Love, Loss, Life, Laughter and More – Book Review.

The thing with Ritu Kakar’s writing is that she writes straight from the heart. Her writing is sure to strike a chord with you. The narrative is honest, beautiful, imaginative and equally straight to the point. The book is a whirlwind of emotions and you begin to resonate with the characters so easily. The best part about her writing is she is able to connect with the emotions you feel on a daily basis. The moment you start reading the book, you sort of begin looking for your own self through these stories.

Love, Loss, Life, Laughter and More is a collection of ten short stories.  These stories have been beautifully written and compiled. They explore various emotions of love and life. It is through these stories that you experience that life has so much more to offer beyond, loss and laughter too. The book is diverse and almost feels like a roller coaster ride. The writing style is easy, well developed and well-articulated. The narrative is engaging and the moment a story ends, you can easily relate to it. Even though there are a few stories that are imaginative, they focus on self-love and understanding all throughout.

The stories have strong female characters who are the main protagonists and it is liberating to read these stories from the author’s perspective. Another, remarkable thing about the stories is that it lays down a lot of stress on friendship. Friendship beyond all barriers. The emotion of love too has been expressed in its purest form. Love is never restricted to just a man and woman and the same thought has been well presented in the book.

My favourite stories in the book are Blind Date and A memorable night. The reason I like these stories if because they don’t necessarily point towards a happy ending or two people being together. The stories simply tell you to live in the moment and enjoy what you have currently. In a way the book breaks the shackles of societal barriers and judgement. Though a few things may not be practically possible to abide by but it shifts your focus towards things that could be. Also, one is left to ponder that if we really explored our potential to the fullest and pursued what we wanted; we could really achieve it.

A lifetime and beyond is what the story soulmate truly tries to describe. Having a partner, who is my soulmate for sure, reading this story, left me teary eyed. The content is definitely meant for mature readers and the minimalist look of the cover is definitely worth a praise. I did find some grammatical errors in the book which the editing team can look at in the next edition. A few dialogues or snippets of conversation can be re-worked too. All in all, the book is a breezy and interesting read. The book consists 64 pages and can be read in a few hours by a fast-paced reader.