The Twisted Twenties: Actually a Twisted Book!!

I am hardly a fan of soppy, teenage love stories; having said that I cannot deny that I do adore a few “coming-of-age” stories, like everyone else. They are fun to read, full of very real life situations, on which if you ponder today you are filled with a bittersweet feeling, as you can relate to these emotions & anecdotes somewhere in your life as well.

However, there is a very thin line…extremely thin, & at times invisible thin, that separates a good “coming-of-age” tale from a soppy, silly & outlandish story. Unfortunately for me, The Twisted Twenties fell many times in the latter category, except for a few redeeming portions!! Alas, those portions were few & far between.

The Twisted Twenties, published by Half Baked Beans, and written by debutante author Deepali Junjappa…was, well…meh!!

There was so much that the author could have realistically explored about youngsters living through their 20s in India. Frankly it’s an interesting & exciting space to be in. Unlike our earlier generations who lived through their 20s in almost similar & somewhat predictable fashion, the 20s somethings in the last 10-15 years have seen a sea change in lifestyle, choices, career options, etc., etc. In the last 15 years, India has opened itself to such drastic changes in lifestyle, thanks to the sudden boom in globalisation due to increased FDI & Internet consumption, that 20s is suddenly the new teenage age, and 30s is suddenly the new 20s.

Suddenly career front has extended much further & beyond the typical 3 career choices – Doctor, Engineer or Civil Services!! Suddenly India is rife with small scale home entrepreneurs, and mind you a majority of these entrepreneurs are in their 20s & effectively conduct small scale business over social networking. The blogging space….oh…people have made careers out of it!! IT Sector, Production, Aviation, E Commerce, Travel…you name it & the avenues have expanded. It is definitely an exciting space for 20 something woman now!! She has so many choices compared to her predecessors, and even women from B & C towns!! They are dappling with hitherto taboo ideas like multiple boyfriends, marriage after 30, no marriage, marriage but no baby, no marriage – maybe baby – definitely live in, sexuality preference being acceptable at some level…the sky is the limit!!

And with such interesting premise opened up to explore, it pained me to read that Junjappa’s work was quite flat compared to what could have been written & explored in this genre.

If only her characters were more real, if only her characters were more relatable, if only the book did not have that awfully IRRITATING character called Molly!!

PLOT:

Mimi Hittalmani, the protagonist of the book, is as obvious by the title a 20 something, who is confused & trying to figure out her life with respect to career & love & life!! This is the story of her escapades!! That’s it.

Yes….it’s as wafer thin a plot as this!!

Now, just because the plot is wafer thin does not mean the book cannot be interesting. An unfair comparison, yes, but look at Vikas Bahl’s Hindi film “Queen” as an example…wafer thin plot…girl gets stood up at the altar, girl is distraught, girl takes off on her honeymoon alone & there she meets some strangers & funny situations & discovers herself!! But the narrative was well spaced with so many fun situations that the script gave birth to the very first “chick flick” classic from India!!

Book Analysis: WARNING - Possible Spoilers Ahead!!

The Twisted Twenties, on the other hand starts on a very juvenile note. Mimi, the central character, came across as an extremely confused & juvenile person, who is suffering from a deep sense of megalomania. She seems, how we like to put it as “full of herself”. She has the attention span of a 5 year old & shifts preferences on guys at an alarming pace, sometimes so alarming, that she hardly comes across as an endearing or relatable character.

Junjappa has tried very hard to make Mimi a sort of modern day Elizabeth Benett meets Carrie Bradshaw meets Bridgette Jones & in the attempt has created something that is not even half endearing, entertaining or witty as either of the 3 strong characters.

She fell into the very predictable mould when the hero of her novel, Jai, was painted in a Dracy-ish tone!! Almost laughable & so ho-hum.

Ironically, Junappa observes a similar thought via her protagonist Mimi in a different context: “Basically everything is a reconstruction of Pride & Prejudice”!!! So true….i can see that Ms. Junjappa.

Of course, there had to be a friendly, gay guy friend to our heroine – remember SATC!!

But possibly the only “nail on the chalkboard” character was Mimi’s BFF, Molly!!! Oh what a waste of so many lines this character was. Just…if just, this character was wiped off the book, it would have made the reading so much more tolerable. Let me not waste further words in describing this OTT waste of space called Molly.

Now truthfully, the book had some redeeming features. The parallel track of Mimi’s career in Indian TV industry as a story writer is very interesting & evokes genuine & relatable moments. That part of the book is smartly written, punctuated with funny anecdotes & let’s say her description of a certain Telly Soap Queen (wink..wink) was spot on!! Not only that, Mimi’s frustrations with Indian TV industry & how her fantastic storylines are twisted & made into a weepy saga are so genuine. This part of Mimi’s tryst is so much fun, than her irritating love track.

How I wish Junjappa, who has actually written for Indian TV soaps, could have made this story as a central theme & love story as a side track. It would have been so much better!! Like Lauren Weisberger’s “The Devil Wears Prada”, that talks about fashion magazine business as the main track & rest of the love trials & tribulations as a side track. This behind the scenes light peak at Indian TV industry would have formed a much interesting plot than the juvenile banter that formed almost half of The Twisted Twenties’ narrative.

Junjappa’s writing style could not be called fresh, fun & frothy, as is generally the tones of such books; nor was it caustic, cynical & witty that is also some ways of narrative represented in “coming of age” books. Her writing style in Twisted Twenties was something possibly only a teenager today can identify with. Or maybe call me “old school”, when it concerns books, but in my opinion, books should contain some cerebral form of language. I am not saying make it Victorian era prose, no way; the language can be simple & easy to understand, sure, but it has to have some gravity in its content. How else will you separate books from a regular, cheesy Hollywood Rom Com?

For example, J.K.Rowling used the simplest language structure in Harry Potter, as her TG was kids majorly, but her language, despite being simple was not mediocre & juvenile from any angle.

And even if Junjappa wanted to throw the “old school” book writing format out of window & wanted to go all out uninhibited with slang/cuss words, then what is “fecking”?? Use the real words, and if you are shamed to use them, well do not use them at all. Why this half-hearted attempt?

All in all, The Twisted Twenties would have been so much better if it was the story of a 20 year old in the chaos called “The Great Indian TV Industry” & figuring her life in that chaos while nurturing big dreams of career & love!!

Hope to read more on this front from Junjappa.