Girl Alone

The worm loves reading. And it is a rare occasion when she finds a book that is just barely tolerable. And unfortunately Rupa Gulab’s ‘Girl Alone’ is one of those rarities.

About a Calcutta-born, cough syrup addicted woman, who is forcibly sent to Bombay for a job as a copywriter by her mother – or else an arranged marriage. She lives in a hostel where she finds herself, two best friends as well as a good man to top it all. You might want to call it a much less enjoyable Indian version of a Bridgette Jones’ Diary.

Arti, the protagonist, is addicted to cough syrup. She plunges head first it to a bottle whenever life kicks her in the shins. She makes abundant references to songs from varied genres of music sighting them all as her “rock collection”. And seeing as how she mightily quotes from intellectual books (think existentialism), it is unlikely that Arti herself, would be caught dead reading a book like ‘Girl Alone’.

It claims to help a single girl survive in Bombay with all the sleazy men abound, the back stabbing advertising world and the like. Interesting to note that one of her two sleazes is from Delhi. Hmmmm, that sounds about right.

The worm is not saying that the book is a terrible read – but she definitely does not recommend it as one of the good ones. It is sporadically witty and sporadically enlightening when it comes to the ways of the Bombay male – but mostly it has forced puns, lame comparisons and roll-your-eyes subjects, a sadly predictable ending.

The worm will admit though that if you want a light read-on-a-long-distance-bus-and-then-sell-it-at-a-flea-market kind of book, this is it.

Or if you have a really long, bad day in the toilet and have no time to be picky.


Worm Rating - Highly Blah