The Reengineers
by
Indu Muralidharan
A HarperCollins Publication (Harper Element)
My Review
A HarperCollins Publication (Harper Element)
My Review
Disclaimer: I received a free paperback copy of
this book from the publisher via The Book Club in return for my honest review.
I haven’t received any monetary compensation for the same.
I
was curious to know more when I read the blurb. I think spirituality is an
integral part of our lives, at all stages, not necessarily when we grow old. I
liked the idea that the author has incorporated spirituality in transforming
the lives of teenagers.
First
of all, I am absolutely impressed by the flawless language and perfect proofing
of the book. I rarely come across English books by Indian authors that have
impeccable language. For this, I congratulate Indu Muralidharan. The book was a
joy to read, without me wincing even once.
Set
in 1990s Madras, the story is about Chinmay and his friends Anu (this is a guy)
and Sabi (a girl). They are having study holidays before their tenth board
exams. They are children from typical Indian families where the parents are
under tremendous pressure to have their children succeed in every aspect of
their lives. The three of them are sad as they feel the burden of their
parental pressures. Chinmay feels it all the more as his parents are on their
way to being divorced. He’s planning to commit suicide soon after the exams.
The
three teenagers are studying in Chinmay’s uncle’s library when the door handle
breaks and they are stuck in the room. While trying to leave by the backdoor,
they land up at Conchpore, an imaginary town in Tamil Nadu.
They
find themselves in the campus of the Seekers’ School and have the strangest of
experiences in the next 24 hours that transforms their lives.
Whether
their experience is real or a figment of their imaginations, the author has
left the reader to decide. But what I liked is that the experiences change the
teens so much that they look forward to their lives as against their depressed
stands earlier.
The
author has captured the behind-the-scenes story of spiritual cults to
perfection. It’s nothing short of scary but the horrors are obviously real. Very
well narrated!
Siddharth’s
transformation from a depressed man to a confident one with the help of the “Professor”
is inspiring. It’s influence on Chinmay is monumental. Though the “Professor”
appears in but a few scenes, he truly leaves a mark.
This
book is a must read for youngsters. It will help them see the world in a
different light altogether.
All
that said, somewhere the story that’s a fiction, gets preachy. I wish it had
been dealt with differently so as not to seem as if I was being read a lecture.
I
am glad that I got to read this one, definitely.
Blurb
Chinmay Narayan is plotting to kill himself. He is a misfit at school, his parents are about to divorce and the love of his life doesn’t know he exists. It seems pointless to go on with such a dysfunctional life. But before he gets anywhere with that plan, Chinmay and his friends, Anu and Sabi, stumble into the eerie world of Conchpore through a portal in Uncle RK’s library.
They find themselves in The Seeker’s School, where you can buy spiritual courses that will bring you enlightenment. While the seekers seem unaware that there is anything amiss, Chinmay and his friends stumble upon a strange and sinister plot that the teachers and students are caught up in. The three youngsters suddenly find themselves in danger, and their only hope is the charismatic Siddharth, an old student of the school who has come to visit. Chinmay discovers that Siddharth is seeking catharsis from his dark past by writing a book—a book with Chinmay as the protagonist. He realizes that his own story is a mirror image of Siddharth’s, which leads to a moment of reckoning for him: can he become the author of his own life?
Set in Madras in the early nineties, The Reengineers dispels the boundaries between fiction and reality to tell a tale that is as much a coming-of-age story as it is an inspiring narrative of self-empowerment and spiritual growth.
They find themselves in The Seeker’s School, where you can buy spiritual courses that will bring you enlightenment. While the seekers seem unaware that there is anything amiss, Chinmay and his friends stumble upon a strange and sinister plot that the teachers and students are caught up in. The three youngsters suddenly find themselves in danger, and their only hope is the charismatic Siddharth, an old student of the school who has come to visit. Chinmay discovers that Siddharth is seeking catharsis from his dark past by writing a book—a book with Chinmay as the protagonist. He realizes that his own story is a mirror image of Siddharth’s, which leads to a moment of reckoning for him: can he become the author of his own life?
Set in Madras in the early nineties, The Reengineers dispels the boundaries between fiction and reality to tell a tale that is as much a coming-of-age story as it is an inspiring narrative of self-empowerment and spiritual growth.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a writer from Chennai, India. To me, reading and writing are means by which I try to comprehend the meaning of life and reality. My first novel The Reengineers (HarperCollins, 2015) is a metafictional exploration of the meaning of the self, examined through the relationship between an author and the character of his novel. I am working on two other novels at the moment, both centred around the healing power of fiction and its significance in 'real' life.
I live in London, balancing a full time day job with writing and studying a part-time Master's Course in Creative Writing at The University of Oxford.
I live in London, balancing a full time day job with writing and studying a part-time Master's Course in Creative Writing at The University of Oxford.
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