Dramayan a saga of nostalgia by Dr Govind Raj
Genre non fiction romance
Rating 4/5 for its storyline and 5/5 for its simplicity!
The rating may seem biased since the author is my senior and I am a big fan of his blogs and frank comebacks and comments in social media and elsewhere!
Still the rating counts because here he is away from his area of expertise that is politics and politics of religion and he has written a coming of age love story steering clear of any political or religious innuendos which would have been a daunting task indeed for Dr Shenoy!
The story feels semi autobiographical as the author himself states in the introduction but the lead is not a doctor but an engineer!
If you have read Dr G or as we call him GR7 then his sarcasm is amazing! If you did not know better. It is the crux of his write ups and blogs which make them so good! To deviate from that and write a simple story is a monumental achievement indeed!
How the young but well built boy who is the apple of his family and loves to eat Idli among other things; grows up is literally the whole book about!
In a language and setting reminiscent of R K Narayan’s Malgudi Days, the author paints a simple and sweet picture of life in a small place called Karkala which is famous for the huge Bahubali statue for others and for hot idlis!
As a child D Ramu or Dramu has very simple goals and limited things to do! His greatest mission is to reach his house just in time to get food! Or his favourite dish! He has one close friend who is a boy and two friends who are girls! The school days and kid fights are a hoot!
The issues are so kiddish you can actually relate!
From those early episodes of his childhood the book as well as Dramu grows to be a college student and then an engineer and finally in the end a Husband! During this growth the people he meets and his adventures with them forms the rest of the story!
At no point does the story get so complicated or confusing like the dime a dozen soaps in the OTT! A simple story with everything lined up in place even the heartbreaks come with enough support!
Read it to get a feel of the Karkala lanes, of family, of uncles and of foreign married cousins and of puppy love and of Kannada cuisine!
Like a simple RK story, in the end it is a happily ever after story!
Cherry on the cake are amazing snaps of Karkala in the end! Enjoy!
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