Manan

by Mohit Parikh, Urmila Shastry (Illustrator)

'He closes his eyes and finds today’s date floating towards him. Shimmering in the darkness, swivelling – like the text on the Windows 95 screensaver. It seeps in through his forehead and gets absorbed. 23-04-98 is now a part of him. Today’s date, a Saturday, when the first sign of what he so eagerly awaited has appeared . . .'

It is the summer of 1998 in a sleepy Indian town that is jut awakening to the age of information, and young Manan has acquired his first official sign of puberty. The world around him, though, refuses to understand the magnitude of the moment. Instead, it teases him by offering all sorts of temptations, posing all sorts of quandaries. And it doesn't help that his friends are taller and larger than him, that his parents fight all the time, that his sister no longer has time for him, that the love of his life barely knows that he exists.

With an earnest voice that is colourfully candid about middle-class India and the tyranny of family relationships, authority figures and peer pressure, Manan is a tragicomedy of growing pains and the triumphs of a stoic heart.

'Parikh demonstrates a deft hand at painting a picture of life in middle-class India in the late ’90s and lends his protagonist a voice that rings true, page after page. Manan is an original look at a young boy’s world, much like the first Adrian Mole books. A keen observer, a compulsive problem-solver and a dreamer with his feet firmly on the ground, Manan Mehta is the boy we all know, the person we all can be.’ – The Indian Express

‘An earnest voice runs through this 194-page book, making it a breeze. Read it not for rediscovering childhood, but if you remember that a lot of what you did as a teen revolved around love and sex.’ - Hindustan Times

‘Mohit Parikh’s debut novel is an eloquent, sensitive and restrained look at the onset of puberty. Its earnest protagonist stays with you long after the last page is turned.’ – The Sunday Guardian

‘Parikh exercises restraint throughout. The language, while descriptive, is never excessive or showy. Fragments such as “Incisors, molars, swallow” pithily describe Manan eating a snack. Students play “answer sheets aeroplane” after class. Not only do you get what Parikh means, better still you see it in the mind’s eye.’ – Mint Lounge

Genres: India, Indian Literature, Young Adult, Contemporary

200 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 15, 2014

About the author

Mohit Parikh is author of Manan (HarperCollins). He was awarded a Toto Award for Creative Writing in 2015 and a Toto-Sangam House Residency Fellowship in 2017. His works have been published in many Indian and international literary journals including Griffith Review (Australia), Burrow Press Review (USA), Out of Print Magazine and The Indian Express (India). His debut novel, Manan, received Honorable Mention for Best Book Fiction at The Hindu-Goodbooks Awards in 2015-16.

He graduated from Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode in 2018.

Reviews

[Garima · Rating 4 out of 5]

A point in time and an inevitable turn. A new you, A new world. Puberty is the name of the game after all. When the number associated with one’s age attains a daunting persona of its own, a sudden flow of delirious signals start marching towards our direction conveying about the possible changes one should get ready to accept or anticipate in the not so distant future and along with this anticipation forms a maze of unrestrained whims and infinite perplexities. Manan has found himself in the centre of one such maze and the voices in his head signifies a wait for a kind of life-changing experience that would probably establish for him as to how similar and how different he eventually turns out to be from everyone else.

A bright boy with mathematical formulas and wonders of biology firmly imprinted on his mind but nature is playing her own mysterious games with him. He’s a tenth-grader but physically his appearance tells otherwise- like a kid among grown-ups. And when he receives the first encouraging sign of pubescence, it sets in motion his train of thoughts which runs on the track built from classroom lessons and societal notions but the destination he is seeking remains at a teasing distance. Meanwhile he contemplates about the world inside and outside of him and let his imagination run wild through a gripping wordplay.

Mohit Parikh’s debut novel is a noble treat for the readers. With a simple premise and an engaging narrative, the India of ‘90s comes alive in an earnest and nostalgic way. It’s a time period one never gets tired of encountering again and again. Mohit has captured the psyche of that era and the anxieties of a person on the threshold of puberty and connected the two in a striking manner especially during the instances where the vulnerability of Manan’s innocence comes under spotlight. Though there were times when the message this book aims to put across got a little too insistent for my taste, it was easily compensated by some heartfelt writing and the lovely illustrations accompanying the text.

