Hello everyone! I am here with a book review of a book named “Milk teeth”. Hope you'll develop interest in this book after reading the review.

It is 1997, a year from a decade that wholeheartedly welcomed an ever- shifting socio-political climate, permeating even into the scurrying wheels of daily life, like culture, parlance & money. The place is Mumbai, a city mindfully puzzled in its busy hubbub, struggling to deliver its expectations of big dreams, to make sense of a newly rechristened life . Kartik and Irawati, two childhood family friends since their birth in Asha Nivas - now a dilapidated residency situated in the cozy heart of Matunga - have begun meeting regularly on the building terrace again.

The story takes us through their growing up years, carried to the present one, as they bridge a 13-year old gap in their lifelong friendship & look for ways to arrive at their place in the world. Ira is 27 and a strong headed journalist, reasonably rebellious in her striving for a life of her own terms. Kartik is 30 and a project manager for an MNC, seemingly shiny & happy on the outside, but leading a secret double - life in silence, battered by a system too cocky in its disapproval of his real identity.

Through their story, it is their city that truly comes alive, breathing most authentically in its narrow arteries and posh, towny neighbourhoods alike. Amrita's writing is graceful & poetic, weaved in beautiful sentences that compelled me to pause every now and then, to be patient while I marvelled at them. So acutely aware of the storyline she builds & its world thereof, Amrita raises questions about class divide, poverty, privilege, power; about childhood neglect & reckless behaviour; about caste, creed & urban greed; about sexuality, and other social concerns that keep shaping our world so erratically. All against the backdrop of Bombay - a city forever beckoning to become, a constant work in progress, notoriously coming to age. A city trying to preserve its wrinkles, while in the same heartbeat, unrelentingly held onto its Milk Teeth.

// Inspired by Kaiz, I tried to prepare Irani chai in between my reading, but alas, got done with the book before I could even take onto the recipe. It was just that gripping. Thank you so much Amrita Mahale for this book! Your book felt like catharsis at its best.

I am totally recommending it. Just go for it. Have a great day!