ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tushar Raheja is an IIT-Delhi graduate with a degree in industrial engineering. He completed his Masters of Science in Operations Research and holds a PhD from IIT Delhi, in applied probability. The novel Anything for you Ma’am: An IITian’s Love Story was published during his final year of graduation. His second book, Romi and Gang, was based on cricket. By his own admission, Raheja does not like or intend to stick to one genre of novels. In 2017, he also directed the English movie This will End in Murder.
SYNOPSIS
As the subtitle suggests, Anything for you, Ma’am: An IITian’s Love Story is the love story of an IIT student, Tejas. He falls for his sister’s friend, Shreya, who is a smart and intelligent girl from Chennai. Shreya’s parents stumble upon the first love letter written by Tejas and fly off the handle, ordering her not to go back to Delhi. Now Tejas needs to embark on a 2,000-kilometer voyage down South to meet the love of his life.
Tejas makes multiple plans to visit Chennai. He thinks about the inter-IIT meet, visting Chennai on the pretext of training, and bunking an industrial tour to Pune by taking a train to Chennai. Which option he eventually chooses and how he finally gets to Chennai is the central theme of Anything for you, Ma’am.
Tejas faces many hurdles along the way, which threaten to throw all his plans out of the window. Luck is almost never on his side as things always seem to turn out awkwardly for him. However, he manages to overcome every challenge that life throws at him. To his credit, the author has stitched together a rather interesting story through the different situations that Tejas goes through.
WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT ANYTHING FOR YOU, MA’AM
Anything for you, Ma’am: An IITian’s Love Story is a sweet and simple love story without any vulgarity or obscenity. Apparently, the author is quite inspired by the writing style of P.G. Wodehouse. He uses wit and humor to describe life at the IITs. The characters are all very endearing and contribute definitively to the plot. The conversations between Tejas and Shreya actually feel pretty real.
WHAT WE DID NOT LIKE ABOUT ANYTHING FOR YOU, MA’AM
The timelines given at the start of chapters, such as October, November, then back to October, and so on, are fairly confusing for the readers. It gets difficult to keep tabs on the events in the story, particularly when you have a short attention span. The editing could have been crispier, which would have made the plot a lot tighter. The book also has its fair share of grammatical errors, which kind of weigh down an otherwise entertaining story line.
QUOTES
If there is night, there has to be dawn. Life goes on.
CONCLUSION
Anything for you, Ma’am: An IITian’s Love Story gets a 3-star rating from Ameya. The author has used simple, concise language, which is actually perfect for the average Indian reader. Although the love story gets a bit too predictable at times, the hilarity of the plot makes for a seamless reading experience. This novel is apt for beginners who are fond of romantic comedies. On the other hand, if you are a hard-core fan of classic love stories, your bookshelf could easily do without this one.
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