Book: Love Across the Borders
Author: Sudama Chandra Panigrahi
Publisher: All About Books Global
Genre: Romance
Pages: 242
Price: Rs 299/-
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review: ‘Love Across the Borders’ is a
romantic novel which depicts the tale of cross-border and cross-cultural love.
Despite being primarily of romance genre, the novel has strong political
undertones and highlights the real-life tension that sporadically brews between
India and China.
In quintessence, the story revolves around
Jia, a Chinese girl, and Jivan, an Indian boy, and manifests a tale which
begins in a shabby hospital in Jharsuguda and concludes across the borders in
Beijing City Hospital. Between the two hospitals and between the 240-odd pages,
the script goes through its ups & downs meandering through alleys of happy courtship
and stopping by at baleful bylanes of conflict and turbulence.
The first few chapters pack the maximum
punch, as the reader gets drawn into the entwined lives of the protagonists who
discover each other in the dingy hospital room after suffering grave injuries
in a bomb blast. The author Sudama Chandra Panigrahi wastes no time in heavy
introductions and paints the gruesome scene of a bomb blast right at the
beginning, thereby making the reader sit up and take notice. Jia and Jivan, two
perfect strangers and common victims of the tragedy, bump into each other in a
local hospital! It is a sheer joy for a reader to flip through those pages when
they develop feelings for each other during their long stay in the hospital.
The author must be credited for choosing
such a unique setting for the romance to blossom. He keeps teasing our
imagination by incorporating touchy-feely scenes during late hours of the night
in the common hospital room that our protagonists share. It is also a big
respite from the clichéd forms of romance which we are being served by oodles
of modern-day authors.
However, once Jia & Jivan get
discharged, the pace of the narrative slows down a bit, and their romance is
confronted by multiple hurdles ranging from individual protests to political
tensions. Amidst the conflicts, they keep their flame alive, but separation
seems inevitable.
The novel concludes on a happy-sad note.
The titles of the final chapters could have been chosen more wisely, since they
tend to give away the surprise.
As for the writing, Sudama’s style is reminiscent
of classic authors. He beautifully plays with the words and flirts with
phrases, evoking awe and bringing back memories of greats like Munshi
Premchand. The author seems to have done a meticulous amount of research on the
Sino-Indian relationship and incorporates several real-life political events in
a very effortless manner.
There are a few other characters that blend
with the story naturally and help take it forward. The most notable amongst
them is Srabani, a one-time love of Jivan, and who, as she’d say, ‘gets lucky’
towards the end.
Overall, the novel makes for an engaging read.
It has all the elements of a troubled love story and is a palatable concoction
of life, death, war & peace.
Note: The book is available in uRead and can be bought here.
~By Ritesh Agarwal
Email: ritzy182000@gmail.com
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