What do you think?
Rate this book
31 Miles: Can we ever win against ourselves?
Mansa has the perfect family life—a husband, two daughters and a big house. But she feels that something is missing. After shifting to a major city, she decides to take the reins of her life in her own hands, she decides to step out and seek a career.
While enjoying the new-found freedom and confidence, she completely immerses herself in her work and her new life. Till one fateful day when she finds herself embroiled in a passionate affair—with an online lover. And then everything falls apart!
31 Miles is the story of a woman who rediscovers herself after marriage, and works towards self-emancipation. Will she give it all up for the elusive mirage created by the stranger? What turn will her life take next?
While enjoying the new-found freedom and confidence, she completely immerses herself in her work and her new life. Till one fateful day when she finds herself embroiled in a passionate affair—with an online lover. And then everything falls apart!
31 Miles is the story of a woman who rediscovers herself after marriage, and works towards self-emancipation. Will she give it all up for the elusive mirage created by the stranger? What turn will her life take next?
234 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2016
7 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
August 8, 2018
The lines on the cover "Can we ever win against ourselves?" was the thing that got my attention when I first saw "31 Miles" by Vinita Bakshi on Vimmy's bookshelf. Though I took the book a few months back, it took me some time to come back to it. I wanted to read this book for quite a time but one thing or another kept coming in the way.
The protagonist of this book is a married woman with a child and a perfect husband. She herself was a good housewife. To change the course of her life, she decided to make her career in cooking. She got in touch with new technology and online social network. She started chatting with another man living on another continent of the world and the chatting soon became intimate. Though having a perfect husband and belonging to a pretty conservative family background, she fell in love with this guy. And this guy stopped talking to her as soon as she insisted on meeting. This experience made her shattered inside. These incidents had some past life connections, which I am not gonna tell you. To find out you've got to read this. Cause what's the fun if I tell you everything, right?
Overall this book is good but not what I have expected. From the cover and the description, this book has had a very spiritual vibe which is not there up to the mark. Only the second half of the book is spiritual in some manner. What kept me going was the poems and Shayaris. I also liked quotation those are given at the beginning of each chapter.
To summarize it, don't read this book having expectations of spiritual experience, you may be disappointed. Also, have some patience till the second half of book cause it gets better there.
Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.com/2018/0...
The protagonist of this book is a married woman with a child and a perfect husband. She herself was a good housewife. To change the course of her life, she decided to make her career in cooking. She got in touch with new technology and online social network. She started chatting with another man living on another continent of the world and the chatting soon became intimate. Though having a perfect husband and belonging to a pretty conservative family background, she fell in love with this guy. And this guy stopped talking to her as soon as she insisted on meeting. This experience made her shattered inside. These incidents had some past life connections, which I am not gonna tell you. To find out you've got to read this. Cause what's the fun if I tell you everything, right?
Overall this book is good but not what I have expected. From the cover and the description, this book has had a very spiritual vibe which is not there up to the mark. Only the second half of the book is spiritual in some manner. What kept me going was the poems and Shayaris. I also liked quotation those are given at the beginning of each chapter.
To summarize it, don't read this book having expectations of spiritual experience, you may be disappointed. Also, have some patience till the second half of book cause it gets better there.
Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.com/2018/0...
December 1, 2017
*** Note: I received copy of this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to author. I am glad I got a chance to read this book.***
4.5 Stars
31 Miles was third person narrative about life story of Mansa, a happily married woman who actually started living her life in middle age. It was story about a woman coming out of her caring family and housewife life, spreading her wings in the world totally different from her conservative and conventionally moral mind, and about her love with a stranger, living miles away, whom she meets online.
The story was about the transformation of Mansa, finding her true self and identity, being independent, finding a love, experiencing a relationship and going through bundle of emotions- joy, guilt, heartbreak, grief. This character went through all kind of emotional stages at middle age, that normal person experiences in youth. All these made story and her life so damn complex. And then there was also a mystery of Karmic cycle.
Characters-
Mansa– Main character- she was beautiful, health conscious lady with caring rich husband and two young daughters. She was great housewife and very perfect wife and mother, energetic and always looking for some activity. She was so creative and smart. I admired her for leading a successful Abhimansa enterprise. But she was naïve when it came to her relationship with Rajan, I didn’t like her for putting the things on back seat for him that gave her identity.
Rajan– a stranger Mansa fell in love – He was such an egoistic guy. His way of talking clearly showed his interest in Mansa but the way he was treating her gave a different picture. I never liked him for that and I could see Mansa’s blindness for this guy. I don’t know how she could trust him, I found nothing in him to be trusted. Nothing was likable about him except his poetry.
Abhijit– Mansa’s husband- He was very practical and realistic guy who never believed in love but was so much caring, responsible, and understanding person. I just loved this guy for giving all privacy and freedom to Mansa and never doubting ever so slightly. There were few flaws but definitely lovable person.
What I liked-
Writing was very beautiful and smooth. I loved that author gave thorough information on Mansa’s life. Right from her childhood, family love, school and college life to married life as well as Mansa’s nature, her thoughts on her relationship with Abhijit. Most beautiful of all was, all required explanation behind Mansa’s actions were given- what she wanted in her married life from Abhijit, what it lacked, why she fell in love even though it was not in her nature, why she was naïve or believed what Rajan said. The depth author went in narrating emotional ups and down of Mansa was remarkable. I came to know this character so deeply by the end of the book.
Middle portion of the book, the time period of Mansa’s relationship with Rajan, more specifically chats, made book little slow and dragging, only thing about that portion that kept me going was pieces of Urdu poetry and my curiosity. I didn’t want to miss anything. It was also important portion of the book as it gave crystal clear picture of Rajan- regarding what he was and what he did, and where this relationship was going. Talking about poetry, it was wow! I liked that author translated all the poetry into English so that anyone can understand the couplets.
I was thinking why book was titled 31 Miles until Mansa went to Europe trip. After reading that portion it felt so appropriate. It was turning point of the book and from here on everything changed in her life. It was very touching part even though I felt like yelling at her and scold her for not being sensible.
I loved the way author connected everything to Karmic cycle. From the climax, book was very interesting with deep thoughts, whole explanation of Karmic cycle and how it related to story of Mansa, Rajan and Abhijt was fascinating. The end was sad and predictable because of the hint given in prologue, but I still hoped for different end. I am so happy that author has given a hint of sequel at the end. I’m so desperate to see what will happen in it.
All characters were realistic and story felt real, could have happened in anyone’s life. I loved this book for giving a new perspective.
I always believed somethings just happens in life beyond anyone’s control, and specifically feeling and even more specifically when the feeling is love. Love is very complex thing and it makes life complicated but no one can ever control or reason with it when it is true even though third person’s view says it’s not true or however it appearing is wrong. Some becomes successful, some will teach a lesson or act as precursor. There’s no end of true feelings. All in all love knows no boundary or age or ties. It’s a feeling that can be experienced by anyone. There is always a reason you meet someone in life. This thing is nicely said in this book.
why not 5 stars-
As I said I didn’t like that middle portion of the book, chatting and all. It made book little slow plus I never liked Rajan.
Overall book was unique, brilliantly written characters and story with depth of emotion.
4.5 Stars
31 Miles was third person narrative about life story of Mansa, a happily married woman who actually started living her life in middle age. It was story about a woman coming out of her caring family and housewife life, spreading her wings in the world totally different from her conservative and conventionally moral mind, and about her love with a stranger, living miles away, whom she meets online.
The story was about the transformation of Mansa, finding her true self and identity, being independent, finding a love, experiencing a relationship and going through bundle of emotions- joy, guilt, heartbreak, grief. This character went through all kind of emotional stages at middle age, that normal person experiences in youth. All these made story and her life so damn complex. And then there was also a mystery of Karmic cycle.
Characters-
Mansa– Main character- she was beautiful, health conscious lady with caring rich husband and two young daughters. She was great housewife and very perfect wife and mother, energetic and always looking for some activity. She was so creative and smart. I admired her for leading a successful Abhimansa enterprise. But she was naïve when it came to her relationship with Rajan, I didn’t like her for putting the things on back seat for him that gave her identity.
Rajan– a stranger Mansa fell in love – He was such an egoistic guy. His way of talking clearly showed his interest in Mansa but the way he was treating her gave a different picture. I never liked him for that and I could see Mansa’s blindness for this guy. I don’t know how she could trust him, I found nothing in him to be trusted. Nothing was likable about him except his poetry.
