Review: The Other Side of the Bed by Bhavya Kaushik

Sometimes life has some unexpected things for us in store. It can be in the form of anything. It can be either joy or sorrow. It all comes and hits us hard. It entirely depends on us how to grapple with the situation. Author Bhavya Kaushik in his book "The Other Side of the Bed" talks about life and it's acceptance. So has he done justice to the issue? Let's find out. 

This is a story which tries to answer the age old question, what to do when someone you love dies; in a contemporary and 1 personal way. Nakul, who lost his beloved wife after only a month of their marriage in a serial bombing attack, found it impossible to continue with his life.He takes a journey in which he interacts with people like him, who have also lost their loved ones in those blasts and decides to help them. Though he didn't realize that in the process of helping them, he was helping himself This is his journey through the five stages of grief -DENIAL, ANGER, BARGAINING, DEPRESSION and ACCEPTANCE, and how he comes out of them with the help of his family and his "Grief-Mates".He thought that he had forever of togetherness with his wife, but he didn't, none of us does. And before it is too late, we should better go out there to our loved ones and tell them how much we love them. Have any of you said it lately to your wife, your husband, your children, your brother, sister or your parents, that "You mean the world to me. You have changed my life. I cannot live without you. I love you..."

First look at the title and the cover and people will be moved by it. The withered flower and the tagline above are enough to jolt the readers completely. The blurb talks about a person and his life after the demise of someone. It's a good blurb but could have been concealed better by omitting a few facts which reveal the story. 

The story revolves around Nakul whose life comes to a stop after the demise of his wife Tamanna in Jaipur bomb blasts. His chance meeting with Devyani leads him up to a situation where they both together try to grapple out of it. Their lives then goes numerous reforms and ultimately they try to shrug off the despair and anger and sadness of their lives and be themselves again. So will they be able to achieve the inevitable? How come they will be able to change each other's lives? Will they ever be able to come out of their grief? That's what the story is all about. 

The narration, the sensitivity and the story line are of top quality in the book. The slow you read it, the more you are able to grasp and get involved in each and every emotion related to the character of the book. The sweet little nothings and the sorrow both are a perfect balance in the story. There's a lot of hidden emotions in the book which have to be explored by the reader. It's a perfect balance of fiction and reality. 

The downside of the book is editing with grammatical mistakes and repetition at one or two places breaking the flow at times. 

The story is a perfect recipe for people and an inspiration for those who have lost their near and dear ones and are not able to come out of that grief. It's a guide to let go of your sadness and live life for the others theory. It's a master story in making with an emotional turmoil and joy on cards for the readers. 

RATINGS: 

4 OUT OF 5