Saira Zariwala Is Afraid

For the longest time, I used to have a weakness for Indian Young Adult books in urban settings with strong (mostly female) teen protagonists. One of those I continued to hold on to, long after I’d outgrown my awkward late adolescent phase, was What Maya Saw by Shabnam Minwalla. This being a strikingly ornate mystery with its battle between superficial-but-shadowy cool and true good — which also doubled as a love letter to Mumbai, and a far more intricate one than Lonely Planet. It remains among my all-time favourite books of the 2010s.A couple of years later, the next such book from the author, Saira Zariwala Is Afraid — with its subtle, sinister WhatsApp-inspired cover — kept popping up in my Kindle recommendations. But I resisted the urge to buy it, trying to not be swept up into another murky Mumbai mystery pitting good kids (um, teenagers) against glamorous, evil forces. Until one Saturday in July 2023, at three in the morning, I didn’t. (Best decision ever.) And then went as far as ordering the physical book from Amazon.in and shipping it all the way to my home in Singapore. (BEST. DECISION. EVER.)The titular character best sums up her life in an opening chapter: ‘I am Saira Zariwala. My father is a Hindu. My mother is a Muslim. My brother is a pain. I am an Indian. (Her religion, by the way.)’ This kid — Shabnam’s first attempt at first-person narration — then locks you inside the crazy theatre of her head with her pacy, racy, self-deprecating horror-humour, and doesn’t let you out till you’ve spent a good four hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon watching this matinee murder mystery. I don’t think you could ask for a much better narrator than her, what with her deftly walking the tightrope (don’t let her fall!) of mastering teenage lingo and trying to fit in among the cool kids, amidst the grave threat to her life.From her humdrum Dadar home, where nosy neighbours are too close for comfort, to the safe dullness of ninth-grade life which is then thrown headlong into a scandalous murder case — this girl gets the essence of living in Mumbai as an awkward teen down pat, and then some. And the dialogues are as devilishly delicious as they come — I’ve made a list of them, they’re that awesome. Cultural references range from The Police (whose songs’ lyrics are big clues on their own) to Ogden Nash’s ‘prepoceros’ to Hindi songs from Aaiye Meherbaan to Jai Ho. And food items are as diverse as Haribos (Happy Cherries, Cream Kiss, Berries), Hershey’s Kisses, sriracha honey noodles and apricot-flavoured KitKats. Sometimes I felt like this was an everyday girl’s journal with a murder mystery tossed in!You ask: but what’s a good horror book without things that make you shiver and shudder? Saira’s been afraid of heights — and kids falling to their deaths — all her childhood, and only after numerous rounds of hush-hushed counselling for her anxiety fits did her life return to semi-normal. But there’s much more at stake: a missing actor called Akaash Mehrotra, whose phone number has now become hers; a villainous ‘Listener’ who has her/his/their eyes on every misstep of hers; a swish set of young, flippant Bollywood actors who care only about flaunting the good life; her annoying-but-loyal BFF Tia and her frenemy-of-sorts Amara, and so much more in this spicy, scalding cauldron of intrigue.If there were a book that completely portrays how it is to be both naïve and brave, both scared and sassy — in short every unsure teen ever — in the depths of Dadar and the pavements of Prabhadevi and also the hoity-toity rich kids’ circles of Bollywood, this is that supercalifragilisticexpialidocious book. (As you can expect with Saira’s mastery over the English language. I want her to start her own Spotify podcast of murder stories, with yummy treats thrown inside!)

Had fun reading this book. I am not usually a reader of YA books, but then the few I have read are not set in India and perhaps that could be the reason. This book, though, reeled me in right from the beginning. I loved being a part of Saira's life and her adventures and was missing my school days as I read the book (not that I had any adventures, but still). Saira is a relatable character and the story is fairly played out, with nothing so extraordinary that would feel beyond the realm of a teen's capabilities. Of course, we need to suspend our disbelief, but the book doesn't strain it. Recommended YA mystery!

Till the end you won't be able to find,who actually the listener is... Excellent narration..Best work done by shabnam till now.. Definitely a movie should be made on this plot..It's a treat to read.. Worth reading 👍👍👌👌😊😊

Great plot with unexpected twists and turns and a scary ending! Great mystery detective fiction for teens! Shabnam apart from being a fabulous writer, really understands the young.

The adrenalin was coursing through her body, and her heart was slamming against her ribs. Saira Zariwala was very, very afraid. To top things off, there was a crazed killer after her, and they'd already drawn blood.Saira Zariwala is Afraid is a terrifyingly thrilling book. It's had me captivated since I picked up its heavily WhatsApp-influenced cover and flipped it open. It hits you in the face with a quick (Long) round of introductions, starting off by listing what Saira likes (Inclusive of Siddharth Sen of Grade 10), what she hates, what she's good at, and what she's rotten at. Tiring, I know.Now, where were we? Ah yes, she was afraid. For both her own life, and the lives of her family and friends. There was some kind of Bad Doll- obsessed psycho killer after... What? Saira had just got this random number, she had never had anything to do with anyone! Except for Amara.What will she do next? She should have just changed her phone number and forgotten the whole thing. She did the exact opposite.Saira Zariwala is Afraid is a well presented, well-written story, twisting and turning, folding in on itself, and the clues are absolutely everywhere and all over the place. Which is a good thing. It had me confused till the ending, the finale. And even that was confusing. And where does Siddharth Sen of Grade 10 feature, I'd like to know?Overall, it has a nice, charged story. Well-woven, well-mapped, and topped with excellent characters, I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a little of the supernatural, maybe a teaspoon or two of ghostly haunting and horror, in a brilliantly brewed murder mystery. Kudos to Shabnam Minwalla, this was a brilliant read. I couldn't put it down.

It is a nice one-time read. Not a gripping page-turner, but entertaining.