Abhijit– Mansa’s husband- He was very practical and realistic guy who never believed in love but was so much caring, responsible, and understanding person. I just loved this guy for giving all privacy and freedom to Mansa and never doubting ever so slightly. There were few flaws but definitely lovable person.
What I liked-
Writing was very beautiful and smooth. I loved that author gave thorough information on Mansa’s life. Right from her childhood, family love, school and college life to married life as well as Mansa’s nature, her thoughts on her relationship with Abhijit. Most beautiful of all was, all required explanation behind Mansa’s actions were given- what she wanted in her married life from Abhijit, what it lacked, why she fell in love even though it was not in her nature, why she was naïve or believed what Rajan said. The depth author went in narrating emotional ups and down of Mansa was remarkable. I came to know this character so deeply by the end of the book.
Middle portion of the book, the time period of Mansa’s relationship with Rajan, more specifically chats, made book little slow and dragging, only thing about that portion that kept me going was pieces of Urdu poetry and my curiosity. I didn’t want to miss anything. It was also important portion of the book as it gave crystal clear picture of Rajan- regarding what he was and what he did, and where this relationship was going. Talking about poetry, it was wow! I liked that author translated all the poetry into English so that anyone can understand the couplets.
I was thinking why book was titled 31 Miles until Mansa went to Europe trip. After reading that portion it felt so appropriate. It was turning point of the book and from here on everything changed in her life. It was very touching part even though I felt like yelling at her and scold her for not being sensible.
I loved the way author connected everything to Karmic cycle. From the climax, book was very interesting with deep thoughts, whole explanation of Karmic cycle and how it related to story of Mansa, Rajan and Abhijt was fascinating. The end was sad and predictable because of the hint given in prologue, but I still hoped for different end. I am so happy that author has given a hint of sequel at the end. I’m so desperate to see what will happen in it.
All characters were realistic and story felt real, could have happened in anyone’s life. I loved this book for giving a new perspective.
I always believed somethings just happens in life beyond anyone’s control, and specifically feeling and even more specifically when the feeling is love. Love is very complex thing and it makes life complicated but no one can ever control or reason with it when it is true even though third person’s view says it’s not true or however it appearing is wrong. Some becomes successful, some will teach a lesson or act as precursor. There’s no end of true feelings. All in all love knows no boundary or age or ties. It’s a feeling that can be experienced by anyone. There is always a reason you meet someone in life. This thing is nicely said in this book.
why not 5 stars-
As I said I didn’t like that middle portion of the book, chatting and all. It made book little slow plus I never liked Rajan.
Overall book was unique, brilliantly written characters and story with depth of emotion.
May 4, 2017
'31 miles' is a story of a woman who committed herself to her family after marriage. Her family comes first to her, even before her. After many years down the line, she felt a void in her life and step out of her comfort zone and confront her fears and seek a career.
Her life turned upside down when she finds herself involved in an online affair with a stranger.
The story is binding and engaging with new twists and turns with every turn of a page. You feel like completing it in on sitting. It is a beautiful story of Mansa and her dilemma of life. The climax is the beginning of the new book and looking forward to the sequel. Grab your copy before the sequel came and be ready for the next read.
I won a review copy from Chevus'Read. Follow Chevus'Read blog http://chevusread.blogspot.com or their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fewgoodreads for more updates.
Her life turned upside down when she finds herself involved in an online affair with a stranger.
The story is binding and engaging with new twists and turns with every turn of a page. You feel like completing it in on sitting. It is a beautiful story of Mansa and her dilemma of life. The climax is the beginning of the new book and looking forward to the sequel. Grab your copy before the sequel came and be ready for the next read.
I won a review copy from Chevus'Read. Follow Chevus'Read blog http://chevusread.blogspot.com or their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fewgoodreads for more updates.
March 18, 2017
I was hesitant to start on this book. I am a firm believer of the fact that there is no justification for extra-marital affairs (even an online one) and the blurb of the book clearly indicated one. So, it is with some apprehension that I picked up this book.
31 Miles is the story of Mansa, a woman whose life could reflect that of many in our country. Married to a successful man and financially settled, Mansa’s need to reaffirm that what she has with her husband is indeed love makes a reader empathize with her. Though she has a husband who is caring and supportive, she feels that she is missing something in life. As such she takes an initiative to give her life s new turn, but is she ready for what comes with it?
For me characters in a book are like anchors. They really can provide a certain level of stability to the story if they are well developed. Mansa is such a character. She is strong and intelligent. As the protagonist her role in the story demands attention and as a reader I had to give it to her. The plot is mostly well paced though there were moments where I felt that things were a bit sluggish as certain parts felt bit repetitive. There were hardly any surprises. But what won me over was the way the convolutions of human nature was portrayed. Did I agree to them all? No, but that did not stop me from appreciating the fact that not once did the author try to make Mansa look like an infallible and larger than life character.
A faster pace along with tighter narration is perhaps what would have made the book more enjoyable along the way.
31 Miles is the story of Mansa, a woman whose life could reflect that of many in our country. Married to a successful man and financially settled, Mansa’s need to reaffirm that what she has with her husband is indeed love makes a reader empathize with her. Though she has a husband who is caring and supportive, she feels that she is missing something in life. As such she takes an initiative to give her life s new turn, but is she ready for what comes with it?
For me characters in a book are like anchors. They really can provide a certain level of stability to the story if they are well developed. Mansa is such a character. She is strong and intelligent. As the protagonist her role in the story demands attention and as a reader I had to give it to her. The plot is mostly well paced though there were moments where I felt that things were a bit sluggish as certain parts felt bit repetitive. There were hardly any surprises. But what won me over was the way the convolutions of human nature was portrayed. Did I agree to them all? No, but that did not stop me from appreciating the fact that not once did the author try to make Mansa look like an infallible and larger than life character.
A faster pace along with tighter narration is perhaps what would have made the book more enjoyable along the way.
June 5, 2018
My 2ns completed book of June Readathon.
Selected this one as it had glowing reviews in a Facebook book club, and was available in Amazon for a minimal price of 13 or 31 rupees ( forgot whixh).
The title was peculiar, but the blurb interesting.
Beginning was shaky, and just when I thought it would be better to give it up, it started getting interesting...
But the end turned out to be the biggest let down .
The story of Mansa, an upper middle class scampered home maker, who joins a cookery class, then some internet groups and befriends a stranger to whom she is drawn to, step by step. She also ventures out into the field of gourmet cookery.
The stranger turns out to be a force to reckon with , and her relationship with her loving husband, two almost grown up daughters and myriads of friends suffer.
Selected this one as it had glowing reviews in a Facebook book club, and was available in Amazon for a minimal price of 13 or 31 rupees ( forgot whixh).
The title was peculiar, but the blurb interesting.
Beginning was shaky, and just when I thought it would be better to give it up, it started getting interesting...
But the end turned out to be the biggest let down .
The story of Mansa, an upper middle class scampered home maker, who joins a cookery class, then some internet groups and befriends a stranger to whom she is drawn to, step by step. She also ventures out into the field of gourmet cookery.
The stranger turns out to be a force to reckon with , and her relationship with her loving husband, two almost grown up daughters and myriads of friends suffer.
November 15, 2017
A world beyond words
Review of 31 Miles written by Vinita Bakshi
Is it a mere coincidence that I have begun writing the review of this book on the 6th of February which is also the National Mathematics Day? Let me first explain the connection. This book began as a new-age version of a forgettable romance but half-way through I realised that it had transformed into a karmic connection of ‘two souls over the distance and over time’ and that there was possibly some complex mathematical logic meandering between the subtle nuances of word play that the author had employed. The story is for sure a chromosomal link between life and freedom. And, to lay credence to my theory, the word ‘freedom’ is used 31 times in the Bible. There are romantic juicy bits interspersed throughout the pages and so I link them also to the 31 flavours of Baskin-Robbins ice-cream… by the way, the shops are called ‘31 Ice Cream’ in Japan. The number is also one that supposedly brings together the ordered universe and its individualized part: ‘it is the individuality conferred to a part of the cosmic organization’. I can go on and on about 31 and add that this is also the number of letters used in the Macedonian alphabet… but hey, I will then not be doing justice to the review of a book that brings a light-hearted romance to converse effortlessly with sentiments that only transmigrating souls would understand.
