Book: Those Pricey Thakur Girls Author: Anuja Chauhan Publisher: Harper Collins Price: Rs 350 Pages: 388 Dylan Singh Shekhawat and Debjani Thakur,protagonists of Anuja Chauhans third book Those Pricey Thakur Girls are people you might have met in your neighbourhood. You can picture them going about their business and yet,in a kind of irony that only fiction allows,their cinematic relationship gives you the dreamy satisfaction you were looking for. That said,if you desire a ground-breaking,stimulating story that leaves you thinking,you might have picked the wrong book. However,Chauhans witty words and hilarious situations ensure that one steers clear from labels such as chick-lit Set in 80s Delhi,Those Pricey Thakur Girls revolves around Justice Thakurs family,and his five alphabetically named daughters (from A to E),who live in a plush home on Hailey Road. Theres almost a Pride and Prejudice aftertaste,as the book includes sibling rivalry,warm repartee between Justice Thakur and his wife Mamta and a general obsession with holy matrimony. We are then introduced to the Shekhawats,a family of Christian and south Indian lineage who are friends with the Thakurs. Dylan Singh Shekhawat,an investigative journalist based in Bombay,is a Darcy-like character,with magnetic,arrogant charm. He serves as a perfect foil to Debjani Thakur,a feisty news anchor with Desh Darpan (yes,DD in other words). Every aspect of their love story can be predicted their initial hatred towards one another,a brewing attraction that they both ignore,which eventually comes tumbling out like lava,and family/state politics that tear them apart only to bring them together at the end. Its a kind of predictability that works. You know from the very beginning that you want these two to get together,and you cruise along with the characters journeys. Chauhan delves deep into each characters psyche,without showing bias to either Debjani or Dylan,and creates situations that make us laugh with,not at,the characters: be it Debjanis youngest sister Eshwari,a Modern School going teenager,bubbling with adolescent eccentricities,their dramatic chachiji,dealing with her husbands roving eye or their aspiring body builder cousin,Gugul. Those Pricey Thakur Girls sucks you into a Delhi of Campa Cola,Charms,Bercos and blue Maruti 800s,and makes you smile at almost every page.
