The Happy Fruit Adventures by Hari Ram Narayanan

“ This must sound different from

 What you’ve been told,

 Something may not glitter,

 And still be gold!”

 

The Happy Fruit Adventures is a fantasy novel about two 19 year old boys named Abider and Deviator, who begin their journey in the Jungle of Life in order to get their hands on the ‘Fruit of Happiness’ on a tree that grows on ‘Mount Goal’. Before beginning their journey, they meet Master Experience, who tells them to follow the straight Path to get to their destination. After both boys, begin their journey, they come across many creatures and inhabitants of the jungle, both good and bad and they face many struggles and challenges and tasks and whether they are able to get the fruit of happiness or not is what this story is about.

This is a light and feel good story that comes with moral lessons about life. Both, Abider and Deviator represent different approaches to life. Many a times, we stand at the crossroads where the choice lies between going for what is right or going for what seems tempting and easy. Abider and Deviator, through their decisions, teach us the result of both the choices. This allegorical story has many other characters that represent both good and bad choices and personality traits. The name of each and every character in this story tells you what that character represents.

As you read this book, you get a good idea of of where the story is headed but that still makes you want to read it as it is always a lovely experience to revisit the lessons that seem to be getting lost these days. The story in this book made me nostalgic as I was reminded of my childhood when I used to read simple and sweet fantasy stories that used to make me so happy. The Happy Fruit Adventures gave me a very similar reading experience.

Both Deviator and Abider face their fair share of challenges and through their respective journeys, the story shows how life is never easy even when you make the supposedly easier choices and that the difficult choice often yields a long term positive result. The story in general has a very positive impact on the reader and one of my favourite parts in the story was the situation towards the end that involved this scary and ugly monster which seemed invincible. One character that I really liked was that of Blossoms and I loved the concept of her flowers.

The presentation of this book is very impressive. The pages are made pretty with the help of some super cute illustrations. This is the kind of book that one can easily gift to one’s niece/nephew to encourage them to read. The story with it’s happy cheery vibe has a definite appeal for a reader and it will be more so for any child. 

The innocence of this story makes you smile and that makes it a good read.

 

My Rating - 4/5 stars

Want to get your hands on this book? Get it here.