Book Review: I am Papa

Author:  Pranav Bhattacharya

Format: papaerback
Language: English
Pages: 246
Price: 150 (cheaper on internet retailers)

Publishers: Expression publishing

“It is burden of being a father- retirement never seems blissful!”- quoting a papa I know of. The cover of the book-“I am PAPA” gives you a half profile of an old man- you might begin to wonder- a half face profile?—I guess it is meant to bring out the ordinary feature of any senior citizen, any father, any retired man and anyone who harbors more acumen that what meets the eye. And Prof. Arya is one such a man. Like all other senior academics he thought retired would be blissful- a span of life that would be void of running about, attending classes, and carrying out the burden of a man in service.

And troubles are known to come to your home unannounced-the youngest son of the house goes missing. It is a question of decision- a test of self criticism- for a man who had lived half of his life demeaning the boy, considering him nothing better than a day dreamer- where he should go on, how should he take action and  look for the bemused prodigal. The story is about a father’s journey from one place to the other, a journey where he meets people from all walks of life, rubs shoulders with sadhus who can cross all limits of indecency. He encounters social figures living under the belly of metro cities, flies off to unknown destinations with pimps and human traffickers so as to say. The plot will, in short never give you a reason to stop at one place. A book that carries the essence of movies like “a Wednesday”, “sarhansh”- it is easy to follow the shadow of a man who is in search of his son, and it is equally painful to become a by stander to watch panic stricken faces of the older son and the grieving mother. Help comes for places least expected- think of a high profile prostitute joining the search party- a foreign small time news channel making a show stopper out of a humble teacher. Yes, it does sound like ‘Ripley’s believe it or not”- but as a part of a racy story- all the twists and turns fall in place one after the other.

I believe something should be kept incomplete- just like the story of Karina and Mel. They clandestine relation even if pictured out in reality would stop at a dead end. Otherwise- the story should go on and find its own way in the form of a sequel- we need to know what happens to Prof. Arya, how well does Sunil understand the strange way of his father’s sacrifice and adoration? And we need to know how the Saffron clad brigade of the now exterminated Big Man retaliates?!

About the author:

Pranav Bhattacharya is a Banker by profession.  An engineer by initial training, he went to business school at the University of Texas at Dallas for an MBA. He lived and worked in the US for 10 years, before he moved back to India, to become a part of her success story.

Pranav has been married for almost a decade, and lives in Pune with his wife and 2 children.

He presently works for a Financial services provider in Pune.

Further details:

website: www.pranavbhattacharya.com

contact author at: bhattacharya.pranav@gmail.com        Mob number : 9552561011