It’s not easy being in the company of somebody else’s thoughts for a considerable time even if you can relate to those thoughts to some extent but that’s exactly where Mohit’s book emerges as a winner. This is surely a confident first step towards the literary summit of great story-telling.

[Rakhi Dalal · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I need to be alone..... I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company.”

― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

What resonates with this quote while reading Manan is the music; the music of Manan’s heart; a cadence of childhood culminating into puberty. The music is ingenuously melodious; a lilt of pristine thoughts and emotions, honest and inviting. It flows through the heart, throbbing along awhile and when it leaves; it swipes the disquiet and makes way for a new world. A world which is innocent, open and fearless, which makes you want to believe that lost Paradise can be redeemed, if pursued earnestly.

Manan gives hope. A greater hope to the lovers of written word.

Carlos Castaneda’s quote at the beginning of the work sets the tone of the novel. It is a journey into self by a teenager, a journey of self exploration through a mayhem brought about by the first sign of puberty. The journey has its ups and downs, the moments of doubts and certainty. A turmoil, which disappears when confronted with the sincerity of an unspoiled mind; a mind ready to question and explore, a mind which is lucid and fearless. A mind, which reasons the prevalent notions of Society, of people, stereotypes, but also a mind, which is perceptive.

“He becomes solemn, available. As if all thoughts in his head have cowered into a corner upon realizing an imminent, immitigable threat. He consults his heart for guidance, for a way out, and a sound becomes audible; an otherworldly sound which does not seem to be propagating through materials in longitudinal waves, which is not coming from or going somewhere.”

What is beautiful is the style with which Mohit has achieved the intended impression. Simple and sincere. The term “Manan” in Hindi means to reflect, think over. We accompany Manan, the character, into his mind, experience his confusion, agree when he questions the long held beliefs and sometimes get surprised at the extreme ideas which we meet(well, I wouldn’t say it on behalf of every reader). But quickly we are reconciled with the unfeigned attempt on his part to understand himself. There aren’t many dialogues and we do not get to know other characters well but then this is the story of an adolescent looking at the surrounding world through his eyes, comprehending ideas, coming to terms with the changes inside him and trying to gain a hold on his own convictions.

“New ideas that are exciting should not be allowed to take over completely. They should be chewed over and allowed to settle, simmered down, to be picked again when they are calm and controllable.”

The end, where we witness Manan asserting his opinion, making a leap from being just a kid to a reasonable adolescent, is poignant in a manner and yet delightful and hopeful. This is the point where Mohit’s creativity is at its best in the work.

This novel is a delight to read. Congratulations to Mohit for having done a wonderful job with his very first work!

Highly recommended.

[Sumati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where were you Manan?
Why dint I find you earlier?
Why I see myself in you?
Why you seem to know me in and out?

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” - J.D. Salinger

I wish I found Manan earlier in my life when I was a late bloomer (Maa took me to a physician every second day, like that beetroot juice wasn’t enough!! Additionally, the looks of the doctor assured me, ‘Tui, that’s it! Leave chancing your arms, you will die a weirdo!!!), a woolgatherer, a cogitative child who was given to long silences and a silent lover of a boy who stayed next to my house and never took any notice to my oh so celestial love for him. Phew!! Good news, I somehow managed to cut the mesh and grow up, but I thought I could share my feelings with Manan, he would understand me. He is just like what I was and I bet many of you will find yourself in him too.

“Except that today, oblivious to everyone, there is a hair standing tall inside his shorts: a single hair: long, black and shining. Sprouting out of nowhere, it stands rebelliously erect on his tiny barren orb, not thwarted by the force of the cloth of his underwear, announcing its eventual arrival with élan.”

