Manhattan Mango

by Madhuri Iyer

Q. What happens when three ambitious, high-achieving, 20-something Mumbaikars become New Yorkers?

A. Madness.

Zipping through life’s ups and downs like a high-speed elevator during rush hour, buddies Shri, Shanks, and Neel hold on to each other, and their sanity, with a bro-hood bonding that chipkos them together, fevicol se.

Neel’s the driven hedge fund guy, with a weakness for scotch and women. Tam Brahm Shanks, a techie, falls for the "wrong” girl. Good Son Shri, a banker, holds a secret he means to take to his grave. Their intertwined lives buzz with high-voltage drama — explosive secrets, super-charged romances, and a-fuse-a-minute meltdowns.

There’s alcohol-fueled passion, Devdas style. Inter-racial hook-ups. Even a fake affair, because money can’t buy the real thing. When their skyscraper-sized dreams are tested, this “desified” saga of friends in Manhattan is like the city’s rapid transit express subway line. You won’t want any stops in between.

Genres: Fiction

274 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2014

About the author

I have studied O Levels from the London University and graduating in Applied Art from Sophia Polytech, Mumbai.

I have worked as an advertising copywriter for agencies in Mumbai, Dubai and Canada, including FCB Ulka, Lintas Lowe, Everest Saatchi, Clarion McCann, and Cossette Canada. My advertising career had spanned over two decades, culminating in a Creative Director job in Dubai. Presently, I consult for Induseye Inc, as a director.

In India, I have published work in the non-fiction category. I have written/edited the

4-WEEK COUNTDOWN DIET for Penguin India, with my own recipes and case studies, in collaboration with fitness expert Namita Jain. I have also edited fitness books for the Times of India Group, including a children’s fitness book and a home exercise instruction manual.

In the fiction genre I have written a novella, Pink Champagne, for Indireads, an online imprint. Manhattan Mango is my second work of fiction for the Indian and diaspora market.

Reviews

[William Moses Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway. This is my attempt at an honest review.

Short review: A nice book with believable characters, good narrative and not scared to tackle some difficult subjects head on and smartly.

Long review:
I was curious to see the author's take on 3 Indian guys living it up in New York. I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but I'm very happy with what I got. This book kept me glued to the pages with an abundance of plot, nice characterization and growth of the characters, and good dialogue. I truly felt like I was watching a bunch of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episodes (well not so much on the humor side, though there was humor, but rather I sensed the feeling that they all gelled well so nicely together and yet had complex and meaningful relationships with each other).

This book to me felt like it had equal parts Americanness and desiness in it. I also quite enjoyed the way Indianish problems were handled, especially the way each friend handled his parents' push for marriage (though I suppose that that's not just an Indian problem :P). It was really well done and fun to read.

Finally, this book had a slice-of-life feel to it with it's carefree and fast moving nature and yet managed to tackle some heavy issues. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

[Manasi Joshi Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It begins as a light,breezy read but once you're into it you realise that though it may seem to be a fun account of life in Manhattan for a bunch of Indian boys ...it's actually a very revealing story about love, friendship & the choices we make !
The characters stay in your mind long after you've finished the book :)

[Bookish Indulgenges with b00k r3vi3ws · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three young and dynamic Mumbaikars end up together in New York. Neel is a hedge fund guy, with a weakness for scotch and women. Shanks is a techie who falls for the wrong girl. Shri is a banker with a secret he means to take to his grave. Together they form the ‘Ganpat Gang’ – a name after their favourite song. Amidst their fast paced life, scotch, girls and affairs, their friendship remains rock solid and Manhattan Mango is the story of the Ganpat Gang!

As the story follows these three Mumbaikars, are all set for one hell of a roller coaster journey as their lives reach the highest of the high or falls real low. They meet and share their lives with each other. Their characters are well thought out and well painted through the pages. These are guys that each of us know in our real lives too and easy to connect to and empathize with. And soon we are introduced to various other side characters who enter the scene just in time to add a new flavor to the story. There are certain superficial instances that you roll your eyes at but go along with. Well written and well narrated, Madhuri Iyer has an easy style of telling a story that is thoroughly inviting.

With a predictable ending, this book provided for a couple of hours of undiluted fun!


http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/2014/07/Man...

[Aditee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manhattan Mango bring back intense memories of everything we did as young adults - just out of college, and starting to work. Fun, Friends, relationships and a sense of newly found freedom dominated life then.

Manhattan Mango is a great representation of Indian Youth today - Confident, Arrogant, completely comfortable with ones ethnicity, building lasting friendship with folks beyond their color, open minded, non-judgmental! All packaged extremely well. The sensitivity of a person’s orientation or the emotional upheaval as one go thru a rough relationship is extremely very well balanced.

