Priya: In Incredible Indyaa

Written in the same sparkling Hinglish style which had lent Paro its humourous appeal, Priya’s escapades are probably not as scandalous as her baate noire’s were. But Gokhale’s acerbic touch has not deserted her. Despite the menopausal hot flushes and sagging jowls, Priya, like an older, Indian Bridget Jones, manages to sail through a minefield of relationships with her saree pleats unruffled.

– Kishwar Desai, India Today, June 17th, 2011

India is shining, and Suresh Kaushal, the stout lawyer ‘of sober habits’, has propelled himself up the political ladder to become Minister of State for Food Processing, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Canneries. His wife Priya can’t believe their luck and, determined to ensure it doesn’t run out, struggles valiantly with ‘social vertigo’, infidelity and menopause. Along the way she also learns vital lessons on survival, as she watches her glamorous new friend Pooonam chase status, sex and Jimmy Choo shoes, and her radical old friend Lenin ride a donkey and lose his bearings. In this wickedly funny, occasionally tender, book, Namita Gokhale resurrects some unforgettable characters from her 1984 cult bestseller Paro, and plunges them neck-deep into Delhi’s toxic waste of power, money and greed.