My Friend Sancho – Review

Amit Varma’s debut novel My Friend Sancho is a welcome change. I say this not because of its literary merit. It is a welcome change because a) It is pop-fiction b) It does not try tricks like that IIT-MBA fellow whatever his name is (blending bollywood and cricket, well fuck you!) and most importantly c) It is almost-honest writing. No holier-than-thou shit.

It is a funny book. For people with average sense of humor that is. That’s like 99.999999% of people. So I enjoyed it. For example, that MF line. And the oft-repeated imaginary dialogue. Note to Amit: Stop saying ‘So there.’ so often. So there.

Amit Varma uses his book to promote his blog. That’s quite smart. I am sure Amit, on his birthday every year, sends a ‘Congrats’ card to his parents.

But does Sancho provide a great experience? Well not quite. I know Amit is capable of much, much more. The book hurries you. I was expecting an Andhra meal and I got a vada pav. For instance, Muneeza’s character was till growing on me when the book ended. Is she a modern, muslim girl? A middle class chic restrained until now but waiting to fly free? Doesn’t she want a boyfriend? Did she ever date? Did any guy hit on her any time? If yes how did she react? The trouble with the character is that the minute you realize she is a victim-muslim, you think “Zaheera!” I am sorry but I couldn’t help it. And Amit’s effort to position Muneeza as a ‘modern’ girl does not quite succeed. But, I won’t blame Amit for it. Like I said I am the average reader with average intelligence and imagination. Or maybe Amit was so caught up with Abir Ganguly that he missed some fine tuning on Muneeza. Amit may claim that he is not Abir but hey! 🙂

I don’t know if I am writing this because I have followed Amit’s blog and met him a couple of times… I tried to be as honest as I can be. Um, so there!

This is the kind of a book that you’d finish in one sitting. Probably during your commute. And you’ll probably startle your fellow passengers with your laughter. So go ahead and give it a spin.