Diario segreto di una ragazza indiana

by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, Alessandra Spirito (Translator)

"Il punto è questo: la mia vita è come la chiusura di un reggiseno che non sei riuscita a infilare nel gancetto giusto". Arshi vive a Delhi e lavora come PR in una società di consulenza. È una ragazza libera, indipendente e con una gran voglia di scoprire il mondo. La sua migliore amica, Deeksha, ha deciso di sposarsi mentre Topsy, la sua singolare coinquilina, frequenta clandestinamente un ragazzo musulmano. Quando il suo fidanzato l'abbandona, Arshi capisce che è il momento di voltare pagina, così lascia il lavoro e si mette alla ricerca del principe azzurro. E non è finita qui: a complicare la vita delle tre giovanissime amiche arrivano un ex-fidanzato molto ingombrante, un vicino di casa piagnucoloso e un insopportabile boss che andrebbe solo mandato al diavolo! Ma Arshi non può credere che la sua vita e quella delle sue più care amiche stia cambiando così velocemente e non vuole rinunciare alle giornate trascorse tra cocktail favolosi e focosi amanti occasionali. Quello di cui ha bisogno si può riassumere in una sola, spaventosissima parola: crescere.

Genres: Fiction, India, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary

281 pages

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Deepti · Rating 1 out of 5]

New Indian (and Indian American) female writers should get over the idea that writing about their sex lives is exciting and makes for wonderful literature. It doesn't. I would think they would do something constructive with that freedom and come up with some quality work.

[Manu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked it up because it was written by a fellow Indian blogger. And yes, I prefer Indian fiction. But I'm guessing I am not exactly the target audience :)
Considering the author's profile, I'd say the book is at least faintly autobiographical.
Arshi, the protagonist, is a twenty something, 21st century Indian woman, who lives (or at least tries to) live life on her own terms, only she doesnt seem to be sure what they are. A potentially interesting premise of self discovery in an urban Indian milieu.
But in that sense it disappoints. Here are a couple of things that put me off. While it could be an attempt at stark portrayal, i felt that a lot of things had a force-fit twang, added to get a "yup, am with it" effect. Also, the title was very ironical in the sense that the story seemed to be going all over the place. A very lifestream flow which didnt work for me because of its predictability.
However if Indian chick lit is your scene, you cannot afford to give this one a miss. And having said all that, I'm still happy that a blogger has become an author. :)

[Vikas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, you are nowhere this is another of the books which I didn't like too much. This book didn't have much material to hold my interest and although I finished the book that didn't improve my thinking about this book.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

[Arti · Rating 1 out of 5]

You are here by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is about 25 going on 26 Arshi, whose parents are divorced and her father has got married to Barbara, . Her mother is a teacher.

Arshi shares a flat in Delhi with her friend Topsy and is working in a PR agency. She is currently single, after her breaking up with Cheetos, and ready to mingle. What I fail to understand about Meenakshi’s heroines is that why are they so boyfriend oriented. Arshi is confused about her job, her family, her friends, he boyfriends and life in general.

The author has described a very liberal society, with smoking, drinking, premarital sex being very common. There is no story or storyline. It may appeal to today’s liberal generation but it was very vague for me.

[Daya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arse-y sucks! This is a book which has it's moments but those are very few. Apart from a few nice touching description of crisis in adolescent life, nothing good in this book. Though I liked the author's blog http://thecompulsiveconfessor.blogspo... but this book is a disappointment. Read at your risk!

[Bhumika · Rating 1 out of 5]

not worthy of 1 star total waste of time

[Shruti · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most ridiculous books I ever read!

[Smitha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled to read it. Just not the kind of book I would want to read.

[Anant Singh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some time i say to myself my i read these types of fiction books , and this book just tell me dude u get fucked up again reading the book..

If the author is here reading my comment , just want to ask a simple question : what you want to achieve with this book ? I know the answer would be i am commerical writer and wants my book to sell .

She is another shobha de in making , Characters are full of sex and city watchers and they don't need to get the asnwer of some real hardship that others feel or suffer in life for them , they are the center part of the life blaming all other for the suffering they are going through.

For the characters i have some had words "Go get a life"....

[Saritha · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a debut novel it's not bad, but so much happens internally that I was craving for something - anything - to up the ante until finally, something happens at a party later in the book. It's not even important in the scheme of things since the protagonist doesn't grow, learn anything significant, leave alone save the day.

As a commentary about the workings of the mind of a woman of a certain cusp of socio-cultural strata, it's pretty spot on, but I would hate to believe that the character arch of the protagonist can't register any insight other than the fact that she is no longer at the beck and call of Kabir, who has a now-on, now-off relationship with her.

