BENGALURU: Vani’s debut novel The Recession Groom vividly depicts and describes the grim realities of the Indian marriage market. Further, it is an interesting and entertaining commentary on the morales of both the Western and Indian societies.
The author’s upbringing in Chandigarh, the most modern city of India, followed by her education and her inability to get a job with the start of the global recession is reflected in this book. Many aspects of the Indian society have been highlighted : like the marriage institution, the involvement and interference of the family and close relatives, the desperate hunt for a bride or a groom, the importance given to materialistic pursuits, the Indian family’s close-knit structure which is a bane as well as a boon. Some incidents and anectodes in this novel represent the modern Indian family with their traditional values and traditions which one is familiar with.
The story of an eligible bachelor whose life takes a U-turn with the global recession has been beautifully rendered in this book where the characters of his American aunt and uncle, his sister and some of his American colleagues and friends have been so well etched that one can get an entire picture of the prevailing norms in a particular society. Like most Indians, his family too is eager to get him married off to any eligible girl who is on the scene.
The story line is very simple and straightforward with not many twists and turns. But it is interesting and hilarious too with many characters adding elements of fun, spice and variety. The book is informative as it manages to bring out the lifestyle of IT professionals, their insecurities, their inadequacies and their attitude to life.
This is the story of a well-educated Indian Brahmin who works in Canada. Parshuraman Joshi, is just 27 years old, handsome, an IT Professional and earns a multiple-figure salary. When you look at his credentials, it is no wonder that this young man is hot property on the Indian wedding market. Therefore, Parshuraman's family is flooded with matrimonial proposals from every corner — be it the North Indian Gulati family, the South Indian Iyer household, or the hi-fi Patels. Even his colleague is attracted to him.
However, all attempts to tag him with a suitable bride seem to go kaput for some reason. Parshuraman has bigger issues vexing him such as Jennifer, his aggressive and attractive colleague, and their attempts and efforts to save Project Infinite, a very important assignment given to them by their bosses. In the midst of this, the recession strikes and grips the global economy in its clutches and thus the secure world Parshuraman has created for himself begins to fall apart.
He loses his prized job despite completing his project successfully while his fiance breaks off the engagement. He is suddenly plunged into a total dilemma with no job and dwindling marriage prospects. And in order to make ends meet he starts working as a bartender. Now will he be able to pull himself together to face the challenges posed by a tough economy? Does Parshuraman find his suitable girl even without his previous eligibility checklist.
Three characters — Parshu's sister Ragini, Aunt Parvati and his grandmother stand out in this book as they are well rounded and closely linked to our protagonist.
Many of the characters are familiar and the book is both simple as well as written in a very lucid style.