Book Review (Encounters of A Fat Bride)

Have you ever cribbed in front of mirror frustrated, trying to thrust yourself into that favourite kurti which you have successfully outgrown? 

Have you ever felt embarrassed to be a friend of girls who have bucket full of love stories where all your talks are rejected as an uninteresting bucket list?

In the era of rapid changes, where women are spotted everywhere right from steering trucks to launching rockets, it is paradoxical to spot women who are being body shamed, looked down upon or undervalued especially under the pretext of finding grooms. It is heartwrenching to see parents who preach their daughters to have high self esteem and self respect fall headlong into the whirl of big fat Indian wedding and forget everything. 

The book "Encounters of a Fat Bride" deals with the life of Madhurima Pandey who is fed up with her family members' back to back attempts to get her married. Chances of Madhu, getting married seems slim because she is not. Despite being an independent girl with an M.B.A., she can't lead a satisfied life due to her excessive weight. She constantly falls prey to the mockings of the society as she can't fit into its expectations as a girl. Throughout the story, we see Madhu getting jealous of Anu, her close friend as she is a pretty girl and thereby a prospective bride to whom nobody will say NO! Though she desperately wants to have a flawless love story like every beautiful girl, she develops an aversion towards all these wedding dramas, as everytime the rejection is just a phone call away. 

Fed up with all these, Madhu wants to say "NO!" at least once. To show that she too can have her own likes and dislikes. But to her surprise when Harsh, an average looking, flawless guy says "Yes!" to her, she can't deny but doubts if he is impotent or having any economic problem. The story unfolds if they both make it to their D-day.

Just in 159 pages, Sama has explored the deepest feelings of a fat girl who is depressed by the array of rejections she has to face right from the day-1 of the groom hunt. 

Being oversized makes her life complicated. The society labels her unfit even to dream a lovelife, let alone getting married. People come around just to say a casual NO! The impact penetrates all through her psyche. She starts even to question her self worth and vent all her frustration on her parents and grandma.

Even the littlest things overwhelm her— right from unfit clothes to unyielding parents. However the tunnel has a light at the end. In the process of finding her love, she realises her self worth and understands that she needn't be perfect to have a good relationship. 

The characters are deep rooted. They back the lucidity of the plotline. Madhu's family is a tightknit one with a supporting father, emotionally charged mother, loving friend who shares everything to (unknowingly) fuel Madhu's insecurities and on top of all the boisterous, tech -savvy grandma who always goes extra mile to make Madhu happy. On the other hand the very many relatives, N-number of grooms who reject Madhu and finally Harsh and his family who says the much unexpected "YES!" All strike a chord with readers. I personally loved the grandma — her description of Madhu on a matrimonial site in the beginning of the book and her advice to her in the last chapter turned a lightbulb in my mind. 

The language of the book makes it a compelling read. It was certainly an unputdownable book for me. The agonies of a bride-to-be who is not physically appealing to look at made me resonate with. With the choicest of words the author has showed us how Madhu is feeling more as a burden to be sold off than a daughter to be married off by her parents. I loved the usage of funky words and phraseology as it let me hooked to the book. 

PS. 

It was the blurb of the book that made me pick that when I was casually surfing for a book on Amazon. Both the physical quality and the content of the book were beyond my expectation. Undoubtedly 4.5/5 (if you too have undergone the dramas of big fat Indian wedding as a bride / groom). The author, Samah Visaria has now become my go-to author after this engaging read.