A love story inked with henna tints

Sometimes small acts of courage can make a huge difference in life. The main protagonist in author Andaleeb Wajid’s novel, The Henna Start-up is 17-year-old Abir Maqsood. Abir is a rebellious and enterprising teenager, who has a 5-year-plan and then a 10-year planner sorted out for her life. The only hitch is that her over-protective parents from a conservative middle-class family have plans for her too. And their plans are worlds apart. They want her to get married to a ‘decent’ and ‘settled man’, while Abir wants to pursue higher studies, focus on her career and carve a niche for herself.

In addition to that, there is college life, peer pressure, nosy relatives, and a sweet distraction in the form of Arsalan, a charming boy from her college. Abir hates him because she thinks he is a player. However, the enemies turn into lovers while developing a start-up app.

Abir’s mother is a talented henna artist. She draws intricate henna designs on women’s palms to earn some side income. But one day, Abir sees her mother with a forlorn look. On questioning her, she gathers that somebody had again not paid her mother for her henna services. That’s when the penny drops. She decides to develop a henna start-up app for her mother.

Incidentally, her college is running a young student start-up programme. Abir pitches her henna start-up app idea. With sheer grit and determination, she glides over the bumpy road to success.

Author Andaleeb breathes a soul into all her characters, be it Arsalan, Abir’s sister, her best pal Keerthi or her simple parents with their middle-class values. Amidst Abir and Arsalan’s teenage YA banter, the author seamlessly blends in social messages — right to education, freedom of expression and personal choices in the storyline.

The YA romance is cool like freshly designed henna on the palms of your hands. It gets under your skin and leaves lasting impressions at least for a week or two!