TVF Play’s ‘The Pitchers’ was one of the most liked shows aired online. The first season ended last year and it ended on a confusing note as the end did not reveal the main idea of the start up the protagonists were opting for. ‘Confused Bastards’ sounds more like a sequel to this show. Three friends are fed up of their existing lifestyle and want a change. Jai, who appears to be the protagonist, has a bee in his bonnet; he wants to start a business of his own, a start-up.
When the friends agree readily to help Jai, the three of them come up with an idea of designing a web portal/ platform where people can vent out their frustrations regarding anything and everything. Rants have become the need of the hour. No sooner does something new but unacceptable happens, than the open letters and the long Face book and blog posts go viral. The idea, no doubt, sounds interesting and new. Instead of blogging, vlogging or Face booking, having an actual platform for lashing out against the unacceptable is superb. But cherry picking the opportunities does not promise a trouble-free life. Finely woven with different threads of multiple stories, the plot moves further at a comfortable pace and then the tables turn for our three friends.
The story lacks originality; the idea, however, has been creatively executed. The page count could have been easily reduced as the last part seemed interminable. With a smaller font size than the standard, it was difficult to keep reading continuously for a long time. Lucid, simple, but saucy is what the language is like; the use of Hindi words serve as a turn off. The romantic element still manages to find place in this story.
‘Confused Bastards’ is definitely a light read but the lack of substantial vocabulary might not be liked by majority. Voracious readers who generally look out for books having a varied/ different than usual plot might not cherish the simple language used in this book.
Ignoring the minor editing errors, this book has been penned down nicely. The author has done justice with all the characters and the purpose of the story (objectivity) has been highlighted clearly. There are several lessons to learn, several changes to implement and several reasons to re-direct our thought process and tread on a well-sought path.
Overall, this is a good debut book which can be opted for if one feels like reading something easy/ simple/ fast-paced and enjoyable.