Manan, an intelligent boy but a late bloomer has finally hit the bittersweet changes of puberty, the first signs of which he accepts with euphoria. What follows then is his struggle to cope with the underlying cognitive, social, and emotional development that is brought by pubescence.

Mohit, was successful in enlivening the mind of an adolescent. He concocted all elements of an Indian household into a realistic account of fiction. The turning point for me in this book was when Manan confronts his mother, a quintessential Indian woman, for the unnecessary whining followed by pages powerfully packed with coherent, expressive and thought provoking sentences. I assume, you will find your turning point too.

All characters -the mother, sister, taiji – the situations make you nostalgic. A slice of life that we have left behind when we embarked into adulthood has been crafted articulately by the author. Lest I forget, the book is a lucid account of the 90s when India was just entering the era of information and brings to memory some very interesting points. Now, if you remember the cyber cafes which charged obnoxiously for tortoise speed internet? And the small pigeonhole cubicles with blotchy curtains somehow hanging from the strings attached? But what could budge the decision of an adolescent child? I still went and sat for hours there, chatting. MSN & Yahoo messenger was a rage in our small town then.

Those were the days!!

Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we could do


Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way - Mary Hopkins

The story is vivid and takes you to your past, a past we all miss I am sure, therefore worth the read. Definitely recommended to all!!

Favorable Points : Short, Easy and Smooth- flowing language, good characterization, interesting illustrations, humorous & vivid plot
Bonus: A trip to childhood 
Unfavorable Points : The story is protracted at times, climax could be better.

[Jigar Brahmbhatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a long time now I was thinking about Manan. Unlike him, I never realized how and when puberty came and changed me for good. He anticipates it, and when it finally arrives he finds himself in the corridors of solitude, battling to emerge victoriously out of it. This is the way I felt too. Loneliness is, more or less, a sign that puberty has arrived, but lets not generalize it. Manan is constantly questioning, constantly observing - my god, he is a good observer! He is at a borderline world - not part of the elders yet, and not interested in staying a child anymore. When he peeks into the world of his elders - his mother, his father, Taiji, Tauji, Pinky didi, he finds vistas of a reality he is not comfortable with, because elders are not true to themselves, they fight, they lie, they change morality as and when it suits them. Like when he discovered about Pinky didi's affair and a fact that she might have kissed her lover he was devastated because it just didn't seem right. At one point, he convinces himself that he will never fight with Hriya, his love, the way his parents do, and this conviction, no matter how naive or inexperienced, is very strong, and haven't we all been there? This is where Mohit succeeds. I wonder what was the genesis of this book. How can you conceive such a book? Full marks to Mohit for making the rocky terrain of growing up so perceptive, and - for the benefit of the novel's economic performance - so entertaining.

In a way the novel works on a very simple level. Manan passes through scenes that are carefully setup to bring out his observational juices to their optimum. After the scene is set, Mohit sits back and let Manan do his work. A very good example of this is when Manan browses internet for the first time and discovers a world of hidden fantasies, things everyone, especially elders, engage in but do not like to talk about - the hypocrisy of elders, he'd say! His ride home from the friend's place, where he saw the erotic pictures, is beautifully captured because we see his worldview changing. When he sees women or men going about their business he thinks about their secret lives, so much so that when he encounters his parents, this is what we read in the book: "Who knows what kind of wanton acts they performed while he was at Kshitij's house? The kind of things they do after he sleeps. Their audacity to do such things all those years while he slept in the same room as theirs!" This outburst is so true to Manan's psyche, but since we, as readers, are above him, have been knowing things that he has just discovered for years now, it almost makes us laugh. Such are the pleasures of this book.

The use of language is exquisite. Consider this para, where Manan is pleading to his mother to lend him 40 Rupees so that he can visit an internet cafe:

"She can spend hours together at the sink, as if outside the kitchen, outside the home, are just more homes: more kitchens and more sinks, and she might as well be here rather than anywhere else in the world; but he has another world to visit, knowledge to click and open and gape at." This is good writing.

