Love.Exe by Manju Nambiar

A Sweet Romantic Comedy Making You Fall in Love

Love.Exe opens with the protagonist, Nitya Balakrishnan, being accepted into the prestigious Stanford University for a fully funded graduate programme. She is elated, and all set to live her dreams in the USA. However, her mother, who is a soap drama addict, offers the most ludicrous reasons to dissuade her from going so far away from home.

“She was a drama queen at home. She cried at the drop of a hat, whimpered, sobbed and used strong theatrical words to express herself.”

There is an undercurrent of good humour that runs through the book, whether it deals with references to Nitya’s older cousin sisters, who had taken “literature and commerce respectively,” “had got married at the age of twenty-one,” and “which to my mother was the shortcut to a blissful life.”

The chapter names read like a synopsis of the book, peppered with interesting details that allow the reader a glimpse into what lies ahead.

Just as Nitya is getting set for her US movie, a tsunami of sorts visits their home in the form of Janaki Aunty who has come to “see” her for her son, Ganapaty. After an interesting meeting where the visitor polishes off all the snacks provided for her, Nitya is determined not to say “Yes” to marriage. However, her first meeting with the aforesaid Ganapaty makes her change her mind, and within a week they get engaged.

A gaggle of well-meaning aunts lands up to give Nitya amusing dollops of advice on marriage and how to manage her in-laws, advice that she ignores with a smile, determined to live her own life the way she thinks fit.

Suddenly, Nitya’s life takes an unexpected turn and she has to make a choice between marriage and Stanford. Luckily for her, her parents support her dreams and she makes her way to San Francisco. Stanford welcomes her in as she slowly gets used to the American way of doing things. She does get a jolt when she realises that her roommate is male, and even more so when he gets himself a beau. As the assignments get tougher, she tried to keep afloat, and on Valentine’s Day, she finds herself stuck with no date, a fraudulent project mate, a stern professor and a touch of flu.

However, soon after, even before she graduated, Nitya soon lands a dream job with Yahoo. She also clears her driving test after six arduous attempts under Andy’s patient tutelage. After a four-week holiday in Kerala, she gets back to the US to take up her new job.

Is it fate that makes Ganapaty come back into her life? When he takes care of her when she is under the weather, she begins looking at him in a different manner. “Was I beginning to accept him into my life or was I just relieved to know that he was doing okay and was back in office?”

However, what was the alluring Cici doing in Ganapaty’s life? What are Nitya’s feelings about their friendship? Has she successfully managed to install the programme of falling in love, truly, madly and deeply? Would she be able to forget how Ganapaty had jilted her years ago? These questions and many other get resolved by the end of this enjoyable romance.

Manju Nambiar has an easy conversational style that makes the reader smile. Nowhere does a feeling of strain come in as her writing flows on, with little hints of suspense and a wonderful comic timing that act as the perfect foil to the sweet little romance that meanders through the narrative.

This is an ideal book for one who wants a light, engaging read.