The Zoya Factor,
Anuja Chauhan
HarperCollins India, Rs 295

Single, young woman determinedly searches for Mr Right. That species being extinct — or gay and married — there’s a lot of angst to deal with. Enter friends, wit and retail therapy. And before the plot and the fun ends, a scrumptious mate too. Chick lit for you. To that concoction, Anuja Chauhan, author of The Zoya Factor and the adwoman who has given us lines like “Nothing official about it” and “Yeh dil mange more”, adds the authentic Indian fizz, cricket.
You have curly-haired chubby-cheeked Karol Bagh-type Zoya Singh Solanki, a client-servicing executive in love with the “fascinating, unabashedly shallow world” of advertising. Before she can start brooding about her single status — in the time-honoured tradition of chick-lit heroines, Zoya finds herself in the middle of managing an ad campaign with the Boys in Blue. After a breakfast with the cricketers during the ICC Champions Trophy, the secret is out. Zoya, born at the moment India won the Prudential World Cup on June 25, 1983, is a cricket goddess — the team that eats with her, licks the rivals clean. The Indian cricket board sends her to World Cup 2011 as the official lucky mascot. Only, Captain Nikhil Lodha, with cute butt, “Boost-brown eyes”, the earnestness of a Nike ad and a soft spot for our heroine, is furious.

Chauhan has an ear for dialogue and the hybrid language of urban India crackles in her hands, though she gets carried away sometimes. The ensemble characters, mostly drawn from reality, keep you on a fun guessing game. There’s Birendra Singh, the motor-mouth commentator; Zahid Pathan, the fast bowler with Greek-god looks; Jogpal Lohia, the venal head of the cricket board and even an Australian coach whose angry e-mail gets leaked.

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