I am happy to have written this review because for the first time I know the writer personally, and here is a simple wish I want to express to Mohit Parikh, my friend: I would love to know what happens to Manan when he is 30, when he would have spent another decade and his discoveries would be far behind him.

[Nivas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, by chance, maybe because the universe is on your side, you find a book that transcends backwards in time and transports you to a period where you are something which is being forgotten by you and recedes in the inner depths of your mind. Manan is a book which brings you the life that you lived during that period of time; a beautiful, a confusing and anxious life. Now you can't hold it. Nostalgia hit you. You realize there is a beauty that still lies in gazing at the sky, playing with your imaginations, whispering your secrets into the air, and perceiving your inner being.

[Tanuj Solanki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Joyce is an easy-to-locate influence, Parikh's benign, almost idyllic way of talking about the concerns of an Indian teenager from the 90s generation, make one look for similar Indian influences. And one soon reaches the questions - Would R K Narayan have been proud of writing this? Would Ruskin Bond have been?

I find myself saying Yes, saying also that it can stand beside the best works of those two writers.

[rahul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mann kasturi re, jag dasturi re
Baat huyi na poori re
Mann kasturi re, jag dasturi re
Baat huyi na poori re

Khoje apni gandh na paave
Chaadar ka paiband na paave
Bikhre bikhre chhand sa tehle
Doho mein yeh bandh na paavein

Naache hoke phirki lattu
Naache hoke phirki lattu
Khoje apni ghoori re
Mann kasturi re, jag dasturi re

-Varun Grover,for the movie Masaan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z-Cp...

Mann(heart/mind) roams like a perfume,
while the society is tangled up in norms and rituals
How is closure to be found,
amongst these unequals...

the mind saunters around
like lines from a broken verse
who knows how to tie it together
within the confines of poetry and its rules

it dances, wobbles around like a top*
in search of its own axis

mann kasturi re/jagg dasturi re...

top* : Spinning Top/Lattu a toy common in various parts of India

[புழுதி · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filling the void

This book had to come. The favourable aspect is that it comes from a professional author (read: not his first rodeo). It comes at an opportune time also. The millennials are waking up and looking back, at the good times, of the internet-less 90s, and reminiscing all over the internet about it in gif and jpeg enumerated pages that recollect how better those times were.

While one would be tempted to say this book "caters" to this set of people, one must note that it is precisely the fallacy of this that Manan brings out. "Internet is the puberty of society," as he says. The internet is here to stay, and yes, sex is open and free in the internet. Face it, is Manan's plea.


The Joyceian angle

The writing screams Joyceian influence. It doesn't help that Portrait was a book about a young man too. The SoC that Manan boasts of, tries to be Joyceian, but fails in some parts and succeeds brilliantly in others. Other stylistic similarities exist such as the reservation of the pronoun He to refer only Manan (similar to Dedalus's treatment by Joyce) and Manan's excited immersion in his own senses through his visual imagination and frequent, tangential synesthesia.


Stream of consciousness

Again, Mohit uses a Joyceian SoC rather than a Faulknerian one (thank god for that!). On a scale of fidelity to thought, Faulkner being 10, Joyce coming at 8, Mohit loses on one crucial aspect. The consistent error in his SoC is that Manan is aware of the Gaze, while Dedalus is not (and none of Faulkner's characters were). A reader's Other coincides with Dedalus's Other while there is a blatant rift between these two in Manan. One reason for this is that Mohit leaks into Manan at times: "does he have a loose screw?"(p.23), "Who asks such questions?"(p.46) Here Manan is already aware of the Gaze of the adulthood that looks back at him through the years. This trivializes the impending doom that reaches its crescendo at puberty and falls, tapering off into the banality of adulthood. In this respect, Manan is not so much about Manan, but is about Mohit looking back at Manan, having safely reached the other side, a nostalgic memoir about the past rather than a fear of the future, which is what puberty is all about.

