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Like it Happened
Yesterday. This is a coming-of-age book — a book that takes you back into the childhood of Ravinder and his younger brother. For those of the generation and the time and space, the episodes may echo experiences that they had while growing up.
The book is written in the form of separate and distinct chapters, so the reader can pick it up and read even portions of it, without missing out on a 'plot' as such. The language is 'Indian English'. The author writes as many of us Indians, speak English. However, this way of using the language perhaps adds to the authenticity of the stories that Ravinder tells about his journey into adulthood. Like it Happened Yesterday is Ravinder Singh's third book after I Too Had a Love Story and Can Love Happen Twice? is a purely personal account where he opens up about the relationship with his family, the small joys and victories of childhood and adolescence, and artless aspirations where he “too wanted to stand between his dad's legs when he would drive a scooter” instead of being dropped there on his bicycle. The chapter which would ring a bell with every reader is The Power of Chapter 10 which tells of the excitement and anticipation when the biology teacher is about to teach Chapter 10 in class. The subject, of course, is “Reproduction”. The cover is eye catching, showing an endless blue sky and a boy leaping up towards it, taking a leap of faith, the future opening out before him. Nice!
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The book takes the reader through the gamut of emotions and situations that the genre of “growing-up” books usually do — the pain of badly wanting a cycle, the wish to belong to a group in school, the first crush, wishing to know how babies are born — the mystery that plagues most kids when they start questioning how they came to be on this earth. The strength of the book is its simplicity. Ravinder tells it like it must have been. That the memories of growing up in Burla, a small town in Orissa, where his father was a priest in a gurdwara, are strong and clear, is reflected in the small details of his narrative. That the boy from that background grew up to be a bestselling author is surprising and delightful. When he says in the foreword: “Come, hold my hand, and take this trip with me. It will be yesterday for you, once again”, the readers are a bit hesitant, but as the book progresses, they become more confident about entrusting themselves to the author because, it seems like it's a guileless story of a simple man.