Once Upon the Tracks of Mumbai 1st Edition

'Once Upon The Tracks of Mumbai' narrates the tale of Babloo, who has been medically described as autistic, schizophrenic and psychotic by the doctors, his family and his friends. However, they do not understand the inner turmoil that Babloo goes through, often failing to differentiate people on the basis of good and bad. He is mocked at and made fun of. However, the only person who truly understands him is Vandana, and Babloo gradually realizes that he would love to spend the rest of his life with her.

However, fate has other plans and hurdles crop up distancing Babloo from his love and aspirations. It is at this point of time that he searches for a vent for his pent up frustrations and sadness, and Rail Man is born. Yes, Rail Man is the superhero avatar of Babloo who anonymously fights miscreants and rescues people on the railway tracks.

'Once Upon The Tracks Of Mumbai' is a delicious cocktail of emotion, action, love, hate, failure and success. The quick pace of the story holds on to the attention of the readers. All in all, this is a book that should definitely be read, and felt.

I enjoyed every page of this book. In fact, when it came to an end, I felt like starting it all over again. And then the mind jumped to continuing the book in my mind. What could be the life of Babloo and Vandana now? What is their child like? What happens next? I have rarely felt the need to continue a book in my mind on completing it. It always end, where the author puts the final full stop.

The author here has created visual treats in my minds eye through the craftsmanship of putting the the story together.

The insanity and madness of Babloo - the protagonist - is something I could relate to. There is this need to do something extraordinary in an ordinary world in order to feel fulfilled. It is only when you step out of comfort zone that you achieve your heart's desires.

There is so much more that each incident of the book relates in its own ways. This book allows you grab what you wish to take from it.

A good and must read. Hope this book is adapted into a film format!

Hoping to read more from Rishi Vohra!

When I picked this one, I expected an emotional tale of the autistic protagonist which would make my eyes moist. I was disappointed. Serves me right … what was I thinking, starting to read books with pre-conceived notions and expectations. Shouldn’t do it!!

The booked delved only a little bit on the perspective of the autistic protagonist who is simply ignored by most or worse, taken advantage off. He is ignored by his own family; as a result he learns to keep himself out of their sight to avoid trouble. And while doing precisely this, he comes across an incident which gives meaning to his otherwise non-existent life.

The story has pretty regular and predictable day-to-day characters which you can identify with and who together create a canvas on which the story is painted. The story is sweet. Nothing exciting about it. The book leaves you with a soft good feeling.

The only thing which disappointed me was the climax where the story ends on a happy note with things falling in place and the protagonist living life happily ever after. I would have preferred a more realistic ending.

*keeping the review short and to the point*,
The story is at a good pace, not dragging at any point. Book cover may look like Bollywood-ish but story is not Typical. It's about the middle class families, their dreams, their hopes and struggle. It's about Babloo, whose life is not so easy, who has a hard time connecting to the real world... who loves Vandana only connecting thread to the read world for Babloo. Vandana, an ambitious girl with high dreams and have to courage to fulfill them, she is the 21st century Indian girl in every sense, Babloo has the suppressed anger for the crimes spreading around railway tracks or Mumbai.
It's about Rail Man, who is a superhero in public's mind but for himself he is just someone who is not afraid to help the ppl in trouble, he is courageous and strong and everything Babloo wants to be. Will this Rail MAN make or break Babloo??

Narration is smooth, has a realistic approach and detailed.
I like it a lot...

Once upon the tracks of Mumbai is a book with different and multifaceted themes. This book tells the story of Balwant Srivastav (Babloo), who is an autistic and lives in the railway colony of Mumbai. Nobody cares for him except Vandana, who lives in the same colony. It focuses on Babloo’s self discovery and his secret love for Vandana. This book is tightly packed with romance, action, sex sequences, exploitation, and total Mumbai style filmy masala.

As a first time writer, Rishi Vohra has done a nice job. The book skillfully deals with the life of middle class family residing in the railway colony of Mumbai. The author has described the Mumbai life and the characters really well. But for me, the point of view of this novel is a bit distracting & confusing.

Over all, If you like a typical Mumbai style filmy story, you’re going to like this book!