But i live in the hope that MRM's next book is better.

[Gsnair88 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book I ever read. Very attention seeking and in the end, absolutely worthless. If there was an option of 1/2 stars were available I would have rated that. Nothing revolutionary as it claims it is, waste of money and time; silly comparisons to human emotions and I am quite disgusted by the fact that her writing sometimes wanders off and get caught on by some other trash. Waste of time and Money.

[Preethi · Rating 1 out of 5]

What happens if a blogger suddenly decides to write? And lands up a book deal? Well, this book is an example.
A bad attempt at chick-lit, this book does nothing to your brain-cells except, may be, kill it a bit.

[Ria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up while I was in India for a quick read. It's very teen angst-y only "Arshi" is not a teen. However, it was interesting to read about a young modern adult in India from an Indian perspective. But ultimately I wish I had picked up something else in that airport.

[Mamta · Rating 2 out of 5]

the book has its bright moments but then it fizzles out somewhere..

[Deepak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrendous!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Moinak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this long back. on a hindsight, i feel she went nowhere except different bedrooms in this book.

[Anuradha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't relate to the urban middle class working woman portrayed here, at all.

[Neeraj · Rating 1 out of 5]

A total piece of crap. Avoid it at all costs.

[Vishwak Narasimhan · Rating 1 out of 5]

wasted my time by reading it

[Deepika · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light, entertaining book. Nothing out of the ordinary.

[Gayatri · Rating 3 out of 5]

hellooo ...

hmmm... what did i learn from this book. ummm.... i would say if u smoke packs of Cigarettes en u r drinking day in day out .. u would still be hale en hearty without going insane or dying of liver damage... yeahhh hearty coz the gal keeps falling for men all the time :) ... jokes apart ... the book was ok but it could have had a better ending .. the story is about a gal whose parents are divorced. her dad married a hippy forenerrrrr en her mom preferred not to make another mistake in her life by marrying again ..hence stayed single.she constantly longs out for a complete happy family..the one wid pa ma and da kid..happily ever after... its also about her frend topsy whuz i-dont-give-a-damn attitude is simply adorable...shez basically searching for a stability.. and in the end takes a decision to mend her ways and for good... i wont say its a must read ... but u can read it once ... its worth it ... :) njoi reading!!

[Neha Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a few lines from this book over 3 years ago while surfing in a book shop. Though I put off reading it until now but the book appealed to me then because I was a single working woman going thru love issues, career pressures and living with room mates. And that is precisely the theme of this book and to put in simple and straight words - its a CHICK BOOK.

Same old vulnerabilities, failed love affairs and more rebound failed love affairs, wrong guys and 'not right for you' guys, roomie bonding and late night conversations, evolving friendships, old crushes and new butterflies in stomach, parental problems, bossy bosses and sagging careers, everyone getting hooked up and getting married but you, and wishing you were a teenager again.

So what is different or new in this book.

To read more:
http://storywala.blogspot.in/2011/07/...

[Shweta Markandeya]

Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan definitely has an engaging writing style – her first person narrative is smart and funny. And though “You are here” is stylized, it tends towards loopy and flippant. A book to read between calls and on the metro – as a story, it fails to engage. Perhaps that’s why I took more than a month to read it cover to cover, finishing other, more engrossing stuff in the interim. Reddy Madhavan paints a world that excruciatingly narrow – south Delhi, pseudo-Anglicized and liberal, but limited in experience and in ambitions. The characters are interesting but hardly exciting. The incidents, again, amusing but not earth shattering. Like its heroine, Arshi, the book goes nowhere, stuck like a mouse in a maze. Neither Arshi nor any of the other characters evoke any empathy or sympathy or even hatred. Reddy gives a little twist in the end – s the awakening of Arshi – but that also seems contrived leaving you wondering if one incident can change twenty-six years of self-absorbed behavior. I wouldn’t even paint it with the ‘liberal’ brush – expect no earth shattering epiphanies or toe-curling sex. Read it like a blog – guess that’s how it was meant to be.

[Marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

You Are Here (2008)

Sex & the City ha fatto anche dei bei danni se è questo il modello di autodeterminazione che si vuole raggiungere.

"Se continui a pensare sempre alle stesse cose, non ne avrai mai di nuove da ricordare" pag. 271

[Venkateswara Rao · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just felt like I'm reading an uninteresting dairy. It took a bit of an effort on my side to finish it as I hate stopping a book in the middle. But, finish I did. :)

[Laiba Basit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good, but it feels a bit too... Western to be set in India. I really like the characters and how Arshi still seems so much like a child.