So here we have a book where Vinita Bakshi, the author, decides to have Mansa as her female protagonist who is ‘secure at home under her husband’s wings, had missed growing up in more ways than one. She had very little idea of the kind of suffering and problems people encountered in their daily lives’ and is forever wondering why her husband isn’t murmuring sweet nothings in her ear. Abhijit, her husband, we’re informed, is a successful executive with ‘enormous knowledge and his analytical skills regarding the Indian as well as the world economy’ and is brimming with ‘unquestioned love for her even though he had never said those three tender words to her. Even when she had asked him to say them in their most intimate moments, he had refused, calling them dramatic and hollow.’ Well, not even when ‘she wore a chic new black, lacy nightie with spaghetti straps, which showed off her swelte figure’. I guess this is what makes Mansa get into a virtual relationship with Rajan, a friend from the past, and the reader has to literally sift through pages of chat-text with a liberal dose of all the new-age acronyms that one can think of. Mansa, I notice, is definitely gliding towards Rajan but without really sliding away from her husband… and all this makes me think of a thousand reasons why the editors at Rupa should have politely returned the manuscript. I mean, like most readers, I too am prone to making hasty judgements. I write this because no sooner had this thought reached my mind that the tone of the book takes a rather dramatic and thrilling turn. And I read on.
It is at this point that the book reaches the shore of a world beyond words and gets us right in the middle of a dizzying whirlpool that transforms a simple and sometimes heady romance into a karmic thriller. Mansa, who had earlier transcended hesitation to jump into the voodoo of modern day communication that the internet has unleashed made me think if the ‘morality of Indian marriages had gone for a toss’ but then I realised soon enough that the journey of her ‘half-indulgent, half-hesitant, attracted and entrapped in the magic weaver’s web, she began with hesitant half-smiles and her hushed yeses soon became full smiles, and then grins and giggles’ was an essential part of the karmic mystery that was unfolding...
Please read the complete review on my blog:
http://passey.info/2017/02/a-world-be...
#
Review of 31 Miles written by Vinita Bakshi
Is it a mere coincidence that I have begun writing the review of this book on the 6th of February which is also the National Mathematics Day? Let me first explain the connection. This book began as a new-age version of a forgettable romance but half-way through I realised that it had transformed into a karmic connection of ‘two souls over the distance and over time’ and that there was possibly some complex mathematical logic meandering between the subtle nuances of word play that the author had employed. The story is for sure a chromosomal link between life and freedom. And, to lay credence to my theory, the word ‘freedom’ is used 31 times in the Bible. There are romantic juicy bits interspersed throughout the pages and so I link them also to the 31 flavours of Baskin-Robbins ice-cream… by the way, the shops are called ‘31 Ice Cream’ in Japan. The number is also one that supposedly brings together the ordered universe and its individualized part: ‘it is the individuality conferred to a part of the cosmic organization’. I can go on and on about 31 and add that this is also the number of letters used in the Macedonian alphabet… but hey, I will then not be doing justice to the review of a book that brings a light-hearted romance to converse effortlessly with sentiments that only transmigrating souls would understand.
So here we have a book where Vinita Bakshi, the author, decides to have Mansa as her female protagonist who is ‘secure at home under her husband’s wings, had missed growing up in more ways than one. She had very little idea of the kind of suffering and problems people encountered in their daily lives’ and is forever wondering why her husband isn’t murmuring sweet nothings in her ear. Abhijit, her husband, we’re informed, is a successful executive with ‘enormous knowledge and his analytical skills regarding the Indian as well as the world economy’ and is brimming with ‘unquestioned love for her even though he had never said those three tender words to her. Even when she had asked him to say them in their most intimate moments, he had refused, calling them dramatic and hollow.’ Well, not even when ‘she wore a chic new black, lacy nightie with spaghetti straps, which showed off her swelte figure’. I guess this is what makes Mansa get into a virtual relationship with Rajan, a friend from the past, and the reader has to literally sift through pages of chat-text with a liberal dose of all the new-age acronyms that one can think of. Mansa, I notice, is definitely gliding towards Rajan but without really sliding away from her husband… and all this makes me think of a thousand reasons why the editors at Rupa should have politely returned the manuscript. I mean, like most readers, I too am prone to making hasty judgements. I write this because no sooner had this thought reached my mind that the tone of the book takes a rather dramatic and thrilling turn. And I read on.
It is at this point that the book reaches the shore of a world beyond words and gets us right in the middle of a dizzying whirlpool that transforms a simple and sometimes heady romance into a karmic thriller. Mansa, who had earlier transcended hesitation to jump into the voodoo of modern day communication that the internet has unleashed made me think if the ‘morality of Indian marriages had gone for a toss’ but then I realised soon enough that the journey of her ‘half-indulgent, half-hesitant, attracted and entrapped in the magic weaver’s web, she began with hesitant half-smiles and her hushed yeses soon became full smiles, and then grins and giggles’ was an essential part of the karmic mystery that was unfolding...
Please read the complete review on my blog:
http://passey.info/2017/02/a-world-be...
#
October 5, 2017
31 Miles - Vinita Bakshi.
My wife calls me "Mommy's Boy" and I always take it as a compliment, as I fortunately truly am that :) and my mom actually treats me as if I am some Prince. I got the passion and love for reading absolutely from her and she has some appetite for books, whatever, wherever they may be coming from, she absolutely reads everything and anything and so do I too. I dread the day we both read a book and have polarizing opinion about it. Now the book in title did absolutely that. She loved it and I disliked it big time. She read it last month and reviewed too, which I posted as well. If you go down a bit on my timeline you may see it as well. I finished the book today as I was almost on the last few pages, she saw and asked me "Hows it? Isn't it fantastic?", I just gave her a cursory smile and said "Let me finish it and lets talk". Then I realized one very important aspect, Can age or gender make it any different for different people to have totally opposite opinions about a book? I guess thats the case with this book. She being in her mid 60's may see and interpret it totally differently than how I will do it at this point of time. Or it may appeal a bit differently to a further younger audience, unmarried, married for a while types. Unfortunately, it was a big let down for me, I expected a lot from it specially the premise and by the way it started but midways somewhere it loses its steam and just drags to a very convenient (totally unbelievable) ending.
Protagonist Mansa is a mid 40s gorgeous female, married to a terrific guy Abhijit (COO of a multinational) with a college going daughter studying in UK and another in high school back home in Gurgaon, living in a plush house overlooking a Golf Course. You get the hang right? Now what could be troubling her? that suddenly she realizes her life isn't great anymore and gets into some kind of a cookery course which leads her to start her own business and it all catapults to some height (all believably done, a bit confusing though but OK). Imagine she does all this with superb support of her husband who never stops her from doing and trying anything in life especially the way he not only loves but adores her is too good to be true but made me happy. Still it wasn't enough I guess for Mansa as she expects some more from her life which isn't to be. And then she comes across another guy on the opposite side of the planet through social media and falls for him big time (Desperate Housewives types). What happens next is a believable yet over the top account of her affair with him, totally indigestible for a guy like me, who just couldn't understand why was she doing what she was doing? Or was she going through the same thing that we all middle aged people go through, when life becomes a little predictable, love is still there but romance goes out of the window when we all get busy in achieving our targets and face the routine life which we just cant help, looking at the future prospect of it all?
What totally didn't work me was the background. The way their life is (Super Rich) with no troubles at all, yet there is a little twist about she getting migraines and her husband having nightmares (Sleep walks) which keeps getting lost somewhere in between and keep surfacing again but after long gaps. It all looked such a fluke to me, the whole affair thing that it becomes such a drag to go through to no end. Till it justifies the title and that big let down of an ending. Unfortunately I just couldn't identify with the character of Mansa for why she was doing what she was doing at all. On top of that a publication as good as "Rupa" shocked me with the mistakes they have in the book. Not only names confused at least once to the missing punctuation(s) and even grammatical mistakes (twice) sentence making no sense. Although I don't nitpick neither I am any kind of expert but if I was able to see 4-5 mistakes, a better bibliophile than me will surely find it a big turn off for that too.
I have read quite a few positive reviews on this one earlier, I will definitely go back to them to see what made them like the book but if you have read it and liked it, do let me know how you liked it and if you haven't read it. I will say give it a miss or rather wait for the sequel, it may turn out to be a better story than this one.
My wife calls me "Mommy's Boy" and I always take it as a compliment, as I fortunately truly am that :) and my mom actually treats me as if I am some Prince. I got the passion and love for reading absolutely from her and she has some appetite for books, whatever, wherever they may be coming from, she absolutely reads everything and anything and so do I too. I dread the day we both read a book and have polarizing opinion about it. Now the book in title did absolutely that. She loved it and I disliked it big time. She read it last month and reviewed too, which I posted as well. If you go down a bit on my timeline you may see it as well. I finished the book today as I was almost on the last few pages, she saw and asked me "Hows it? Isn't it fantastic?", I just gave her a cursory smile and said "Let me finish it and lets talk". Then I realized one very important aspect, Can age or gender make it any different for different people to have totally opposite opinions about a book? I guess thats the case with this book. She being in her mid 60's may see and interpret it totally differently than how I will do it at this point of time. Or it may appeal a bit differently to a further younger audience, unmarried, married for a while types. Unfortunately, it was a big let down for me, I expected a lot from it specially the premise and by the way it started but midways somewhere it loses its steam and just drags to a very convenient (totally unbelievable) ending.
