The story is about a confused boy, gogol, bored in a nri Bengali family. His dad Ashoke, a professor who belongs to the lower middle class society of kolkata, married to a Bengali girl, Ashima of the same society. As a teenager, Ashoke met a lethal train accident and was miraculously saved.
The story begins days before gogol’s bitrth. The writer magnificently described the Bengali traditions. It’s ridiculous for others & embarrassing for Ashoke & Ashima to name their child after birth. His grandmother has posted a letter with the name which never reached. Hence, Ashoke named him Gogol, After Nikolai Gogol, Who has a major impact in his life including the night of the accident.
The story continues with Gogol growing up & Ashima getting customized to the states, their elders passing by as Gogol & his kid sister Sonia discover their parents crying in the bed. Slowly with age, Gogol started not liking his name. In his teens, Gogol had collisions with his parents as he wanted to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family’s unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways.He had a series of girlfriends including maxim, more than him at age.
Gogol’s character takes turn when his dad told him why he had named him Gogol. The redemption continues as Ashoke passed away & he broke up with maxim. Then he felled for fellow Bengali girl mousumi. But in the race of practicality and love, practicality won. Gogol find Mousumi’s lifestyle dull and when he find out about mousumi’s extramarital affair, he didn’t try to save their marriage.
The story ends with Gogol went back to solitiarity once again and reading the book which his father has given him as a birthday gift years ago, short stories by Nikolai Gogol. The clash of the teen mind of gogol about choosing us or Bengal was magnificently described by the author. Read the book if you want to explore bangaliana( Bengali traditions) . The ending is a bit lengthy but still, u’l like it.