Nirupama Subramanium brings the twist in the transformation between the two distinct cultures in her debut novel “Keep The Change”

While it is commendable that new-age authors are consciously writing about what is familiar to them- their roots, milieu and middle-class lives, this change, though refreshing at first, seems to have (typical of today’s world where anything successful is done-to-death) deteriorated into yet another overdone trend that the bored reader has tired of, wishing instead for something new and ‘different’. The storyline of “Keep The Change” is delightfully relatable-to, the characters are real and Damyanthi’s struggles with moral choices become the reader’s as well. Several cliches and stereotypes may have been employed, but they are accurate (unlike in Chetan Bhagat’s latest novel, which left the reader incredulous at the portrayal of a Tamil Brahman family that ate from banana leaves on a daily basis). With witty and insightful observations that are sure to make one laugh, Nirupama Subramanian’s first novel is a success and it is an easy and entertaining read, even if no literary masterpiece. Reading “Keep The Change” is like watching a masala Hindi potboiler - predictable, yet immensely enjoyable. A product of the lethal combination of strict convent schooling and orthodox Brahmin upbringing, Damyanthi is, naturally, not exactly a man-magnet, her only ‘brush’ with men having been on crowded roads during frantic shopping sprees. Her job at an old, sleepy accounting firm is particularly dull and worse, now having lived a quarter of a century, Damayanthi finds herself on the marriage market, subject to scrutiny by gossipy Mylapore mamis and their sons, for whom she sulkily parades in silk saris and jewelry. Her mother tries anxiously to find her a match, constantly battling her daughter’s obstinate refusal to ‘see boys’, all of whom Damayanthi finds unfailingly grotesque and unsuitable. Finally, fed up with her monotonous life and her oppressive surroundings, Damyanthi decides she needs a change and an insipid CV and embarrassing interview later, lands a job with a big bank in the city of sin - Mumbai. Witty and entertaining are the two immediate adjectives that you can give to this RightBooks.in presentation, and www.rightbooks.in/product_details.asp?pid=9788172239428&Keep%20the%20Change%20%A0 is your link to visit.