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Saku 🤗
With renewed apologies for this tardiness, I am here finally and hooked already. I'm commenting as I read on and even on parts I've read before I'm re-reading and commenting chapter by chapter as you know I like to do on your work!
Chapter 1- gripping especially to a lawyer as you can imagine! The darkness in SK's soul, the lovely touch of making him overhear the conversations which tell the reader how he's perceived were superbly done. What was even more superb was the sheer flow of words here! I loved the descriptions, your the mastery of imagery anyway but I could see old Mr Singh and just the whole setting came to life. And what an intro to introduce RagLak and Swara and DP 👏. One more epic tale from you so I'll read on and share my 2 pennies as I go on!
Chapter 2 - I so love the way you develop a mystery. This really has the same feel one gets when first dipping into master works like Agatha Christie for example. I so like SK, he's the sarcastic Sanskaar I adore whose wit is caustic and his hidden pain so mesmerising. Always liked the interaction between Shomi and Sanskaar and the groundwork here is laid so well. Also the VK - SK subtle bro ace reminds me of Jay-Veeru, as random as that may be!!
Chapter 3 - this is the stuff that epic love stories are made of and this certainly had that raw power and foreboding which foretells that. The whole thing was magic. SK is lost before he knows it. You wrote of crackling chemistry and it sure as hell literally blazed from my iPad screen in the SwaSan scene. The starting comparison to Snow White was guaranteed to hook me. I have a real fascination for the dark undertones of well known "fairy" tales, be that SW or Red Riding or Hensel & Gretel as well as many others. This had some master touches like how SK is trying to rationalise his increasing desire to see Swara for example; like I said he's losing himself. That scene at the end was ooohh- spine tinglinglh good. Her tears, his reflexive actions and their connect- I am drowning in a sea of delicious already!
Chapter 4 - when something starts with " Had we met on the other side of the moon, visible to all and lit by the sunlight, ..." you know it's going to be beyond amazing! This Swara I like as I usually do in your ffs. She's perceptive and I know she will have made glaring errors of judgement to get where she is but that's more to the discredit of others rather than hers I feel. I love the move of showing how she has come to already rely on SK - the foundation for a perfect partnership is already set and set so well. I don't need to be a lawyer to applaud the masterful court room scene but as a lawyer I have to doff my hat at it. I can't describe how much good court room dramas call to me (surely more than obvious I guess!) but also how much bad ones irk me. This one was so far on the side of the former that I was literally feeling transformed into SK, I was there and was pulling the information from a soon made hapless Ragini and also the person sat as audience lapping it all up. It will sound very odd to say this but I have been told multiple times (including right at the start of my professional skills course advocacy module) that I start off being very nice to people in x-exam and then turn brutal suddenly, only to swap back to being nice again. It's something born out of instinct for me coupled with what I have observed brings me results but reading this described with SK was making me punch the air in delight at some many points where I knew he had Ragini! Simply amazing chapter Saku! Laksh Maheshwari is so outclassed in every which way!
Chapter 5 - Awww, that banter! SK's cutting sarcasm but clearly underlaid with a burgeoning softness already, Swara's ready retorts, his ridiculously cute excuse that he needs maid- such balm after the high voltage court drama and uuurgggh can I hate shekhar more?!!! However I sense something lurking here and twists coming? To be honest even Shomi annoyed me, she is so weak when it comes to her ridiculous relation with spineless SG! But well it gave our destined pair their needed excise so I'll rejoice in that. But also I sense something more with Shomi, like something else lurking and I can't put my finger on it yet. Ah well let me read on! You'll reveal with your usual panache I know!
Chapter 6 - the description of the changed Swara was so effective. Once again, I so loved how your developing the SwaSan equation. The banter to distract her from her grief, the gesture in both understanding her missing her mum and making her call her and then my favourite- the handkerchief!!! And oh of course this Swara is normal and has functioning hormones so the attraction is registered and even though she of course rebuffed it asap it's there now! So Mr LM now knows Swara is living with SK and SK has taken a giant leap in figuring out a key clue! Nicely done as ever!
Chapter 7 - oh wow!! Sounds innane but I promise my reaction is anything but. How did you manage all that in that perfectly formed chapter? Serious respect! The whole beginning with the inadvertent candle light dinner was more romantic than any planned cliched date. Their total connect with each other and SK's real fear of her to the point of saying he hates her eyes, which screams so loudly that he is obsessed with her and her eyes are pulling him in inexorably, to his actual apology were so dreamy. They are so falling in love and the scene with the dishes was so charged despite its innocence- I love scenes like that. In the beginning stages those have the tingling quality that even later overt expressive ones can lack. There was irony too in that Sanskaar (I now see him as that, SK is fading away) calls her Casper but he's the ones moving through the walls around her heart! The convo at the end with uttara first and Ragini later was really well done too and I like that he wants to talk to Swara now and isn't angry that she overheard. She's creeping through his life and heart and he doesn't mind it.
I'll end commenting here for now as my sister is furious at me for ignoring everyone for so long on Xmas night during family time but I'll finish the rest asap! And I'm so sorry, I reserved above but in my total absorption with this wonderful story, I started posting anew! I'm so addicted I'll read this all off tonight and then comemnt as soon as I can! Mmmwah
CID
Cricket
