The Homing Pigeons : Review

Title: The Homing Pigeons

Author: Sid Bahri

ISBN: 9380349912

Cost: INR 150/-

Pages: 318

Rating: 3.5/5

A Part from the Book

They say Homing Pigeons always come back to their mate, no matter where you leave them on the face of this earth. Homing Pigeons is the story of love between these two unsuspecting characters as it is of lust, greed, separations, prejudices and crumbling spines.

A book someone asked me to read, a book sent to me by Readers Cosmos and a book I was dying to read since last week but was unable to as I was travelling. But no matter what I finally did manage to scoop out sometime this weekend to finally pick up the book and feel it. ‘Feel’ because this book is about relationships and relationships need to be felt and not just read. The complications, friction, complexities and need of relationship, all narrated so well in the book ‘The Homing Pigeons’, by Sid Bahri, that once you pick the book maybe you won’t feel like putting it down till the very end.

The story revolves around the complicated lives of Aditya and Radhika. Their stories move parallel to each other in the book but their life gets entwined aptly to give the phrase – the homing pigeons the perfect meaning.  A distraught victim of recent recession, Aditya – fired from his job, living off his wife’s job and money and living with the unwavering support of alcohol, meets a girl named Divya on one of his ‘date with alcohol’ nights. And she topples the entire structure of his present life in bizarre way. In some close by part of the world, Radhika, a wealthy widow, marries off her estranged step-daughter Meera, and is finally anticipating the power of freedom she always craved for and maybe has it finally, but does she? Saying more about the story would be like giving you a lot of the story and many would accuse me of being a spoiler, so I rest my share of the story sharing here. To know more Pick Up A Copy of this compelling tale.

The story is about love. And many would agree with me when I say ‘Love’ has always been a archetypal theme in the world of fiction and all kinds of love stories have already been narrated in various forms around the globe. What makes a love story stand out is the way it is narrated and this is where Sid Bahri wins his first points. Even though in the beginning I wasn’t very impressed with the way the story went, half way through the book I could connect all dots and see an amazing picture being sketched. The end of the book undoubtedly is kind of over the top, and inclines on the plain of Unrealistic Bollywood stereotypical drama but the way that leads there is pretty convincing. And as its always said most of the time the journey is better than the destination, follow this line and you won’t be disappointed.

Pros:

•   The narrative of the book is fresh and compelling and easy to relate to. Don’t give up on it after skimming through the first few pages.
•    Language used is simple and hence can be a good book to start with even for non readers.
•  Characters are simple and staring out of our world.

Cons:

•  The end seems unrealistic and a lot inspired from Bollywood stories.
•  The climax lacked the strength and impact it needed to have.
•  The plot has a tinge of over the top track to it and may not be accepted positively by many avid readers.

Overall the book is a quick read and makes you believe in Love after everything. And mature readers and people who hunt for a reason and philosophy behind life would fall in love with the book instantly. Since this was my first read of any book by Sid Bahri I would like to rate the book as a 3.5 on 5 as there is always scope for more.

This book review is a part of "The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program". To get free books log on tothereaderscosmos.blogspot.com.