For this realization to dawn she is helped by a small time ‘newbie’ influencer Sameer. They both make mistakes and come out better human beings, thanks to unexpectedly meeting each other.
There are several authentic dialogues between characters that feel natural. It is a book of approximately 220 pages which makes for a quick and enjoyable read. The story is divided into chapters which helps in connecting all the ongoing processes in the story. Some illustrations could be added in every chapter for connectivity. Overall, it is a thought-provoking and inspiring novel.
When Leela’s meshtru, her teacher at school, tells them about how powerful Gandhiji’s speeches are, she can’t help but wonder, how powerful his voice be. Thus starts the journey of interaction with her community on the freedom struggle tidbits (psst– it is worth reading to find how she describes MK Gandhi’s voice)
The Henna Start-Up is the coming-of-age story of a girl from a conservative family who struggles, makes mistakes and has to overcome many threats and challenges for the simple freedom to study what she wants and to have the friends she likes. It is also a romance in which a young adult has to face her feelings for someone whom she both likes and distrusts. The book, though, is not just about Abir; it also is about her family and friends,
The city’s landscape changes before our eyes. There are tanks on the roads, blockades everywhere, and soon, our narrator is given a machine gun to hold by a kindly neighbour, which is obviously not appreciated by her mother. The narrator, her mother and brother watch Molotov cocktails being flung about on the streets and classrooms are now slowly getting bereft of classmates.
When Akran learns that the kidnapped girls–yes, multiple girls–are being used as part of a ritual to bring back a great evil into the world, he has very little time to stop it from happening and yet he must try his best, because the powerful person on the other side has kidnapped Shukra and is using him for nefarious means.