Book No.: 385

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book that only took me 3 days to finish this was a little disappointing, as I ventured into a type of novel I would rarely seek out.

The narrator was full of life, with a level of confidence in herself that enabled her to tell some exciting stories, and a level of insecurity that meant her life wasn't perfect, which was fortunate, given that this was, after all, a novel. However, the early line "Boy, don't I sound like the typical spoiled, rich kid, so unhappy with frivolous little things..." which is normally a massive sign pointing towards an approaching Major Event, was actually quite apt. Because it never really progressed beyond that.

Story-wise, all of the major events tended to happen to other characters. Now I accept that part of this may have been to demonstrate the contrast between the lives of Arshi and her friends, but it did mean that all we were left with was the fallout or the trivial, except at the end, where Arshi is finally present at the scene. Arshi is witty, and has some thoughtful streams of consciousness, but it does feel a bit meandering at times.

The writing style is also a touch annoying, due to a slightly strange way of showing the progress of her relationships. Rather than detailing her interactions in chronological order, there is often a recap of her relationship with another character once she is with them in person, despite having mentioned them since our last update. This is most notable with Kabir and Esha, the latter particularly, as despite talking of her friendship through much of the story, the actual nature of their relationship is only revealed towards the end. Similarly, Kabir will get many mentions in passing but often, only when they meet do we hear Arshi's more detailed thoughts. I only noticed this towards the end, but it did feel a little clumsy.

This annoyance pales in comparison to Arshi herself, however. The 'spoilt, rich girl' is so true, and I haven't felt such a dislike of a main character since Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love (in Arshi's defence, she is at least a fictional construct.) There is also the strong sense of an unreliable narrator, as she glosses over the reasons for falling out with her old friends, only speaking vaguely of the circumstances, and how other sets of friends have accused her of changing, with no real insight into how she was before, or what might have changed about her.

She is simply self-absorbed, especially for a character who claims to love her friends more than they love her. She ignores her flatmate who is clearly unhappy for much of the book, putting the blame firmly on her, and later giving the impression of a one sided friendship in which Esha calls her and gives her presents, with Arshi sometimes deigning to actually reciprocate. And yet she is quick to get annoyed when her friend does her own thing at a club, which is taken far too personally. Her new friendships feel more stilted,which she almost admits herself, and again, the level of affection does not seem to match her own opinion of it, especially in comparison to older, former, friends.

There were some interesting cultural insights into another different country too, but that is a little cliched to say and much of the time I had well to do London in my head as a setting, such was Arshi's social status, despite her insecurities over it.

Much of the review seems to betray the star rating, so I will conclude by highlighting the writing itself, which was rich and snappy, but also hoping that another novel would be structured differently, which could be significantly improved.

[Shreela Sen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hmmm
I see this book got really bad reviews & low rating.
First of all, the tagline I find unnecessary, & substantiates the claims of the criticism - petty & attention seeking & oversexed.
Also, the roommate was a total cliche'
However, I thought Arshi's parents (& step-mom) were adorable, her (ex-)boss was very real, & above all , the unemployment ...
I read it in 2008, I was 26 myself, lost my job, & my wedding (not marriage, I was TO BE married) was in trouble. I related so..o..o much, it has addled my capacity to critique it unbiasedly. However, I related to it regardless of being from a small town, from salary-class family, & having a rock-solid relationship. The "unable to find a job suitable to me" hurt. I related to this novel, because not finding your place in the sun is a pain in the soul. I read the negative reviews, & I do not remember so. I do not think the novel was oversexed. I do not think the heroine was boyfriend-obsessed OR stable-family-starved. On the contrary, I think she grew up & accepted the fact that there is more to life than parents & partners.
Maybe my judgement is clouded, or my memory is selective! But I really enjoyed the book (& I really disliked "Almost single", which, I felt incriminates small towns, but still endorses pettiness as quaint)

[Shweta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Advaita Kala's - Almost Single, but it is on the similar lines. Much like a single woman in a metro city and life that surrounds all of us. Meenakshi sometimes goes on and on in her flow not realising that her sentences have no end and confuses the reader. Overall It will make you laugh if you have at some point in your life lived through breakups and makeups :) Its a fine 20 something read.

[Saniya Puri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a fresh perspective on modern women and does not sugar coat life for anyone. It is brutally honest with its imperfect characters and their flaws which make them memorable as well as interesting. Relationships are also treated with a sense of imperfect realism and there are no fairy tales awaiting.