Mixology – my new read

Few days back I picked up a book from Spencers, perhaps not because I actually wanted to read it, but the dirt cheap price on offer was too tempting to resist. Moreover the credentials attached were all too inviting, the author being an IIM alumnus & the title of the read an unusual & catchy one “The Funda of Mixology”. After having finished reading it, I don’t find it all too bad & perhaps a bit different from the usual short novels being churned out by new brigade of bloggers turned authors.

The story begins by tracing the life of a bachelor working in corporate in Mumbai, he describes himself as a corporate dweller by day & pursuing other pursuits after his work day. The life showcased is typical of what many of my generation go through or rather are going through - bachelor life encompassing a mixture of booze, friends, stinking boss, pubbing etc but perhaps no life outside the rat race. This is the dilemma which the author also faces, for he dreams to be ‘someone’ one day & not get lost behind another business card; fulfill secretly harbored aspirations, which perhaps get lost in the daily grind of his life. The narration takes a twist when our friend meets with an accident after a late night party & wakes up in the other world. He meets angels & demons, drinks magic potions, and goes through individual record books of human lives. Since he has been accidentally brought up when he had few more years to live, he is to be promptly shipped back; however before that he gets to do some future gazing of his own life.

The novel then goes on to showcase his alternate lives one-by-one, each having something of what he ever wanted to be, but also having some flaws which he never bargained for. In one life he is shown as a famous author but with no family & no personal life, leading a desolate, reclusive life; in one he is shown as a corporate honcho having given up all aspirations of being an author; in another his wife deserts him for ever & he is left with almost no possession of his own & in the last he is shown as dying of cancer. When he wakes up in his real life he is himself not sure of what he wants to do in his remaining existence since contentment, fame, health seem all distant with himself not sure of which one to attain and which one to sacrifice. However he now learns that life is all about mixing up all ingredients & live a heady cocktail of life.

Perhaps the message behind the work is not be too engrossed in mad rush of modern-day metro living & as you go through life, take time out to smell the flowers. This is all the more relevant for my generation rat race youngsters, who have perhaps forgotten Grand Ma tales & have more friends on Facebook rather than playgrounds.

Do read if you get a copy, not a waste of discounted price at least!