Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl by Aashisha Chakraborty

 

The cover image of Aashisha Chakraborty's debut novel, 'Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl', catches the eye as the traditional Chennai landscape reveals a modernity that transports the reader straight into a story that promises to be entertaining. Shobhaa De’s endorsement adds to the feel - ‘Young and interesting’. Further praise is showered on the young author within the book by seasoned voices.

At the age of 25, the world seems one’s oyster, or so one would think. Enakshi Chatterji, a germophobe and a bit of an introvert, has a job in an IT organization. Wanting a bit of fun and time before she is pushed on to the matrimonial bandwagon, she decides to do her MBA at the prestigious IISM.

However, when she mentions that she wants to go in for sales and marketing, her mother reacts in shock, leaving unanswered questions in Enakshi’s mind. Exactly a year later, she begins her summer internship at Telescion where she receives a jolt when she realises that she has to intern in Chennai instead of Gurgaon.

Imagine being posted to a place without knowing the language. If that were not bad enough, Enakshi finds that being a woman in a male-dominated company makes it even worse. The cherry on the cake is her OCD and her horror of anything remotely unclean. As she moves into her role, clad in formal wear, blazer included, the heat of Chennai unsettles her.

Ram Reddy, her present mentor, develops a blow hot-blow cold relationship with her, which keeps her off balance. The GBM, Mr. Nagavenkata, who is otherwise known as the Dragon, is far-removed from her, but gives Ram instructions on how to make her internship even more challenging than it already is.

Leela, Enakshi’s roommate and Pavan, an erstwhile stalker, bring in a hint of colour to Enakshi’s mundane life. However, the stress of her job proves too much. At the end of her tether, she snaps at her parents when they call up. There is a 25-year-old mystery concerning her mother that she wants to solve, and she takes the support of her best friend, Ankita, to do so. As Enakshi battles it out, determined to finish her internship and end her Chennai stint once and for all, she begins to slowly understand that she has to do things differently to make an impact. By the end of her three months, she realises she has finally ‘adulted'.

Aashisha Chakraborty has nailed the emotions and the angst of a young intern stuck in the wrong place. The narrative is peppered with sales tips, starting with “Learn the local language” and “Speak the local language for God’s sake” to “Keep your temper in check” and “Use jugaad”. Her subtle sense of humour comes through at various places in the book.

“Ena was a private person, as private as a person could possibly get without turning into a character from Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

“She was young and pretty. Pretty Awful.” (A lady in the HR Department)

Aashisha Chakraborty’s debut novel is a breezy read, with Enakshi garnering much sympathy in the heart of the reader. The author’s triumph is in the fact that nowhere, despite all her trials and tribulations, does Enakshi come across as a defeatist or a loser.

The following lines particularly resonated within me as I read the book. Maybe because I too believe how true they are.

“Time, like light, decides the way it moves around people. Sometimes, it moves in a straight line. And at times, it bends around certain obstacles to reach where it wants to reach.”

Author: Aashisha Chakraborty

Publishers: Rupa

Buying Links: https://rupapublications.co.in/books/missadventures-of-a-salesgirl/

Available in print and e-book

 

A Piece of Your Mind for Peace of Mind - Manali Desai

 

Blurb On Amazon: 

We all feel a certain way during different times and think that we're alone in living through it all. Maybe our experience is unique,  maybe the way we react to a situation is exclusive to us. But that sentiment we feel in a particular moment, that's not ours alone. We are bound by the way our minds feel various emotions, right from anger to excitement, and from fear to pride. Dive into the world of these emotions through poetic expressions in this book. Each poem focuses on one single sentiment with the intention to show how each emotion or the way we feel because of them, can make or break us; while also convincing you that it's completely normal to experience such things. These emotions are mostly what we would conventionally refer to as 'negative' but reading about them in these 40+ poems would surely leave you feeling positive.

