The Man Reviews Just Married Please Excuse!

I must confess, that Yashodhara Lal’s book lay around for a while because I tend to avoid books on touchy feely subjects like relationships, marriage and anything that might not contain gratuitous violence. But once I picked it up, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a bit like the first time you watch the Gangnam Style video. You begin a bit sceptically, but then keep returning to it day after day, giggling manically while other people stare at you.

The book hooks you from the beginning with its blend of first person narrative, humour, and all round witty writing. I believe the author has a blog as well, and this book is largely a compilation of her blog posts, but it is stitched together remarkably well.

As someone who has never read her blog, I figured the book would be a sort of romantic comedy, all lovey dovey types. Boy, was I wrong! The book scores well because the author comes across as a bit of an irascible young lady from a worldly family married to a goofy, good natured kinda country bumpkin. Spoilt brat meets traditional Indian male. That sort of thing. So you know things aren’t gonna be pretty. The various fights and tribulations are covered in loving detail, and you often find yourself going ouch while also laughing at the same time.

The book covers the period from when she first met her husband (who has to be one of the nicest guys given that he is the butt of many jokes in the book), their marriage, to her career, to having a baby, and of course, lest we conclude the book is wholly about the funny side of domestic life, it throws in a crisis or two that the family must deal with. Each character is lovingly caricatured with all their foibles. Sometimes, the foibles are exaggerated to breaking point. To Yashodhara’s credit she skilfully keeps things in the realm of the almost believable. Because of the style of writing, you take things in your stride and smile along with the author instead of frowning.

At times, the book’s honesty surprises you, especially because the writer has not bothered to give the characters any fictional names. Everyone is presented in an unvarnished fashion, and with no attempt to hide any flaws. This of course leads to some good situational comedy.

However, I can only reiterate that the author’s friends and family must all be saints, and good humoured ones at that to have so many details of their private lives exposed for the world at large. If my wife wrote this book, well let’s just say I would be now calling her my first wife!

Click Here to read more of Firdaus Variava's guest posts for The Caterpillar Cafe including a really cheeky one on Fifty Shades of Gray

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