Book Review # 134 The Netravati Bridge : Saheer Kumble.

Summary of the book
To love is to forgive!
Around midnight on Ashley’s birthday, Sahil rides his bike berserk on full throttle, frantically running away from everything that meant the world to him, including her.  From the panoramic view of his helmet visor, he sees only emptiness ahead, even after having spent the most dazzling moments of his life with her.  Unaware of his destiny, he tries to outrun the stint of fate as his dreams come crashing down one by one...
This endearing story about sacrifices and realizations takes you on a spellbinding journey brimming with faith, hope and love, and immediately connects you with Sahil and Ashley, like the iconic Netravati Bridge, that connected them across a river and transported them into a Utopian world of their own.

About the author
An active blogger since 2008, Saheer, an Engineering and MBA graduate from Manipal University, has also been a dynamic volunteer for several social organizations including ‘Make A Difference’ and ‘U&I’ in the past and is currently associated with Upasana NGO, which spearheads various campaigns for rural and urban development. An ardent and proactive rider, hailing from Kerala, which faced much devastation during the floods of 2018, he embarked on a 30 days, 3 Nation bike ride, the same year, covering 12,000 kilometers across 12 states and 3 Union Territories in India, along with Nepal and Bhutan, in an attempt to spread awareness and promote the message - “Plant Trees and Prevent Floods”. Saheer is CEO of Western Trading Company, a family run business, established in 1978, with diverse interests ranging from timber, import and export, trading and commerce to IT and software development.

My Take:
A love story set against the scenic beauty of the Netravati Bridge Mangalore. The author has a way with words. The beautiful description of Mangalore transports you to the place. The bridge is a constant of all good and bad things that happen in this love story.

Ashley and Saheer as different as chalk and cheese come together and take their own time to develop the bond, fall in love. The book is divided in 3 parts. One how they meet, know each other and develop feelings for each other. Saheer's story,Ashley's story and their belief in love and each other and the 3rd part puts all the pieces together into a fitting end to the story.

The book moves at a good pace, characters are neat although I didn't find Ashley very interesting. I mean how's blocking and unblocking someone as per your likes and terms can be love? I really find this amusing that the other person is just left and blocked fending and wondering what went wrong. Agree she had her reasons and they were valid to a point  but still just up and left and coming back as per convenience attitude I couldn't digest.

 I loved the way Saheer planned her birthday and executed in spite of the breakup and left unanswered.The author has really made a connect with the reader with his descriptive writing and handling the complexities of relationship with ease.

I would rate 4/5.