Will you still love me?

[Disclaimer: Like my previous post, this ain't a book review (again)]!

April 15th, 2018:

 After "I too had a love story" & "Can love happen twice"; it's my third read on a row by Ravinder Singh. I bought this book out of curiosity to know Mr. Singh's love saga but to my dismay, it is just a fictional love story penned down by him but is beautifully written.

"Will you still love me?" is not just a love story of Lavanya and Rajveer but goes beyond that as well. Along with a love story going on between these two people, it also carries a beautiful social message.

There are two main story lines in this book. The first one is the inter-state and/or inter-ethnic love story of the two protagonists. Lavanya is an independent girl who belongs to the North-east part of India (where, people are still fighting for their existence to be a part of India) while, Rajveer hails from the authentic Punjabi family. Lavanya left her job at google and is passionate about educating the slum children, while, Rajveer runs his established family business with his father and brother. These two opposite people meet in an airplane in a filmy style and then Rajveer crashes at Lavanya's best friend wedding and that's how their fairy tale love-story kicks off!! 

Their love was impossible: the Punjabi munda's family were adamantly against their relationship but the love birds didn't give up. They had an option to run away but the duo believed in the power of love and were so determined that Rajveer's family had to finally accept their affair. So, the first part of the story is basically about how pious their love was that they had the patience to wait for the approval of their parents and how those two never gave up. Finally, their dream came true but with a cost which is what the second aspect of the book really is about. 

The other story line which runs parallel to the first part is the intertwined story of Rajveer and Lavanya with that of the story of Madhav Singh and Chutki's. Madhav Singh is a traffic policeman who accepts bribe from those who break traffic rules and has accepted it from Rajveer at some point as well. Chutki is Lavanya's student and Madhav Singh's daughter. This part of the book is more of an awareness about road safety for everyone in general but especially for the youths who take things for granted. It preaches lot of information regarding traffic rules and how lives can change drastically within a matter of second. 

In reality, the writer, Ravinder Singh, has himself lost the love of his life in a road accident so he has put this sensitive topic in a very creative way. I liked his way of story telling and how things have unfolded beautifully by linking love story with the road safety. For me, I've seen myself how the bikers in Kathmandu are always in a rush that they want to avoid the road hustle and enter all the nooks and corners of the road which leads to accidents in most of the case. If only we are careful in road, we are safe both as riders and pedestrians. 

Well! for the writer, he has evolved so much as an author from his first book. While his first book was based on his life and was a tribute to his girl friend who tragically lost her life in road accident, this book is more or less connected to his life that he wants no one to lose their loved ones like he had to!!

"Let's be brave to be safe on the roads."