Starting with the three boys, the ganpat gang grows very quickly, with new members to laugh and share that phase of life with. As they traverse through their lives of ups and downs, you feel for each of the characters, you feel the characters come alive around you.

The Ganpat gang makes me so envious, it is not funny! I so wish I was in my 20s in 2012 instead of 20 years go! :) Easy Read, Loved it!

[Radhika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three friends Neel, Shankar and Shri from Bombay childhood friends who go to boarding school together , decide to come to the US after their education and somehow all of then land in Manhattan

Neel is a hedge fund manager in a high profile job, Shri is working in a bank too and Shanker is an IT guy. They are young adventurous, ambitious and have a good rapport with each other until life starts getting complicated with a lot of growing up to do

Neel the good looking playboy finds it hard to find love , though all the girls are attracted to him
Shri is battling with his sexuality and it is tough for him to come out
Shanker is in love with a Vivian who is from HongKong and knows that his mother will never accept her in his life

Shefali a rich heiress becomes a part of their gang and has feelings for Neel which he cannot reciprocate.

The friendship and some relationships are strong but some of them are so fickle that you are left wondering whether that is what life is about!

[Pankaj Giri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptionally stylish writing style, indeed!! I would say very close to impeccable. I would not be abashed to admit that I borrowed several words and phrases to enhance my upcoming novel. Yes, you will have to consult the dictionary occasionally, but it is definitely worth it and substantially better than the effort by most Indian authors. The story is decent, a light read, nothing extraordinary, neither too emotional nor too hilarious. It just flows smoothly till the end. There is nothing much to look forward to actually and culminates in a happy ending for all couples. I would like to wish the author "All the best" for her next book. Would love to buy it!!

[Smita · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, fast paced story about three young twenty-something Mumbaikars who are polar opposites in nature but whose undying friendship and devotion to each other binds them together as they zip through the ups and downs of life in New York City. A story with unexpected twists and turns that will keep you engaged till the very end.

[Shalini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unputdownable. Three Indian guys in the whirligig of New York city life, their work,their loves,their secrets - all come together in racy,exciting,very readable book. A must read!

[Sanjay Shrivastava · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so cringeworthy, no wonder someone like Sonam kapoor has called it good.

The characters are flat, u cannot differentiate one from the other. The author has a very different idea of middle class India where middle class kids go to boarding school and their parents work for the UN.

The author went on rambling for about 12 pages about breakfast and how it defines each of the individual lead characters. It was boring, weak and took away all the interest I had in these characters.

This was one of the worst written books about NRI’s living in USA and portrayed a completely false, fabricated and imaginative world.

CRINGEFEST! Avoid this piece of worthless writing.

[Dr Kashmira Gohil · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Manhattan Mango' didn't turn out to be as delicious as expected by the title of the book. It's a regular Indian NRI tale of 03 friends , Neel- the hedge fund guy, Shri- the banker & Shanks- the techie guy, who try to make it in their professional space (job & green card in us of a, as usual) & personal life (datings, affairs, marriage) including in their gang the newly found members, Shefali, Vivian, Ryan & Paolo, their friends & love of their lives. Finally all's well that ends well after lots of high octave drama. Regular stuff. 2.5 or 3stars for this one.

[Library Tales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, sassy, and set against the glamour and chaos of city life.

[Abhilash Ruhela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last time I heard "Manhattan" was in a song in which Sridevi mind-blew everyone by playing a middle-class woman. The film was English Vinglish. What would you make out of a book at a bookstore that has the title "Manhattan Mango" along with the reviews of Sonam Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Shashanka Ghosh and Sharman Joshi? You will expect a complete Bollywood riot in the book and I must tell you all, it's exactly what you would expect out of it. Not predictable but every page meets your expectation of seeing this grow better page-by-page. If you ask me to describe this book by comparing it with a movie of its type- I would suggest "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani". That has been one of my favorites and this book too, played a big part in my boring life that needed an inspiration to make it interesting.

The 274-pages book is written by Madhuri Iyer and published by one of the promising publishers these days, Finger Prints. None of their book have still disappointed me. 100% delivery. Iyer has used a very fine language to take her story on the way of entertainment and complete delight. Her narration is so powerful that anyone reading this book might not leave the place until the last page is turned. When a book cross 250 pages, I am sure that it would have been dragged in the middle or in pre-climax or might have become boring in some chapters but here, the perfect editing and insight to the story has been maintained throughout which keeps you hooked.

