Till you are halfway through the book, it reads like a diary and is semi-autobiographical. It starts well, stoking your curiosity due to the prologue. Akash, the protagonist, is a BCA student, studying at DY Patil College in Pimpri Chinchwad. He is from Baramulla, is a merit student and continues to do well in college. Then it becomes a college diary, giving details — not too deep — bachelor accommodation, classes, friends, and so on. There are a couple of girls — not exactly girlfriends — thrown in, but that goes nowhere, despite wasting a couple of chapters on each. Parkash’s prose is simple and racy, so you can finish the book easily enough. He does get preachy, with motivational paragraphs thrown in, along with quotes in italics. For a debut novel, this shows that though he can write, he needs to work hard.
There are obvious, illogical instances. For example, though they have been engaged or to be engaged (since he calls her my fiancée to be), he does not know where his fiancée lives in Bandra. It is not clear why he takes an air trip to Bangalore from Delhi — the name of the chapter shares the book title — and while waiting in the lounge, meets a girl who directs him towards producing an ad film, to promote chocolates.
While continuing college, Akash takes up a few marketing assignments. He gets to go to London — with the same ease as going to Kalyan to drop off one of the girls in their group, visa, etc. are not mentioned — and gets lauded for his efforts there. He returns and starts his event management company while thinking about marketing garments (claims that he has gathered a depth of knowledge about the business and that’s that. Nothing comes out of it, beyond helping a friend in getting cloth for her wedding dresses).
All in all, this is a superficial read. It might appeal to college-going readers, due to the first half. The rest is scattered all over the place. Akash, except for losing a loved one in the Mumbai floods of 2015, gets through life quite easily, with no villains or negativity in sight. None of the characters are developed or stay with you after you have put down the book — and there are quite a few of them here. By this time, we are left wondering what’s going to be the next mundane situation. Or not.
Book: The Waiting Lounge
Author: Chet Kamal Parkash
Publication: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
Price: Rs 299
Pages: 231
