Friday, October 23, 2015

Book Review of Debashish Irengbam’s debut novel- Me, Mia, Multiple

YOU are capable of anything and everything in your life; you have a soft side to love younger ones, to respect your elders, a strong backbone to fight against any hell you come across, a mind to weigh what is right/ wrong but at the same time you tend to face your problems by bowing down to it, because you know how to SURVIVE.

This is what this book taught me and I am going to take it forward in my life…

Theme

Jeevan Raikar , Mia D’costa, Tanya, Alisha and his 3 sisters Meena, Seema, Kanchan. They all are attached in some or other way to Jeevan and influence his decisions all the time. It is shown that he only thinks about himself all the time by sulking about his life while creating havoc not only in his life, but all his 3 sisters life as well until Mia comes along with Tanya, Alisha and a whole can of worms to make his life a living misery and tempting him further.

This story weaves around Jeevan Raikar who is a victim of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and taking you on a journey of how he struggles to keep everyone happy while distancing himself from the world at large. His 3 sisters who are worried about their only brother while trying to balance their married life as well. His nil of a love life which is an icing on these problems and aide his suicidal attempts which are mind you number 3!

Here comes Mia! Crashing Jeevan’s suicide attempt number 4 while tangling him with her own mess of a life. A life which is so jumbled, a doctor and a retired ACP i.e. her father Albert D’costa has a field day around her. 

Key Ideas

Author provides a sensible introduction to Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder along with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

I empathize with Jeevan because I personally have been to that dark hole called depression and PTSD which is difficult in the most horrible way. You don’t want to hurt your loved ones but it is not at all in your hand to cope up with your emotions and you just break down enough to let go for good from this world, thinking it will give you freedom and much awaited release to your loved ones; who are suffering because of you. But that’s where it is wrong and I can say this only when I am looking at it from outside, not when I was in the clutches of that darkness. I never want to go back there and feel that air; tight with humiliation and pity for myself which suffocates my each breath while tempting me to succumb. Your loved ones matters, YOU matter; not only because they love you, but they don’t want you to suffer alone, they want you to confide in them which you feel like  burdening them with your silly problems and that’s where you’re wrong darling.

It takes one to know one, yeah that’s about right for people who suffer from these situations. No one can understand you because no one is there to live your life, so it’s you who has to make an effort and come out of it, yeah you need help from your family, friends and loved ones to reach out to and try to understand you. But trust me, you can do it!

Mia is a whole big can of worms in itself! The way Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is explained through this book, it’s just a coping mechanism build and developed by your own self against something horrific incident which has shocked you enough that your brain just cannot compute it enough to process it further. Rather, it will build a new mechanism altogether and blocks that incident to stop further acknowledgement in your life. I will say it’s a boon because when that ugly truth rears it face, you’re left to drown in its wake. What happened with Mia and how she went about her life with her alters is a great insight into these psychological disorder and how you can take a loved one’s help along with medicine facility which in today’s world is a miracle in itself.


Conclusion

There are authors who explain everything and every emotion in detail while using nefarious comparison to their situations which might become tedious sometimes but you know you can’t skip a line/ even a word because it is just that much good. +Debashish Irengbam has written this beautiful story in a hilarious way which will not only make you pee your pants, it’ll keep you on your toes till you finish this roller coaster ride called Me, Mia, Multiple!
I have enjoyed such humorous works only by +Tara Sivec till now and I must say, +Debashish Irengbam has stamped a new bar for Indian Authors in Romantic-Comedy genre to look forward to. How every time Jeevan meets Mia, Tania, or Alisha, he returns with something broken or at least a black eye as a reward! I had a difficult time to pause my reading at night (it was that tempting) I use to read it first thing in the morning by hiding it under my pillow as my Mumma is not a fan of me being a Night Owl!


Title: Me, Mia, Multiple is a perfect title to direct you in the right direction while giving you no idea what exactly is there in the book. Mysteriously indeed!

Author:  +Debashish Irengbam comes up with his debut novel while he has written several TV shows and currently working on Charlie Next door; his 2nd novel coming in 2016.

Genre: Fiction, Romantic-comedy, filled with humour, human behaviour, and life at large. For me it is a Self-Help book as well.

Publication: +Harper Collins  Publishers

Publication Date: 2015

Table of contents: The book is arranged in 27 chapters with NO table of contents.

Pages: 366

Book jacket: It provides an intriguing peek inside the book and allures you to read it further and spark an interest

-          Aradhna Tiwari
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