The For loop

by Debasish Rath

The For Loop in computer science is a control flow statement for specifying iteration, which allows code to be executed repeatedly. This book is a funny, romantic, sarcastic and unpredictable journey about Dev who gets into a loop of serious relationships and consequent breakups. His relationship goals land him in a position where he decides to take the biggest ever U turn that he would not have ever imagined. The book is a reflection of each individual who read this. “The For Loop” also assures absolute connection to the thought process of every human being who ever passed through those tricky years which decides where you currently are.

137 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2017

Reviews

[Pinaki Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men and women come from different planets—that is a very common perception. But the latest novel by Debasish Rath titled, “The For Loop” puts a big question mark at the end of this statement. Women are the ones who are supposed to be emotionally vulnerable. Men are generally envisioned as creatures who exploit women emotionally. Men are generally seen as the big villains. But here is a really funny, cute story about a sweet, decent fellow who always turns out unlucky in love. And yet all that he wants is a stable relationship that is defined by love and faith. But that is not to be, it seems. Here is a man who you can’t stop adoring.
This novel begins with a bang, with the protagonist, Dev, being thrust into a situation that alters his life forever, setting him afloat on a course that leads him towards his destiny, for good or for worse that is for the readers to find out. As I sit to write this review, I feel really stuck. I can’t talk about the beginning and I can’t talk about the ending. Talking about either of these plot points would just spoil the story for the readers. The readers need to read the book and solve the mystery for themselves. Yeah, the only thing I can say safely is that cinema and the literary media are so intricately interconnected that an idea taken from one medium can nourish and hone the other media so beautifully and creatively. And this connection is always a joy to behold for all movie-buffs and book lovers over the world. Why I am saying this? Well, you have to read the book to understand what I mean here.
So what I can talk about here, without the fear of revealing anything, is just the middle portion of the story. That’s what I’d better do. Dev is a regular, middle-class, school going kid who has just started noticing girls and his over-imagination makes him fall for a girl in his class. He is too scared to approach her on his own and he seeks help from a common friend, Tania. And it is this Tania who comes into his life as a hurricane in the due course of time. I won’t discuss their dynamics here. Again, spoiler alerts, sorry.
Through the entire length of the story we see Dev blundering his way through one failed relationship after another. And through it all he survives and finds himself and yet he never stops hoping for a better future. Dev is just such a humane character. Aren’t we all like Dev, in odd ways? The readers can laugh at Dev’s misfortunes, his idiocy and yet at the same time they are forced to fall in love with him just a tiny bit more. Dev makes mistakes but the readers will never hold it against him because making mistakes is just a part of growing up. Dev is a character who humbly confesses that he is not strong enough to stop something as huge as apartheid like Melson Mandela, but he is strong enough to stop his relatives from putting lipstick on him on his wedding day so that he looks a little less like PC Sarkar in his wedding sherwani. Yes, I know, Dev is a madcap!!
So, to conclude, just get your copy of the book and fall in love with Dev.