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 92

Format: Kindle eBook

Price: Rs.73 / Available on Kindle Unlimited

Author Manali Manan Desai

My Rating: 4.4

In today’s world, where life has turned into a rat race, and people depend on their devices, using emojis to express their feelings, Manali Desai has used the self-same emoticons to illustrate the forty-five poems through which she has presented an entire kaleidoscope of life. Every poem begins with an apt emoticon and a feeling expressed by the poet, which serves as a hint to what lies ahead. Many of the poems are also accompanied by cute doodles and illustrations which further add to the essence of the content.

The eye-catching cover image is in grey and blue, maybe denoting the various hues of life, the yin and yang, the good, the bad and the ugly. The pun that makes up the title is unusual and effective!

Manali Desai’s poems cover a plethora of emotions, both positive and negative, that people go through in their day-to-day lives. The message they convey is that it is normal for humans to experience the ups and downs of life, to ride a seesaw of emotions. The language is simple, revolving around one central idea, denoting the commonality of emotions experienced by humanity.

The themes range from relationships to friendship, from self-doubt, shame, lost identity and frustration, and self-acceptance, self-assurance and love. There are references to ‘Home, Sweet Home’ and occasions when the poet wonders about 'What To Do, What Not to Do'.’. The poem ‘Full Circle’ talks of how after years of anger and frustration, the poet accepts that “life had come full circle/ I knew that what I had felt most of my life was something I could let go of/ And just like that my anger was replaced with acceptance.”

One of my favourite poems is ‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall’, where little barbs create a dent in a person’s confidence, but at the end, “the self-assurance dominated the self-doubt again.” ‘My Bad’ touches on the topic of doublespeak, where words convey dual emotions, hurting loved ones, and ends up with half-apologies.

The author’s emotions shine through her poetry. She treats life as a learning process, where she urges the readers to go on with confidence, trudge on and learn and grow. However, she also warns them to ‘Take a Break, Don’t Break’, and instead pay attention to the signals that the mind and body give at regular intervals. Life is ‘Sometimes Easy, Sometimes Tough’, and ‘Instability, Uncertainty, Unsurety’ play their roles in adding tension to life.

Manali Desai’s biggest forte lies in her ability to choose apt titles that give a hint of what lies within each poem. Nowhere does she claim that life is a bed of roses, and the nuggets of wisdom she imparts are invaluable. While most of her poems are in free verse, there are examples of acrostic poems like ‘Breaking the Norms’, and ‘Moments of Joy’ which talk about the sources of joy from A to Z. The latter, along with ‘M For Mischief’ are two poems that touch the heart with their joie de vivre, especially the statement that works as a page breaker - "I Solemnly Swear that I Am Up To No Good.” The poems titled ‘Don’t Stop, Make it Pop’ and ‘Not A Regular’ seem to define the attitude of the poet… quirky, fun and “A something that sets apart/The regular from the not-so-common.”

In my opinion, one of the most understated and yet beautiful poems is ‘Not in So Many Words’ where love is conveyed in different ways, ending with the query “Does love always need to be verbal?”

While this book has many plus points, the only point that maybe, went against the grain, was the fact that some of the poems seemed repetitious at times. However, this takes nothing away from the content of the book, which packs a punch even as it illustrates many hard hitting truths, both positive and negative, which make up the essence of life.

 About the Author: Manali Manan Desai: Manali is a full-time freelance writer and editor cum blogger. Currently, apart from her ad hoc writing and editing assignments, Manali runs a blog and is also a partner with Pachyderm Tales. In her authoring journey, Manali has written and published five solo books, been a part of a few co-authored books, and has helped new and aspiring writers publish their books as well. She has been a multiple-times bestselling author on Amazon with all her books ranking in the top ten in many categories. Her short story The Walls Have Ears, helped her bag the Best Short Story in 2019. She has also won the Best Author: Fiction Award, and the Book of the Year title in 2021 for her debut novel, Love (Try) Angle. Her short story titled The (Un)Blind Date, which is a part of her Christmas special anthology, Under the Mistletoe & Other Stories, won the best short story prize in an online contest before the book's release in December 2021.

The book is available at:

https://www.amazon.in/Piece-Your-Mind-Peace-ebook/dp/B0B9CK19NC/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1663178060&refinements=p_27%3AManali+Desai&s=books&sr=1-1