Review: Story of a girl who never wanted to marry but still happily became "The Malhotra Bride"!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2014
Sunita is just twenty and bubbling with excitement to start her dream life of a career woman where she is free and self independent. But her parents have different ideas. They want her married as soon as possible. Her father her even set his eyes on a most suitable match for her. The only son of the illustrious Malhotra family, who own the Malhotra garments, Akshay is his choice. Despite Sunita's objections, a date is set for the two families to meet and Sunita is told to be ready.What will Sunita do?She doesnt want to get married so soon. She wants to be someone. Stand on her own feet. But this is not the trend in her house. Gokul Rishi, her father, "was a very strict father and strongly believed that women should be occasionally seen and never heard." Ever since her childhood, Sunita had to fight for every single thing in her life and her ally in all these conquests was her grandfather. This time, however, even her grandfather is helpless and she is on her own.Akshay on the other hand is also against an arranged marriage and feels that his current life of "work hard and play harder" is working quite well without the added stress of marriage. A billionaire with killer looks, girls have always been abundant but still he agrees to meet the girl and see for himself.What happens when these two very different people meet is the story behind The Malhotra Bride.Will sparks fly or will there be a disastrous fire?How will Sunita rid herself of Akshay and follow her life as she wishes?A clean and sweet love story of a girl who wants to be free to live her life as she wishes but is forced to conform to age old traditions is very beautifully and interestingly narrated by Sundari in her new book, The Malhotra Bride.The characterization is expertly done and each character plays its part to perfection. Sunita is headstrong as well as innocent in many ways. She craves the love of her parents  and often does things she doesn't agree to just to please them. Her parents, Gokul and Leela are as conservative as they come. Gokul is strict and often behaves like he is superior to his wife and daughters just because he is a man. Leela has adapted her life as per her husband's wishes and does anything in her power to comply to him even when she doesn't agree to his actions. Sandhya, Sunita's elder sister, is her opposite in every way. She is happy to conform to all traditions and even got married at her parent's bidding at the tender age of eighteen. Then there is her grandfather who is quite practical and modern in his outlook and has always supported Sunita in her attempts at getting a degree and living her life as per her wishes. Akshay is our modern guy but still very respectful towards his parents and although educated abroad, cherishes his culture. Akshay's parents are modern day, practical parents who don't believe that a woman's place is in the kitchen and Mr. Malhotra has always encouraged his wife to stand on her own feet and live as she wants.There are varied characters here and it is quite interesting to study them. I could empathize with Sunita and feel her helplessness. Even though its the twenty first century and people act all modern but still there are some who are still stuck in the age old version of traditions that give men more power over women. They don't want to move on with time and often force their family also to comply with them. Gokul's character is one such reflection of such people. Meanwhile Akshay's family stands for the practical minded people who value their family's happiness over traditions and are willing to change with time.The scenes with Sunita and Akshay were warm, happy and fun moments where I definitely felt that true love originates from friendship. People become friends first before becoming lovers. The writing style of Sundari is simple yet very captivating and she is able to hold the reader and keep him engrossed in the story till the very end.I loved this breezy love story which will connect with you instantly and you will feel like it is your own story or a story of a known person in your life. A story that is heart touching and which will leave you feeling happy and warm, I give The Malhotra Bride a 4 out of 5 and recommend that you read this sweet story of a girl who never wanted to marry but still happily became The Malhotra Bride!Read the book to know why. :)This review is also available on the blog Njkinny's World of Books..