an eternal dream - heaven or nightmare?

the architect's dream by nikhil kumar

genre: contemporary

My 💭:
[10/1/26 5.14 PM] 

Sometimes we come across some books that feel like it took you only a minute to read them and now you want more time with it. This was one such read. Just wow 😲!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - fiction books written by journalists ALWAYS leave a lasting impression on me. In this case too, the author has this arresting way of flowy writing that got me hooked in the storyline right from the start. The plot doesn't have epic twists or turns, it relies entirely on the characters and their narrations and dialogues. The story is so intricate that the characters have themselves become the plot.

Tanya, Vidhu and Hanif are equally the main characters in this book. But in their lives, Tanya is the main character. Despite everything, it has always been Tanya who is at the centre of both Vidhu and Hanif's narrations. And it completely fascinated me! Vidhu's story is related to her in a way of 'what if's and the obsession that comes from the dark oppressive reality of a lifetime of regrets. Hanif, on the other hand, 'got' her as his wife, yet he could never 'have' her, as he was constantly living in an insecurity induced reality created by his own mind where he's paralysed in fear that she'll leave him soon for her first love, Vidhu - an obsessive thought cycle that grew like tsunami, driving a wedge in their married life, until... that final event that changed their life course altogether. At the centre is Tanya, who never could move on from her first love, but his abandonment left her in shambles which led to more and more bad decisions, instead of accepting and moving on properly.

The story has a deep poetic ambience to it. The architect's dream was to create a building beautiful and sustainable with nature, yet somehow that remained a dream much like his real life, where he went against nature and realised too late that it's too late. Honestly, what I don't understand is that why do people think that their loved ones will hold them back from their dreams? Why does it become a battle always? If only Vidhu realised what he wants and communicated with Tanya, then three lives wouldn't have been destroyed...I hated Hanif for being so manipulative, despite all the redemption he keeps seeking from us. Ugh. I mean, those last two ending twists broke my heart.

What a good introspective read! ☕

Q - do you think it's possible to choose both dreams and family?

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