“The Diary On The Fifth Floor By Raisha Lalwani”
The Diary on the Fifth Floor is not just a story about a girl dealing with her issues. This book is about our society and how we are all going through similar experiences. The book is about the lack of emotions in our everyday interactions. It is about our inability to emote & express ourselves. We hear stories from friends & family, from our neighbors. They aren’t pleasant so we express our sympathy & then forget about them. Writing gave me an emotional outlet to express these deep-seated feelings of our everyday struggle, of our joys, of our loneliness & our longings
The Diary on the Fifth Floor is a fascinating tale of a 25 year old woman that takes hold of us from the moment she enters the hospital; more precisely, the 5th floor. Visibly terrified, she clutches at her cloth bound Diary, caught in the horns of a terrible dilemma, whether or not to hand over the diary to the doctor. She fears that she will be declared insane if her tangled web of thoughts, unspooling in dark mysterious stories is read by the dissecting eye of a doctor.
What does this diary contain?
As the novel progresses, we are drawn into characters & stories that are toe curling, strange & haunting in their raw intensity. What is the story of this woman? What secrets lie in the pages of her Diary?
What happens on the fifth floor?
The book revolves around one single question. It is not asked upfront but has been sent out in the void & resurfaces at the end of every chapter
Raisha Lalwani elabores on her novel, “Having lived in Bombay, Jaipur, Delhi & Dubai, life has been one long travel tale! I went to a bunch of schools in different cities & most of my experiences, friends & memories revolve around these cities. After having graduated from The University of Delhi, I decided to test the waters of International Business. When I started writing, it was without any distinct goal in mind. Some write for money, others as a hobby, I write for peace & quiet it brings me. Writing was how I could express myself & it has made me braver than I thought I could be.
It is funny how “nocturnal” was the 1st ever word that came to my mind when I thought about who I am. Whether it was studying for my Board exams back in the year 2004 or working on my book all these years later, I feel my mind is more active during the later hours of the evening. Like my husband says, I am a “homemaker” by day & a writer by night.”
