Book Review: You are Here

Till I read Meenakshy Reddy Madhavan’s “You are Here” (yes, the much hyped and universally panned first outing of the blogger turned author), I thought people could think only from their heads or hearts. Now, I realize people can also think from their sex organs and when they do that, their life goes the Arshi way- Arshi, the protagonist of “You are Here”.

The book is more like a dairy of a sexually perverted girl whose problems you fail to understand. And if you want to do something challenging, please read this book and try to take count of the number of boyfriends Arshi has had in her twenty- something life. I bet you will fail!

Meenakshi was and still is one of my favorite bloggers- for an Indian woman to come out in the open about her sexual escapades is a bold thing and what impressed me was that Meenakshi was totally unapologetic about the whole stuff. It really is heartening to note that the Indian woman of the 21st century is being bold enough to break the shackles of sexual oppression and discrimination that they have been facing ever since history began.

That does not mean that Meenakshi keeps on writing about sex and sexual encounters. If you play around a point beyond tolerance limits, it leads to irritation and tastelessness, and that is what happens with anyone who reads “You are Here”. I agree that the gen next in India is pushing the limits as far as sexuality is concerned but I don’t think anyone’s life should revolve around their sex life. I mean, there are many more things in life. If Arshi was the only character behaving weird I would have rated her oversexed, but considering the number of characters that go the Arshi way, I would suggest Meenakshi visits a doctor soon or at least, abstain from writing something of this nature for the poor readers’ sake…