Men on my Mind
By Radha Thomas
By Radha Thomas
Men on my Mind is all about love, adventure and protagonist’s fervent search for Mr Right since the tender age of 7. “You would need 5 men to satisfy your needs … remember Draupadi”, her mother had said once and ever since she had eavesdropped that conversation, her search started for the perfect man who would make her knees go weak, curl her toes and rock her bed. But 5 was a number too less on the journey of finding ONE.
Just when she thinks that the cute guy with knockout muscles is Mr Perfect, he would turn out to be kitten-voiced or a two-timer or lecherous pig. But this doesn’t stop the ambitious girl from losing her hope or her chastity. Her calculative approach to men and the justification is sometimes intriguing and naive.
In my opinion the book can be interpreted in two perspectives. I am from an old school of thought 🙂 , so the blatant disregard to morality and conscience was something I found hard to digest, exactly like the Sisters of Catholic Convent who made sure the protagonist wore bloomers instead of satin silk innerwear. Although her adventures were amusing and each different from the previous one, the continuous obsession with men was a little tiring towards the end. A girl as confident, talented & open-minded as her couldn’t have restricted her life to the confines of the bedroom and men!
The other perspective shows that this is the story of a woman who’s confident about her sexuality. A woman, who doesn’t take her life too seriously, isn’t bound by the excruciatingly painful rules of the society and knows exactly what she needs to be happy. The nonchalant tone of the book emphasizes this characteristic. She analyses every option that life provides her and isn’t afraid of rejecting them if they don’t meet the expectation benchmark. A woman who knows how to make the world turn, twirl and take notice.
The plot is predictable, saved by a fast paced narration which is obvious since around 12 guys were accommodated in 280 pages. Except for the protagonist, the other characters hardly found a chance to develop. They just breezed past by. This is a reason why the characters sounded superficial.
There were few instances in the book which I loved like the initial years in Boarding school were entertaining, her friendship with Shas (protagonist’s best friend) did touch a chord and Shas inspiring lecture to the men in a Chinese Club was applaudable. The description of exotic locales (Fiji and Shanghai) was visually appealing too.
Having said that, the ending of the story was a little disappointing. Since the complete plot revolved around finding Mr. Right, I expected the finale to be grand. But it was abrupt and rushed. To me it didn’t make sense and sounded more like a hurried decision made on a Christmas sale.
Overall, it’s a nice read. The language is lively and doesn’t stop you from hopping onto the next page. If you are looking for a light novel or a casual read, this can be your pick.
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