Book Review: Sorting Out Sid By Yashodhara Lal

When you finally put this book down, what strikes you the most is how apt the title is - Sorting out Sid. Yes, right from the start till you have read the last word on the final page, all that is happening is Sid getting sorted out. Not by him or his friends or his colleagues or his parents or his wife. But by you and me as we leaf through the book, at times chuckling at his wit, sometimes rolling our eyes at his seemingly desperate attempt at pleasing his bosses or simply shaking our heads in exasperation at the superficial “always-the life-of-the-party” act. There are so many Sids within this Sid, that you as a reader are left with no choice but to keep sorting him out, wondering whether by the time you reach the end you would have peeled off enough layers to know the real Sid. That’s the journey Yashodhara Lal takes you through with her latest book; His life and the people that contribute knowingly or unknowingly to the various layers that define him.

Sid could be any of us. He exists in everyday life with his marital problems, dull yet ambitious career, childhood friends who have stayed for life and his grudging love for his over protective parents. These are facets of life that we all experience at some stage or the other in our lives, how we respond to these is what defines us as individuals.  How Sid responds to it, defines the “Party Sid”, “Work Sid”, “Uncle Sid” “Friendly Sid” “Avoiding Sid”…  that we get to see all through the book.

At parties held by his best friend Aditi, he puts on the “Friendly Sid” or “Party Sid” cap with much ease, cracking jokes and amusing all with his wit and humour. At one such party he meets Neha, a single mom who forms an integral part of the ups and downs he goes through.

At work, he puts on the “Work Sid” cap despite his dislike for the job he does. From portraying that all is always well in his life and cracking forced jokes filled with smelly office humour to plastering a superficial smile on his face and enacting fake laughter, Sid rises up the ladder not for once wondering whether he really cares for what he does.

When his parents visit him, “Avoiding Sid” comes to life. Finding ways to stay away from his over-expecting father and over-protective mother, yet finding it hard to break their hearts with the news of his impending divorce, “Avoiding Sid” knows to do just one thing. Avoid.

As his friendship with Neha deepens, “Uncle Sid” surfaces, befriending Kippy, Neha’s two year old daughter and making you wonder if he really is as averse to kids as he makes it to be otherwise. 

What surfaces with the different faces of Sid is his love to please others. Even when he brings his guard down when he is all alone lounging on his bean bag “Brownie” with a couple of beers at hand, he can’t help but file away wise cracks he thinks off for future use. He can’t stop loving the different layers more than appreciating what he truly is. In all these faces however, there is one that stays strikingly absent – The “Husband Sid”. Right from the beginning, the cracks in his marriage are evident but does he do anything to figure out what went wrong? No. At one point, it made me wonder whether the different personalities that are Sid, sparked the discomfort for Mandira… There is an obvious communication gap and lack of effort from Sid’s end despite various jibes from Mandira which could have triggered a need to resolve matters. But no, Sid is too busy donning on his other masks to bother about this relationship. As far as he is concerned it was a failure even before he tried. Mandira is one person he does not care to please.

With his life the stage and his near and dear ones the actors, he sails in and out in each act with a different role and a different dialogue each time, letting his presence of mind effectively cordon off his true feelings and close the door to his inner self.  Eventually the wall he has built around himself begins to show signs of weakening, when Neha comes into his life and he connects with her, especially her paintings. 

Quotes by two characters in the book sum up what the book is all about for me. At one point Neha tells him “All you do is use people to feel better about yourself”. At another, Krish, Aditi’s husband says on the topic of his divorce “If you don’t find yourself difficult to live with, you are unlikely to find anyone else difficult”. For me, these two statements define the premise of Sorting out Sid. Throughout his life, Sid had aimed to feel better about him. His parents, friends, colleagues and his wife, in some way or the other have contributed to reinforce this self made goal that he has always had. They might have had his best interests in mind, but none really bothered to truly understand this nature of his. None, other than Neha. Does Sid finally get sorted out? Not overnight, no. 

Overall the book was a quick read but it did have some highs and lows which stood out for me.

Pros - Yashodhara sprinkles a delightful dose of wit and humour through the book. The “So! When is the baby due?” statement on seeing a women’s belly is a question every woman fears in her lifetime. She makes it as hilarious as it can get with that and many more. Another instance that stands out is her reference to India TV. “Ek sahasi murg ki kahani”… it can’t get funnier than that. With humour under her belt, next she targets the superficiality in the corporate world, esp. the references to “broad framework” and false deadlines. Extremely detailed descriptions, Yashodhara does a good job of playing back the current gen lifestyle. Across the book, she also spreads out a few gems that make you smile, be it the reference to how Ravi a marketing intern reminds Sid painfully of himself in his younger days or the beautiful manner in which she describes Neha’s attempt at discovering a subject for her to paint – only an artist (of the written word) could have described it so well.

Cons- Sorting out Sid takes a tad too long. There are moments where you get the feeling the story is dragging on its feet and could do with a bit of a push to make it move along. Overall a rather simple plot, there is not much to keep the reader engaged and glued till the last page. The story line demands a casual and simplified language but given that this is a piece of English fiction the “colloquial” ness in the conversations seems to go out of proportion at times, esp. when Hindi makes way into the writing.  If the Author wishes to cater to an audience beyond those who speak the two languages, the idiomatic tone might not connect instantly with the reader.

Despite the length, in general “Sorting Out Sid” is a breezy read, made so by the humour Yashodhara provides in generous doses all across. If you want to relax with a chilled beer on your bean bag, this is a book worth picking up.

Rating: 3/5