There are so many people around us and each one of them has a story of his own . But we often fail to understand those untold stories. Sorry….Again ???— Can He Purge His Sins ? by Amit Singh is a book that tells us such a story , the story of a small-town boy Sid , his struggle with life and his intricate story of love.
The plot opens as we see Sid stealthily creeping out of his apartment as if he is a perpetrator and is leaving the city of Kolkata for some unknown reasons. It immediately raises the curiosity as what are the plausible explanations for such a behaviour. Different shades of Sid’s life open up slowly as we become aware of his past and present . But future has so many unexpected twists and turns in store for him , that he becomes a mere marionette in the hands of Destiny .
Sid , an exuberant young man from a small town of Odisha , comes to Kolkata for higher studies along with his friend Akaash . After struggling with their studies they somehow manage to get decent jobs and Sid continues to stay in Kolkata , while Akaash with another job shifts to Bengaluru , mostly for the reason that her girlfriend Neha resides there. While staying in Kolkata , Sid comes in contact with his next-door-neighbour , Madhumita , a bodacious Bengali girl . He falls for her charm and the relationship acts as an eye-opener for him to mark the differences between infatuation and true love . His clandestine affair and sensual relationship with Madhumita gradually was taking the shape of a marriage , though the interest was one sided , from the girl in this case. So to save himself from the commitment Sid breaks his promise and disappears all of a sudden from Madhumita’s life on a crucial day . Madhumita gets married to someone else.
No , Sid is not a heartless fellow , his past with Madhumita continuously haunts him and he is well aware of the fact that he has committed something that can even be called a sin . But a love-less marriage is something like a soul-less body and he never wants to join in wedlock with someone he doesn’t love. He , in the meantime , gets relocated to Bengaluru It is at this juncture of life another girl resurfaces in his life . Mallika , as he knew her when they first met three years ago . Now Sid begins to understand the true meaning of love . But Mallika ( or Anushka) has a past , a past shrouded in mystery , a past from which she wants to run away . Her angelic face sometimes shows signs of deep pathos and pains .
As Sid continues to discover life in a newer way with Mallika , Destiny again interferes . Someone is against this relationship and a dirty game of power and money begins to devour Siddharth slowly but surely. Will Sid be able to stand for his love against all odds ? Or will he behave in the same way as he did earlier with Madhumita ? Will he ruin another life ? Again ?
The character of Sid is a complex one and the author has shown his excellence in portraying him . The dreams and desires of a young man , his continuous conflict with his inner self , his dilemma , love for family all have been drawn with subtlety . Sometimes he even speaks like a philosopher when he says ” When women talk non-sense, they don’t allow you to speak but when they talk sense, you don’t find words to say. ”
The story has a couple of sub-plots but never do any of them overlap the other . Though they work together but their activities have less impact on the ” world ” of the protagonist and all of them combine together to give a ” full ” effect at the end .
The description of the cities involved , Kolkata and Bengaluru is vivid and one can easily relate her/himself with it . The author has an eye for picking even the minute details.
Some Things Which I Don’t Like
The character of Mallika or Anushka is weakly built . Primarily her activities are shown in a way that the reader could take her as a strong , self-made Generation Y girl . But later she becomes quite vulnerable and too feminine and the transformation comes all of a sudden.
I fail to understand how Madhumita wrote such a letter . Too much of a sixth sense there to apprehend all those things which she had mentioned in it .
There are a few editing errors , which I hope would be rectified in the next edition. This sometimes mars the pleasure of reading.
Overall , a good read , a cocktail of love , lust and suspense.
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From my side it’s 3.5/5
About The Author
The third and the last installment of his parent’s contribution towards the ever-increasing population of India came in 1978 when he took his first breath in a small town in Odisha. After absorbing the essence of its critical values and unshackling the barriers of its complicated mindset, he left the small town after graduation and thus started the odyssey, of learning and unlearning the various perspectives of life, and towards building a career, of course, for survival and a bit of comfort. He has shuffled between Kolkata and Bangalore for professional reasons. A chartered accountant and a Banker for last 9 years; he is presently in Bangalore.
He is married to somebody, whom he loves since he was fourteen. She is presently a homemaker but an extremely busy woman; really, it takes a lot to raise a six years old kid (his daughter) and the toddler in him. He has been writing short stories in his blog http://theshittanalysis.blogspot.in
“Sorry… Again???” is his first novel
View the Facebook page of the book.
View the Facebook page of the author .
Good review makes this book sound really gooood 🙂
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Thanks Ananya… 🙂
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This is quite a thorough review, Maniparna! Seems like some interesting characters in the story there. You are having quite a blast reading and reviewing so many books these days 🙂
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Thanks Beloo..yes ..a lot more to come this month… 🙂 I love reading …
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An honest review…Good that you have pointed out both sides – likes and dislikes…
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Thanks for the compliment Jayanta… 🙂 the book was a pleasure read though…
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Nice review as usual, Mani!
Authors love the name Sid, right?!
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Thanks Anita..
Yes , I was thinking the same..authors love the name Sid..sounds cool and hep ..I think.. 😀
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Nicely Reviewed.
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Thanks ..:-)
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Intriguing book it appears
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Yes ..it is..lots of twists and turns… 🙂
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Its really cool that you read so many books at such great pace :). This I believe is almost the second or 3rd review I saw this weak. That’s really really impressive. Way to go Maniparna 🙂
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Thanks Vinay… yes , have 5 more books to review this month…. 😀 finding it now a tad difficult …time-management 😦
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5 more ?! My god!!! Godspeed Maniparna 🙂 ..
That’s tough indeed. But with this rate I’m sure you’re gonna finish ahead of deadline 🙂
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Thanks for the wish….I too hope so… 🙂
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Good review and good book!
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Thanks..it’s really an enjoyable read… 🙂
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Liked you review. Will surely read if I get my hands on it.
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Thanks ..I hope you’ll like the book… 🙂
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The theme, as you told in your language seems quite interesting. Will buy at airport and read in flight as im taking my Granny(Grazié- my daughter) and her Mam’aa to South Africa this vacation. Grazie wanna see ‘painted dogs’, ‘Rhino’, and ‘GODZILLA’. Thanks to Discovery.
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Next I wanna know whether you are an Owl like me who doesn’t sleep in nights. Or you are an early bird who unlike me wakes up at 3:30 and posts a review at 4:00AM.?
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Haha..nice..love to Grazie ..wish you a safe and happy journey… 🙂
Oh..I didn’t know that you’re out there on 3.30 am 😀 😀
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Nice and detailed review . The story looks good . I think I’ll go for this one .
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Let me know how you liked it… 🙂
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