Naveen and Simar’s love story reaches its pinnacle and they become the talk of the town on their educational campus in Salem, Tamil Nadu. Simar is a Punjabi girl who has come to Salem to fulfil the dreams of her parents and become a doctor, (Dentist). Naveen, on the other hand, has lost his father at an early age and has huge expectations of his family on his shoulders and he wants to become an engineer. As it usually happens, the leading protagonists collide initially and have grudges on each other. Eventually, and naturally too, they fall in love and one day they confess their love for each other.  Voila, one part ends and the real part begins that is full of realism, social and parental issues, hardships and turns that we usually don’t find in romantic fiction.

In a nutshell, this was the story of the novel I have recently finished reading – Cross Connection by Preety Praveen. It is touted as the author’s real story and it indeed is. Without much flowery, forceful silver lining in the story, without fictionalising the storyline too much, the novelist has conveyed her messages in a lucid and straightforward manner and it will surely impress young readers as well as experienced readers a lot. I am also sure that the readers who are from the 90s or the 90s kids will have a lot to connect to in the novel by Preety.

Preety Praveen’s novel has many peculiar qualities that will let the readers feel a refreshing tale of love. Though the novel might give the vibes of a 90s Bollywood movie at times, it is still very different from works that other novelists are producing at the time. Structure does match the usual romantic tales but the execution and handling are the things that help Preety’s tale of love stand tall.

Talking about the technical aspects, the language and the plot, the author has been a traditional storyteller and has given too much space to the readers to get accustomed to characters, their qualities and their thought process. It can be felt by the readers that they grow affinity for the characters they love – Simar, Naveen, Ridhi, Inder, Harjeet… these are some of the characters that you will always read about in the novel. In the beginning, there is very little or almost no transition because everything is happening at a natural pace. Giving the protagonists full opportunity to fall in love and understand each other, the novelist has given the readers a wonderful opportunity to revive the days spent on campus. The 90s youths will love reading the descriptions of a lively love affair… 🙂

Verdict: 

Preety Praveen’s novel, Cross Connection, will entertain the readers. It will certainly give many things more than mere entertainment, though. A true glimpse of hardships of young people who were serious about their relationships in the 90s, a realistic image of campus life, an emotional description of true love and also an affirmation that romantic novels can be written without being too sensual with descriptions of moments in the bed. So, if you can tick any or many of the checkboxes mentioned above, the novel awaits you on Amazon India! Get a copy now and enjoy reading it. Click the link below:

Buy the novel from Amazon India – click here to buy

Review by Paridhi Gupta for Active Reader