Agreed. The only reason why I bought this book was that Madam was boss’s wife. Here is a short review.
This novel celebrates the concept of stereotypes in a big way. In fact it has a real unique distinction that no other novel can boast of. Every character in the book is a stereotype. I stand corrected. A monotype is more apt. It is surprising how the players/characters don’t believe in multi-dimensional worlds. They are all one dimensional - refuse to come out of their native dimension and are totally totally predictable.
In fact you take any of them - Chandru/Vinutha/Surabhi - and define them using a first degree quadratic equation. You keep on entering integer values for x and f(x) will give you the chapters of the novel.
I am sorry I incorrectly specified the number of dimensions explored by this book. There is one other dimension - a very significant one - that tells us all about the American Way of Life. The only issue here is that, it is so off the mark and so boringly based on the "negative" impression that most Indians who have never been to the US have about US culture and family values.
In short - This novel, permit to call it one, is something you can live without.