It was a delight to read, “Lights! Wedding!Ludhiana!” by Jas Kohli, published by Rupa recently. I came to know that Jas Kohli is actually a well-known cosmetic surgeon who has written two novels earlier in the same vein as this one. They are titled, ” Lights, Scalpel, Romance” and ” Anything To Look Hot!” Judging by the book I just read, I think I must add the others by Dr Jas Kohli to my library list!!
The plot of his book is fairly straight forward. Kushal, an industrialist in Ludhiana who would love to be an activist to protect the environment more than anything else, is caught in a jam. His hyper active young son, Lakshya has discovered from his phone that he is getting messages from an old flame from his college days. Kunal’s wife, Reeti, a good looking free spending beauty is aghast, as are his parents. Dr Kohli covers what happens next in an interesting and entertaining manner.
The earthy language and slang used in Ludhiana, the social norms prevalent there, the hunger for fame, food and booze, are brought out extremely well in this book. We also come to know of the high expectations from Ludhiana society whenever a Big Fat Punjabi Wedding is planned and taking place!
What I liked best of all was the accurate characterization of the people involved. Apart from those already mentioned, we come across Kunal’s parents, Kimti and Tripta ( with their own stories to be told); his daughter Vanya, a typical teenager of today, and assorted others. On reading the book, we feel we know these people ourselves.
A typical Punjabi wedding with all the grandeur and the noise provides the backdrop to much of the story. Here again, the author’s description of people and their behavior demonstrate his skills in wielding the pen ( figuratively if not literally) as well as he does his scalpel.
All in all, a light read, and fun too! I am prompted to read Dr Jas Kohli’s other books having sampled this one.
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 