Manan's struggle with the ethics of well-being and the reality of the world is structured for the Indian setting. His worries about deforestation, his flurry of textbook thoughts about the world, his judgemental attitude based on his familial indoctrination is one that only a pre-Internet kid will empathise with. "... he is from commerce stream, he cannot know much...": such instances of indoctrinated judgement is innocent in the truest sense, i.e. Manan is truly ignorant that he is passing judgement at all. This is the innocence that shines in numerous parts of the book, where Manan is unaware of the writer that is writing him, and the effect is splendid.


The 90s or Manan

The trailer of Manan where various people recount their 90s is apt in it that Manan contains a plethora of references to the 90s. Some of them are explained, some left as they are, and they should have all been left unexplained, just as Joyce did. While this might complicate the reading experience, the compromise of explaining things hinders the SoC. Either way, this seems a decision to avoid alienation of readers; here, one can only lament the state of publishing industries and the sale of only easy books. The readers are to blame.

The other side of these frequent 90s references is that it becomes a prosaic game of how many more can I cram making the book less about Manan and more about the 90s. At the cost of recreating the 90s, Manan's character becomes a vessel that subsumes the various quintessential traits of a millennial, thereby loses a chance to create a Holden Caulfield or Bill Denbrough.


Puberty is not about sex

This is Mohit's take on puberty and it is riddled with an over sensitiveness towards sex. While Manan's age seems rather late for such thoughts, rendering his image as immature, this does not matter, since the age is after all a number and to me, Manan seemed more twelve than fifteen. Either way, numbers be damned. It doesn't matter. Manan is at the onset of puberty. A crucial absence is the gradual awareness of the incestual barriers and the Love Laws (as Roy would say) and Mohit only touches upon the latter vaguely in the denouement of the novel. The former is completely absent. Or maybe I'm just a twisted fuck.

Puberty is about sex, yes, but the sexual angle is in the form of these thoughts. As Freud would say, all dreams have sexual meanings, except the sexy ones. Here, Mohit takes a head-on approach in his character development of Manan. If I count the number of times Manan is worried about sex and about his genitals, I'd need five pairs of hands. Let me bring in Holden here: Holden, for all his blabbering and tangential thought processes about sex, was really evading the issues of his sexual molestation and darker thoughts. The overt sexual talks in the book are simply a diversion to the actual sexual innuendos of the book.

In this sense, Manan does not have much behind his thoughts. In fact, his puberty has not even arrived, because he is simply thinking about sex in a casual manner: questionnaire about sex (p.92), ".. don't mean rape here"(p.102), "...they make it complicated..."(p.76), "...extra perfume during menstruation..."(p.50)... these rather casual and direct observations about sex, reducing it to materialistic notions (ironically, considering he says "Material things are supposed to be forgotten." (p.108) Call me a post-structuralist, but I think this book is about the misrecognition of puberty on the part of Manan, or Mohit has once again leaked into Manan, creating grown up thoughts in a pre-pubescent Manan.


A formidable task

The review places Manan at high expectations and might have therefore created falsely, in its various nitpickings, the impression of a shoddy novel. There are few authors who have completely succeeded in portraying adolescence - James Joyce, Willian Golding, J.D. Salinger, Stephen King. The daunting task of recreating adolescence should be evident from the disparate approaches they have taken towards it: Joyce - reverent, romantic and an elevated importance, Golding - cynical, Salinger - sarcastic and immature, King - awe and uncertainty.

While all the above have tackled the phase from before it, Mohit takes on a hopeful, memoir-like approach, looking back at it. The novel is definitely one of the more literary creations in the recent past of Indian publishing and is a must read for the millennials.

[Ajay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poignant coming of age tale with an attention to detail that would resonate with anyone who lived through the nineties in India as a child, coupled with a unique narrative voice, this book is a great debut.

[Anirban Nanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading this book, it felt like I am reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is written by James Joyce or Samuel Beckett.
The language is simple, extremely smooth and fluidic. This is most accessible streams-of-consciousness writing I have seen till now, and also with beauty. Don't think that the simple language prevents it to reflect utter beauty in everything in this book. A child transforming to puberty can only be clearly understood by reading his mind. And streams-of-consciousness does just that.

