Title :
Beyond School
Author :
Chitra Anand
Publisher
: Leadstart Corp
ISBN :
978-93-83562-40-4
The
author, Chitra Anand is a postgraduate in Physics and holds an Education
Degree. Beyond School is her first novel inspired by her journey as an
educator.
'Beyond School' story
revolves around a grade twelve student Shail at an Indian School in Muscat. As
countdown has begun for his board examinations, his parents Sushil and Urmila
are at their wits ends. They cannot find any way to convince their son to study
for the board exams while Shail leisurely goes about doing his other activities, which include - sleeping with abandon, dreaming about football or his
girlfriend, watching re-runs of football matches on TV, texting on mobile phone
for hours and much more. In short, a typical day in his life does not have any
scope to accommodate study time. However, what Sushil and Urmila are unaware of
is Shail's decision to not appear for the exams at all this year.
As the
story progresses and as the examination days are approaching nearer, the
pressure is soaring high for Shail to escape from his parents' focus and for
his parents to make Shail study. Glady, the mentor in the school is approached
for Shail's situation. She has a way of showing the students the side of the
picture that they seem to be unaware of. She is a great counselor without being
preachy. Her way of dealing with such situations is to get the student
understand why and how a particular fixation of mind and heart starts driving
the decisions and when that fixation is satisfied, how the pressure fizzles
out. 'Tell people that they can have what they want and soon their fight for
the want loses intensity.' She gives a new dimension to Shail's thinking so
that he does not stay stuck with 'What is wrong if I don’t write the exams this
year?'
A few more sub-stories are intertwined along
with Shail's narrative, including that of - Glady's uncomfortable past, Sushil
and Urmila's struggle to get united
and Roha as another student requiring Glady's counseling.
Chitra
Anand highlights many areas that have gained immense significance in the lives
of individuals who are at the cusp of adulthood. The unrestrained access to information, gadgetry invasion,
unabashed approach towards sexual issues and much more are subtly weaved into
the fabric of the narrative. This gives an honest reflection of the society in
which today's youth is functioning. Though an amateur author, Chitra has done
justice to the idea that she wanted to convey through her writing. However, there are a few places where editing could have been more tight. Some of the incidents are unnecessary or too elaborate which could easily be done away with.
A recommended read for young adults and their parents.
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