“We don’t want to be a part of the row”, and “we don’t want to be called Indian romantic authors either”, say the authors of “The Dreaming Reality”, Noor Anand and Karan Kapoor. For any first time author, this is a very ambitious thing to say.

Students of literature, the authors said that they wanted to do something different, break the glass ceiling and be remembered for not following the same pattern of love stories that most romantic authors follow. However, for authors who do not want to be associated with romantic writers, ‘The Dreaming Reality’ is at its core a love story.

The Dreaming Reality is the story of Ridhima Maniktala and Rihansh Kashyap. Rihansh is a 16-year-old school kid who falls in love with his tuition teacher Ridhima who is five years older to him.

The main plot follows these two very good looking people (we are reminded of that several times). Rihansh has come to live in Delhi from a day boarding school in Dehradun after his mother forces him to. He meets Ridhima, his mathematics tuition teacher with whom he strikes a connection. They start talking and fall in love instantly. What happens next for them forms the rest of the story.

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The authors deserve credit for writing a story on a topic that is close to taboo. Ridhima is five years older than Rihansh and is his tutor. It is evident that the authors have written the novel to question traditional thinking.

The problem however comes with the execution of the idea. The readers would have preferred the story interwoven with the taboo associated with this type of relationship or the way society reacts to it, or maybe how the couple overcame the obstacles to be together. Instead, they get a story where taboos are added just for the sake of doing something different.

Speaking to Thestatesman.com, the authors said it took them four years to write this novel. The amount of effort put in can be seen in several places. They have done a good job of describing the disease that Ridhima suffers from. To invent a disease and then describe it in detail — with a doctor giving its background story and its symptoms — must have taken time.

The authors have also tried to include literary devices like ‘Stream of Consciousness’ and ‘directly addressing the readers’ in the novel. A brilliant idea again that needs help on the execution part.

For a reason that cannot exactly be pointed out, this technique does not work properly. It comes across as artificial, maybe because it has not been used properly or probably because it is not really required in the story.

Trying to break a taboo just for the sake of it is not a good enough reason. However, had the authors actually woven the story around the topics they want to discuss, this novel would have turned out much better.

This novel will resonate with people in the age group of 16-25. The main characters will speak to them, the problems and heartaches will mirror theirs.

Do not delve into the book with a lot of expectations. Read it as a simple love story and it might turn out to be more than that.