Almost all the reviews I read said that it's a true story of Mumbai, of the people of Bombay. Honestly, That put me off initially. But thankfully I kept my hold and went ahead with the reading.
I am not a Mumbaikar. I am a Delihite by birth, education and living. But does that mean I do not relate to most of the book? I mean, there have been communal riots in Delhi also, so dreaded bomb blasts, middle class values, morals, all of it. Mumbai has locals, Delhi has have the blue line and DTC buses I have hanged to the doors of, sandwiched between sweaty people and I I dare say, molested in manners I would not like my parents to know ever. The brutal truth and fact that I and my friends and families have looked for that one sign of religion and faith before boarding an auto-riksha or taking a deep breath realizing later on cannot be denied. I have watched some jungles of Delhi turning into high-rise set of buildings which in turn are a new hub of robbers/crimes of all sorts just as jungles were thanks to the so called privacy of societies and barren roads adjacent to those boundaries. I have watched my own parents grow old in front of myself, saving every penny to pay my school fee, to buy that Maruti 800, to get their daughter married and of-course investing all they had into a brand new structure we call reconstructed home. I have witnessed the moral values of middle class and so called upper middle class families taking flips with every stage of life and it's turns. I have seen love and romances of every form blossoming, getting rotten and many many times pretending to be long forgotten right in front of my eyes and my circle.
So yes, I could relate it all very well with "Milk Teeth" by Amrita Mahale.
The writing style of Amrita Mahale - not too difficult to make one pick a dictionary every now and then, yet not too easy to let it sink in by just skimming through is really appreciated.
I loved the little childhood fights, teenage romance which took and evolved over time and still not making the plot to a love story.
There were a few lines which made way to my notes and thus make a nice re-read.
Is there anything I did not like about the book?
Yes, I hope the writer had managed to keep me hooked right from the beginning. It took me a while and a small push to not turn to skim reading or even worst, quitting in between. Had it been gathered my attention a little earlier, that one star could have been here.
To make a summary, I can say that Milk Teeth is the story of every Indian born in mid 1980's. The novel very subtly depicts hushed hypocrisy of Indian Middle class families and their morals which are crashing like a piece of glass making them see their own multiple faces. It's not a great story, But it's worth a read and the author Amrita Mahale has been very successful in making a mark with her debut writing.
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes I would to a friend who is mood for some Indian and not too heavy read.
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