Sorting Out Sid

Siddharth Agarwal, well, quite often even he himself gets confused with his real name. People had always called him Sid all throughout his life, his friends, relatives, colleagues and everyone else. Sid was close to his forties, but he had always carried the heart of a teen. Well, even his mind seemed to have stuck somewhere and was not maturing with his age. He had been married for more than a decade, but he simply loved women, all sorts of women. He had a promising career with hefty salary. There was also a rumor going around at his office that soon he would gonna be the youngest vice president. Everything seemed to be so perfect for him, but then he had a pathetic married life. Sid’s wife Mandira was his college senior and she was a couple of years older to him. They used to be a well know couple during their college days. Everyone liked their chemistry together, in terms of their height, weight and with their overall personality. But over the years, somehow the love had diminished and also their sex life was on hold for last several months or could possibly be for last several years.

Mandira was possessive about Sid, right from the beginning and gradually over the years, Sid was left out with just few close friends. One day, she even found a huge collection of porn videos in Sid’s laptop. She got terribly disturbed with that and her heart shattered into pieces. She felt as if she was living with a maniac for so many years. Mandira always wanted a child, but Sid wasn't ready for that, yet. They had their own bunch of common friends and they usually enjoyed spending time with them over the weekends. Aditi was Sid’s closest friend and was almost like an elder sister to him, only in terms of lecturing though. Well, one time Sid visited her place to celebrate her birthday, but later he was highly embarrassed when Aditi told him that it’s actually her little son’s birthday. 

Sid always felt happy whenever he was with friends, sipping his icy chilled beer. He was not among the kind of person who takes life a little too seriously. But his sex-starvation was getting serious day by day. Even a glimpse of the whitish fleshy upper arms of Meenakshi, his HR manager, used to spark his emotions, his hidden desires seemed to be flourishing. She often mesmerized Sid with the smell of her shampoo, while revealing her white teeth, whenever she discussed the HR stuffs with him, a little closely though. Meenakshi was a mother of 2 and somewhat hot looking lady. Sid also found her little flirtatious and used to enjoy whenever she behaved little more friendlier, with her slightly touchy gestures, in his cabin. Well, Sid assumed her behavior kind of  appealing and inviting.

Life seems to be pretty boring for both Mandira and Sid, whenever they spent time together, all alone. Their time usually passed with their silent dinner, followed by Sid’s browsing through the TV channels. Most of the times they ended up sleeping in different rooms, busy with their damn lappies. Sometimes their house turned lively though, with Mandira’s high pitch and short lived yelling for him. During evening, Sid just loved to quench his thirst with icy chilled beer, just to survive the Delhi heat. Sid really enjoyed his time worshiping his beer, whenever Mandira was not a home. Sometimes his in-laws used to visit them, just to tickle his irritation further. His mother-in-law often used to lecture him about cultivating his relationship with Mandira. She tried to explain Sid, what a woman really wants from her husband. Sid often used to disappear from the scene, fearing her mom-in-law would end up explaining him the secret Kamasutra positions.

Well, the situation had turned little serious after both Sid and Mandira mutually applied for their divorce. They were prepared enough for the big decision, but the stupid and over optimistic judge had recommended them to give themselves some more time. Six months seemed to be much longer, but then they never had any other choice. Well, there’s not much of a difference between a judge’s recommendation and his verdict. Sid and Mandira decided to stay together just like earlier for few more months. During their relationship building phase, Sid came in contact with Neha, through Aditi. Neha is quite an attractive lady in her thirties; she's very straightforward and practical. She’s also very friendly and usually attached with people, effortlessly. Sid was electrified with her presence when he met her for the first time in a party, with common friends. The very moment he realized that Neha was actually a single mother of a little child, his heart filled with delight and optimism. But then, he wasn’t fully divorced yet and deep within his heart, he wanted to fix things with Mandira. Gradually Sid was getting a little closer to Neha. It's really interesting to see how things turn for Sid. Well, the title itself says ‘Sorting Out Sid’, so how things are actually sorted for Sid? 

The book is all about modern day life, about marriage and relationship, about family and friends. I think everyone will feel a part of the story. It’s a refreshing read and Yashodhara had presented the modern day living in her own humorous style. Readers, who love fun/lightweight comedy, will definitely love ‘Sorting out Sid'. I liked the humor in the book, although I found it's a little too lengthy. But overall it was a relaxing read in the weekend.

Title: Sorting Out Sid

Author: Yashodhara Lal

Publisher: Harper Collins

Genre: Fiction