Review: `A fine romance, my dear, this is'
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2014
Adiana Ray is an Indian author whose works have appeared in the Indireads publications `Love Across Borders' and `eFiction India' - a magazine whose authors of Indian origin are around the world and not just people living in the sub continent. The magazine is conceived as a dialogue -- a platform that carries the best of contemporary writing in India. It is not India-specific and addresses a community which is more easily defined in terms of mindspace rather than in purely geographical terms. This novella is Adiana Ray's first solo work and while it is published by Indireads it is being marketed more generally, giving the reading audience a stronger taste of Ray's talent. According to the slight biographical information available Adiana Ray `enjoys reading murder mysteries, classic romances and playing Pictionary (the noisier the better). She believes in the Zen tenet `each state has a 1000 truths'. Every person brings their own unique experiences to a situation, which makes them see things differently and interpret it in their own way. Couple this with the winds of change that are sweeping across the Indian sub-continent, with the rise of the meritocracy, breaking down of social barriers, rising education levels and professional representation for women in the work force, and more and more men and women working side by side on a daily basis; at the same time family ties, ideas of beauty and attractiveness in a partner and cultural expectations haven't exactly been thrown out of the window. All these things together throw up interesting circumstances, actions and reactions among people.'And that is precisely what Adiana Ray has accomplished in this very short novella - a look at contemporary workplace interactions, the growing power of women, the gradual equalization between the sexes  - and a lot of passion. She has created a main character Sonia Mehta who works in an office whose commander in chief is the volatile JD, a handsome man with a short fuse who is partially responsible for the current low morale state in the office. By a series of incidents Sonia is placed in charge of an office getaway for team building - a white water rapids excursion at Camp RapidZ in Rishikesh at the foot of the Himalayas.  In a well paced manner the author choreographs a tempestuous romance between JD and Sonia, one that must withstand the fires smoldering from the aftermath of JD's divorce and his subsequent sequestration from commitments - and especially Sonia's strong stand on a love relationship status that must move forward or not at all. It is a romance novel, but knowing the background the author brings to the story makes it more than that. This is the opportunity to view Indian love without the glitz of Bollywood pizzazz. Adiana Ray pulls it off. Grady Harp, March 14