Protagonist Mansa is a mid 40s gorgeous female, married to a terrific guy Abhijit (COO of a multinational) with a college going daughter studying in UK and another in high school back home in Gurgaon, living in a plush house overlooking a Golf Course. You get the hang right? Now what could be troubling her? that suddenly she realizes her life isn't great anymore and gets into some kind of a cookery course which leads her to start her own business and it all catapults to some height (all believably done, a bit confusing though but OK). Imagine she does all this with superb support of her husband who never stops her from doing and trying anything in life especially the way he not only loves but adores her is too good to be true but made me happy. Still it wasn't enough I guess for Mansa as she expects some more from her life which isn't to be. And then she comes across another guy on the opposite side of the planet through social media and falls for him big time (Desperate Housewives types). What happens next is a believable yet over the top account of her affair with him, totally indigestible for a guy like me, who just couldn't understand why was she doing what she was doing? Or was she going through the same thing that we all middle aged people go through, when life becomes a little predictable, love is still there but romance goes out of the window when we all get busy in achieving our targets and face the routine life which we just cant help, looking at the future prospect of it all?
What totally didn't work me was the background. The way their life is (Super Rich) with no troubles at all, yet there is a little twist about she getting migraines and her husband having nightmares (Sleep walks) which keeps getting lost somewhere in between and keep surfacing again but after long gaps. It all looked such a fluke to me, the whole affair thing that it becomes such a drag to go through to no end. Till it justifies the title and that big let down of an ending. Unfortunately I just couldn't identify with the character of Mansa for why she was doing what she was doing at all. On top of that a publication as good as "Rupa" shocked me with the mistakes they have in the book. Not only names confused at least once to the missing punctuation(s) and even grammatical mistakes (twice) sentence making no sense. Although I don't nitpick neither I am any kind of expert but if I was able to see 4-5 mistakes, a better bibliophile than me will surely find it a big turn off for that too.
I have read quite a few positive reviews on this one earlier, I will definitely go back to them to see what made them like the book but if you have read it and liked it, do let me know how you liked it and if you haven't read it. I will say give it a miss or rather wait for the sequel, it may turn out to be a better story than this one.
November 24, 2016
There are certain epochs in one’s individual life where it takes a substantial twirl and the whole thing happens so fast that one cannot fathom the rationale or judgment behind it. And undoubtedly, it poses some vital consequences when this happens in the middle of the life. The book “31 Miles” precisely narrates the midlife crisis of a woman who has lost a sense of control over some events that has changed her entire life.
The protagonist of the novel is a middle aged woman, Manasa, aged about 40 years. Growing up in a traditional orthodox family left her no choice but to give her consent for an arranged marriage at a young age. Now, she is well over 40 years, blessed with two beautiful daughters Malvika and Shonali and an ever loving husband, Abhijit. She considered herself as a regular Indian middle class home maker with the sole intention of taking care of her family and giving the best of her abilities to keep everyone happy. She grew up with no concerns whatsoever. But, an ill-fated episode made her to lose trail of her life and go into deep crisis which occupies rest of the novel.
Read full review here
Note: This book was given to me by the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.
The protagonist of the novel is a middle aged woman, Manasa, aged about 40 years. Growing up in a traditional orthodox family left her no choice but to give her consent for an arranged marriage at a young age. Now, she is well over 40 years, blessed with two beautiful daughters Malvika and Shonali and an ever loving husband, Abhijit. She considered herself as a regular Indian middle class home maker with the sole intention of taking care of her family and giving the best of her abilities to keep everyone happy. She grew up with no concerns whatsoever. But, an ill-fated episode made her to lose trail of her life and go into deep crisis which occupies rest of the novel.
Read full review here
Note: This book was given to me by the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.
August 21, 2017
The typical life of any Indian woman starts with her family and ends with her family. She seldom gets a chance to do something for herself. Under the veil of smile and happiness, she doesn’t realize her worth until her duty gets completed and she felt miserable. The story of this book revolves around this situation. I would like to thanks the author for giving me a chance to read and review this book.
Read full book review on my blog 31 Miles: Can we ever win against ourselves? by Vinita Bakshi - Book review
Plot summary:
Mansa is a happy middle-aged woman, with loving husband and two beautiful daughters. She is very content in her life and her devotion to her family. Brought up in the conservative family, she has hardly faced the real world.
Being a homemaker, she has devoted herself to her husband and daughters. There comes a time, when her daughters are old enough to take care of themselves and her husband is also successful in his career. Her duty has been almost completed and during this time, she felt very lonely. She doesn’t have a career and her other friends have successful careers, this really hurts her and she decided to do something for herself.
Mansa enrolls herself in a culinary class and this gives her a path to do something. The conservative Mansa now started meeting new people and making friends. She started gaining her lost confidence.
Mansa’s efforts become fruitful and she started her own business. Her family is very happy to see her doing something for herself.
But this is not it, testing her new-found freedom she started chatting with a stranger and soon they become online lovers. Will it good for Mansa? Mansa, who have not experienced an outside world closely, will able to make a correct decision? How is this anonymous relationship going to affect Mansa? Read this book to know further.
I love the concept of this book, as there is a sequel going to come so the author has left many questions unanswered. Overall, this is a good gripping read which shows the mid-life crisis of majority of Indian women.
Read full book review on my blog 31 Miles: Can we ever win against ourselves? by Vinita Bakshi - Book review
Plot summary:
Mansa is a happy middle-aged woman, with loving husband and two beautiful daughters. She is very content in her life and her devotion to her family. Brought up in the conservative family, she has hardly faced the real world.
Being a homemaker, she has devoted herself to her husband and daughters. There comes a time, when her daughters are old enough to take care of themselves and her husband is also successful in his career. Her duty has been almost completed and during this time, she felt very lonely. She doesn’t have a career and her other friends have successful careers, this really hurts her and she decided to do something for herself.
Mansa enrolls herself in a culinary class and this gives her a path to do something. The conservative Mansa now started meeting new people and making friends. She started gaining her lost confidence.
Mansa’s efforts become fruitful and she started her own business. Her family is very happy to see her doing something for herself.
But this is not it, testing her new-found freedom she started chatting with a stranger and soon they become online lovers. Will it good for Mansa? Mansa, who have not experienced an outside world closely, will able to make a correct decision? How is this anonymous relationship going to affect Mansa? Read this book to know further.
I love the concept of this book, as there is a sequel going to come so the author has left many questions unanswered. Overall, this is a good gripping read which shows the mid-life crisis of majority of Indian women.
April 3, 2017
This sure is a brilliant story of a lady with her hubby and kids. Talk about her hopping around with a new mate, that too, online. I’m still turning pages in the middle of the book, and the story keeps getting interesting.
March 30, 2017
I don't know where to start from but i have to admit 31 Miles by Vinita Bakshi is a complete revealation. The way she has described a women's journey,it make you relate to her. I can't wait to read it again.
December 8, 2016
First things first. After a long time I read and finished a novel in days. That to me says something. This book is an easy read although it delves into complex issues of marriage and love. The protagonist Mansa is completely unrelatable to me on one level and yet I completely get the dilemmas in her mind. Vinita does a wonderful job in describing the turmoil in Mansa’s mind as Mansa fights against her own conditioning, propelled into a whirlwind romance, an awareness of her own desires and rejection. Even the unrelatable bits of her life were intriguing for me as I realised how far removed I was from the way life changed on a superficial level for at least a subset of women back home, and in the subcontinent, in the last decade or more. The pace and style of story changes through the book. The characters are well fleshed out and description of people and places is something I enjoyed reading while I wanted to skip over the names and labels as they meant little to me. The book could have done with better editing. Personally I found the long online romantic exchanges a bit tedious, but that may be just because I am a cynic as much as a romantic. Chances are some people will enjoy reading this part the most. Vinita uses some of my favourite quotes to introduce the chapters and interspersed within the online romance is some lovely poetry and couplets. It felt as though the book ended somewhat abruptly but you could say it was the reader in me wanting more. Vinita is writing a sequel and I would read it, not because she is a friend, but to satiate my curiosity about where the story goes. It is Mansa’s journey and while different characters take centerstage at different times and she jumps from one alternative to another to find solace, I would be very interested to read where it takes her in the process of self-discovery.
