Each one of us has dreams and milestones to achieve, whether it is on the personal front or professional front. Very few of us get to that target due to various reasons since life can sometimes be topsy-turvy. Though all of us would have encountered our fair share of failures [which is very important], the learnings from those failures still remain with us and a wiser person ensures that the same mistakes are not repeated. When you face challenges and come across failures, always Raise Up and fight back.
You Raise Me Up by Arjun Hemmady is based on the same premise where Aalok Sharma, a 27-year-old Chartered Accountant falls for a girl named Priyanka Mehra. Aalok and Priyanka are two different personalities and the book highlights their respective journeys. Will Aalok confess his love and affection for Priyanka or not, the novel You Raise Me Up provides answers to these questions.
About the author
Arjun Hemmady completed his schooling from St. Mary’s ICSE [Mazgaon] and College from RA Podar College of Commerce and Economics. He is pursuing his Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India [ICAI]. His past times include writing, reading books, and watching movies. He works in a manufacturing company. You can find more about the author here
Detailed Review
As mentioned earlier, the main protagonists of the book are Aalok Sharma and Priyanka Mehra. Aalok is 27 years old chartered accountant and is an introvert by nature. He has been through lots of ups & downs in life. Priyanka is a Dehradun born girl who stays in Delhi and works in the legal department of Mahindra & Mahindra.
The story unfolds with Aalok accidentally meeting Priyanka on a flight from Delhi to Mumbai and as shown in Bollywood movies, it is love at first sight 🙂 As it is said opposites attract and both of them get along very well, right from the first discussion they have on the flight.
But having gone through a rough patch in life, Aalok takes each step very carefully whereas Priyanka is very open about his love for Aalok. Like a romantic movie, the first part of the book showcases the feeling of love and hesitance between Aalok & Priyanka. The second part of the book takes us back in time [10 years] and introduces three more characters – Aalok’s parents, twin sister Isha & family friend Tanvi Rao. We liked that the female characters are etched positively and show a lot of grit: Isha is a kick-boxing champion and Priyanka is into wrestling.
Aalok marries Tanvi and their life goes through a tough patch since Aalok is not able to give more time to Tanvi due to work pressure. In order to release stress, Tanvi becomes alcoholic which doesn’t go well with Aalok and they file for a divorce. The third part of the book brings the story out of flashback where Aalok’s sister Isha forces him to inform Priyanka about his past which he is hiding from her. As expected, Priyanka leaves Aalok and this is where Isha decides to play the role of Cupid [and tells her brother to always Look Up & never Give Up]. Isha meets Priyanka, has a kickboxing match with her and finally manages to convince Priyanka 🙂 In spite of Aalok’s dreadful past, Priyanka accepts Aalok. Aalok’s ex-wife Tanvi also gives up alcoholism and moves with Shashank, her good friend since college days.
They then live happily ever after 🙂
Closing Thoughts
The story is written in simple English, though sometimes it becomes predictable. The reader can easily visualize Aalok’s agony in not being able to accept his feelings for Priyanka. The divorce between Aalok & Tanvi happens without much drama which was required else it would have dragged the story unnecessarily!
The author Arjun Hemmady has admitted that he has never been in any relationship nor watched any romantic movie nor read any romantic novel and in our opinion, this worked in his favor in some of the cases. Raise Me Up is a breezy read and the romantic novel is targeted to the youth. Though in some places, the storyline becomes completely flat but overall it is a story that a reader can easily co-relate to!
Final Verdict – 3.5/5
Thanks to Arjun Hemmady for sending a review copy of You Raise Me Up. You Raise Me Up is available on Flipkart and Amazon, links below
