Monday, October 10, 2016

Review of Cabbing all the Way by Jatin Kuberkar

The Blurb

Twelve people agree to an idea of running a shared transport service from a common residential locality to their out-of-civilisation office campus. Twelve different minds with equally diverse personalities gel with each other to fulfill a common need. At first, the members collide on mutual interests, timings, priorities and personal discipline, but in the course of their journey, they become best friends, make long-lasting relationships, mentor and help each other on various mundane matters. The journey goes on fine until one day some members try to dictate terms over the group. The rift widens with each passing day, the tension surmounts and finally all hell breaks loose… Will the journey continue? Fasten your seat belts for the journey is about to begin…


My Review

Cabbing all the way is an interesting book by the author, Jatin Kuberkar. It highlights many aspects that man has within, but the original element is that Man is a social animal thus he continues to express either by his body language or his speech to his brethren around him thus, making all of us try to understand the many problems he is usually surrounded with.

The story starts with a concern of long commute from work to home and how exhausted it can make the body. Thus, a colleague comes up with a solution: a shared cab. Twelve partners join hands for this daily regime. These fellow workers come from various departments, social backgrounds, and are hardly acquainted with each other's personal lives. The goal is the same. Coming to work without taxing the body, thus, join hands.

The author tries to depict many facets via the incidents that happen when these people commute to the office. It was like riding a roller coaster ride with regards to each of their emotions thus, making each of them unique and stand out from the rest. Jatin did an excellent job bringing out their concerns, however; I could not sympathize with their pain or rejoice in their success. Wish the author had given more background information on them for the reader to relate.

The co-workers started off on a bumpy start, refusing to co-operate with regards to being punctual for arrival and departure thus, leading to many sore mouths but, as they overcame that hurdle; it lead to compassion for each other's personal lives thus, embracing their flaws. That made them go on an excursion around the city while bunking office like school kids. They even handpicked an eatery joint that became their favorite, thus making them celebrate their respective successes at that particular restaurant. I felt like a big family going back n forth via these commutes until a few drop out thus, making the scenario in the cab ugly that again reflected upon punctuality, and sensitivity for each other.

Cabbing All the Way does not have a plot, but the various incidents help a reader peel the different characteristics of a human that molds him thus, making him a unique being on this planet. At times, I felt it was going places where it could have been avoided such as the many jokes that they cracked in the cab. I could not connect to them. Maybe if a bit of their history given (repeating again), it would have helped to associate and connect the dots.

I liked one of the characters Sushant. His philosophy was very soothing. One particular dialogue that struck me,"One way is to think that we are all a group of ‘friends’ with a common goal, so, let’s be together. This is our philosophy. But, there is another perspective, and that is to think that we are just ‘co-travellers’ united with a common interest without any emotional attachment. One has to decide which way to go.”

Overall Cabbing All the Way is a recommended read since it makes you ponder over the various emotions that man can withhold and express under different circumstances.










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