Book Review: A Hundred Little Flames by Preeti Shenoy

COVER - A Hundred Little Flames by Preeti Shenoy1
Name of the book: A Hundred Little Flames
Author: Preeti Shenoy
Publisher: Westland
Pages: 400
Ease of reading: 4/5
Time to complete: 3-4 hours
Preeti Shenoy, the name invokes images of stories about women going off to complete their to-do lists, dealing with abandonment, and the usual brouhaha about worthless men and loyal wives. Preeti nailed it more than once with her heart-wrenching stories.
AHLF is the story of Aryan and his grandpa, Gopal Shanker. Aryan travels from Pune to a remote village in Kerala and starts living with Gopal. Their lives intermerge and Aryan discovers little endearing things about himself, his father, and his grumpy grandpa.
Like how old houses are built to take you on a journey to another world, in this story too, Aryan and Gopal traverse back in time to unravel certain forgotten memories. During the course of their daily conversations, Aryan discovers facets of his near and dear ones and marvels at the way relationships change once harsh truths surface.
Jairaj, Gopal's son and Aryan's father, is a domineering arrogant man with a plan of his own. He tries manipulating his aging father to accede to his demands without thinking about the old man's wishes and convenience. Gopal starts mentioning Rohini making Jairaj fume and Aryan wonder. The story unfolds beautifully after this.
A few months is all it takes for Aryan to understand the true nature of people he has spent his lifetime with, namely, his parents, his aunt, and understand the affection that his grandpa has for him. Aryan is forced to confront the worst: greed and deception in  order to save his grandpa from the clutches of money-minded goons.
Aryan settles in the Kerala village enough to let it soothe his hurt and help him evolve: into a better person and understand where his joy lies. While traversing the memory lane with his grandpa, he also encounters Shivani, a girl with a past. Though there is an attraction, Aryan is not yet ready to leave behind his apprehension about relationships and move on. After his little tryst with his Grandpa's past memoirs, Aryan wishes for a relationship that. Aryan discovers some neatly written diaries written by Gopal and reads them with great curiosity and rides the memory lane, recalling his vacations and his adventures with his cousin, Nithya. Many unanswered questions throng the mind of the 26-year old Aryan, making him rebel against his domineering father. Some decisions are life changing. But, mostly, all decisions are to be taken keeping in mind the sensitivities of other people and family members of course. When one forgets to tread this path lightly, destruction of relationships and sorrow follows leaving in its wake broken hearts and bleeding wounds. Gopal Shanker rediscovers the love of his life with the help of his grandson Aryan and Aryan discovers the courage to take the correct steps in his life after coming to Thekke Madom.
All's well that ends well, they say.
When certain words need to be said in order to heal wounds, one needs to deliver them at the right moment. Else, if the time goes by, that moment goes by and leaves behind a mist. A mist of uncertainty. Preeti's story-telling abilities are one of a kind. Among her peers, Preeti stands out because of her simplicity and her eagerness.
Her narrative is always easy to read devoid of heavy sounding words that serve no other purpose than to show off the dictionary-rummaging skills of the author.
Rating: ****
Verdict: A must read for all those who love a nice heart-tugging story written Preeti-ishtyle

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