Book Review – Love @ Air Force

Well, when my friend Nimmi Vashi @ Readers Cosmos offered ‘Love @ Air Force’ for review on Readers Cosmos Book Review Programme, I decided I must have it. The reason behind my interest was simple. Being the daughter of ex- Air Force personnel, I had heard a lot about this wing of the Armed Forces. But sadly for me I never got the opportunity to experience life in an Air Force station because Dad left the services when I was very small, to join the HAL. So it was only by word of mouth that I knew the Air Force. I wanted to find out more than what I already knew.

DETAILS

Title : Love @ Air Force

Author : Gaurav Sharma

Publishers : Blackbuck Publication

Genre : Fiction/ Romance

THE AUTHOR

Son of an Ex JWO, Gaurav Sharma is a mathematics teacher by profession. Cricket, mathematics and writing are his passion. Love @ Air Force is his debut novel.

THE BOOK

What struck me first when I opened the book is this small but wonderful dedication

“Once amidst of a restless night /Harried by some inner plight/I went to have a stroll/Two stars distinctly bright/Blinked in turns, met my sight/Don’t know why I felt a bond/Whispered aloud a flash of light/Ma and Pa urging me to write/And I did ….. for you Ma and Pa”

The Story line

The setting is the Air Force Station at Agra. The narrator is Sushil Awasthi a Sergeant and school time buddy of Wing Commander Dr. Shabd Mishra. The two meet at the Agra base of the Air Force after a gap of more than twenty years. Sushil wonders whether things will be the same between the two given their rank difference. But as it turns out the camaraderie between the two remains the same.

Reliving the past they remember Soumya their schoolmate and Wing Commander Shabd Mishra’s first and only love. Time has not dimmed Shabd’s love for her. Well, as things turn out Soumya is married to a Wing Commander and is now Mrs. Soumya Shandilaya. The story takes a turn when Wing Commander Shandilaya joins the Agra base along with his family. From there on it is more of Shabd and Soumya. Sergeant Sushil Awasthi is also found giving vent to his frustrations, his despair at the system here and there.

The other characters in the story are Wing Commander Shandilaya the jealous husband of Soumya, Group Capt. Ojha Sergeant Awasthi’s Section Officer, a man who cannot digest the idea of friendship between an ordinary Airman and a Commissioned Officer, Sushil’s wife Divya and Sharmishta alias Mishti school mate of the trio i.e Sushil, Shabd and Soumya.

REVIEW

What were my expectations when I set out reading the book.Were they met?

As I have mentioned earlier what drew me to the book was the very mention of Air Force in the title. I was expecting a complete insight into the life at Air Force right from their routine to the complex equations between the various ranks. But though the author has touched on some of the points I was looking forward to, most still remain to be addressed. But then why blame him? This novel was not meant to be something like the Arthur Hailey fictions where you get a complete insight into the working of a system. This book as the name suggests was meant to describe the complex relationships existing between the various levels of the hierarchy and the love story of the lovelorn Wing Commander Shabd Mishra. On these two counts the book has done well.

The characters of Divya, Group Capt. Ojha and Wing Commander Shandilaya could have been weaved in more intricately into the plot. That would have made the story more interesting.

The language is simple and engaging and the narration amazing. The one- liners are hilarious. Yes there are a few typographical errors here and there. But then these are minute errors and do not in any way affect the flow of the story.

Is there anything unusual about the story?

Well, except for the ending I did not find anything unusual in the story.

How do I rate this novel?

I will place it in the light reading category and rate it as 3.5 on a scale of 5.

And yes, as the tagline on the book cover suggests, “A heart is a more sophisticated device than a Sukhoi…”

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Available on Amazon. Click here

For more reviews about Love @ Air Force click here

Do you love books? Then let me tell you that there are many others like me who are putting up a book review today at the link here as part of Day 4 activities at the “The Third Edition of Write Tribe Festival Of Words”. Do show some love to all the posts at the linky by taking a few minutes of your valuable time off and reading them.You are sure to discover some wonderful books.

By the way don’t forget to leave your footprints in the form of comments and suggestions. Your words mean a lot to me.