Book Review: Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda by Dharamvir Bharti

Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda by Dharamvir Bharti

Not much to write here mostly because I had very high hopes from this book. Having read and loved 'Gunahon Ka Devta', I was really looking forward to this book.

The book's narrative is very unique wherein a series of short related stories spread over the life of a dozen or so main characters is narrated by the storyteller, Manik, in his own unique style to a bunch of his friends over 7 afternoons. Women play a very pivotal role in these stories and although all the stories flirt around the love life of these women, I would refrain from calling this a book of short love stories.

The unique storytelling is what makes this book very interesting especially if you see the era in which it was written and that says a lot about Mr. Dharamvir Bharati, the writer, the visionary. Unfortunately, that's where the magic stops for me as the stories or novel if you may choose to call it, fail to make an impression. These turn out to be very simple and straightforward leaving you with nothing to ponder over once you finish them. The characters are interesting to begin with but then that story gets over by the time you have just started to understand/appreciate/judge them, leaving you unsatisfied and cheated. I'd have ignored this glitch if the stories were powerful enough to keep you hooked.

The more i think about it, the more i am convinced that the book was more of a shot at storytelling rather than the stories themselves. Hence, it is not surprising that majority of the acclaim that this book gets is centered around the narrative style - so much most of the times that infact people usually forget/fail to even begin talking about the stories.