Delve into the mind of a teenager, one called Veerapen Prendrapen who’s all of 15, lives in Surrey, is half-Tamil and half-Jew, the fastest athlete in his school and has just returned from burying his ex girlfriend-of-long-time— Moon.

A misfit, loyal friend and complex character ‘V-pen’ tells you his life story in a tone that interests you at times, but threatens to leave you feeling depressed at most others.

You learn all about what makes him tick; his ally Jason who has demons of his own to face; an allegedly paedophile running coach; his mother who was abandoned by his dad for an optician; the ‘other man’ in Moon’s life and the dangerous activities that our young protagonist relies on for a high.

This does not mean that he doesn’t indulge in average teenage pursuits. The drunken parties, junk food fests, pre-occupation with hi-tech gadgets, scouting music stores for pop music, ‘making out’ whenever possible... are all very much there.

You find yourself caring about V-pen when you least expect to. The careless reading is suddenly shifting shape as the casual yet interesting writing style in the book begins to become more and more important.

There is a back and forth movement in the narrative whose primary objective is to unravel the tragic circumstances under which Moon lost her life. Sadly, the climax is on the lines of a cheesy Bollywood potboiler. It fails to fulfil the dreams that you had for it and tends to disappoint.

The first person narrative and the teenage turbulence angle that you encounter in ‘Graffiti my soul’ leaves you, on occasions more than one, comparing V-pen to Holden Caulfield of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and wondering if the legendary icon for teenage worries and rebellion was an inspiration of sorts to the author of this novel.

Govinden’s hero is no doubt much more intense, but the book ends just like that and it simply doesn’t feel right. Since author Niven Govinden is just a-novel-old, barring this particular one, it is rather easy to grant him another chance at impressing you.

Graffiti my soul
Niven Govinden
Penguin Books
Pages 219, Price 275