A MOVING TALE OF SILENT LOVE

Book: My Mute Girlfriend Author: Himanshu Rai

College romance is a genre which is liked by readers for they can delve into a nostalgic reminiscence of their own college days, but sometimes the storylines are very much similar. Thus, readers like to read stories with a fresh perspective or with some romantic distinctiveness. The author Himanshu Rai comes up with such a book “My mute girlfriend”, which details a true romantic love story with an unconventional premise.
The storyline follows the exceptional love story of Rohan and Vaidehi. Rohan is a telecom professional posted in Meerut and he misses Vaidehi, his girlfriend from college days, who had stopped interacting with him without giving any reason. Although she always stood by his side and her eyes reflected immense love for him, but even then, she didn’t speak to him all those years and became his mute girlfriend. The book opens with an SMS from Vaidehi to Rohan, which she has sent after five long years. But before he could reply, his mobile gets damaged and he wanders in his memories to narrate the story to the reader, about how his girlfriend became his mute girlfriend after their first year of engineering college. The book then goes on to unravel the answer as to why Vaidehi didn’t speak to him for so long.
The characters are charismatic, but as the book is a college romance, are also a bit cliché. However, rich renderings by the author of their traits and quirks make them appealing to the reader. The Indian college romance storyline which happens in an engineering college is also somewhat clichéd, but the unusual premise of the girlfriend not talking to her boyfriend and the twists and turns in the story, told through flashbacks, makes it interesting and brings complexity to the narrative. Though one gets a drift of where the story is progressing, the climax is unpredictable and the book is an engrossing read. The writing style is simple and suitable for mass audiences, with not much use of adorned words. However, more work could’ve been done on sentence formation and adroit editing also needs to be done at places.
This is a book that deftly deals with emotions of love and hate; and offers a different premise to a compelling love story, though the college romance with its pleasant characters is somewhat clichéd. This book will delight fans of the Indian romance genre, and should be read by those looking for a nuanced romantic setting with likeable characters; and elements of emotional complexities, revelatory heft and simple narration.