This novel, The Summer Break, is written by my former student Nirupama Akella under the pen name of Nirupama Rao. I had agreed to write a review of her first published novel when she had been writing her thesis under my guidance. I had actually forgotten the promise but recently she contacted me reminding me of what I had said back in 2002. There was no way out for me, and so reluctantly, very reluctantly I picked up the novel to review it. Let me be frank, as her supervisor who watched and supervised her when she was writing a novella, I knew that Nirupama had been writing novels for quite a few years by then, in fact had won international awards and critical acclaim for her creative literary works, and that she was very hardworking, determined and motivated – her writing lacked the “zing” thing which sets great writers apart from ordinary run-of-the mill writers. Nirupama was just a good writer, and was not an exceptional one.
And so I picked up “Summer Break” knowing that I would be reading the same usual stuff. But, I was in for a surprise! I had forgotten that things change; people learn from life and sometimes good writers can evolve into talented, hardworking novelists. Novel “Summer Break” is proof of that. It is a witty and humorous book which warms the heart. It rekindles hope and spirit that good things still happen in life and that one can always trust, and lean on family and friends in good times and bad. The story is truly Indian in context, attitude, style, language, and characters. Full of vivid descriptions and details, one finds it hard to believe that this is the author’s first published effort. The novel opens in a residential neighborhood in South Delhi and swiftly focuses attention on the central characters – the Sandu family. A word of advice here – all the names are Indian, and so it is better not to get wrangled in getting the names right. Because as Shakespeare pointed out, “Whats in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” I am not suggesting that Rao’s novel can be compared to a rose – far from it. I am just saying, don’t get put off by the Indian names but keep on reading because believe me the humor is just about to escalate.