Games Girls Play by Aastha Atray Banan / Rupa Publications

 From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

What happens when two opposites meet? Especially girls, out of whom, one claims “I hate sex. I have never understood all the fuss around this three-letter word.” whereas the other declares ‘I love sex. I totally get all the fuss.” And what happens, when those two opposites meet their opposites?

It results to be an intriguing affair, indeed.

Rupa Publications’, Games Girls Play, by Aastha Atray Banan takes the girly things to a new level. 

The foremost question, this novel seeks to explore is, that, can two independent single women in Mumbai, who couldn’t have less in common, be friends? Well, the story tells it all.

Siya, a prudish girl, dreams of writing a chick lit, which may turn a bestseller ‘as she thinks’ someday. Irony is that her to-be book is about dating in Mumbai, an issue totally unfamiliar to her - ‘a virgin of 30 years’.

On the other hand, Natasha, a professional photographer, is a happy go lucky and free spirited girl who lives the life to fullest without any worries, rejecting the notion of taboos. For her, sex is like food, essential to have regularly, wherever you go.

The story takes a roller-coaster ride, when these two girls meet each other and end up being roomies leading further with few (actually many) judgments towards each other, later few fights and finally become foes to friends.

It’s their friendship and trust towards each other, which changes their life. They explore each other, and in the meantime, they explore love as well as life in each other’s’ way.

Aastha is adventurous in all contexts. Her style of narration is as captivating as her characters. Her lucid language is enough to lure her readers for a long time, as lures her plot. 

This book of 201 pages is similar to watching a film and can be read in a single go.  Once in mind, you can’t keep the book aside.

The characters are very easy to relate with common youngsters of the current generation. You may find them all around.  They love to watch and implement the rules of Sex and the City but at the same time, they are extremely touchy and sensitive by heart. 

Aastha has been successful in her journey of portraying her girls confident and makes them love themselves, the way they are.

Vidya Balan on her take on this novel says, “Wherever you look, there’s a Siya or a Natasha … Do you know who you are? A must read for the new sexy Indian woman.”  Indeed.

Reviewed by Varsha Singh

Managing Editor, Reviews.