My next book review is on an Indian novel titled Keep the Change by Nirupama Subramanian. This was the author's first novel. It is the story of a 26-year-old girl and her rise up the ladder in the corporate world.
So, coming to the story, the principal characters of this novel are Damanyanthi, her parents, Jimmy, CG, Rahul, Sonya, Victoria, Harish and others. So, Damanyanthi is a modern Indian girl with dreams and aspirations that she wants to fulfil. But, living in 32 Amman Kovil Street is not helping things get any better. She works at SSV Iyer and Sons and feels drained after her drudgery there. Her parents are worried about her increasing age and constantly search for suitable boys that they can her married to. Damayanthi has got her own thoughts on the matter. She wants to spend her life with a man, but he should be good-looking, has a romantic side and can keep her happy. That's why she keeps shutting the question whenever her parents start popping it to her. Her parents just don't stop looking for a boy for her and throw unsavoury suitors her way. Fed up with this life in Chennai, she decides to start job-hunting and eventually lands a job at First Global bank and shifts to Mumbai to jettison her career.
Once, in Mumbai, she is excited to be in the city for the first time and joins her job with a lot of enthusiasm. She meets her boss, colleagues and gets drawn towards two people during her new career; the irresistable Rahul and the stern, but a man with a good heart CG. The former she meets in between the book, almost when the reader is nearing the end. CG she meets just after the initial chapters. The reader will soon realize that there will be a big fiasco between Rahul and Damanyanthi after which she will become attracted to CG and he to her. She also battles with her size-zero flatmate Sonya, who lives with her in 124 Pine Crest.
After some tragic events, Damanyanthi craves to go home and is happy when she sees the familiar scenes and sights of Chennai. But, after some trouble at work and CG missing her, she once again goes to Mumbai. Towards the end of the novel, readers will also learn about the secret identity of Victoria. The novel is written like a series of letters. This form of the novel is called the epistolary novel. In the novel, the reader will also see the dreamy and imaginative side of Damayanthi where she dreams of what she could do if given a chance.
I, for one, liked reading this novel. This told me all about how women are treated in the corporate world and how they have to battle the patriarchy all on their own. I also learnt that sometimes, you just have to let things go and be yourself for once. This novel is essential for any girl who is either a corporate or non-corporate worker. This will give you some lessons as to how to tackle your life, how to stay away from people like Rahul who seduce you and then leave you for good. How people like CG should be trusted and made to bring out their good side. This is the story of the modern girl who is not afraid to make her decisions and is able to shut down her parents if they start imposing their rules and regulations at her. The modern girl has her own wants and desires and also wants a man who can keep her happy, who listens to her problems and advises her the proper solution for it. So, I am sure all my Indian as well as international readers will like reading this novel. It can become a bit of drag as it's in letter-form but it is good nevertheless.
Link for Keep the Change- Nirupama Subramanian (International readers)
Link for Keep the Change- Nirupama Subramanian (Indian readers)
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