Book Review: The Happiness Train

“After all happiness means different things to different people, don’t they?”

- The Happiness Train

This book I am reviewing is all about happiness, and like the quote said, it means different things to different people. For you it would have been that tasty ice-cream you ate yesterday and for me, I got this brand new book, The Happiness Train!

This book tells you that happiness isn’t always what you expect. For the boy in the story, Suraj, he thinks he finds joy in this special train, the happiness train he calls it. He boards the train one day, ignoring his loving sister Radha’s warnings and finds out that he is a prisoner in the train led by Bandook Singh, Heera Lal and his cruel band of crooks, along with three other boys like him. Their names are Chotu, Murali, and Asad. But is there a secret person in the train who can help the boys escape to victory?

Now let’s talk about the book’s characters. The protagonist in this story is Suraj. He is often quite impatient, he rushes to the train blindly without thinking. One of the positive qualities he has is leadership. While he and the boys had to cook dinner for the men, Suraj took charge, and even though the dinner wasn’t that good, he led them clearly.

Radha, Suraj’s sister is brave and loyal to the people she likes. She followed Suraj in the train and rushed to save his brother, but unlike Suraj himself, she thought before she acted and was careful not to get caught.

Each of the three boys in the story have a different personality. Murali, is quite foolish and likes doing things that other people find absurd. Asad is not very clever either but is the bravest of the lot. And Chotu may be short but never underestimate his size.

In this book, there is twist after twist. First, Radha reveals herself as the mysterious person on board the train who tries to rescue the boys. And then while they try to escape, Radha gets carried away by mysterious black horsemen. When the boys escape without Radha again, they reach the king and tell him about the cruel men. It turns out that the king himself ordered these men to capture children and is evil. The final and the most exciting twist is that, the horsemen who took Radha away, were none other than Suraj’s parents and fellow villagers who had come to save them. This book is, in a good way, twisted with events!

In the book I noticed that the author, Nandini Nayar, has highlighted gender issues. They aren’t noticed much, but when you look very closely, you will find out. Radha tells Suraj how he envied him. He got to go and play along with his father and enjoy the outdoors while Radha had to work all day long with her mother. Boys got less work than girls. Nowadays it’s not true though. Both girls and boys get equal amount of work without pressure.