CHARACTERS: 3/5
WRITING STYLE: 4/5
CLIMAX: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5
Two Fates by Judy Balan is the story of a couple, Rishab and Deepika, falling in and out of love, and what happens when their families decide to bring their love story back on track.
When you pick up a chick-lit book to read, you usually do not have too many hopes in terms of storytelling or the plot. If the genre serves any purpose, it is only to entertain, and “Two Fates: The Story Of My Divorce” does an excellent job in this case.
When you read the summary of Two Fates by Judy Balan, you would find it very similar to Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States, which the author does not deny. In fact, Judy Balan says that her book should be taken as a satire on Chetan Bhagat’s novel. But one thing you can be sure of is that Judy’s book is a lot more fun to read.
The setting of the story is a doctor-patient environment. A guy comes to the office of the protagonist, Deepika, who is a psychiatrist, for an appointment that he is forced to go to. He is not interested in what the psychiatrist has to say, so instead, she relates the story of her divorce to pass the time.
So begins the story of a love marriage gone sour and how Deepika and Rishab, her husband, tackle the issue of a divorce. It becomes increasingly difficult for them to tell their respective parents of their plan to divorce as they are from different communities. Rishab is a Punjabi while Deepika is a Tamilian. Their families were entirely against them getting married, but ultimately both of them could convince their respective families to agree to the marriage.
After 4 years, both have fallen out of love for each other and agree that a divorce is the best way out, especially since they do not have any children to worry about. But what looked like a straightforward plan became increasingly difficult as, over the past 4 years, their families had made peace with each other and actually enjoyed each other’s company.
What follows is a laughter riot as Deepika and Rishab get misunderstood multiple times, with their families even believing that Deepika was pregnant. They also send both of them to London so that they can have some “alone” time. It is a laughathon that you will enjoy to the very end.
“When I woke up the next morning, I was greeted by 2 more additions to the Old Wives club – Rimple aunty and Dimple aunty – my mom-in-law’s twin sisters who had come all the way from Delhi to Chennai because they had never seen our apartment. I mean, what was it, the Taj Mahal?”
I laughed for 2 full minutes after reading those lines!
If you like laughing, then Two Fates by Judy Balan is a book you ought to read!
Leave a Reply Cancel reply