PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5
“I want to consume those mountains and inhale them until they fill me up and nothing else remains” is the rough gist of this book 3…2…1…Jump. The storyline revolves around the character of Nanki and her husband Dhruv who reside with Nanki’s maternal grandfather, Nanu, in urban India.
Set in the days of the Covid-19 pandemic, 3…2…1…Jump is a tale of resilience that is bound to attract attention and inspire readers who will resonate with the awful times that we have been through together as the human race in the recent past.
It is also a story of gratitude which Nanki is brimming with regardless of how grim the situation looks in an otherwise complete lockdown and work-from-home routine. There is a never-ending aspiration to do better, to come out of the depressing situation, to rise, fly and shine brighter than before which resonates with Nanki’s innate character of being hopeful against any sort of foreseeable ray of hope.
Despite the faintness of hope, there is a zeal to recover and return back stronger. All this does not come from just anywhere. Such positivity is to be fed to the mind, heart, and family system which is exactly what Nanki does.
She is an avid viewer of videos of Bungee Jumping. So, to fulfill her wishes she gets in touch with an Instagram page named ‘Jumpin Heights’ which goes by the tagline: “This is where you meet your fears. Got Guts??” The response from the DM that she sends this page is overwhelming and it kindles in her the passion to touch Rishikesh as a practical possibility regardless of the pandemic and all that it may strew around in its aftermath.
Nanki’s worst fears come alive in the wake of the peak of the pandemic when her neighbour, the teen Kavya, was unable to find a bed for her covid stricken parents which made Nanki realize the seriousness of the pandemic and her own moral and social responsibilities.
Can Nanki single-handedly help out Kavya, manage her full-time work schedule while working from home, see the end of the pandemic and fulfill her dreams of hiking, trekking, and of course, bungee jumping?
The plot of 3…2…1…Jump is rather interesting not only because it so closely resembles the pandemic and issues faced during the pandemic of Covid 19 but also touches upon the crises that arose and how they affected lives, some directly, some indirectly.
In this sense, we have all suffered but the moralistic bent of the plot is slightly didactic though not in a boring way. This makes the plot well-knit and allows readers to connect with the events and their consequences as seen through the eyes of Nanki.
The ups and downs of the plotline blend with the gradual progression of the plot that bears a moderate pace and captures the fears, sorrows, and horrors of the pandemic as seen in urban, educated India.
While Nanki is the protagonist of this novel, apart from Dhruv as a foil and other characters cropping up once in a while to add to the progression of the storyline, the pandemic also serves as a character that comes to the forefront and takes the back seat in peaks and troughs as and when required.
Nanki perhaps goes beyond her own self-expectations in the manner in which she grows in the face of the numerous challenges, faces her fears, questions her role and responsibility, and does not couch or seek excuses to be a silent spectator.
The sequence of events in the plot is maintained and there are barely too many loose ends. However, this should not be mistaken as making the plot rather predictable.
On the contrary, the plot of 3…2…1…Jump is well conceived and not overtly predictable though it requires some streamlining as there are many subplots and substories or plots within the main central plot.
Attention is given to each of them and they help construct the overall understanding of the themes of human resilience in the face of calamity, mutual support, and the importance of lending a helping hand for the sake of humanity against all odds. This allows the plot to gain momentum a little before the middle of the book. It all creates a lasting effect.
The writing style is lucid, easy to understand, easy to follow, and swiftly conveys the scenes through both third person omniscient narratorial voice which is interspersed with dialogues. The vocabulary uses technical terms which should not be difficult to understand as they were all over the news during the pandemic such as oxygen concentrator systems, PPE kits, ventilators, and so on.
A few colloquial terms or sentences are written in Hindi but they should not be too difficult to follow either for readers who are acquainted with basic Hindi vocabulary. The colourful book cover sums up Nigam’s message of keeping up a positive attitude and wearing a brave heart that is rich in the goodness of faith and unwavering love for bringing about a positive change.
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