The concept of the novel itself is like honey for all the romance loving bees. ‘Rules of love’, Sufi poets, Rumi’s encounter with love and a 21st century plot, all strung together sure are enough for forcing one to pick up this novel.
This is the kind of story that makes you realize that ‘love’, as we know it today, is so much more than the heart emoticon or remembering the 7th month anniversary. Love, in fact, is what we so often overlook in that lingering glance or in the unsaid understanding.
Love is also within ourselves. The kind of love that we so rudely dismiss when we say “no one loves me”. Because there is always somebody whose love for us is in our control. One’s own love for the self.
I’ll admit, I’m an atheist. A no conditions applied, straight forward, non-believer in any kind of higher being. So to choose to read a book based around spirituality is something I avoid at all costs. But I had my own personal interests in reading this book. Frankly, when I realized that Rumi’s love interest in this story is not a romantic liaison with a mystical lady but a spiritual one with a Sufi Dervish, I was disappointed. But following my policy of not giving up on a book until it threatens to put me in a coma, I went on reading it.
And to my surprise, one fine day, suddenly, I realized that I had in fact finished the whole book.
I’ll be honest, the beginning is quite gripping. The author, although writing a book on a distinct topic, has still kept in mind the rules of writing a good fiction novel. The end is made explicit in the very first scene. And that intrigues one to find how it happened.
Secondly, twisting the stories of multiple characters actually lends freshness to the story line. Just when you might feel that some 13th century character is going too off the road of reality for you, there is another character with a whole new story and perspective. And you keep on reading in order to know exactly how each character ends up.
Thus, over all, a good read if you want to read something different and off beat without going the sci-fi path. But definitely, don’t expect this book to satisfy your romantic desires in an obvious way.
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