Review- Straight to Normal by Sharif D. Rangnekar

Straight to Normal on Goodreads

Release date: January 31st 2019

Published by: Rupa Publications

Page numbers: 232

REVIEW: 

The few autobiographies that I picked before bore me to no end, which is why I was wary of reading Straight to Normal, which is the biography of author Sharif Rangnekar. But LGBT is one of my favourite genres to read and explore, so when Rupa Publications came out with Straight to Normal, it took me a long time to take a decision but somewhere, I knew I had to read the book. And I am so glad I did. 

This is a book that Indian literature desperately needed. I am reminded of JK Rowling's lines about Harry Potter which I hope at some time also apply to Straight to Normal: 

"This boy will be famous. There won't be a child in our world who won't know his name. There will be books about him, he will be a legend." 

While Straight to Normal is fast paced and and will keep the reader on the edge of the seat, the incidents recounted by the author- with some of them being shockingly terrifying- will make the reader want to pause and just understand how difficult it sometimes is just to be human. Not accepting someone just because they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex is super ridiculous but Straight to Normal shows that it's never easy to accept humans as humans. Homosexuality is not a disease and if you feel it is, then pick up this book and see that the struggles we all face in spite of our sexual preferences are the same and in the end, we all have feelings. So next time you bash someone for petty reasons, take a decent look at how they are as a person rather than who they're attracted to. 

Straight to Normal gives a superb insight into the LGBT situation in India from the 1970s to today, which acts as an excellent resource for somebody who just wants to know what happened without wanting to spend heaps of time researching. This book will tell you what you need to know in terms of the sociological situation and also what a person goes through while trying to figure out what's happening. A lovely parallelism between the personal life of the author and the socio-political situation of the time makes it both an interesting and intelligent read. Like I said before, Indian shelves really needed this book and I want to thank Sharif Rangnekar for penning down his inspiring and raw story. 

Keep aside all your fiction reads for a while and pick up this book which won't take you more than a few days to finish. Besides, you'll end up gaining knowledge which is always a plus. I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you like reading if not. Give it a go- trust me, you will leave it being aware and feeling happy you know more than you did before. I sure hope the author writes more, non-fiction or otherwise, because I sure am a fan of his splendid writing! 

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Rupa Publications in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Buy the book: AMAZON