Book Review: Zidd by Hetansh Desai

Zidd by Hetansh Desai is a coming-of-age (Bildungsroman) novel about two boys hailing from contrasting backgrounds who meet later to change the equations of fate.

A close look reveals that the novel doesn’t get into any specific skin of genre that readers come across every day, for example, sci-fi, adventure, chic-lit, history, romance (though it is partially). On a plus side, the novel has various themes and layers and the author has limelighted them one by one in a fantastic way.

The story opens with winter of 1999 that time our lead character Vihaan is just nine years old and is traveling on a train with his tiny family. Vihaan comes from a better-off family. His father runs a departmental store in Rajkot in Gujarat. Mainly the backdrop in the novel is of Gujarat. While on journey, his father is worried about the sale of kites in the coming festival. Vihaan suggests an idea and it worked miraculously for his father. His father is of the opinion that one should be able to think big for achieving success in business.

On the other hand, we have this poor chap named Chotu. He sells tea at Maninagar railway station while his father manages the tea stall just outside the station. His father Harkisan wants him to be a good salesman so that he can sell more cups of tea. His father’s tenacity towards his son can be summed up as follows:

“If you want to be a good salesman, don’t show them what you have. Show them their need for what you have instead of reminding them that you have tea, remind them why they need your tea.”

This was a great lesson for him by his father. He sticks to it and soon sees drastic results in the sales. So, the point is clear that ‘sales’ runs as one of the prominent themes in the novel. There is a lot to learn for sales and marketing people from this book. Well, Chotu (later named as Parth) is not just tiny with his aspirations, he wants to grow and do bijnes (business) but his father insists not to waste time on high thinking, rather he must focus on sales because in his views being a good salesman is the first step to being a good businessman.

Now, we know both of our protagonists grooming and tenacity. They, in actual, differ by mentality and family support.

Next, we see that they both meet and live together in PDPU College’s hostel in Ahmedabad, where Vihaan, much opposite to his father’s wish, opts for liberal studies, and Parth being orphaned is living on his wits. But before coming to PDPU, Parth has had six years of experience in software selling with an IT company. He is a proven salesman.

One evening, in a party, Vihaan happens to meet Raina, a beautiful and badass kind of college girl. Here onwards, the novel gets into the intriguing abyss of romance; to some extent it may remain unfathomable to readers. They have one thing common: A. R. Rahman’s music. They meet and things begin ticking with them. They stalk each other on social media and chat on app. They like each other, especially Vihaan getting too high for her, but Raina lets him down most of the time. Either it is Vihaan, who sounds too heady with her, or it is Raina who cares naught for him. Raina is more than to herself: witty, haughty, bold, and of course ambitious. Boss, you cannot understand her. Probably you cannot win her.

One day things go too sour from salty and that’s the day when Vihaan’s ego hurt so badly that he decides to be a famous guy. So, behind every successful man is a woman seems like coming true. One day Raina pushes Vihaan out of her flat while saying that she doesn’t wish to see his face again. Because of being in love with Raina, Vihaan loses focus from his studies and becomes a dropout student. But now the girl is refusing him. It hurts him. So, this is the point that sets Vihaan in action. He wants to put his name and face on the hoarding visible straight from Raina’s flat so that she can see him every day despite hating him. And to be there, he needs to be somebody and of course a lot of money is needed i.e. around 20 lakhs for full one year. That’s costly. So guys, their real journey into the world kick starts. How they going to earn so much money? What kind of profession/work will they pick up to see themselves minting money and gaining popularity is what fills the rest of the narration. Will they be able to pull anything substantial on the hinges of high thinking and impressive salesmanship?  

The storyline is neither predictable nor it spoon feeds readers. It’s a heady mix of aspirations, love, conflicts and getting somewhere in life. The kind of college culture shown here will make you fall in love with this book and if you a have a friend like Parth you can negotiate any deal without much fuss.

Well-written and well-edited, with some dose of Gujarati, the story of three (including Raina) moves at a brisk pace. The novel can be read for pleasure, entertainment, and most importantly for inspiration.