Title: Hooked, Lined & Single
Author: Rashmi Kumar
Publisher: Srishti Publishers
ISBN: 978-93-82665-29-8
Number of Pages: 200
Price [INR]: 150
Genre: Fiction

So you’re a woman, you’re 30-something and living in India? Now you might ask, what’s the big deal about it? And I would say there is. If you’re all of the above and still unmarried or married previously and you just don’t seem to find the “right” man, you suddenly acquire a tragically special status. And your status could be anywhere between being stereotyped and labelled as cynical, demanding, impractical and chronically single or ambitious.

In Hooked, Lined & Single, Alafia Singh meets a similar such fate on her journey to find a husband using somewhat more traditional methods.

Alafia Singh wants to get married… desperately. One may ask what’s so different about it, everybody wants to get married. But the thing is that Alafia is 31 and was divorced after a mini marriage at 22 which lasted 11 months and 10 days. The pressure is immense from the ‘deeply concerned relatives’ and acquaintances she meets at weddings and festivals.

She tries to find Mr. Right through matrimonial websites, newspaper ads and even tells random uncle or aunt to search for a match for her. Hooked, Lined & Single charts Alafia’s journey cum misadventures as she meets some prospective grooms.

I enjoyed reading this book! I read it in one sitting during a train journey, where my bouts of giggles and smiles attracted some amused and weird glances from my co-travelers. I liked Rashmi’s voice in this book which is engaging and is laced with humour. The characters are real people, with multiple dimensions and one can relate to all of them. At one point of time, I found myself rooting for Alafia and wished that everything turned out well for her. The book sparkles with an interesting and fun story line and just the right amount of introspection. Though somewhere around the middle, the story sounded a bit monotonous but soon the story line changed tracks and all was well once again. I liked the climax but wished it was amplified a bit more.

Hooked, Lined & Single is an engaging and entertaining read. And that it is free from editing errors, well, that’s a plus too. Go for it!

Rating : [usr 3.75 text=”false” size=20]