Decoded by Sheeba Sojanar is a novel about an autistic child who comes to earth from a different planet ‘Trappists’. She decodes many aspects of life while living with two families and stumbling upon a few more people. She found people of earth heading towards destruction due to no self-honesty and indulging into treachery and false pretences for their own interests and benefits.
The lead character is a girl named Vidhuna, she was born in 2167 on the planet Trappists. That planet is way advanced than earth in all aspects. In 2167 the earth is a history, it has been destructed due to nuclear war and there is no life. However, Vidhuna was a misfit on her own planet. Her father being a good man, sends her on a time travel she wished to live in 2016 on earth. The premises and early chapters of the novel totally give a feel of bumpy science fiction with some fantasy chills. However, as I and Vidhuna settle down in earth we came across our daily commonplace hue and cry that grips the human race of earth.
With Vidhuna in 2016 on earth, the novel is contemporary in its stance, with high voltage family drama unfolding at the echelons of society and its allied people. For Vidhuna the earth was screwed up place with people like Theo, Ranjan, Manju, etc. She reads their intentions and misdeeds, guided them for righteousness but to no avail. She was a stranger to earth, unable to grasp its working system, and why people here live with so much discontent and greed.
Family drama of Theo and Rosa was subtle and had pretences of love. On the other hand, Ranjan and Manju were beyond repair, the husband was a womanizer, and the wife was cringing on many small things. But the bone of contention was their autistic son Revanth. Ranjan wasn’t happy about it. And Manju wanted a happy life with that child. And Vidhuna was a sort of a mediator for all of them. She experiences pain, sorrow, glimpses of happiness, death, misery…and much more. It was all new to her.
The novel’s story of every household is common but its nature is mix of sci-fi and contemporary. She took care of Revanth in improvising his mental stability. It was a lesson for Manju and Ranjan but hardly had they time to come out of their own set of ego clashes and pathetic miseries.
You could read this book in one go. I did so. The novel begins as something else, courses through common societal issues that aren’t pacified by mutual understanding and ends on a sad note. Understanding self-destruction of life is quite evident in the novel. Despite a sci-fi starter, the novel is highly valued as social awakening. The author built an aura of charm and being special with autistic children through Vidhuna and Revvi. Interesting yet meaningful, Decoded by Sheeba is a profound read of its own type.
If you liked the review and feel curious about novel, please pick up your copy from Amazon/Kindle.
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