Jamba The Joint Family : A Review

BOOK TITLE: Jamba The Joint Family

AUTHOR: Sriram Balasubramanian

ISBN/ASIN: B01HC2KWAG

GENRE: Fiction

NUMBER OF PAGES: 152

FORMAT: Digital / Kindle

SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I thank Debdatta Sahay of Book Review Tours for this review copy!

SUMMARY:

In an age when families are becoming more nuclear, Karthik's family was an aberration: It was a large joint family with its own complications, contradictions, and commonalities. Two love stories and a wedding get intertwined within the family at the same time. One of them could make or break the joint family, will the family survive? Will the love story succeed? Will the younger generation respond to the needs of the family? How will the older generation respond to the changing perceptions of the younger generation? Will the family ecosystem survive? In an India swamped by globalization, this racy and humorous story tries to dissect the generational changes in Indian society and how the Indian society is responding to the changes.

FIRST IMPRESSION:

The cover looked simply stunning. It was the first thing I noticed about the book (guilty as charged) and I immediately wanted to look at the blurb and other details. The beauty of the cover is such! The summary is small but has enough in it to entice my attention. I expected the story to be generic and predictable but a fun read with a message.

REVIEW:

One of the most beautiful things about India as a country is its diversity. Traveling just a few miles in this country could bring you to a place with an entirely different / language and culture that is equally interesting and brilliant like the one in the region you just crossed. Each place has something to offer, be it the cultural values or the unique stories and folklore. India as a country is amazingly captivating in its diversity but no matter how far you are from your home region or what language / culture is prevalent there, certain things remain similar. First of them is the family values, with ours being one of the very few cultures where the 'joint family' system is still prevalent. And the next common thing that unites Indian family members, both young and old, is a wedding. The trials, tribulations, fun, anticipation, confusions and the many memorable moments in an Indian wedding make it a real life roller coaster where you are not quite sure of the next twist / turn the family might cook up.

I picked this book up when I was going through the wedding preparations of a cousin - and I could not have chosen a better time. Though I am not sure that the events of the book will come to pass in real life, it was a very relatable read. Joint families are dying a slow death in a country that prided on them, as each nuclear family moved out to create some breathing space and privacy for themselves. But come weddings, all the aunts, uncles, long-lost forgotten people would all come together, each bringing with them a piece that shall help confuse or complete the main picture. JAMBA deals with one such wedding happening in a joint family and the issues that come with it.

Narrated in first-person, the plot and the story itself are generic - a wedding is planned and all relatives assemble to contribute whatever they could to the whole thing. While the older generation busies itself in planning, the newer generation comes to terms with their own identity in the sea of cousins and relatives, trying to maintain their modern outlook and individuality without hurting the family sentiments in any way. From the cool matriarch to the trouble maker relatives and the equation of 'give a bride, get another groom for a girl in your family', this book has everything you would expect to come up in a wedding, especially one based in the TamBrahm community of Tamil Nadu in South India.

While I enjoyed the story as a whole, relating with everything that happened, knowing very well that it was all feasible, the story was a great read. I found myself agreeing with Karthik and reflecting his mood throughout the book. The younger generation's need to be accepted yet left alone, the older 'uneducated' people's wisdom and the emotions that are turned up a notch during weddings are all beautifully brought out. Unsolicited opinions and well-intended goof ups are all part of the grand saga that is an Indian wedding where nothing is sure until it has actually happened. I read through the book in one sitting and was quite drawn to the story.

Though I did find typos and the rambling words noticeably hampered my speed, the overall reading experience is still worth mentioning as good. I enjoyed the characterisations the most, and could, (in my mind's eye of course) compare some real life people to the characters of the story. The predictable story line had some twists in between and unless you are a seasoned Indian, you would not be able to predict them. But having been taught the skill of expecting the unexpected since childhood and rooting myself in a huge joint family, I found myself giving tips to the narrator and that involvement in the story was brought about by the author, deserving special praise.

In one sentence, this is a story that would explain why calling a cousin as 'cousin brother/ sister' is not wrong usage as far as Indian English is considered because some cousins are as good as sisters and brothers, sometimes the best of friends.

SPECIAL MENTION: Very few books have managed to impress me like this one did where they typesetting is concerned. The Kindle copy provided a great reading experience and was visually pleasing, helping me complete reading the story quicker than I normally would.

WHAT I LIKED:

• Breezy novel, the pace does not slacken at any point.
• The whole family melodrama might seem outlandish but is very much real and happening - special mention to the author for writing it out without resorting to preaching on which side is better
• The characters and the way they adapt to the situations brought in me a nostalgic feeling

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:

• For such a fun read / nice story, the language (though mostly error free) is a real glitch. It does not sit right and seems rambling at places
• The title is not quite related to the story, even if it tries to bring out the importance of the matriarch
• I have often found issues with hindi words used in the narrative of certain books to the extent where my reading speed was hampered. Though I did not face that problem with this book (with it using words from my mother tongue) I did notice certain location / region specific words that might not be understandable for people from other states (even with the glossary).

VERDICT:

Read it for two reasons - the humorous way in which it is written and for the simple joy of remembering your own family and childhood.

RATING: 3.8/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sriram Balasubramanian is a Writer who has contributed extensively to international publications such as NYT, WSJ, Foreign Policy, Forbes India, The Hindu among others. He has interacted with a variety of global business leaders and policy makers in his experience as a journalist and writer. His main areas of focus has been on human development, education and socio-economic issues with a global context.

Besides this, he has a Masters degree from University of Southern California and is pursuing another degree at Columbia University in NYC. He is also authoring another book on the World Chess championship which was held recently. He is very passionate about India, its cultural ethos & socio-economic evolution.

He can be reached: @Sriram316 www.facebook.com/jambathenovel http://www.srirambala.in

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback, Kindle

PRICE Rs. 249 for Paperback, Free on Kindle Unlimited

BOOK LINKS: Amazon

This Review is a part of the Blogger Outreach Program by b00k r3vi3w Tours