Manjhi’s Mayhem is such a chaotic book, I love it! It reminded me of those old Bollywood films when things were done for love and action was a mere reason to serve justice. Tanuj Solanki has done a fabulous job in writing this novel, which although written in English felt quintessentially very local. You can hear the protagonist uttering sentences in Hindi, letting out cuss words every now and then. There’s romance, action, suspense and like a cherry on the top, a lot of masala.

Our protagonist is a handsome man from a village who now lives in Mumbai and works as a security guard for a cafe. Sewaram Manjhi aka Harish Jhakhar has a fake ID that let’s people believe that he’s not a Dalit. It’s important that he gets a job and survives in this city that never sleeps so he does everything in his power to fit in. It is while working that he notices and falls in love with a woman named Santosh (an odd name for a woman, I know). Santosh works in a restaurant just opposite the cafe and soon they take a liking to each other. But Santosh has a job for her brawny sweetheart and it is to find a stolen bag that contains lakhs of money.

Santosh and Sewa share a fiery romance and although he finds Santosh’s liking towards him suspicious and very convenient, he still agrees to help her out. This manjhi that Santosh has asked Sewa to create eventually sets a lot of things in motion, revealing many characters and their roles in her story. This book speaks consciously of the disparity between the rich and the poor and how his actions are perceived as an act of justice. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but this was a solid book in terms of storyline and it’s execution.

I definitely recommend this book to everyone who love to indulge themselves in fast paced, intriguing stories. Thanks to publisher for the copy.