that of Simi, a middle-class happy-go-lucky Punjabi girl, who is married into the city of dreams, Mumbai. From a dreamy wedding to being blessed with motherhood, she had all she could dream of. But life unfolds her to some bitter truths, where she had to deal with the struggles of surviving in a city as expensive as Mumbai while taking care of her child, a job and the household. All in all, this character is a perfect description of what an average Indian woman sometimes has to go through in her life.
This book will run the reader through a plethora of emotions, primarily dealing with betrayal, trauma, love and hope. Accounts of sneak peek into the past lives of these women from time to time truly help the reader better understand the characters and the lives of these women. Despite being poles apart in terms of the lives they have led, the struggles they have had, their life is somehow woven into a single thread of choice and hope.
‘The Mumbai Monsoon’ is definitely going to one of the must-read fiction books of 2022. The book releases on January 14 on Amazon and Flipkart.
Author Kanika Saini works as a senior journalist at a leading entertainment portal in Mumbai. Her previous book ‘The Day I Met Him’ received rave reviews from Indian readers.
