BOOK REVIEW OF- WHEN OPPOSITES MEET

By- SACHIN GARG

Paperback: 216 pages

Publisher: Harlequin; 1 edition (25 October 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9352645898

ISBN-13: 978-9352645893
THE PLOT IN BRIEF-

What happens when opposites meet? When two completely different people find themselves drawn to each other? Can they really find happiness together? Can wheelchair-bound Ritwika find a chord that connects her to national-level athlete Chetan? Will Aditi’s irrepressible cheerfulness restart Jayant’s life, put on indefinite pause since his parents’ death? Does Indu, happily divorced, rediscover her faith in Love with the reclusive Lokesh? When Opposites Meet is the story of three unlikely couples and the differences between them. It’s the story of love, and the possibility of finding it in the most unlikely of places.

THE TITLE-

The title itself provides us with the glimpse of love as an expression of a major emotion. The title also symbolizes that sometimes it’s only in the ecstasy of unrepressed movement that we may enter the stillness of our authentic selves. In such sacred moments, the world seems to be in step. This is why the idea of finding love across the dance floor endures — symbolizing that, when we know the true rhythm of our heart, we know the other. The sad part is that we will probably end up loving someone without them for much longer than we loved someone when we knew them. The title beautifully illustrates the paradox of the word “Opposites”. Some things seem to be viewed in similar ways by many people, and I think we should take another look at these and truly question them. In our search for our own truth we need to ensure that we are not acting like sheep, merely following the herd behaviour. One of these areas is that things are often regarded as opposites, things like black and white, day and night, light and dark, are obvious examples. A more open view might say they are opposite sides of one coin. I would go a little further and suggest to you that they are actually part of the same thing. Just as the coin cannot exist without its two sides, I would suggest that our world cannot exist without these so called opposites because they give us a spectrum to exist in, a matrix, or framework, that stretches between the two extremes (or polarities) to include every variation of light and shade that we sense or experience in-between.

REVIEW OF THE BOOK-

Although the central plot is designed to be a romantic one, a very prominent background plot of connections also dominates throughout the plot.  Sometimes we do feel that we don’t know what other people are like. How then can we put any trust in personal relationships, or cling to them in the gathering political storm? In theory we can’t. But in practice we can and do. Though A is unchangeably A or B unchangeably B, there can still be love and loyalty between the two. For the purpose of loving one has to assume that the personality is solid, and the “self” is an entity, and to ignore all contrary evidence. And since to ignore evidence is one of the characteristics of faith, I certainly can proclaim that I believe in personal relationships.

All the six characters’ Indu, Ritwika, Jayant, Lokesh, Chetan, and Aditi proves that No relationship is perfect, ever. There are always some ways you have to bend, to compromise, to give something up in order to gain something greater…The love we have for each other is bigger than these small differences. And that’s the key. It’s like a big pie chart, and the love in a relationship has to be the biggest piece. Love can make up for a lot. The idea of the opposite was well described through the characters and it suggested that If we accept that opposites (or gradations of circumstances, or differences in ways of being) are all part of the same hologram of life (just as we need different shades and colours to make up a picture), then we can see that we need all those aspects to make up our world.

The author also beautifully exemplified the idea of a true relationship using the six characters as a catalyst. There is a relationship between the eye contacts we make and the perceptions that we create in our heads, a relationship between the sound of another’s voice and the emotions that we feel in our hearts, a relationship between our movements in space all around us and the magnetic pulls we can create between others and ourselves. All of these things (and more) make up the magic of every ordinary day and if we are able to live in this magic, to feel and to dwell in it, we will find ourselves living with magic every day. These are the white spaces in life, the spaces in between the written lines, the cracks in which the sunlight filters into. Some of us swim in the overflowing of the wine glass of life, we stand and blink our eyes in the sunlight reaching unseen places, we know where to find the white spaces, and we live in magic

When you meet someone so different from yourself, in a good way, you don’t even have to kiss to have fireworks go off. It’s like fireworks in your heart all the time. I always wondered, do opposites really attract? Now I know for sure they do.

YOU SHOULD READ THIS BECAUSE-
THE BEAUTIFUL AMALGAMATION OF CONTRAST WITH LOVE.
THE EMOTIONS DESCRIBED THROUGHOUT THE PLOT.

THE NARRATION OF THE STORY

.’
RATINGS-

Overall I would like to rate the book 43 on a scale of 50.

4 stars out of 5

Originality of the plot and sub plots- 9/10

Net emotions in the story- 8/10

Usage of words and phrases-8/10

The title, cover and the illustration-9/10

The net impact on the readers- 9/10

 
Reviewed by-

Sayan Basak

Kolkata