Editor’s Pick — A Walk in My Shoes by Ritesh Karnani

Reading a romance novel is an emotion. Inherently, romance genre books are addictive, highly relatable, and express optimistic hopes if one is buoyant in love and relationship. It’s a brutal truth of today that each one of has or had love affair, crush, and involved into romantic conventions. I am specifically talking about the folks that attended colleges, workplaces, long events and journeys where they invariably stumbled upon their love interest. Love is so exquisite feeling with no proper definition that it could grip anyone, anywhere.

If pleasure is one aspect of reading romance novels, well seeing oneself in that place is another. Totally relatable, no matter what was your past or present.

A Walk in My Shoes by Ritesh Karnani is a fast-paced long romance novel. It’s related yet so different. The highlight of the story is its character Rounak — his friend Soumya — and their engineering days. Set in mid 2000s, in Rajasthan state of India. The novel never takes a backseat in portraying an engineering college’s life and campus commotion.

A close look reveals that in that time B.E students were so focused and academically bright that they did all stuff of misdeeds but hardly ignored their studies. Where academics are tough, love automatically takes a backseat. Soumya is that one character who prioritizes academics over girls. He was simply a cavalier lover type guy. Traps girls for fun, and then leaves them heartbreaking.

On the other side, Rounak, the protagonist was meek hearted, naive, and valued emotions of girls. However, with boys, he was like them. So, when Manali turned to him to patch up with Soumya, he readily agrees to help her. But as expected they fell in love and Soumya becomes an ignored priority for them.

Semester after semester, the author did not miss any academic recording of being in an engineering college. Tech fests, events, fresher party…and so on…the college’s vibrant portrayal will surely evoke an ocean of memories that are post that life and nowadays busy with their careers and family.

If college or school love was true, it is unlikely to have forgotten it. Same happens with Rounak. The story runs in flashback. He is narrating the tale of his missed love to his wife.

Can contemporary modern love stories have sad tragic events? Could be possible? Without tragedy love’s veracity remains shallow. If there is love of life, it needs to be tested with fate and time. Something similar happened between Rounak and Manali. The ending of the novel was different and totally Indian Bollywood style.

Despite all love wins and it remains within hearts. How did Rounak and Manali fair when they got into true love? Pick up your copy from Kindle/Amazon to know a fate so relatable yet so different. The feelings in love stories could be same; however, every romance tale has a different route and destination.