Shri, Shanks and Neel, the Ganpat Gang, who are residing in Manhattan now, does not cry of leaving their nation behind but they are keen to keep their lives moving by meeting each other weekly and sharing every details with each other. Later on Shefali enters the scene. Then comes Vivian, Layla, Ryan, Paolo, Mrs Revathi, Tathi Ma, Natasha and Shri's parents. Author has added each character at the point when you wanted something new to come and even after so many characters been discussed simultaneously, you don't get jumbled between them. That's how perfect characterization has been done for every character; and every character is protagonist in this book.

A great justice has been done to the characters of Neel and then Shefali. Right from the beginning, you will connect with them and various emotions that they display at different stages in their life. The way Shri's truth gets accepted in the Gang is another delighting moment in the book. The scene when it all changes for Neel, Layla and Shefali at a trip is fantastically written. The cuteness and stability shown in Shank and Vivian's relationship is another sweet thing about this book. Ryan and Natasha, as supporting characters, also plays their part well with great support to their respective partners.

Coming to the few drawbacks:- Instances like Shefali joining 3 male bachelors, Ryan agreeing to Shefali's deal, Natasha (a doctor) agreeing to visit male patient's home and Layla causing so much effect over Neel are few things that you'll have to believe even when you don't want to. Too superficial. When you are told that the name of the group is Ganpat Gang, you expect some raunchiness from the 3 male characters but what you get is serious traumas and romantic ups-and-downs. Neel and Shefali totally cutting down even dialogues between then even before the half of the book is completed is a let down once you realize that book is about to finish soon. Climax is too obvious to enjoy. It could have been done with little more craziness. Otherwise, this book deserves to be in your favorite shelf. I give it 4.5 out of 5. Yes! Recommended!

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

[Malvika Jaswal · Rating 3 out of 5]

As seen on my blog www.wordpress.com

The book is extremely fast paced and my immediate thought was, 'Who bought the movie rights?' Essentially, the story revolves around three young men, for they are certainly no longer boys, who have been friends for years and now find themselves in the land of opportunity in the city that the world loves almost as much as Paris and Mumbai, although definitely for completely different reasons. It is a coming of age narrative in its simplest form. Neal is the most handsome, most extrovert and the apple of his gang's eye, but I just wanted to give him a slap or two and tell him to grow up. He feels entitled to most things in his life, fawning females included. It is almost ludicrous to see how shocked he feels when he actually meets a few women who don't immediately fall at his feet. It will be terrible if whoever directs the movie decides to give him maximum footage as the main hero of the book. Shanks is the quintessential South Indian guy, loves his mom, is serious about his job, wants to marry the first girl who smiles at him, and is loyal, responsible and honest to boot. And the idea of a staunch Tamil Brahmin marrying a Chinese woman is absolutely hilarious. I can almost feel the millions of South Indian readers cringe in sympathy when he falls for her in anticipation of the blood-(tear)-bath that will follow. And then comes Shri, the one with the dark secret (which is not very hard to guess) and the one who holds the group together with his down to earth attitude and yet needs some off-time for his own anxiety attacks. Then there is Shefali, the rich Gujju girl who joins the group and adds another angle of glamour to the gang. She turns out to be surprisingly intelligent and practical for a rich girl and I found myself rooting for her throughout the book.

This book definitely falls under the 'Chick Lit' category even though it is about men. It covers all the essential talking points for the new generation, marriage to a guy of your own community, job insecurity, peer pressure and the freedom of living in a completely uninhibited society. Although I wish at least one of them would have had an affair with an Indian; its a bit too rebellious for the entire group to reject the possibility of being with any Indian partners. It is a quick and fun read and, even if it feels a bit stilted and over-the-top at times to an oldie like me, I am sure most young people will simply love to gobble it up.

[Shree · Rating 4 out of 5]

The summary instantly hit a right note with me. Being a 20 something girl myself struggling to make a career, I could connect with the characters' professional struggle.

The story revolves around three friends, Neel,Shanks and Shri who have stuck to each other through all the ups and downs. Neel is this good looking “almost-playboy” who has a weakness for women of all “type”. I’ve never encountered such a man in real life. Every man sure does have a “type” , but this Neel guy takes the cake, he almost has a thing for anything that looks like a woman.

Shanks reminds me of my own family who would probably eat me alive if I brought home a “ firangi” date but then would eventually accept it. The writer sure has got the typical family life of a Tam-Brahm right.

Shri’s character essentially takes a backseat until his secret is brought to “streets” by his “ partner”.

Enter a girl, who we would all stereo-typically imagine to toss the group’s lives apart. Thankfully the writer managed to beautifully weave “that girl’s” character sans all the usual love triangle (or quadrangle?) that could be expected. Some big headache saved there.

As the story line progressed lots of characters made their way in. That sort of got me confusing. Till date the only book (or series of books) that didn’t confuse me in spite of having plenty of characters is obviously.

