After reading
‘Forever and Little More’ by Praneet Dabral, it becomes difficult to predict
whether the novel falls in the genre of romance or some other category. It
seems a cute love story, but there are elements of sadness and tragedies in it.
It seems a biography of a lover, well there is more to that. On the other hand,
the author has made it a riveting read by mixing two techniques simultaneously
– flashback and biography style.
Tanish
Cainthola is the protagonist of the novel. His story, mainly a love story,
shuttles between two times i.e. 1977 and 2012. Basically in 2012, he is
brooding on the events that happened in 1977-78. He returns to his hometown
Snowdon after 34 years from Mumbai. He is frustrated with himself for many
reasons.
In the attic,
he finds a broken bat and a diary which once was written by him. The diary is
mainly about his love affair with Jessica Jones in the winter of 1977. It has
been long that he has kept his past suppressed but this time he finds hard to
control himself, thus he begins reading the diary.
Tanish meets a
beautiful girl, Jessica, stranded in rain one night. He helps her to reach her
home. Soon he comes to know that Jessica is a daughter of Mr. Jones, whose
window pane he recently broke. They meet, talk, and walk together to the
riverside and to some amazing places like Paradise Land. A typical adolescent
romance begins taking place between two of them. Their love for each other
almost cements when they attend a carnival together and thereafter miss the bus
back to their town. Apparently, they are in love. But who is going to propose first,
is the concern?
Finally, Tanish
decides a day to propose her. When he takes her over a beautiful spot for
proposal, he fails to express his love. Rather that time he comes to know that
her father, Mr. Jones, has been diagnosed with cancer. This is the turning
point in their love affair. He tries to lift her spirits up.
Next, Jessica
and her father leave for Bombay for treatment. Now what next? Will she comeback
for Tanish? Or Tanish will go there to bring her back? How will they confirm
that they were in love, as neither of them expressed? There are many questions
that seek answers by the time readers reach the end of the novel. However the
ending is not what everyone expected…it is quite different from normal love
stories. Once you get to know what had happened to that girl Jessica and the
lover boy Tanish, your heart may break down. You, as a reader, probably will
take time to come out of it. Written in very simple language, it is a terrific
story of romance and heartbreak. Kudos to author Praneet!
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