Eighteen: The End of Innocence is a book dedicated to coming of age. Those sensitive teenage years which oscillate between childhood and adulthood are often beset with physical, mental and social worries. Books dealing with this time of life could be both a guide and friend. Yet there has been a regrettable gap in our literature for the young adult. This vacuum is recently being filled with novels on adolescent years and college life by a host of upcoming young authors.
Set in Delhi in the 1990s, Eighteen is all about the lives of three teenagers—Raghu who is in the final year at a boys school, his girl friend Shalini and his best friend Aadi. It deals with their dreams and fears, friendships and escapades at the end of their school years as they make the turbulent transition from adolescence to adulthood. The newfound freedom leads to a scenario only too familiar to teenage readers—short attendance as a result of bunking classes for a beer, movie or momos—money worries—trendy girlfriends to impress buddies—mysterious blank calls, music in parking lots, the high of speeding on wide avenues in the dead of night, a brush with the cops… New preoccupations like falling in love, contraception and sex, worry and abortion—all are juggled together with hectic tuition and exam schedules, college admissions, results… As affairs fizzle out and glitzy dreams fade, there is eventual merger into the mainstream with a conventional job or career, as the Prologue seems to suggest.‘Being young is tougher than it seems. Every generation has its own set of issues to deal with…’ before settling down onto the beaten track!