A great first effort, Vinita! For my friends, this is perhaps a good one to pick to read on your next flight…… then write a review for Vinita and share.
A great first effort, Vinita! For my friends, this is perhaps a good one to pick to read on your next flight…… then write a review for Vinita and share.
March 30, 2017
Couldn't keep it down once I started.31 Miles has a completely different take on women empowerment which is quite inspirational in a way, It's a journey of self-liberation and discovery takes to a beautiful journey. It's a must read for everyone.
January 3, 2017
"31 Miles" is a story revolving around protagonist Mansa, her husband Abhijeet and Rajan Chopra, Mansa's social networking friend. Life was smooth for Mansa, however, after shifting to Capital her life took a U- turn. What is that turn and how will it affect her life? Will it be positive or negative? 31 Miles is all about it.
31 Miles is a story with elementary theme brewed into an extravagant story by the author. Simple writing style and vocabulary makes it more alluring. The relationship phase between Rajan and Mansa when the love flower blooms between them are described in a beautiful manner. However, despite so many things in the story, the author succeeded in maintaining the balance between the characters and the story. This is commendable.
At no point, it felt as if the story is losing its charm or is getting mundane. The book is surely a page turner and it will be no big deal if the book makes it to bestseller charts. Let me share some lines that took my heart away-
Page 164- ” WHAT IS LOVE? Why are some people unable to express it, while others express it so loosely, devoid of any meaning? Why is love as hurtful as it is pleasurable? Why do people who love each other quarrel so much? why does it lead to a state of either zero expectation or expectations of the highest order? Why is love the most abused, overused, misused and confused emotion of all times?
31 Miles is a story with elementary theme brewed into an extravagant story by the author. Simple writing style and vocabulary makes it more alluring. The relationship phase between Rajan and Mansa when the love flower blooms between them are described in a beautiful manner. However, despite so many things in the story, the author succeeded in maintaining the balance between the characters and the story. This is commendable.
At no point, it felt as if the story is losing its charm or is getting mundane. The book is surely a page turner and it will be no big deal if the book makes it to bestseller charts. Let me share some lines that took my heart away-
Page 164- ” WHAT IS LOVE? Why are some people unable to express it, while others express it so loosely, devoid of any meaning? Why is love as hurtful as it is pleasurable? Why do people who love each other quarrel so much? why does it lead to a state of either zero expectation or expectations of the highest order? Why is love the most abused, overused, misused and confused emotion of all times?
March 24, 2017
This one was hard to put down in a 'this could happen to anyone' kind of way. It talks about the complexities of modern life without making any judgement. A good read for the women of today.
December 19, 2016
The story is about Mansa, who has a perfect family life. The writer gives you every reasoning of why it is perfect. Personally, I don’t believe any family is perfect. It so happens that Mansa, after moving to a big city and looking at her classmates who have a successful career, gets evaluating her life and is now under mid-life crisis. The mid-life crisis has been elaborated perfectly. The struggles Mansa has within of having everything and yet nothing.
She joins a cooking class and makes a lot of good friends. The cooking class giving her a break to the mid-life crisis she was in and she realizes her true calling. Fast forward a few days and now she owns a business and running it successfully. She makes an online acquaintance with a handsome man named Rajan Chopra. Slow and steady she falls for him and is in a dilemma about her online and real life relationship.
To read the entire review visit: http://www.ramyarao.com/2016/12/book-...
She joins a cooking class and makes a lot of good friends. The cooking class giving her a break to the mid-life crisis she was in and she realizes her true calling. Fast forward a few days and now she owns a business and running it successfully. She makes an online acquaintance with a handsome man named Rajan Chopra. Slow and steady she falls for him and is in a dilemma about her online and real life relationship.
To read the entire review visit: http://www.ramyarao.com/2016/12/book-...
March 23, 2017
Amazing Book! This seriously has to be one of the most amazing books, I have read till date. Vinita Bakshi's book has motivated me in the various aspects of life.
March 23, 2017
Wow! It was too good! I tloved it! Will read it agaian and again!
March 23, 2017
Nice book
December 11, 2016
Some books are meant to touch your heart and some books force you to relate to your life (past or present) and 31 miles is one of them.
Set around the life of Mansa, it is a simple yet interesting tale of a woman who decides to do something with her life and not just be a homemaker. As she takes first steps towards her career, she finds herself entangled in an online affair. It sounds stupid I know but many people commit this mistake of trusting someone blindly.
The story simply displays whom to trust and to whom not. In a way it is also a lesson for everyone (especially teenagers).
The characters are very well written and are bound together well.
The dialogues are also nicely written and some romantic themes come out beautifully. Read to know what I am talking about.
Overall it is a nice read and my rating to the book is 4.5/5
Set around the life of Mansa, it is a simple yet interesting tale of a woman who decides to do something with her life and not just be a homemaker. As she takes first steps towards her career, she finds herself entangled in an online affair. It sounds stupid I know but many people commit this mistake of trusting someone blindly.
The story simply displays whom to trust and to whom not. In a way it is also a lesson for everyone (especially teenagers).
The characters are very well written and are bound together well.
The dialogues are also nicely written and some romantic themes come out beautifully. Read to know what I am talking about.
Overall it is a nice read and my rating to the book is 4.5/5
December 23, 2016
Vinita Sharma, in 31 Miles has boldly depicted the dangerous overlap between the real and virtual world. The novel is a smooth blend of a well researched, expertly crafted and is an eye-opener to us all .
I loved reading the book as it awoke my deepest spiritual core. The unexpected climax not only surprised me but created alot of soul stirring questions. Though I do possess the most robust of backbones.
I widely recommend the book and wish Vinita the best in her forthcoming literary ventures.
I loved reading the book as it awoke my deepest spiritual core. The unexpected climax not only surprised me but created alot of soul stirring questions. Though I do possess the most robust of backbones.
I widely recommend the book and wish Vinita the best in her forthcoming literary ventures.
August 25, 2017
You can also read the full review on my blog
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 31 Miles is story of Mansa- a middle aged woman who is happily married with two kids. Born and brought up in a conservative Indian family, she lived a very cocooned life. Just after a customary meeting, she got married to Abhijit at a very tender age. After that she devoted her life to look after her family. But now after twenty years of marital bliss, she feels lonely and aimless. With two grown up kids and husband busy with his career, she feels no one needs her anymore.
So Mansa decides to take the reins of her life in her own hands and chooses to step out. She enrols herself in a culinary class and successfully makes a career out of her hobby. With a newfound energy and enthusiasm, she immerses herself in her work and new life. But soon a new person enters her life through the window of world wide web. She befriends a man named Rajan Chopra on facebook and quickly finds herself entangled in an extra marital affair with an unknown person. Now with everything slowly falling apart will she give up everything for her love or take a different turn?
Mansa as a protagonist is very believable. I think most of the middle aged women will identify with her. Not only she is a caring and sensitive person who always thinks of her family first but she is also smart and intelligent. She is definitely able to grab and hold readers attention throughout the book.
I really enjoyed the beginning. From the first page itself I was hooked to the story. Although I was little apprehensive about the extra marital affair, I was able to respect Mansa as a woman. Rather than plummeting downward towards melancholy and cynicism, she just took it all in her stride. Anybody else in her situation would have sunk to despair and hopelessness. But she had the guts to start afresh. It takes a lot of courage to face this world and to turn your passion into profession. So I admired this character a lot.
The crux of the story is the extra marital affair which is supposed to be torrid, passionate and intense. I felt all of these feelings were missing in her new relationship. She knew next to nothing about this man apart from the fact that he married twice, has a kid and likes poetry. She didn’t even see his picture. I can’t accept the fact that somebody can be so naive in this digital age and that too a woman like Mansa. A person doesn’t need to be a genius to exercise caution.
The whole time I was reading the book, I never found a particular reason which compelled Mansa to betray Abhijit. Had Abhijit been unfaithful to her or cared less about her, I would have understood her plight and sympathized with her. But in her own words, author mentioned that Abhijit’s progressive thinking, respect for women coupled with unmatched intelligence made him epitome of perfection in Mansa’s eyes. Also throughout the book we can clearly observe that he loved Mansa a lot. Even if he was not able say those much expected “three words”, everything in his behavior screamed how much he loved his wife. He supported her career, never stopped her from pursuing anything, never doubted her (even when she chatted with her lover lying right next to him).
