Biswajit Bhattacharya

Vijay Shankar in his maiden book has resorted to a very different way of storytelling. It is simple and reader friendly with requisite details about the North Indian customs and traditions for the less informed readers and recapitulations throughout the narration which obviates the need of back reference. The autobiography captures the tribulations of growing up in cantonment and a small town with limited resources on either side of India’s economic liberalisation. The ease with which he has taken failures in his stride without pushing hard enough to enhance his material standing is in stark contrast with the perseverance with which he has pursued his desires and passions with total disregard towards the norms of society. The author has been very candid in recounting his journey from watching cabaret at the age of 14, visiting a brothel at a tender age without knowing about coitus, courting his spouse and subsequently engaging in a full blown extramarital affair which went much beyond the realm of mere physical relationship. In doing so, the ease with which he has recounted details of his titillating fetish (at times comical) and acrimony with his spouse provides an insight into the mind of a middle class individual whose resource limitation and multiple setbacks did not deter his quest to continuously strive for things he wanted. It is evident from raw narrations and use of non-standard terms that the autobiography has been compiled without the assistance of any pseudo-writer and hence needs to be read at least once for its contents and the essence it conveys.