Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table

The story line is simple; a boy in search of his birth parents learns the true meaning of finding a home. The plotline chronicles the boy’s journey in this search. It takes us from Pune to Kolkata and then subsequently to the interiors of Maharashtra (Nandurbar) where the protagonist finds his answers. The characters in the book have been etched well. The scenes from the protagonist’s childhood are particularly well written and they are replete with all the teensy details that we may be able to recollect if we throw our minds back to our childhood. Did we not give childish nicknames to our friends? Hell yes, we did!!

With the advent of the Corona Pandemic, life has been divided into the 'Before' and the 'After'. But, irrespective of any such 'Pauses', life goes on undeterred. Much like Time, that eternal nemesis of all life forms, it doesn’t stop. This is a universal fact. Because the events of our lives, are connected with each other, and those of others, by a different, more significant thread. That of overcoming the challenges life throws at us, individually and collectively. To fall and rise only to fall again, with the firm belief that we will rise again. That is the story of life, and of this book. Based on true events, these seven stories are a glimpse into the struggles of the living.

Robinhood Singh is dead. Yet, he speaks, that too endlessly. He narrates the story of his family, who is coping with the loss of his sudden death. While commenting on the goings and comings, his judgemental side peeks out in certain places, and his jocular nature in all! Realizations come to him in small pockets and Robinhood (or Robu) is generous enough to share them with the reader. He is amused to learn the several secrets his mother holds close to her heart and is saddened to discover how his wife, Pushpakala, has masked her unhappiness for years, under her beautiful and serene smile. Robinhood grapples with shock of being unable to hug his daughter Dimple as the scenes of his tormented family struggling to adjust to his absence bombard him.