He Fixed The Match She Fixed Him by Shikha Kumar

Name of the Book : He Fixed The Match She Fixed Him
Author: Shikha Kumar
Check the synopsis @ Goodreads
Buy at @ Amazon.com
Disclaimer: I got this book to review from The Author.

Are marriages made in heaven?

Everytime a girl is born, the first thought that crosses a mother's mind is that will she get married or will she be happy after marriage? Sandhya and Mahesh thought the same thing when Shreya was born. But Shreya had a past and even with her educational background they could not find a groom for her.

Marriage – the all and end all of our society.

So when one day out of the blue, the Kholis  get a call from the Kharbandas, asking for Shreya's hand in marriage – there was no dearth of happiness in Shreya's household.

Girls as a commodity.

Recently, I was watching some old flick in the Netflix, when a blind girl was asked to sing and dance in front of the prospective groom and his parents, I felt like banging my head on the TV. But that would have been a bit expensive, so I satisfied myself by switching off the television. So  I was dreading the scene, when the girl was supposed to meet the boy, But, the treatment of this whole boy-meets-girl was done with great respect and never was the girl put up as a commodity. As a reader and a woman I appreciate that.

When past overshadows the present.

Both Shreya and Kunal had a past. A past which was intermingled and had created a very unusual present for them. It is here, where as the reader I started getting lost. To give the writer her due credit, I must say she has beautifully woven the past and present. But there is one major flaw in the story. Even when Shreya comes to know what Kunal was all about – why did she keep her mouth shut? Was she going through a Pati Parameswaran syndrome? And even if she is, why did not Kunal realize it even once that he is the one who had started the game? Shreya has not been portrayed as a village belle. Highly educated and very well-developed business acumen endowed personality should not be given this characteristic trait where she tolerates every nonsense metted out to her by a husband.

Is love this blind?

There was one part in the story, a very small part, when the guy asks the girl to undergo an eye surgery so that she doesn't have to wear specs again. In fact, he is very insistent about it and in many places, in the story, the appearance of the girl has been given a different shade of importance. I can understand the parents being worried that the guy might reject her on the basis of her looks. I can even understand a guy quietly pointing out that he does not like his wife wearing spectacles but what I cannot understand was when a highly educated girl accepts this condition meekly and even undergoes the surgery. What did I miss here? Isn't our society past this stage? If the author, would have slightly shifted away from physical beauty concept I would have given the story of five-star.

Sizzling chemistry.

The passion and the chemistry between Shreya and Kunal is palpable. Everytime they met, you could feel the vibrancy in the story. One can truly say that this was the USP of this novel. Whenever Shreya droned on the persona of a bussinesswoman, she presented what Indian women aspire for but at home she was a total Suraj Barjatiya heroine. 

Rating 

Reasoning

1. Scenes like her figure being good for she is doing Yoga has been repeated many a times. 

"She was wearing a light green sari of net fabric: she had realised that her curves were in good shape, thanks to Yoga."

2. The feminist in me was really furious at the number of times Shreya meekly accepts whatever Kunal did to her on one hand and on the other she was a force to reckon with in the office. 

3. Most of the characters are very well etched and even though the last four chapters stretched out in front of me and could have been condensed into a much shorter version, still it makes very interesting read. I feel the author has really justified the true meaning of marriage through Shreya's mom, Sandhya. Sandhya had every right to be furious. I just wish this thought process was of Shreya's rather than her moms. Then it would have made Shreya a complete woman.

Would I recommend this book?

Most definitely. In fact I would love to read more from this author for she really knows how to spin a tale.Many parts of this book is unputdownable.

The saying that stayed with me.

"Then she remembered another saying: 'when someone is determined to trouble you, make sure the troublemaker learns what trouble really means.'"