Book Review - May i hebb your attention pliss

A friend of mine, with whom I spent my time in the torture chamber that Kolkata was, forwarded me an address to a blog written by some Bengali Chap called Arnab Ray about a week or two back. The blog can be referred here. Initially I was a bit skeptic about the blog because… well frankly I have not had a great track record with understanding a Bengali mind and frankly found some of the Bengali literature to be way over my head. In fact, if I have to guesstimate it I would say obher the head of most of da pipil. But from the moment I read the first (or is it the latest) post on the blog, I was hooked on to it. The satiric, sarcastic writing of the dude is so interesting to read especially since I am a great fan of that sort of writing. I liked it so much that within a couple of days, I ordered the newly written book of Arnab – “may i hebb your attention pliss”. And what a delight it turned out to be. 

I do recommend that you read the book but first some important things that need to be mentioned-

1) It is not a novel. It does not have any story. The book is divided in chapters and there is no interconnecting links between them except that they have been written by the same demented mind.

2) It provides a view of the world from the perspective of an extremely keen realist who sees the world for how it is and is able to present it with sarcastic twist to it.

3) The humor in the book begins from the first page itself starting with rave reviews” of the book from some of the people who have benefitted from it.

4) The language has been kept very simple and often a mixture of English that we use daily and Hinglish. And you need not have had any exposure to the blog to understand the contents of the book.

5) The chapters relate to Bollywood, Television (especially Saas Bahu sagas), KLPD syndrome, some critical view on the current happenings and most importantly on the lives that we have all lead but never relay observed. The best part about the book that I felt was that you could really associate with what’s written over there and recall your own experiences in the same situation.

6) A special bonus for all those who liked the movie like Loha, Gunda and double entendres in some of the Hindi songs.

What I would have wanted to be more in the book? More twisted views on politicians of India. Something on the Yoga of Baba Ramdev. Probably a chapter on the blind faith practiced in the Indian households… the lost continues. Oh well… you can’t have it all.

Some typos and minor such errors which can be easily ignored. 

All in all… A good read and a must if you are a fan of slightly dark, sarcastic, satiric humoristic writing.

Disclaimer: This book is not for the weak of heart or those who might get tired of laughing. Expect a lot of bad puns and double entendresin the book.