Gaurav Sharma is an accomplished writer and I still admire and remember many anecdotes from his first book Love @ Airforce. Later Rape Scars & Dawn at Dusk came and hailed by readers. His latest is "It All Happened In A School" published by Petal Publishers.
The Story:
The pivot of the story is a School named God & Guru Convent School run by a joint management committee of two religious organisations pertaining to Sikh and Christian communities. Half of the book keeps you entertaining by the usual conversation among the staff members the undercurrent of which is mostly sex oriented happening in any given office. Perhaps the writer wants to keep the reader in a lighter vein creating a jovial atmosphere before he takes you to the next half where something grave happens. However in between he introduces the style of functioning of a private school like their highhandedness, monopoly and an exploitation of the staff, mainly teachers by the management through fringe events.To know what grave happens in the later half - read the book.
Review:
The book has been written in non-sequential manner as the subplots come to light one by one nowhere related one another. The interview for selecting a teacher, a classroom prank, a murder and in the last a rape all happen independently keeping the reader guessing all the time. The main protagonist of the story is an honest teacher Saubhagya but most of the chapters have been titled after another fellow teacher Harjeet Singh which I found a bit surprising. The cover page of the book is so-so and could have been designed in more expressive manner synchronising with the story. However the writer has successfully portrayed all the incidents which happened or may happen in any given school so that the parents become attentive and aware about the safety of their wards.
The real take away from this book are few compelling quotes - strong enough to stir the readers' conscience:
"I want to breathe life. I've had enough of the desert. I want my share of oasis now."
"Women are always sure about two things : When do they look more beautiful and what does the man staring at her wants."
"Mathematics is a flattery loving muse. She expects that you spend lots of time with her, she will make you a king. If you ignore her, she will make you miserable."
"Truth is a blade. You shouldn't keep it between your lips."
"We teachers change the world everyday. Teachers are the heart and students are the blood of a school."
An error is to be corrected when the head of the police team asks to show him the spot where the raped girl was found but with a wrong name.
My Take:
This book is an eyeopener for the parents and perhaps has been written to make them aware about the safety of their children as similar incidents have been and are being reported more often than not. I wish all the best to Gaurav Sharma for the success of the book.
Rajeev Pundir
06/12/2020