What I loved most about the book is the way the writer portrayed the everlasting bond of true friendship. When Nikhil's issues with the bottle hits the roof, the two other friends support him while he recovers.

To sum it up, the writing is compulsive and humorous; the story line is light and heartwarming.

VERDICT: Why not?! Nice light read!

RATING: 4 on 5

http://readmuse.blogspot.in/2014/08/m...

[Kritikal Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without any circumlocution, I will get straight to the point: Here's the thing about this novel: you will start reading it because you know its going to be chic, you continue it because you want to know what happens next in the lives of each of the characters, yes, every single one of them. And you end up willing to be in the novel as one of the characters and each time you turn the chapter, it is a different character that you want to be.
The whole aura of cosmopolitan, suave youngsters trying to become someone, and figuring out life, is so amusing.
Contrary to the blurb, the book is not just the story of Shri, Shanks and Nell, but equally of all other characters as well.
The best part is the plot: It is so unlike the cliched plots which tend to read like happily-ever-after fairy tale. Here it is all believable and you don;t feel sad either, because it is happily believable, not the sugar-coated believable which we sometimes get so tired of reading.
So, well, yes, sure there's this "All's well that ends well" tinge to it, but it is so different from any other novel you will read.
Next best part is the energy in the novel. the author has done a commendable job to give life to the characters and scenes and incidents and whatnot.
And the characters are just so near-to-life, they are etched in a way to make the reader fall in love with them the protagonists, and their spouses (or fake spouses) followed in quick succession by : Continue reading

[Writersmelon · Rating 5 out of 5]

With an attractive cover page that boasts of friendship as its theme and a vibrant blurb to its credit, this freshly minted piece of fiction is promising definitely. This one touches upon sweet and sour vagaries of life with a dash of spice. The book having won an offer for its adaptation into Bollywood flick is riding high already.

The book has a beautiful blend of ‘Indian-ness’ and ‘Foreign-ness’. It’s worth time and energy. Makes for a perfect in-flight or Sunday afternoon read. It touches upon many truths of life with a zesty fervor. Best of all, it conveys the message that true friendship is about holding on to each other in the worst of times. There are few pages which could have been done away with but then nothing is boring in the book.

Read the full review: http://www.writersmelon.com/2014/07/b...

[Dhwani Swadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Mumbai to Manhattan, this book is a journey of three guys and their bromance!

This book seems like something straight off F.R.I.E.N.D.S sitcom minus the central perk…but i’m not the one to complain…who does not want a little bit of F.R.I.E.N.D.S nostalgia now and then?

The story starts with three quintessential Mumbaikars trying to make it in Manhattan..leading busy but uncomplicated lives. Their lives suddenly take a turn with the entry of rich heiress Shefali, and along with her trails the whole entourage of people which leads to a whole lot of masala being added to their lives!

Visit for a complete review: http://thereandtheir.wordpress.com/20...

[Ashok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Iyer does not believe in wasting any time.

She launches into the characters and the story quickly. She addresses the issues faced by the three boys as well as other characters without much preamble. Her characters also do not hesitate to speak their mind - for the most part.

I think this is what makes the book eminently readable - it's fast paced and the young people mostly know their mind. Three boys who have known each other at college in India come to Manhattan and remain friends while their individual lives takes on different paths.

[Tapdance00 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast, fun read. The characters proved to be surprisingly well fleshed-out, despite the fact that it is an ensemble cast, so to speak. I found the storylines refreshing and realistic. The book is definitely held together on strength of character dynamics. If you like characters that are not cliched or stock and you're in the mood for a light but unpredictable read, this book is worth picking up.

[Shagun · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is written well but it has too much explanation in the story line. We should be able to figure out things on our own without any help from author. Also, the secret that Shri meant to take to his grave was so obvious that I figured it out before Shefali. You are a good writer just let us understand what characters are going through by his actions rather than discription of their mind set. Thanks for the book.:) and congratulation on being a published writer. You are doing great.

[Baijul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book of its zoner ... it perfectly describes the Generation-Y ... loved reading it ... could connect myself with some peculiar characteristics of each character ... specially loved the character of Shefali ... supercool story ... very reviving !!!!

[Sundeep Supertramp]

3.5


The original review of this book is posted on my blog...


To read the original review of this book, click here...

[Sundar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

[Sankalpita (bookGeeks India) · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.bookgeeks.in/entries/gener...

[Samarpita Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://sankshvet.blogspot.in/2014/06/...

[Aravind M (Honest reviews and promoter) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool , suave and fun book to finish on a sunday afternoon on your favorite couch.. One time easy read..

[Sneha John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book. Shefali was my favourite character.