Losing My Religion – Book Review

Title : Losing My Religion
Author : Vishwas Mudagal
Publisher : FingerPrint
Release : 2014
Pages : 350
Genre : Adventure

Losing My Religion is a tale of Rishi Rai, a gamer and entrepreneur and his adventurous journey after deciding to quit his ‘regular life.’

Spoiler Alert
Rishi Rai is a young, probably in his late twenties entrepreneur who dreams of revolutionizing the gaming industry and has already tasted great success and is a popular figure amongst the circle of hardcore gamers. He resides in namma Bengaluru .He devices a game which can’t be beaten and this very fact leads him to his downfall when in fact it should’ve taken him to the league of gaming legends. In a flash (which in fact is over a period of 3 years)he loses everything that he has created and his whole world is ripped apart.

That’s when he makes a life changing decision to leave everything behind and go on a road trip without a plan and without a time frame. And who would accompany him on this path breaking journey? Would it be his best friend or girl friend or his mother? No it would be an American junkie who went by the name Alex whom he met accidentally in the outskirts of Bengaluru.

The journey is a really an unusual one which starts from Rishi’s hometown in Bengaluru, proceeds north to Malana in the Himalayas, comes straight down to Om beach in Gokarna, an unexpected turn to the Kumbh Mela and ends in….any guesses?…..errrr the USA. Yeah you all guessed wrong. A little farfetched I know! Along the way Rishi discovers new things about these places, learns new things about himself and realizes what he really wants in life. He somehow discovers true love too!

The story is very young! The characters, the gaming lingo, the locations, the situations …… all are chosen to arouse interest in probably teenagers and early twenty somethings who haven’t yet traveled or who dream of a journey themselves without looking into the practicality. I found the very premise on which Rishi takes the journey very silly. It would be more believable if someone in their forties was portrayed this way. But somehow you would still relate to his character. His chemistry with Alex, the junkie is intriguing and at times hilarious. There are some sensuous descriptions of his escapades with his girlfriend too.

I found the choice of places laughable. Of the 4 locations in the story Malana is the best where the protagonists find themselves in delicate situations mainly because they are high on weed most of the times. Its fast paced and keeps the reader hooked even though at times not believable. Gokarna is nice too and those who have been to the shacks in OM Beach would relate to it. But Kumbh Mela was a let down and the part in the US was downright dismal. Somehow he salvages the story by giving it a great and unexpected ending.
All in all LMR is a good read. If you leave your brains behind, do not analyze every bit of the story, you will probably enjoy it more.
Rating : 6/10