Introduction :
Devraj Kalsi is a Kolkata based senior copywriter. His short fiction and essays are being regularly published in various offline and online newspapers, journals and literary websites. Pal Motors is his first novel published by Half Baked Beans.
The Story:
Pal Singh, the only patriarch in his family runs a motor spare parts shop in downtown of Kolkata city. Suddenly he passes away and is survived by his mother Bibi Amrit Kaur fondly called Biji, his wife Nasib and his daughter Preet. The whole plot revolves around right from the funeral process to the conclusion of Bhog ceremony. The core of the story is the discussion and communication among the three; Biji, Nasib and Preet unfolding the layers of their characters assisted by Nasib's brother Monty, Biji's cousin sister Charno, Biji's friend Mrs Chawla and two other relatives Mr and Mrs Balbir Singh and Preet's college friends Anu, Reshma and her boyfriend Abhishek. Their maid servant Durga is a special character eavesdropping and passing the information among them. With the death of Sardar Pal Singh, skeletons of the three protagonists pertaining to their individual characteristics and identities start to tumble down gradually assisted by the fringe characters as mentioned above.To know more - read Pal Motors, the novel.
Strength Of The Novel :
The core strength of the novel is its language and powerful narration. Since the writer himself is a senior copywriter, he has proved his mastery over English language which is quite fluidic, flawless, and simple. The crux of the novel is the interpersonal emotions, feelings, liking, disliking, prejudices, mutual respect, mutual criticism, mutual skepticism and cynicism among the three female members ; Biji, Nasib and Preet as the mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and daughter respectively, which are described in a powerful manner through their communication, that too in an amusing way. The novel is satirical but humorous and the reader enjoys while going through it. The novel is supported by the brilliant use of idioms and phrases, metaphors and similes and spiced up with popular Punjabi proverbs which entertain the reader on regular intervals.
Weakness Of The Novel :
Since the novel has no defined story line and chiefly depends on the narration and communication among all the characters just situation wise and as the plot remains confined to the ceremonies of Path and Bhog after Pal Singh's death and hardly ventures out of the premises of the house, it becomes quite monotonous and a tad boring at times. A few subplots like Preet's initiative for an ad of the obituary of his father and hospitalization of one of the Pathis could have been done away without snatching away the beauty of the novel. That way it could have been presented in a more crispy format. The other issue is its title Pal Motors which doesn't suits being it a compelling description of human emotions and not anything related to motor spare parts. Better to call it The Pals or The House Of Pals.
My Take :
This is the first novel I read which is short of a definite and defined story line devoid of high stakes, mind blowing conflicts, surprising twists and turns, still capable of keeping the reader hooked till last. I thoroughly enjoyed it and even learnt a lot from the dexterity with which the author has successfully presented it. It's an innocent, virgin, pure and straight tale of the characters which is quite impressive. I wish to read more titles from the desk of the author DevRaj Kalsi. All the best bro!!
Overall Ratings: 3.5/5
Rajeev Pundir
27/04/2018
Devraj Kalsi is a Kolkata based senior copywriter. His short fiction and essays are being regularly published in various offline and online newspapers, journals and literary websites. Pal Motors is his first novel published by Half Baked Beans.
The Story:
Pal Singh, the only patriarch in his family runs a motor spare parts shop in downtown of Kolkata city. Suddenly he passes away and is survived by his mother Bibi Amrit Kaur fondly called Biji, his wife Nasib and his daughter Preet. The whole plot revolves around right from the funeral process to the conclusion of Bhog ceremony. The core of the story is the discussion and communication among the three; Biji, Nasib and Preet unfolding the layers of their characters assisted by Nasib's brother Monty, Biji's cousin sister Charno, Biji's friend Mrs Chawla and two other relatives Mr and Mrs Balbir Singh and Preet's college friends Anu, Reshma and her boyfriend Abhishek. Their maid servant Durga is a special character eavesdropping and passing the information among them. With the death of Sardar Pal Singh, skeletons of the three protagonists pertaining to their individual characteristics and identities start to tumble down gradually assisted by the fringe characters as mentioned above.To know more - read Pal Motors, the novel.
Strength Of The Novel :
The core strength of the novel is its language and powerful narration. Since the writer himself is a senior copywriter, he has proved his mastery over English language which is quite fluidic, flawless, and simple. The crux of the novel is the interpersonal emotions, feelings, liking, disliking, prejudices, mutual respect, mutual criticism, mutual skepticism and cynicism among the three female members ; Biji, Nasib and Preet as the mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and daughter respectively, which are described in a powerful manner through their communication, that too in an amusing way. The novel is satirical but humorous and the reader enjoys while going through it. The novel is supported by the brilliant use of idioms and phrases, metaphors and similes and spiced up with popular Punjabi proverbs which entertain the reader on regular intervals.
Weakness Of The Novel :
Since the novel has no defined story line and chiefly depends on the narration and communication among all the characters just situation wise and as the plot remains confined to the ceremonies of Path and Bhog after Pal Singh's death and hardly ventures out of the premises of the house, it becomes quite monotonous and a tad boring at times. A few subplots like Preet's initiative for an ad of the obituary of his father and hospitalization of one of the Pathis could have been done away without snatching away the beauty of the novel. That way it could have been presented in a more crispy format. The other issue is its title Pal Motors which doesn't suits being it a compelling description of human emotions and not anything related to motor spare parts. Better to call it The Pals or The House Of Pals.
My Take :
This is the first novel I read which is short of a definite and defined story line devoid of high stakes, mind blowing conflicts, surprising twists and turns, still capable of keeping the reader hooked till last. I thoroughly enjoyed it and even learnt a lot from the dexterity with which the author has successfully presented it. It's an innocent, virgin, pure and straight tale of the characters which is quite impressive. I wish to read more titles from the desk of the author DevRaj Kalsi. All the best bro!!
Overall Ratings: 3.5/5
Rajeev Pundir
27/04/2018
