Single in a Hotel

Read Advaita Kala’s ‘Almost Single’ over the weekend. It is well written and can be called a page turner in the loosest sense of the word. But still, you would come away with an unfulfilled feeling, an incomplete experience, so to say.

First of all, the author needs to understand that writing under pseudonym on any industry is a no-no. You get caught in many ways. The way author has described the workings of a guest relation officer in a hotel industry leaves much to be desired.

She has rolled in jobs of receptionist, concierge, banquets, lobby manager and cash desk into an all-in-one guest relations executive (GRE) profile depending on her convenience. A GRE does not handle lobby activities in a five star hotel, a lobby manager does. Neither does she handle wedding preparations, however important the guest is. No self-respecting banquet manager would let a GRE step on his toes! Neither does she exchange money, even if it is for a prominent Pakistani cricketer. The hotel operators are definitely not termed ‘bitches on switches’, neither do they behave like ones. And eavesdropping on conversations will get them a pink slip in less than 5 minutes in any hotel. And these are just a few instances!

Apart from this, there are discrepancies in the lifestyle followed by the protagonist. One can’t afford regular Sunday brunches in hotels and frequent night outs in clubs on a GRE’s salary, however loose the purse strings of friends are! And there are just too many coincidences throwing the hero and heroine together, but I guess it is necessary to keep the story moving.

Advaita has given very interesting shades to her characters, more to add color to her book than for any other reason. Most hotel girls I know, and I know quite a few, don’t belong to the category she has created for them – smoking and boozing with abandon. Perhaps 2% girls would belong to this category. The rest are thorough professionals, trained for the job in the umpteen mushrooming hotel management institutes across India trying to earn an honest day’s living.

All in all, do read the book but please don’t get carried away by descriptions stereotyping the hotel industry and its women professionals. In the real world, they are not so.

The book review has been written by one my close buddies, Anju Makin. You can reach her at anjumakin@gmail.com.