Our new guest blogger, linguist Vivek Tejuja comes on board to add a little literary flare to MissMalini.com, check out his blog thehungryreader.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter @vivekisms and discover his love of books!
It is not necessary that a stand-up comic turns out to be a great writer or vice-versa, and if either of those happens, then a book like, “The Wednesday Soul” penned by Sorabh Pant (a well known stand-up comic) is born to make the readers laugh till they cry or better yet laugh their pants off.
Bonobo Bar in Bandra witnessed laughter and joy on the 19th of January 2012, at the media launch of, “The Wednesday Soul” written by Sorabh Pant. The house was full and everyone was either smiling or grinning from ear-to-ear as excerpts were being read by Vir Das and Gul Panag. If this wasn’t enough, then Farhan Akhtar joined the bandwagon a little later, leaving the audience in splits with his wry sense of humour.
The launch took a refreshing turn when random questions were answered by the author and the three celebrities, from the audience and some that just happened to be funny like the book. Sorabh Pant didn’t have to try too hard to be funny, almost everything he said “hit the funny nail” to the audience’s head and generated ripples of laughter. Also, there is a sequel on the way. So that’s one great piece of news for readers who have enjoyed the book.
Let me now tell you something about the book….
The Wednesday Soul is nothing like you have read before. It is funny, sarcastic, doesn’t-try-too-hard, simply written, and a whole lot of afterlife. Yes! You heard that right. The book is about the afterlife, or as the tag line goes, “the afterlife, with sunglasses”.
The protagonist, Nyra Dubey, dies in the first chapter and that’s where the story takes off. Nyra – the infamous vigilante, the Delhiite who knows how to deal with its men, is reduced to yet another corpse. Of course, she doesn’t want that. She wants vengeance and from none other than Death’s masters for the love she has had to leave behind on planet Earth. Things lead to more things and there are creatures’ unknown, mighty eagles and bad puns that have the power to kill.
The plot has never been heard of. It is too experimental, some might say. I loved the book. The writing could not have been simpler and Pant knows how to inject humour in every page. Death to him is not a tragedy; it is just another topic that can be written about keeping funny in mind.
Sample this: “Living in India you automatically earn an honorary Ph. D. in Queues. You study them closely as you wait for licenses, liquor, movies, and brides ie. Shaadi.com” See what I mean! This is how he writes. I would definitely recommend, “The Wednesday Soul” to one and all.