How Opal Mehta Got Kissed Got Wild And Got Life

This hilarious novel is about a girl Opal Mehta, who has only one aim and objective in Life - to get into Harvard.

WHEN OPAL MEHTA WAS SIX YEARS OLD, HER PARENTS CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY CONSTRUCTED A MASTERPLAN FOR HER, ONE THAT WAS BOUND TO GET HER INTO HARVARD - HOWGIH (HOW OPAL WILL GET INTO HARVARD). IT IS THEIR ONLY DREAM AND FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.

Ever since Opal's family moved from Chennai, India to New Jersey, USA, getting their yet to be born Opal to Harvard was their main aim. Her parents gave up everything - her Dad abandoned his successful neurosurgery practice, her Mom said goodbye to Family, so that Opal, their only child,would have every opportunity in the world to achieve greatness in America. And one thing they felt was essential to Opal's success was admission into Harvard University. So, her parents come up with a carefully plotted and thoroughly constructed plan - HOWGIH.

Opal religiously followed HOWGIH to a T since the beginning of primary school. Cello lessons starting at five, four different foreign - language classes starting at six, leadership seminars, Math camp, even six months of welding classes and a year of mosaic arts courses. From straight As and a near - perfect SAT scores to first chair in the New Jersey regional symphony orchestra, Opal's family was pretty confident about the success of HOWGIH and believed that now all Opal needed to do to get into Harvard was simply appear for the Interview.

So, full of confidence, Opal appears before Harvard's Dean for her interview in August. But, then Life is not so simple ! Opal had practised umpteen number of times answers to standard questions like "Why do you want to come to Harvard?". However, the first question Dean Anderson asks her leaves her stumped, "What do you like to do for fun?". Opal had no answer to this question. The Dean tried to re - pharse his question with "What's your favorite activity (outside of school)?" and asks her about two of her closest friends. Opal is completely at a loss for words and suggests Mr. Muffy (who in reality was her Cat) as his closest friend. All this while, while growing up, Opal was too pre occupied with following HOWGIH religiously that she had no time for a normal life of a teenage girl. She had no fun activities, no friends, no Social Life... she lived and breathed just one Dream - HOWGIH and all her activities were directed towards this ONE goal. Opal breaks down in the middle of the interview, crying uncontrollably, as she realizes her Harvard dream is about to get shattered. Dean Anderson tells her, "... THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF SMART, HARDWORKING KIDS OUT THERE, BUT HARVARD ISN'T JUST LOOKING FOR HIGH EXAM SCORES AND FULL EXTRA - CURRICULAR SCHEDULES. HARVARD DOESN'T WANT A CAMPUS FULL OF AUTOMATONS. WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LIVE AND EXPERIENCE LIFE, AND NOT JUST ACCORDING TO A COURSE LOAD...." He does not reject Opal but advises her to find some balance between her academic and non - academic life, and then apply for Harvard again in January.

Opal's parents, especially her father, are at first devastated at this, but then we learn that the Mehtas have NEVER lost in Life and that the Mehtas NEVER EVER give up.So, out comes the latest plan HOWGAL (How Opal Will Get A Life), that would ensure that Opal has the necessary social Life to balance her academics.HOWGAL is implemented with some hilarious results that make for some comic reading. We later learn that Opal's father Amal had once formulated HAWGAG (How Amal Will Get A Girlfriend) that had led him to Opal's Mom and wedded bliss. So, everyone (Opal, Opal's Mom and Opal's Dad) firmly believed that HOWGAL was destined to be a Grand Success.

Well, whether HOWGAL actually manages to get Opal into Harvard or not, that's another Story ! You can find that out for yourself by actually reading the Novel. Its a good read, and the pace and panache with which Kaavya Vishwanathan has written this novel keeps you interested in the novel right through.

Apart from the narration and the comic turn of events, what I liked most about the novel was the message it conveys : (1) IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING, AND (2) ONE MUST ALWAYS LEARN TO BALANCE THE WORK / ACADEMIC LIFE WITH SOCIAL LIFE, ALLOWING YOURSELF TIME TO PAUSE FOR YOURSELF, TRYING TO TAKE OUT TIME FROM OUR PACKED AND ULTRA - TIGHT WORK / ACADEMIC SCHEDULES - SOME TIME EXCLUSIVELY FOR OURSELVES, FRIENDS AND FAMILIES - DOING THINGS WE REALLY ENJOY DOING, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE IN LIFE !

SO, RATHER THAN FINDING LIFE TOO GRIM AND TOUGH, IF ALL OF US TAKE SOME TIME TO ACTUALLY RELAX, AND UNWIND... TO ENJOY LIFE, WE'D BE ABLE TO PUT UP WITH LIFE'S TROUBLES AND TURBULENCES MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY !

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