Book Title: Borderline
Author: Shabri Prasad Singh
Format: Paper Back
Total Number of Pages: 256 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Publishing Date: 10 October 2017
ISBN-10: 9386643065
ISBN-13: 978-9386643063
With this true life narrative turned fictional, delve into the life and thoughts of Amrita Srivastava.
Harbouring an almost devotional love for her father and unable to cope with the legal separation of her parents, this is the account of how she is subsequently diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and the powerful story of how she eventually overcomes her demons.
Having shifted from Chandigarh to New York to study, Amrita has just about begun to adjust to the new city when her life is thrown into disarray by the death of her father. Acting as a trigger, this event leads to a series of abusive relationships. Forced by a breakdown to leave her studies in New York, she tries to make a new life for herself in Delhi. Unsettled by the continuous changes, Amrita descends into a hard partying lifestyle fuelled by alcohol and drugs. Written as part of her healing process, this is a searing confession about the challenges she faces before finally reaching to the process of rehab and therapy.
Calibrating itself to the turning of the mind’s endlessly churning machinery, this novel gives one the rare opportunity to see it at work. Life affirming and inspiring, this is at the same time a journey that navigates through the loneliness, heartbreak and intensity of Amrita’s approach to life.
Intimate, forceful and raw, Borderline is the catharsis we all need.
Starting from the cover images of a woman’s double face with a grey color and black color. It say about pain, darkness. The title of the book is “Borderline†unique. After completing the novel i came know about this disorder. Borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), is a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by unstable relationships with other people, unstable sense of self, and unstable emotions.
This is story of the protagonist Amrita Srivastava, since childhood she felt needs to prove herself. To become the center of attention she create troubles here and there. Amrita is completely dependent on her father and she worships him. Amrita loves her father more than anything else in her life. Amrita was grown up in London and then moves back to India. It shows the underlying currents of a loving close knit family and how the family splits apart due to a ghastly divorce which affects Amrita mentally. Separation of her parent’s and subsequent living without my mother. Then leaving Chandigarh and moving to New York for further studies.
Amrita falls madly in love with Hafez, the relationship doesn’t work. Amrita comes to India on a vacation. Her father was dead the next morning. This event in her life shatters her forever. She cannot move past her father’s death. Amrita is hellbent on finding love which in turn makes her obsessed with the men that come in her life leading up to a mental breakdown.
When Amrita moves back to India although her mother remarriage broke her emotionally. These all events in her life leads her to a life which cannot be imagined without alcohol and drugs. She again gets obsessed with another Gill but it ends quickly. She is forced to move into her mothers house and she struggles to make a connect with them.
Amrita meet a girl in gym, Ria who later become her best friend for two years. Ria writes a horrible book on her Amrita. After reading the book Amrita her anxiety levels had hit the sky and i was neurotic mess and goes to a psychiatrist who diagnoses her with Borderline Personality Disorder. When she gets involved with a married man named “Pinkâ€, who is the only man who understands her mind and her wavering emotions.
What happened after that? Will she recover?
The story revolves around the life of Amrita Srivastava, Ram Swarup Srivastava, Sati Srivastava, Neelkamal, Alex, Melissa, Tara, Amy, Dr. Rana Gill, Harold Carver, Amy, Aunty Mira, Aunty Pratibha, Mrs. Bhati, Punnet, Himanshu, Macedonian, Hafrz-ud-in, Aunty Baby, Shiraz, Aira, Eklavya, Guruji, Siddiqui Uncle, Dr. Louis Flam, Jasneet, Ron, Hubert Mc Cable, Maria, Roxane, Dr. B.S.Wadia, Gill, Raj, Vickky, Pink, Ria, Dr. Sanjay Chugh, Randy, Puneet, Purnima, Chris, Anna, Alia, Sunil Rukhja, Mohammed Khan, Sabrina, Bhaarat Ohri, Anju, Sheeba, Asha, Shalini, Lalitha, Mira, Bhumika, Rajesh, Ravi, Mamul, Azad, Gyandeep, Mr.Mathur, Chakarborty, Khan.
Settings of the story Mumbai, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Patna, New York, London, America.
Borderline takes you on a journey where the reader experiences pain in every pain while reading. Every chapter starts with a poem which are beautiful and really meaningful. Language of the book is lucid and written in a simple way to comprehend for any kind of reader. The book has described each and every event of her life in detail which is enough to make you upset. It will make the reader tempt to turn the pages of the book. As it is complementing the substance of the story entirely, hence I consider this appropriate. The author has portrayed each and every character with utmost significance of their own and every one of them has done justice to their respective roles throughout the story. Must say Characterization and narration is perfect.
The book has been written well in accordance to real-life examples with realistic point of view. I got inspiration from this book and I think this should grow more by reaching more people to motivate more people thus they can fulfill their dreams too without giving up.
Highly Recommend, must Read
Overall Ratings 5/5 Stars
