When a young adult fiction writer begins each of her book’s chapters with a Facebook status update and ends it with the song that the protagonist is currently listening to, it is evident that she’s understood her target audience quite well. Says Vibha Batra, ahead of the release of her debut novel, Sweet Sixteen (Yeah right!), “Rinki Tripathi, the main character in the book, is someone everyone can relate to. She worries that some of her body parts are too big and constantly looks in the mirror; she hates her hair and tries to collect money to straighten it. She has her imperfections.”
Sweet Sixteen.. is the story of Rinki’s relocation from her hometown Delhi to Chennai. “Rinki is very upset with her parents. She doesn’t want to leave her best friend behind,” says Vibha, as she brings to memory her own shift from the north to Chennai many years ago. Rinki eventually settles down here, finds a “hottie” in school and eventually falls in love with the city. “That’s the thing about Chennai, you know. It grows on you. Though I didn’t like this place too much when I moved here, I can’t imagine living anywhere else now,” says Vibha, who began her literary career with the translation of her grandfather late Vishnu Kant Shastri’s book on the Ishaavaasya Upanishad.
Some of her other published books include Tongue in Cheek, a collection of poetry and A Twist of Lime, a collection of short stories. “I thought a novel will be a good way for me to reach out more to the readers,” she offers.
And though the author shares the major similarity of relocation with her leading lady, Vibha dismisses any ideas of the book being even remotely autobiographical. She describes her book thus: witty with intelligent humour. Definitely not toilet humour.”
In most books that deal with north-south disparities, there is no doubt that a fair share of fun is poked at either lifestyles, be it the excessive curd rice consumption or the really thick accents. But Vibha has a different way of looking at it. “Everyone should make fun of everyone because both north and south Indians are funny in their own ways.”
The book, published by Penguin India, is available online for a price of `199.
