OK Now, Who's My Santa?

I think the problem with writing book reviews is that you don't really expect people to read them. Whenever you're writing, there generally is a sense of expectation - what will people think, how will they react? Will they react?

So upon finishing Vaishnavi's book, I had a good dose of expectation on both sides. On one hand, I really really wanted to review the book. On the other hand, I felt too much of my friend in the book. And it only burdened me to think that I was perhaps reading the book only to get a glimpse of her life since she left Singapore. When I first arrived on this island, people told me that it was a very transient place. Or perhaps I arrived at the conclusion myself; I'm really not sure. In any case, in the last 7 years - as much as I've had a chance to meet incredible and new people - I've lost quite a few too.

“OK Now, Who's My Santa?” is wonderful and quick, like a good cup of masala tea. Probably because it's written by a close friend, a lot because I can see a lot of her in it, and a little because I can see glimpses of other people in it too. When I started the book, I didn't enjoy it because I saw too much of her in it. When I finished, I enjoyed it because I saw so much of her in it. In the 3 years that she's left Singapore, I felt like I'd caught up with everything that was happening in her life since she flew away - despite her lackluster emails, Facebook updates, and her activity on the World Wide Web in general (She works at Google.). The same whimsical girl in the early pages of the book appears mature and sort-of-but-not-really changed by the end of it. She holds on to most of her ideals, but does end up breaking a few - much like promises and growing up.

If you do have a chance to get a hold of the book, do it. It's not Shakespeare, it's not Sylvia Thorpe either. But it's cute, whimsical, pleasurable, and most of all - personal.