Men and Dreams in Dhauladhar
Men and Dreams In the Dhauladhar is a debut book written by Kochery C Shibu which has won critical acclaim.
This book is set in the backdrop of the Dhauladhar mountain range in the Himalayas. Though the book has many characters, the story revolves around three main characters – Nanda, Khusru and Rekha.
Nanda is a civil engineer who has a troubling past and has been running from the law. He ran away from his home in Kerala after being involved in a family feud unwillingly. He found escape in the snowy mountains in the Dhauladhar where he works in the hydropower project.
Khusru is a Kashmiri young boy who lost his family in the partition. He later became an ISI operative.
Rekha is a doctor by profession and a kathak dancer by passion. Struck by her beauty, there were many suitable men at her feet but she was in search for that one guy who would make her heart dance.
What happens when fate brings these three different people together?
First thoughts:
When I first received the kindle version of the book to be reviewed, I was having mixed feelings about it. The title seemed so different and I loved the book cover. With a new found curiosity, I started the book.
What i loved about the book:
My curiosity rose when they introduced the first character. The introduction of the first character showed that there were many layers hidden in his persona but they didn’t give too much away, which kept me as a reader, intact.
The landscape and the scenery were beautifully described by the author. We could picture the beautiful snowy mountain ranges in the Dhauladhar.
The characters of this book hail from many different places and it was exciting to learn about their backgrounds, their ethnicity and experiences etc. The plot of the story is brilliant. There were many subplots and the build-ups in certain parts would undoubtedly raise the anticipation of any reader. There is no doubt that the author managed to bring together a different yet a refreshing story.
I loved how the three main characters were totally different from each other and yet their worlds collided. This book has the story and the theme that no one would want to put themselves in. what I love the most about this book, is the love the people have for their land or for their country or for their dance form. I also loved how the characters grew on me as the story progressed. We get to learn more about the character and the story flowed seamlessly with each character.
What i disliked about the book:
What I didn’t like about the book is the detailed description of the characters and their background. In my opinion, there was a lot of pages dedicated to just describing unnecessary details about the character. Even halfway through the book the description was too detailed that I was scared we would get less of a story. But the story managed to come off well at the end.
I also didn’t like how the story seemed to slow down near halfway through the book. The start of the book kept the mysteries under wraps and when the mysteries and the theme were revealed, the story seemed a bit less interesting but the story moved forward, though slowly.
There were a lot of technical terms used in this book, as one would expect in a story that focuses around the construction of a hydropower project. I felt that the climax of the story was good but it could have been better with action packed or fast paced narration. I felt that there were some loose ends in the story and I felt that some storylines were concluded hastily.
Overall thoughts:
This book is a definite one time read. Everyone must give this book a read for its unique storyline. This is my honest review of the book. I would rate it 3/5.