Where as for other eminent work on SOC, I'd have to read it repeatedly to correctly understand the line of thoughts (Note : Ulysses or Beloved), this one does not make you do that. You can get the underlying working of MANAN with one read, with one line forcing you to read the next line, thus the next page to the end of the chapter.

The imagination of a intelligent child , completely rational, explaining everything with logic is described gloriously. The evil eye walking on street, emitting laser to detect any fault by someone, sound waves emerging from a gonging bell that refracts and reflects are visualized like a pro. This kind of imagery, or sometimes wonderful use of verb in action, made this one of my prized possessions.


This intricate way of understanding puberty for a child instantly reminds me of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Chapter 1 where Stephen closes his ears and effects of sounds is compared with emerging in and out of a train through a tunnel.

But there are differences with portrait, of how a child feels after watching a pornographic photo and how he reacts to every one is pretty comparable, but is not in the case of portrait.

And also there is a minuscule examination of love in this book. It sometimes feels stupefying to see a boy thinks such of love.


All in all, I can assure you that this is the book that stands out in recently conventional love stories or thrillers. I have not seen any Indian book lately that takes up the subject of adolescence so boldly, bravely and beautifully.

NOTE:
As the same way I don't know Stephen King or Salman Rushdie personally, I don't know Mohit Parikh too. These are unbiased and honest feelings of mine and yes, I have bought the book with full price in paperback format from Amazon.

[Prasad GR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manan is a thoroughly enjoyable coming of age story. Mohit’s narrative is engrossing and laced with a subtle humour. What is truly remarkable is the attention to detail that brings the story alive for the reader. The book takes you on a deceptively smooth journey through Manan’s mind, and thus amplifying the shock value of the inevitable denouement.

[Amrita Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like getting caught for all the crazy, silly, lunatic, pervert things everyone does/did but no one confides them!
no matter how many myriad thoughts of countless elements and segments of life mohit has weaved in one plot....it feels perfect because that's exactly what's happens in a teenage mind....hoping from one feeling to another, endless thinking about irrelevant issues, scrutinizing insignificant things happening around, oscillating between over and under judging oneself, and most important - imaginary peeping into others private life...everyone did it...does it.

I never felt so nostalgic reading any other book. the society, family, school and neighborhood, even the thoughts and crazy imaginations part is written in the most true voice and state. Absolutely no adulteration in the writing...its just the way we experienced life then...and how thing occurred to each of us of those 'era'...I really wish someone writes similar story from a girls point of view too....almost every girl goes through same emotional and physical expeditions just like manan did...which I foolishly never knew boy do until I read this book. sometimes though I felt the plot went wayward and into unnecessary over detailing and I really didn't understand the point of ending it the way it did....not that some happy end would make a great one...but i was expecting some consequence of manan's puberty...not health...but again...that's the writers style...that's what makes the book what it is.

[Shrishti Vishwakarma]

Nice

[Mamunuru Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good and easy read.
You can identify and feel nostalgic about your adolescent years which the author portrayed convincingly.
The concerns about sex and umpteen number of questions that arise in your mind the sense of urgency to know all about sexual life was well depicted. The turmoil the Manan goes through to com out of these urges by his own rational arguments ( as he can not share with others) was good. But, it is doubtful whether at that age one can think so philosophically. One can understand his repulsion for the hypocrisy that passes of as social norm around him.
But the book doesn't give any thing to think about. You feel good as you remember your own adolescent days. It doesn't give you any larger picture or give you an analysis.
I wish the author all the best and wait for more serious books. He is talented without a doubt.

[KS Selvakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manan is a coming of age story, which captures the thoughts of Manan, a boy growing-up in the late nineties.

As in any book of this genre, it is highly introspective, but what makes it different is that, Manan is the pet boy/student of everyone in his environment, doted on by his parents, teachers and even his classmates. This difference is perceivable in his thoughts, because more than rebellion, that is characteristic of this phase, we see a person who is constantly trying to negotiate, rather than confront situations that are conflicting with his ideals.