I didn’t understand why suddenly Mansa was so dissatisfied with Abhijit and couldn’t even bear to spend time with her family? And this same person happily went back to Rajan again and again, even after his repetitive misbehavior. How can she consider Rajan her soul mate when the moment she wanted to meet him, he terminated all communication with her. He insulted her on every possible level and pushed her towards depression. Are these the qualities of a true soul mate?
The ending was not very clear to me. The past life regression took the story to a completely different zone. Sadly this part was not well connected to the main story. Maybe all the unanswered questions will be answered in the upcoming sequel.
As a debutante author, Vinita Bakshi’s command over language is laudable. However, certain sections of the story felt quite repetitive, specially Mansa’s chat conversations with Rajan. I loved Mansa as a protagonist. But I was disappointed in her. It was like quietly watching your friend make a stupid life decision. By the end of the story I just wanted to give her a good shake and say, “Stand up for yourself, girl.”
My Rating: 2.5/5
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 31 Miles is story of Mansa- a middle aged woman who is happily married with two kids. Born and brought up in a conservative Indian family, she lived a very cocooned life. Just after a customary meeting, she got married to Abhijit at a very tender age. After that she devoted her life to look after her family. But now after twenty years of marital bliss, she feels lonely and aimless. With two grown up kids and husband busy with his career, she feels no one needs her anymore.
So Mansa decides to take the reins of her life in her own hands and chooses to step out. She enrols herself in a culinary class and successfully makes a career out of her hobby. With a newfound energy and enthusiasm, she immerses herself in her work and new life. But soon a new person enters her life through the window of world wide web. She befriends a man named Rajan Chopra on facebook and quickly finds herself entangled in an extra marital affair with an unknown person. Now with everything slowly falling apart will she give up everything for her love or take a different turn?
Mansa as a protagonist is very believable. I think most of the middle aged women will identify with her. Not only she is a caring and sensitive person who always thinks of her family first but she is also smart and intelligent. She is definitely able to grab and hold readers attention throughout the book.
I really enjoyed the beginning. From the first page itself I was hooked to the story. Although I was little apprehensive about the extra marital affair, I was able to respect Mansa as a woman. Rather than plummeting downward towards melancholy and cynicism, she just took it all in her stride. Anybody else in her situation would have sunk to despair and hopelessness. But she had the guts to start afresh. It takes a lot of courage to face this world and to turn your passion into profession. So I admired this character a lot.
The crux of the story is the extra marital affair which is supposed to be torrid, passionate and intense. I felt all of these feelings were missing in her new relationship. She knew next to nothing about this man apart from the fact that he married twice, has a kid and likes poetry. She didn’t even see his picture. I can’t accept the fact that somebody can be so naive in this digital age and that too a woman like Mansa. A person doesn’t need to be a genius to exercise caution.
The whole time I was reading the book, I never found a particular reason which compelled Mansa to betray Abhijit. Had Abhijit been unfaithful to her or cared less about her, I would have understood her plight and sympathized with her. But in her own words, author mentioned that Abhijit’s progressive thinking, respect for women coupled with unmatched intelligence made him epitome of perfection in Mansa’s eyes. Also throughout the book we can clearly observe that he loved Mansa a lot. Even if he was not able say those much expected “three words”, everything in his behavior screamed how much he loved his wife. He supported her career, never stopped her from pursuing anything, never doubted her (even when she chatted with her lover lying right next to him).
I didn’t understand why suddenly Mansa was so dissatisfied with Abhijit and couldn’t even bear to spend time with her family? And this same person happily went back to Rajan again and again, even after his repetitive misbehavior. How can she consider Rajan her soul mate when the moment she wanted to meet him, he terminated all communication with her. He insulted her on every possible level and pushed her towards depression. Are these the qualities of a true soul mate?
The ending was not very clear to me. The past life regression took the story to a completely different zone. Sadly this part was not well connected to the main story. Maybe all the unanswered questions will be answered in the upcoming sequel.
As a debutante author, Vinita Bakshi’s command over language is laudable. However, certain sections of the story felt quite repetitive, specially Mansa’s chat conversations with Rajan. I loved Mansa as a protagonist. But I was disappointed in her. It was like quietly watching your friend make a stupid life decision. By the end of the story I just wanted to give her a good shake and say, “Stand up for yourself, girl.”
My Rating: 2.5/5
March 27, 2017
Disclaimer: The book was sent as a free review copy by the author in exchange of an honest review. I have endeavoured to be fair, unbiased, and justifiably critical in my review of the novel. The book has been analysed on aspects such as its plot, narrative, language and storytelling, pace, and ability to hold reader’s interest to the best of my rather limited abilities.
Published by Rupa Publications, 31 Miles is the debut novel of Vinita Bakshi, an award-winning sociologist and social entrepreneur. The book itself has received several rave reviews since its launch, having been featured in several prominent digital and print publications across the world. Various bloggers and prominent personalities – minor celebrities all, in their own rights – have waxed lyrical in its praise, gushing about a sensational debut which, and I quote, ‘brilliantly highlights what goes on in a woman’s mind during a mid-life crisis’. Celebrated director and storyteller Imtiaz Ali, has been quite effusive in his praise for the book as well. According to him, the book has ‘strong reverberations of the twin forces of contemporary life in Indian cities – the scientific and the mythical’ with ‘a very relatable story set in the magical world of a real Indian woman.’
I would to go against the prevailing narrative, like a single solitary defiant leaf in a raging tempest, and say I did not like this book. I blame the blurb.
I always judge a book by its cover, and the blurb, being an essential part of the cover, is fair game. It starts off, in bold and gold words, with this: “The beginning and the end are two sides of the same coin. In a circle, there is no beginning and no end.” In slightly less bold, less gold words, it goes on to give a brief glimpse of how Mansa – she with the perfect family life, the perfect husband, the perfect marriage, the perfect children – is facing an existential midlife crisis which makes her seek out a career in the age when most people are already preparing for life after retirement. It went on to tell how she, having established her business, now risked her newfound professional success and personal liberation for the elusive promise of love made by a stranger she’s met online. There was scope for tightening the blurb a bit, but it managed to do what it was meant to do: it got me intrigued. Maybe, I thought, just maybe, praises and reviews being showered were deserved. In hindsight, I feel I should’ve known better. [...]
[...] I’ve come across books where minor characters are often not that well developed. 31 Miles was a book where NO character was developed. Not even the protagonist. Remember four different people complimenting Mansa on her looks at four different occasions? They almost quoted each other verbatim. Come to think of it, almost every character sounds like every other character. I was wondering why I couldn’t like these characters despite the fact that they were all doing what they were supposed to do, when I came upon the realisation that they did exactly what they were supposed to do at that point in time. Mansa is innocent and naive, till the time she’s smart and sexy and successful. The latter phase lasts till she falls for Rajan, at which point she becomes a mopey teenager who couldn’t deal with heartbreak. Her husband, the dutiful Abhijit, is all loving and caring till the time he needs to be overbearing for the sake of the story. Pratap, the person who first flirts with Mansa, becomes completely irrelevant, earning just a casual mention somewhere as her business partner. There is no suggestive remark from him, ever again. Rajan, the romantic Rajan head over heels in love with Mansa, becomes cold and hard and quite dismissive of her. His motives are not explained at all. Characters don’t behave or talk like real people do – they act like cardboard puppets handled by an inexperienced puppeteer far too cautious of making a mistake to really assert herself.
For a novel which promised to tackle the difficult subject of the influence and extent of digital penetration in our daily lives, 31 Miles falls short by some margin. It simply tried too much. The blame for this has to be shouldered by the team at Rupa. They’ve marketed the book full-on across social and print media, but haven’t paid attention to the one of the most important aspect of the book – editing.
Editing does not just mean finding and correcting any grammatical or syntactical errors; it also means identifying possible plot holes, eliminating redundancy, and polishing the story to make it interesting and engaging. Nearly 150 pages of the 220-page story are dedicated solely to Mansa and Rajan, while the last 20-odd pages rush through everything from past life regression to karma. There is hardly a single proper discourse on the perceived ills of social media. The entire plot could have been boiled down to the last line on page 98, which spoke of how Mansa never wanted to contact Rajan ever again, but couldn’t help herself. Why didn’t the editors, the proofreaders, point this out to the author? There are still proofing and editing errors in the final copy, printed and published and displayed in bookshelves across all prominent bookstores, which makes me wonder if editors were employed at all.
