Set in 1986, Those Pricey Thakur Girls revolves around the Thakur family, which includes a judge, his wife and their five daughters who are named alphabetically – Anjini, Binodini, Chandralekha, Debjani and Eshwari. Debjani or Dabbu is a news anchor at DeshDarpan.The book’s male protagonist, Dylan Singh Shekhawat, works as an investigative journalist at the India Post.
The book is not restricted to a love story between Debjani and Dylan but offers an absolute idea of the pre-liberalization period to new age readers. There was one news channel and even that was dictated by the State. Anuja Chauhan talks about the brutal riots massacring thousands of Sikhs in 1984 and the anti-defamation bill with as much ease as she discusses ‘hissa’ of the five daughters in the property of LN Thakur.
The usage of desi words in between lengthy English sentences and things like ‚ÄòCampa Cola‚Äô takes the reader to the world in which the book was written. It gives a nostalgic feeling to those who grew up in the 80’s when eggs were available at 50 paisa per piece, Ambassador was the only car in the market and Levis jeans were the latest ‘amreekan’ trend.
Wickedly humorous, easy-breezy light and with a lot of Delhi-istic jibes, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is recommended to all those who wish to make their off-days jolly.