Mohit's writing is remarkable - there is an underlying honesty and truth despite the heavy prose.

A more detailed review is posted at: Plus Minus 'n' More.

[Ila Garg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mohit Parikh’s ‘Manan’ has been published by Harper Collins. So one can easily trust this book as a quality product, both in terms of printing as well as paper quality. The cover design fits aptly in the storyline. It is simple and not distracting. Also, the illustrations inside add to the brownie points of the book. The blurb too is precise and serves well to arouse readers’ interest.

Read the complete review here - http://ilashininggem.blogspot.in/2014...

[Supertramp · Rating 5 out of 5]

#105

In a time of dull phase in my life where everything is just moving on and I am doing absolutely nothing. Tried different books to get some breeze but couldn't find it anywhere. This is where I found it. A quick throwback to nostalgic world. So beautiful and amazing. Rambling everywhere but in a smooth way. Looking forward for his new books.

[Kartik Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deceptively awesome book. Very simply written, with a lot of heart. It struck a chord with me because it was almost as if written about my own experiences around Manan's age. Well, maybe not a 15 year old me, but between 10 - 19 years of age for sure. The one word that describes this book for me is charming.

[abhimanyu · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few books which stop time, make you forget the internet, HDTV or your mobile. Manan is the first such book that I have read, and I keep on wanting more and more of it. This book thrives to the zenith of emotions and deserves at least one more (thicker) piece of magic from Mr. Parik

[Michelle D’costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mentioned this book in my blog post here:

https://michellewendydcosta.wordpress...

[S Singh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think boys will like this book more than girls would.

[Ayushi Poddar · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to read this online

[Gautam Dutta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author happens to be a friend of mine. So let me think where to begin.....To be very honest, the initial four chapters were a pain to read. I was waiting for something to happen. But all we got was the lead protagonist imagining and thinking. That sure worked while depicting the psyche of the teenager. But it drastically slowed down the pace of the plot. The feeling was the same as waiting for an aeroplane to take-off. But when the plot actually took off, matters became interesting. The objective of the author was to expose the innate hypocrisy in our social customs. Which has been successfully done in the book. By the time the story ends, you finally start empathising with the lead character. I remember reading a similar book in school as a part of my Hindi curriculum (Tamso Maa Jyotirgamay by Dr. Jagmohan Bhatnagar). Though that book had a very different plot than this one, the presentation style was exactly the same. I remember the struggle the class had while answering questions in the Literature exam! Give this book a shot, in order to gain insight into the teenage psychology.

[Ed Goodbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Payal Dhar reviews the book on Goodbooks: "Adults who spend a lot of time debating about the appropriateness of reading material for children are going to have a field day with this one. More about that later; for now, let’s focus on the fact that Manan takes a slightly different approach to one of those staples of YA fiction – yes, we mean the coming-of-age tale. Mohit Parikh’s debut novel reads more like literary fiction rather than a young adult one, and that isn’t necessarily a compliment. Nor is it a criticism. Well, it’s complicated." Click here to read the full review: http://goodbooks.in/node/7339

[Lakshman Srikanth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age story. Puberty hits Manan- and he starts to feel excited about fitting in- growing beard, having masculine voice etc. Questions are raised about growing up- grown-ups not able to do things that he is able to do as a kid without any restrictions! The end is striking- where he raises concerns about marriage of his sister and about love and horoscope matching- which probably is heard only because it is coming from a kid!
These aspects are brought out brilliantly and subtly from the voice/ life of Manan and throughout, the book sways according to his mood- and as a teenager it sways too much and too fast!
A Light read with a decent after-taste.

[Gaurab Mukherjee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel a book should give something new to the reader, if not anything then at-least something to think about. I felt it failed in this thing miserably. Though there are no faults in the way the characters has been portrayed but I hardly found anything for which the book will attract the masses. The book definitely has it's positives and other people may find it interesting

Read the full review here - http://www.processingcreativity.com/2...

[Ayush Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully written story. A short and good read!