A Tale of Young Hearts

 Review by Ronica Wahi

 


Beparwah

By Prakhar Sharma

First published: Chapter/Episode-wise, starting February 27, 2019, Pratilipi app.

Edition reviewed: January 1, 2021, The Write Order.

Pages: 366. 

ISBN: 9789390791538

Do you, as a reader, like to read romance? Do you enjoy imagining or reliving the thrills and troubles of attraction or love experienced during your school and college years? And can you read and understand Hindi? If your answer to each is “Yes”, you are likely to find Prakhar Sharma’s Beparwah (the word means “unconcerned” or “complacent”) an engaging book.

Written in everyday language and style that youngsters today use – the diction and the intermittent use of phrases or sentences in English while conversing in Hindi, it is easy and fun to read. And this factor helps the reader connect quickly and well. Of course, since the subject - as mentioned above - is young people in love, the plot itself is relatable.

Sharma picks up activities and incidents that trigger memories of one’s cherished school and college years. He adds touches of drama, for sure, but the story is realistic. Beparwah shows that there can be true love and that there can only be illusions that seem to be love too. And that love gives both happiness and sorrow, both victory and defeat, both calmness and restlessness. The novel also demonstrates how it can take time to realize that one is in love – for instance, the character Priyansh, who writes and philosophizes about love, takes long to realize and accept that he’s actually fallen in and is experiencing love.

Romantic love isn’t the only kind of love that Beparwah deals with. In fact, the book is also, in a way, about relationships of many sorts. The portrayal of friendship is beautiful – especially, that of the friendship between the characters Anaya and Bhumi. The relationship of brother-sister - wherein deep love and concern exist alongside the urge to fight and annoy – is as beautifully depicted.

The three main characters – Anaya Sharma, Priyansh Pratap, and Arshi Singh – are quite different kinds of individuals, and the writer manages to shape each of them well. Even some other characters – in particular, Sam and Bhumi – are well-etched.

The only thing that should have been avoided are the many typos and the missing punctuation marks; the poorn viraam (full-stop) is missing at too many places. All else is good – the plot, the episodes, the characters, the emotions, and the dash of humour.

Recommended!


To know about why Prakhar Sharma decided to become a Hindi writer and how he moulded the plot of Beparwah, watch his interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aels_B14mRA

 

Amazon link for Beparwah (Paperback):

https://amzn.to/2VZ3Fou

 


DISCLAIMER: Ronica Wahi is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of the Amazon links provided by Ronica here, she may receive a small commission, without any extra cost to you.

 

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