BOOK- STORIES WE NEVER TELL
AUTHOR- SAVI SHARMA
PAGES-207
BLURB:
There are stories we never talk
about. Stories we are afraid to share. They simply hurt too much, or no one
wants to listen to them.
Such is the story of Jhanvi, who is a budding social media
influencer. She appears to have it all together, living her ideal life, but
something is missing: Jhanvi has this impossible need that drives her to be
more perfect than any person could possibly be.
And the story of Ashray, who had a rocky start in life. with
hard work and determination, he translates his dreams into reality, but his
deep-seated insecurities come to the fore when life throws him a curveball.
As the two stories intersect, their lives change in ways
they never expected.
In a world of loss, darkness and destruction, will Jhanvi
and Ashray be able to tell a story of hope, light and recovery?
MY TAKE ON THIS BOOK-
The title of the book
appropriately go with the story.
‘Story we never tell’ is the story of Jhanvi and Ashray, and
it starts with the heartbreak of Jhanvi, and Ashray’s new job.
Ashray was left on the steps of an orphanage when he was a
baby. He never knew his parents or whoever it was who left him there in the
orphanage. He was never allowed to grieve for the loss of his parents. He was
an orphaned child and that was his reality.
Akshita, who was a widowed woman, visited the orphanage to
fill her life with the love of children. Soon, Ashray and Akshita formed a bond
which felt unbreakable. By the time Ashray was five, she adopted him and Ashray
found a new Maa in her. Through the
years, they worked through the internal pain and fears.
He(Ashray) met Sakshi when he was travelling by a train where
he had a small conversation with her and somewhere deep inside he found himself
attracted towards her. Though he never
found her on his train ride from his office or from his home, but destiny is
great. After he got a new job, he along with his friend Rishi went to Goa Music
Festival where he met Sakshi again. There they formed a good bond and continued
to be together when they were back at Mumbai. He was deeply in love with her
and was even prepared to marry her but then, one day Sakshi told him that she
has to marry someone her parents have chosen for her and this breaks him.
After a few days, when he wasn’t even over with Sakshi, his
mother has a heart attack and lands up in a hospital. And unfortunately she
dies.
‘Life is fleeting, it is temporary, and it should be spent
loving the people we choose to let into our life. Everyone who enters our life
must leave it eventually. But how we choose to spend our time with them is
entirely upon us.’
The death of his mother gave him a total shock due to which
he got admitted in the hospital his mother died because of his panic attack.
Jhanvi on the other hand, trying to be a perfectionist, kept
posting her pictures to show people how beautiful her life was when inside she
knew how she was living her life. She was so much addicted with alcohol and
diet pills that one day she ends up lying unconscious on her floor. Kavya, her
friend helped her in all the ways she could and later on tells her that she
needs to visit a psychiatrist.
Ashray was told to visit the psychiatrist for his panic
attacks.
It was at Dr. Shyam’s clinic both of them met each other and
developed a bond. People in need tend to lean on each other, the wounded often
seeking out other wounded.
According to Sr. Shyam, Jhanvi, always resistant as she is,
was a challenge. Her need for perfection so deep-seated in her created identity
that it was tough to get her to separate herself from her perceived reality.
But eventually, she could change herself and that was an achievement.
Ashray, he was a proof that life is sometimes nothing more
than a roll of the dice. A game played
by fate in which some win and some lose, but no one loses forever. Ashray
needed to learn that losing didn’t mean that he was lost, and that winning was
not defined by how much, or how little others loved him. For him, the sense of
abandonment was formed in his core that will never be replaced. The best that
he can do is to find a way to know without a shadow of a doubt that they do not
have control over the actions of others.
At the end, Jhanvi and Ashray, two slightly damaged planks
laid in opposite directions, bore the weight of their illness. They leaned on
each other when the pressure was too much for one of them to handle, and they
made it through by finding the one thing that every human being needs. Love.
Overall rating- 3/5
P.S.- It is a story of hope, light and recovery. A light
read that can be completed in one go.
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