Title Once upon the tracks of Mumbai
Author Rishi Vohra
Publisher Jaico publishing house
Language English
Genre Fiction
Binding paperback
Price Rs 175
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rishi Vohra relocated back to Mumbai after completing a Green MBA.He has been a guest columnist for various newspapers in India and currently writes for Delwine and is a certified specialist of Wine.It’s his debut novel
STORY
The main protagonist Balwant Shrivastava ,nickname Babloo ,doesn’t fit into the family frame quite well as he has his own ways to perceive and penetrate through situations.Burdened with the tags like “different” , “Schizophrenic”, “autistic” ,”psychotic” this young guy pushes his life amidst the local train tracks in a railway colony of dream city Mumbai .It was very difficult for him to catch up with the high pace of spoken words, still he could manage to complete his studies,but sadly could not find any job and position among the sane heads .Some incidents took place and he met a rather stronger person within himself .The society started identifying this “Babloo ” as RAIL MAN.
Another character of the story, Sikander ,Who use to play off with Babloo’s emotions just for the sake of entertainment.The colony girls were being cajoled coaxed and finally dumped for his mere physical pleasure.
Vandana ,an independent girl with Neoteric vision, audacious attitude, big dreams to fly high, pretty face,strong of character and soft at heart, she was the only one with whom Babloo use to be, as he is . With time Babloo had a secret affection for her and dreamt Vandana to be her life partner . Sikandar promised Babloo to convey his(Babloo’s) feelings to Vandana but his(Sikandar’s) sickening intentions were of playing a game to entrap her in his web.
Babloo’s younger brother Raghu , arrogant by nature, overvalued and considered to be the big gun of the family as he excelled in his studies and grabbed a respectable job in the stock market.Parents wanted him to be in a wedlock with Vandana.
Did Sikander succeed in his iniquitous motive ? Was Babloo able to express his feelings to Vandana ?How did Babloo became a real life hero? What incidents took place in Raghu’s life?With whom did Vandana tied a knot? Did the story ended on a happy note or a sad one?
If you are curious to know the answers to the above questions ,go and grab a copy ..It’s absolutely worth the read.
My Views
Quite an engrossing tale with twists into twists being interestingly amalgamated.Each character is so intricately woven with each other making the entire plot quite convincing.There is a genuine portrayal of the problems,the feelings,the thought process of an autistic person,in the story.Lucid style of writing. Elegant way to capture the flow of sentiments .Somehow one finds that these events are happening just next door .One could relate to it so well. Somewhere in between one has to push oneself to turn the pages but soon the track is being caught hold which makes the journey of reading quite enjoyable. Conceptualization of the story is extraordinary and it becomes all the more enthralling by the author’s skill of putting it in a simple and honest way.
The author could have done away with the repetitions of raunchy bits of ‘C’ grade movies , and the exaggerations of the fight sequences of the RAIL MAN .A little less of Bollywood masala sprinkled would have given even more of the realistic feel.Nevertheless it was out and out an entertaining read.
RATING – 7.5/10
I really look forward to Rishi’s upcoming books …
It’s an author requested review .For further insight into the book kindly visit www.rishivohra.com
P.S My heartfelt gratitude to the author Rishi Vohra for having sent me an autographed copy of his book for review.
ODIzzEY 
Brilliant review. The author is quite new to me. Anyway, will pick up the book.