Market these days is flooded with love stories and at time one gets a nauseating feeling while looking at the cascade of such books at the stores. Looking at ‘If it’s not forever, it’s not love’ will definitely make one think that it is one of those mushy love stories but what distinguishes this book from them is the way Durjoy Datta and Nikita Singh have given a new sensitive angle to the story by presenting the protagonist as a bomb blast victim striving to achieve redemption.
It is a story of Deb, a writer cum publisher who owns the publishing house Grapevine India and his life takes a sudden dramatic turn when one day a powerful blast rips across the heart of Delhi – Chandni Chowk. He miraculously escapes but the blast wounds him emotionally, the wound that is quite deep. Carrying this heaviness in his heart, one day, he revisits the blast site and finds himself caught in the web of images and voices belonging to that day that keep on haunting him and rob him of his peace of mind.
While he fights his melancholy, he stumbles upon a dairy of a man who is probably dead. On reading the diary Deb concludes that his only way to achieve redemption is to find the dead man’s love and hand over the dairy to her, making her realize that she had been so lucky to have someone who loved her madly, truly and unconditionally. Shrey (his best friend and business partner), Tiya (Shrey’s girlfriend) and Avantika (his golden love), first unknowingly and then willingly, join him in his quest as he tries to bring the dead man’s story to an ending as he believes that such a heart-touching tale doesn’t deserve to be left incomplete.
Durjoy’s books have always been known for their titles and he is often asked the question, if female co-writers are his lucky charm. This book is no different. The title at once captures one’s attention and a female co-writer undoubtedly adds a pinch of salt to the story. A sack of all emotions is the one line definition of the book. It will make you smile meekly, laugh cheerily and cry uncontrollably.
It will make you go ‘aw’ at times, ‘what the hell’ at other times and ‘oh! my god’ at most of the times. It will also irritate you at a few instances, considering Deb’s sexual comments here and there. Most importantly the book is too captivating and will surely leave you spellbound for hours after you complete reading it.
No doubt the book is a best seller!