The Helpline by Uday Mane: a review

Pain, Depression, Pressure, Career, Failure, deception, Dreams, Emotions, regret, darkness, void, friendship, goal, motivation, luck, longing and Love. All these are important parts of a person’s being but at times, are led to such an extent that they end up being suicidal. In most cases, suicidal people opt out of rehabs, counseling which result in nightmares. And finally, lender to the last resort, a suicidal helpline comes! Uday Mane, in his debut work, The Helpline does its best.

On the back cover- Samir is suicidal. Rachael works for a suicide helpline. Fate connects them through a phone call. And so begins Samir’s story of love, longing, errors, regret and a girl who changed his life. As his story reaches his conclusion, Rachael will know the true reason behind his suicidal tendencies. But this suicide helpline is not any ordinary services. There is more to the mysterious and yet so convincing voice of Rachael. As this new mystery begins to unfold, Samir is going to discover three things: What is The Helpline? Who is Rachael? What is Samir’s own identity? Every year, several teenagers in India attempt suicide because of failing relationships, dwindling careers, parent pressure or the competitive world. This story is about one such teenager, his early problems and the hurdles to cope with them. This story is about finding hope in the early struggle. This story is about fighting for what you believe in and discovering your true identity. This is not a story about falling in love. This is a story of rising from a failed love story.

As alluring as it seems, I want to give a standing ovation to the writer for attempting the book. To begin with, I won’t lie if I say I compared this book with all the books I have read before beginning it. And I must say, this book was over all my expectations.

Beginning with Samir’s nightmare, this book captures the reader’s eye from that very instant. It is just the book for everyone suffering from problems or with friends suffering from the same. There is saying in the book, not exactly quoting it, it says something like- anyone can be whatever they want to. This one message, reaches the readers from the first till the last page.

A book of very precise characters and indicated roles to every character, I would like to term this book a very well-scripted book. The incidents described in the book can happen with anyone and yet with no one.  What I mostly liked about the book is the narrating style of the author.

The narrating style makes you feel like an eye witness to Samir’s life. Another effort made by the author through this book makes me give another ovation to him because not many people do this. The author donates a part of the book’s sale as charity for children welfare through The Rotary Foundation.

The end of the book is the most sought after for every reader cause while reading the book, everyone gets so mixed with Samir’s life as if they are a part of it. The only hitch in the book was a few grammatical errors and only one scene, according to me, was a bit lengthy. Apart from that, this book surely deserves 4.75 out of 5.