The
Illegitimate Dollars by Atul Sharma is a riveting contemporary novel about the
protagonist Arjun’s life journey in a foreign country. As the title entails the
word ‘Dollars’, it’s obvious that it has some foreign connection.
On the story
side, it’s about Arjun, a young and ambitious boy from Lucknow. He manages to get
a job on a cruise ship commencing from Miami port. Being a young lad, he is
full of dreams and optimism, but as sooner he gets in contact with a senior
chef name Ranjeet on the ship, he begins feeling the shock of reality. The
world is not full of patrons and lifters; rather one has to work hard to carve
out his destiny. Well, his struggle starts soon when he is accused of something
which he didn’t commit.
Going ahead, you
will find yourself shuttling between present and past, well that is called the
flashback technique, which links all the events in a wonderful yet interesting
manner. Also, one of the concealed themes in the novel is acclimatization to
foreign soil or unknown ambience. When Arjun gets on the cruise ship, he gets
to know bad and good types of people. Well, he was upfront for most of the
tasks, but somewhere deep in his heart he was struggling to come up with the
terms. Life wasn’t as straight as it seemed, especially when one has to deal
with immigration laws and values.
The author
succeeded in portraying a sense of allegiance and responsibility towards the family.
In fact, to an extent, Arjun was right in casting a positive influence on his
family and sibling. His world in the USA was way different; he was getting hurt
by his failures and self-expectations, but at the same time, he wasn’t allowed
to showcase as he was bound by some vital duties and morals.
In the novel,
a lot has been showed about cruise ship culture, hierarchy, life, and of course
politics. Someone who has worked in the sea will be able to connect soon and
those who wish to have a look at that type of life can definitely pick up this
book.
Also, the
coverage about odd jobs in the USA is somewhat fascinating. At large, the novel
covers a life journey which is rich with internal information along with some
adventures and misdeeds. The second part of the novel inclines towards romance
build up, as when Arjun and Sameera get along well. Two stories converging for
one point, and the villain presumably seems one person for both. Who’s that?
Find out when you pick up the novel.
The novel
feels closely connected with personal touchups of the author, but the way it
chugs ahead with ups and downs, it becomes evident and clear that fiction aroma
has been added in sheer brilliance. There is more than the story of just Arjun
and his struggles, rather you will get to know a kind of scaffolding that is
inherent everywhere, be it India or the USA.
Development of
characters and ossification of events and situations in the novel is
commendable, while reading one may get curious to know the future of Arjun’s
stay in the USA and his relationship status with Sameera. Well, for that one
needs to really pick up this fast-paced novel. On the writing part, the author
has done a great job. There are no glaring errors and narration, however at times
some odd jobs look monotonous. But that is perfectly fine as the novel is more
about someone’s life journey than a compressed fictionalized tale. Highly
recommended.
One of the best novel in recent years,I have gone through ,welldone Atul- V K Singh
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Sir. Many regards.
DeleteCaptivating story. Interesting story telling style. Kudoes to Atul. Pl go and grab your copy.
ReplyDelete