The author hints at a sequel towards the end of the book. My experience with this one would make me wary of picking the next one. This review might seem a bit too harsh, especially in the light of all the praises 31 Miles has received, but someone had to say it. I only hope the author can read beyond my obvious disappointment and write a better story next time around.
Published by Rupa Publications, 31 Miles is the debut novel of Vinita Bakshi, an award-winning sociologist and social entrepreneur. The book itself has received several rave reviews since its launch, having been featured in several prominent digital and print publications across the world. Various bloggers and prominent personalities – minor celebrities all, in their own rights – have waxed lyrical in its praise, gushing about a sensational debut which, and I quote, ‘brilliantly highlights what goes on in a woman’s mind during a mid-life crisis’. Celebrated director and storyteller Imtiaz Ali, has been quite effusive in his praise for the book as well. According to him, the book has ‘strong reverberations of the twin forces of contemporary life in Indian cities – the scientific and the mythical’ with ‘a very relatable story set in the magical world of a real Indian woman.’
I would to go against the prevailing narrative, like a single solitary defiant leaf in a raging tempest, and say I did not like this book. I blame the blurb.
I always judge a book by its cover, and the blurb, being an essential part of the cover, is fair game. It starts off, in bold and gold words, with this: “The beginning and the end are two sides of the same coin. In a circle, there is no beginning and no end.” In slightly less bold, less gold words, it goes on to give a brief glimpse of how Mansa – she with the perfect family life, the perfect husband, the perfect marriage, the perfect children – is facing an existential midlife crisis which makes her seek out a career in the age when most people are already preparing for life after retirement. It went on to tell how she, having established her business, now risked her newfound professional success and personal liberation for the elusive promise of love made by a stranger she’s met online. There was scope for tightening the blurb a bit, but it managed to do what it was meant to do: it got me intrigued. Maybe, I thought, just maybe, praises and reviews being showered were deserved. In hindsight, I feel I should’ve known better. [...]
[...] I’ve come across books where minor characters are often not that well developed. 31 Miles was a book where NO character was developed. Not even the protagonist. Remember four different people complimenting Mansa on her looks at four different occasions? They almost quoted each other verbatim. Come to think of it, almost every character sounds like every other character. I was wondering why I couldn’t like these characters despite the fact that they were all doing what they were supposed to do, when I came upon the realisation that they did exactly what they were supposed to do at that point in time. Mansa is innocent and naive, till the time she’s smart and sexy and successful. The latter phase lasts till she falls for Rajan, at which point she becomes a mopey teenager who couldn’t deal with heartbreak. Her husband, the dutiful Abhijit, is all loving and caring till the time he needs to be overbearing for the sake of the story. Pratap, the person who first flirts with Mansa, becomes completely irrelevant, earning just a casual mention somewhere as her business partner. There is no suggestive remark from him, ever again. Rajan, the romantic Rajan head over heels in love with Mansa, becomes cold and hard and quite dismissive of her. His motives are not explained at all. Characters don’t behave or talk like real people do – they act like cardboard puppets handled by an inexperienced puppeteer far too cautious of making a mistake to really assert herself.
For a novel which promised to tackle the difficult subject of the influence and extent of digital penetration in our daily lives, 31 Miles falls short by some margin. It simply tried too much. The blame for this has to be shouldered by the team at Rupa. They’ve marketed the book full-on across social and print media, but haven’t paid attention to the one of the most important aspect of the book – editing.
Editing does not just mean finding and correcting any grammatical or syntactical errors; it also means identifying possible plot holes, eliminating redundancy, and polishing the story to make it interesting and engaging. Nearly 150 pages of the 220-page story are dedicated solely to Mansa and Rajan, while the last 20-odd pages rush through everything from past life regression to karma. There is hardly a single proper discourse on the perceived ills of social media. The entire plot could have been boiled down to the last line on page 98, which spoke of how Mansa never wanted to contact Rajan ever again, but couldn’t help herself. Why didn’t the editors, the proofreaders, point this out to the author? There are still proofing and editing errors in the final copy, printed and published and displayed in bookshelves across all prominent bookstores, which makes me wonder if editors were employed at all.
The author hints at a sequel towards the end of the book. My experience with this one would make me wary of picking the next one. This review might seem a bit too harsh, especially in the light of all the praises 31 Miles has received, but someone had to say it. I only hope the author can read beyond my obvious disappointment and write a better story next time around.
August 28, 2017
My Mom's review. She wrote in pure Hindi and I am trying to translate it to English, although my vocab doesn't do justice to her words but whatever:
I got the opportunity to read the book "31 Miles" by Vinita Bakshi and once I started, just couldn't put it down without finishing it. No doubt this book is so beautifully written that it actually shook some untouched corners of my heart. She has actually uncarved the deep engraved feelings of an Indian woman. Author has actually very well put together and has understood what a woman goes thru and what her struggles, pains, dilemma, confusions are, that commendable and I believe she is a perfect psychologist. Protagonist is a middle aged (45 years), well educated, a mother of two from an upper class family, even then she doesn't remain untouched by something like infatuation at that age and situation is what the book explores. Her husband is a smart, very well placed, caring, loving and a man who will leave no stone upturned in fulfilling her wishes. A simple thing which tells a lot about him is that he actually gets restless and waits for her standing at the terrace the day she gets late to return home from her work. He wouldn't even let her drive their car alone thinking that she may have an accident, just imagine. Even after being married for two decades or more, she still has no idea how much he loves her or she just doesn't understand his love at all.
She always feels that there is something missing in her life, may be those little praises that she expects from him or those little "I love you's" that go missing in the daily rut of life is what gets fulfilled by "Rajan" the new entrant in her run of the mill life. How this new "Online relationship screws up her married life of two decades is the rest of the story. The utter romantic Rajan and his histrionics make her fall head over heels and she just couldn't see anything else. Author has to be praised for the way she has done and covered this delicate turn of events where it never goes out of hands and never feels over done or goes over board. It is actually to her credit the way she has carved out the strong character of the protagonist who still tries to make her lover understand that they are both married with kids and have spouses, still the way it turns out to be is quite shocking yet convincing. But what happens next as well as how it all ends is something you've got to read the novel for. I found the ending to be quite emotional and heart touching, especially the way her "Guru Maa" handles the situation and guides her is simply terrific. The actual depth of the novel and the narrative is its ending part which impressed me to no bounds, it was indeed what the Author wanted her readers to know and understand (I believe).
This book is actually superb for those ever so emotional people who may take a wrong step or two at one point of there life and think that there is no going back. Its a must read especially for those and will be an eye opener who are on the verge of committing a mistake knowingly or unknowingly. This will work like an ultimate guiding light for those lost souls. I will rate and recommend it very high and will call it a must read for all.
PS: I am not sure if my translation does justice to her original review in Hindi. And I got the book back on my rack with this :) so I will be reading it soon myself.
I got the opportunity to read the book "31 Miles" by Vinita Bakshi and once I started, just couldn't put it down without finishing it. No doubt this book is so beautifully written that it actually shook some untouched corners of my heart. She has actually uncarved the deep engraved feelings of an Indian woman. Author has actually very well put together and has understood what a woman goes thru and what her struggles, pains, dilemma, confusions are, that commendable and I believe she is a perfect psychologist. Protagonist is a middle aged (45 years), well educated, a mother of two from an upper class family, even then she doesn't remain untouched by something like infatuation at that age and situation is what the book explores. Her husband is a smart, very well placed, caring, loving and a man who will leave no stone upturned in fulfilling her wishes. A simple thing which tells a lot about him is that he actually gets restless and waits for her standing at the terrace the day she gets late to return home from her work. He wouldn't even let her drive their car alone thinking that she may have an accident, just imagine. Even after being married for two decades or more, she still has no idea how much he loves her or she just doesn't understand his love at all.
She always feels that there is something missing in her life, may be those little praises that she expects from him or those little "I love you's" that go missing in the daily rut of life is what gets fulfilled by "Rajan" the new entrant in her run of the mill life. How this new "Online relationship screws up her married life of two decades is the rest of the story. The utter romantic Rajan and his histrionics make her fall head over heels and she just couldn't see anything else. Author has to be praised for the way she has done and covered this delicate turn of events where it never goes out of hands and never feels over done or goes over board. It is actually to her credit the way she has carved out the strong character of the protagonist who still tries to make her lover understand that they are both married with kids and have spouses, still the way it turns out to be is quite shocking yet convincing. But what happens next as well as how it all ends is something you've got to read the novel for. I found the ending to be quite emotional and heart touching, especially the way her "Guru Maa" handles the situation and guides her is simply terrific. The actual depth of the novel and the narrative is its ending part which impressed me to no bounds, it was indeed what the Author wanted her readers to know and understand (I believe).
