Almost Single by Advaita Kala is an Indianised version of Bridget Jones Diary – complete with addicted to drinks and ciggies, and grandma panty-adorned female protoganist. Most of the story is cliched – a divorcee, a sexy-clever girlfriend, gay companions, a handsome man, high society women, a typical mamma, an irritating boss, extra-marital affairs, blind dates, pub and disc life, lecherous men, peppered with Indian festivals, nosy neighbors, vegetable purchases, saints and sadhvi’s, horoscopes and matrimonial websites – everything and anything that is a part of a woman (a single woman’s) mundaneexistence.
So, why read this book, if we know it all, and have been there and done that! Well, there are two reasons to read this book – Firstly, for the humor 
in the writing, and secondly, for a sense of empathy for those who are single, and of sympathy from those who were once upon a time single. The seemingly mundane and misunderstood life of a “dangerously-tipped-towards-spinsterhood” girl is delightfully described with ample doses of well-meaning humor and in some places satire. One thing evident about this book is that it is for a niche audience – the metrosexual, paying guest young junta of the urbane setup in India. For a debut novel, its a good attempt and for what I have read on the author’s blog there is another book in the offing.
Almost Single is a typical Indian Bollywood fare … and there are no prizes for guessing the end of this book! Its a quick, bus-ride or bed-time read. Read an excerpt.
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