Leila

I loved this book so much. It was a different version of the Handmaid's tale. I highly recommend it.

For some reason this book was a bit confusing. I just couldn't connect with the story. Maybe it's the way that the writer puts across the plot.

On time good quality

Nice book

Shalini searches for her daughter, Leila. She was taken from her sixteen years ago, when things became really bad. The walls got higher and higher ; each community lived with their own behind those walls, according to their castes, their family ties, their religion. And more and more people confined themselves within their communities, all to attain "purity". Until the day when people like Shalini, her husband Riz and their three year old daughter, living in the mixed community of the East End, became people that needed to be reeducated.What makes Leila completely chilling is how plausible it is to imagine a city partitioned by walls defining communities that live only among themselves, in contempt and fear of the others, and with their own private laws. Obviously, this hierarchical social order is very much inspired by the Indian caste system. But it's easy to transcribe it to any Western city, with its slums, its estates, its "good" or "bad" neighbouroods, its Black or White or Polish or Turkish or white collars only or working class, or whatever, areas. But here, the walls aren't metaphorical, they are literal barriers. And people go as far as asking "Should our kids breathe the same air as them?"But what makes Leila even more chilling is to see how Shalini, when she was still upper middle class and living with her husband, as liberal as she was, was treating her servants. She may not have believed in the literal walls, but she had her own metaphorical walls still firmly in place. Now that she's an outcast, she lives with being treated as a lower human being. People accept this social order, whether they are the proletariat, the lumpen proletariat or the bourgeoisie. It is the story of a moral defeat that everyone is content with and perpetuates.Shalini's story is heartbreaking. Not only you read about her social fall, but you read also how the reeducation turned her into an addict to (possibly) anti-depressant pills. I was very impressed by how realistically Akbar used her appearance, in comparison to women her own age who haven't faced the hardships of reeducation, physical labour and abuse. It is such a realistic detail, that somehow, is always glossed over.Of course, the most heartbreaking aspect of her story is her grief as a mother for Leila, her lost daughter. Sixteen years and still searching, still missing her, accompanied by the ghost of her husband Riz when she celebrates her birthday by the wall of Purity One.I often find that some dystopias that try to convey a moral or social message spend too much time detailing the world building and it may be detrimental to the story. But Akbar managed to both convey the world building with some cleverly organised flashbacks that also raised the tension to the mystery of Leila's disappearance, and to have me engrossed in Shalini's story.I would argue the writing style is a bit sparse, a bit too revealing maybe of Akbar's journalistic roots. But it fits the story like a glove.Leila is an engrossing, chilling to the core and heartbreaking dystopia. It tells the universal story of the grief of a parent and how easily we reject those who are "others" to ourselves.

Okay, so starting with the review, this was a typical dystopian book that I read after a long time. The vocabulary and certain metaphors used in this paperback really caught my attention; however, watching the NETFLIX series before reading this book, I regretted it big time. Having finished this book, I came across a lot of questions generally asked by readers/Netflix account holders accusing the author/director for bad-mouthing Hindu culture. Honestly, I'm not really a great fan of religion, but the views of the author changed my perception regarding a lot of things.First of all, the scenario describing the acid rain, and how people had to get inside the shelters to stay away from it. Now, if you were born in 90's then you probably understand the obsession with dancing in the rain, and imagining not being able to cherish such a beautiful thing really was an eye-opener and a hurtful feeling for the future generations to come.Second of all, caste system got on my nerves for some reason. Going through today's headlines, I don't think we're gonna survive that long either; hence the whole plot resonated with me a lot.Thirdly, being a woman myself, my heart loathed the system for taking the daughter of "Shalini" away.This book reminded me of, "BIG BROTHER" character from, "1984 by George Orwell." And I'd like to read more books written by you @prayaag.akbar sir.Although, I found a lot of scenarios changed in the series, but I highly appreciate the imaginary skills and intellectual ability of the author in terms of literature. There were few mistakes here and there; but the message prevails anyway. Therefore, giving this book 4.3/5 stars.

It's a really captivating, gripping novel. It gives a picture of near probable future of India.

I picked up this book after watching the series by the same name on Netflix.This book by Prayaag Akbar is set in a dystopian future where people live in communities called as sectors. The whole idea of the community is based on purity of the inhabitants. People who have married outside their community/caste are sent to camps where they are conditioned to fall into line. This camp is run by one Mr. Iyer. (I have no idea why he chose this surname.)The book, on the surface seems like the story of a mother searching for her daughter, but as you keep reading, you realize that it is anything but that. It is an essay on the political climate prevalent in the country and the text seemed like the author's attempt to project his fears and insecurities about an uncertain future given the position of the ruling party. The book is a fictionalized account of what can go wrong if right-wingers are allowed to run the country. It also touches upon several grave issues such as scarcity of water and fresh air. The unfortunate part is that people with deep pockets are the ones that get to retain their lifestyles and have access to basic amenities. The book is gut wrenching in the sense that it makes you sit up and take note of the way politicians arm-twist people to get their way. I felt that this book also hints at being Hindu-phobic and it seems that the way forward is to erase out fundamentalists.To read this book, it took great effort not to get offended because of the use of caste surnames and descriptions of incidents.This brings me to a few questions that I asked myself:Would my reaction be any different if the writer belonged to the same community as me?Would my angst be the same or would it be different? Does it even matter?Or should we, the people of India, disregard the political climate and live in our cocoons?I would be keen to read a book on a dystopian future where the Caliphate or the Church rules the world. How different or how similar would those works be? As a discerning reader, I choose to read this book as a standalone work and not read meanings into it.I am giving it a 3.