This book is actually superb for those ever so emotional people who may take a wrong step or two at one point of there life and think that there is no going back. Its a must read especially for those and will be an eye opener who are on the verge of committing a mistake knowingly or unknowingly. This will work like an ultimate guiding light for those lost souls. I will rate and recommend it very high and will call it a must read for all.
PS: I am not sure if my translation does justice to her original review in Hindi. And I got the book back on my rack with this :) so I will be reading it soon myself.
September 3, 2017
Mansa is a homemaker with a loving and well to do family which includes her caring husband, two beautiful and well brought up daughters, one studying dentistry in London and another in her final years of school. Her family is based in a posh Gurgaon area and her social group consists of high class working ladies.
When Mansa finds her homemaker's life mundane, she decides to find a job for herself. After enrolling herself in a culinary course, she finds her true potential and within a span of 2 years she opens her own culinary business. With a flourishing business she expands it via her website. In this process, Mansa becomes well acquainted with the social media culture and her happily married life turns upside down when she falls for a stranger online.
Mansa drifts away from her family matters and dedicates herself to this man she has never seen. Will Mansa finally find her true love in this online relationship? Will Mansa leave her family for this stranger? Read this book which also deals with Karma Chakra and other spiritual aspects of the karmic world to know more about Mansa's life.
31 Miles is a book that every Indian woman should read. Her struggles to keep up with an aimless life and finally getting out of it only to find herself in a big soup is something that is relatable. The book aims to give a scenario which is ubiquitous in real life. According to me, the book started off good but dragged towards the middle. The book had the potential to be engaging but it lacked lustre. Nevertheless it is a good read and I enjoyed reading it.
When Mansa finds her homemaker's life mundane, she decides to find a job for herself. After enrolling herself in a culinary course, she finds her true potential and within a span of 2 years she opens her own culinary business. With a flourishing business she expands it via her website. In this process, Mansa becomes well acquainted with the social media culture and her happily married life turns upside down when she falls for a stranger online.
Mansa drifts away from her family matters and dedicates herself to this man she has never seen. Will Mansa finally find her true love in this online relationship? Will Mansa leave her family for this stranger? Read this book which also deals with Karma Chakra and other spiritual aspects of the karmic world to know more about Mansa's life.
31 Miles is a book that every Indian woman should read. Her struggles to keep up with an aimless life and finally getting out of it only to find herself in a big soup is something that is relatable. The book aims to give a scenario which is ubiquitous in real life. According to me, the book started off good but dragged towards the middle. The book had the potential to be engaging but it lacked lustre. Nevertheless it is a good read and I enjoyed reading it.
March 16, 2017
Does a woman get truly emancipated with financial independence? How does Mansa, the protagonist deal with transition from a cossetted child, diligent focused student, wife in an arranged marriage, mother into a successful businesswoman?
Set mostly in metropolitan India, with travels to the British Isles, the Continent and linkages to USA, Vinita examines the liberation of the spirit of Mansa who falls in love. Mansa is no ordinary woman, but her story is pretty much the story of many a woman in India, whose lives travel in similar corridors of wealth, physical comforts, servants at beck and call, freedom from humdrum chores and an active social life.
Mansa's doting husband typifies the stereotyped "considerate, strong, silent, caring family man" type whose only vices are smoking the occasional cigarette, snoring at night and not too keen on social gatherings. He is not the other stereotype of the Indian male as an arrogant, domineering, prone to domestic violence, a roving eye i.e. your typical Male Chauvinist Pig (MCP).
The author brings a fresh insight into the life and mind of a woman, who has existed since arranged marriages started to occur, and now liberated through financial independence and "in your face" explosion of social media. Wo(men) living double or more amorous lives in the heydays of wired telephone are now liberated and can exponentially live multiple lives have multiple loves secured by password. It is the clash of traditional values and modern opportunity that the author examines through the life of Mansa. Duplicity is often considered a failing - is it? That is for Mansa to help you decide through the crucible of your values.
It would have been good to add a brief footnote or a reference to the Hindu myth of rebirth to give context to readers who are not familiar with this belief.
A worthy read, a good read, and makes for a better re-read, I like her style and empathise with her emotions.
Set mostly in metropolitan India, with travels to the British Isles, the Continent and linkages to USA, Vinita examines the liberation of the spirit of Mansa who falls in love. Mansa is no ordinary woman, but her story is pretty much the story of many a woman in India, whose lives travel in similar corridors of wealth, physical comforts, servants at beck and call, freedom from humdrum chores and an active social life.
Mansa's doting husband typifies the stereotyped "considerate, strong, silent, caring family man" type whose only vices are smoking the occasional cigarette, snoring at night and not too keen on social gatherings. He is not the other stereotype of the Indian male as an arrogant, domineering, prone to domestic violence, a roving eye i.e. your typical Male Chauvinist Pig (MCP).
The author brings a fresh insight into the life and mind of a woman, who has existed since arranged marriages started to occur, and now liberated through financial independence and "in your face" explosion of social media. Wo(men) living double or more amorous lives in the heydays of wired telephone are now liberated and can exponentially live multiple lives have multiple loves secured by password. It is the clash of traditional values and modern opportunity that the author examines through the life of Mansa. Duplicity is often considered a failing - is it? That is for Mansa to help you decide through the crucible of your values.
It would have been good to add a brief footnote or a reference to the Hindu myth of rebirth to give context to readers who are not familiar with this belief.
A worthy read, a good read, and makes for a better re-read, I like her style and empathise with her emotions.
April 3, 2017
This story had anxiousness popping out of me and had me turning pages each night before bedtime. They certainly have depicted a wonderful way to flourish freedom in our heart. But at the same time, have taught us to sedate our senses. I say that it has suitably been penned in for adolescents and the ones in their early 30’s.
April 3, 2017
I took me only first three pages to be completely drawn into the story of 31 Miles. Here, Mansa’s story was like none other. Vinita Bakshi wonderfully had my emotions amalgamated. After my daughter read this, even she started looking at life in an all new & an affirmative manner. Thumbs up for all those who plan to read the book.
March 23, 2017
Eye-opening to say the least!
I didn't think I would go through this one completely, being this averse to extra-marital affairs. However, through the protagonist's point of view my stance is not as rock solid as it was earlier. When it comes to the matters of the heart, do the situations always follow logic? No. Does that render them immoral? This story is beyond law and morality, it is the coming to life and coming to senses of the protagonist who is truly liberated. And with her, hopefully, are we.
I didn't think I would go through this one completely, being this averse to extra-marital affairs. However, through the protagonist's point of view my stance is not as rock solid as it was earlier. When it comes to the matters of the heart, do the situations always follow logic? No. Does that render them immoral? This story is beyond law and morality, it is the coming to life and coming to senses of the protagonist who is truly liberated. And with her, hopefully, are we.
March 21, 2019
Genre- Fiction
Do I recommend-yes
.
Summary-
"31 miles" is the debut book by Vinita Bakshi and published by Rupa Publication. It's the story of a women who finally steps out in the world and seek a career for herself rather than depend on her husband. Along rhe new found found freedom, comes complications and desires she never dreamed of.
My review-
The tagline 'Can we ever win against ourselves?' had me hooked in a second. I'll admit I didn't like the cover much and had thought the cover hinted at some Spiritual-gothic part but I was wrong. It's nothing like that.
The characters are truly great. The main character Mansa felt very relatable to me. I could feel her emotions very well and clear. The story revolves smoothly and gradually. It's medium paced. The narration is alluring and appealing.
Overall I would definitely recommend it to everyone, specially mid-age readers.
Cover-2/5
Content- 4/5
Overall ratings-4/5
Do I recommend-yes
.
Summary-
"31 miles" is the debut book by Vinita Bakshi and published by Rupa Publication. It's the story of a women who finally steps out in the world and seek a career for herself rather than depend on her husband. Along rhe new found found freedom, comes complications and desires she never dreamed of.
My review-
The tagline 'Can we ever win against ourselves?' had me hooked in a second. I'll admit I didn't like the cover much and had thought the cover hinted at some Spiritual-gothic part but I was wrong. It's nothing like that.
The characters are truly great. The main character Mansa felt very relatable to me. I could feel her emotions very well and clear. The story revolves smoothly and gradually. It's medium paced. The narration is alluring and appealing.
Overall I would definitely recommend it to everyone, specially mid-age readers.
Cover-2/5
Content- 4/5
Overall ratings-4/5
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews