Book Recommendation: Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale

Posted On August 5, 2025

Hi Readers, I read a book last weekend. Wasn’t expecting to finish it entirely in two days, but it had a hold over me. It’s a debut novel called Milk Teeth, and after reading it, I’ve found a new favorite author in Amrita Mahale. Since this was a debut novel, it also fit into one of the bonus prompts for Discovering India Readathon hosted on Instagram! So, here we are. Check out my thoughts on the book.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

Childhood allies Ira Kamat and Kartik Kini meet on the terrace of their building in Matunga, Mumbai. A meeting is in progress to decide the fate of the establishment and its residents. And the zeitgeist of the 1990s appears to have touched everyone and everything around them.

Ira is now a journalist on the civic beat, unearthing stories of corruption and indolence, and trying to push back memories of a lost love. Kartik works a corporate job with an MNC, and leads a secret, agonising, exhilarating second life. Between and around them throbs the living, beating heart of Mumbai, city of heaving inequities and limitless dreams.

Milk Teeth is subtle, incisive, unputdownable.

~~THOUGHTS~~

Milk Teeth comes across as the story of Ira and Karthik. But, it’s a story about Mumbai told via Ira and Karthik. The city that never sleeps. The land of opportunity. Maximum City. Aamchi Mumbai. What no one talks about is the city and its people’s many flaws casually ignored and masked under the love for the city. The book portrays that with such brilliance that while those flaws could still be casually ignored by some readers, its nuance will hit the right kind of readers.

Mumbai is central to diversity. Diverse ideas from diverse people. It is home to both locals and migrants; rich, poor and the middle class; all genders; all races and ethnicities. It’s very easy to write a story where you could highlight all of it in a very glaring manner making it the central theme. But what’s not so easy is to make it a central theme in such a nuanced manner that you would be tricked into believing that the theme was actually just a love story.

A girl and a boy who were friends all their lives, who lived in the same building, had the same race, had compatible families. It only made sense that they should get married. But they are not just that, are they? These things are not their entire identity. Ira is a journalist who has seen too much, has been a sponge to diverse ideas from those diverse people. So, it’s only natural that she would fall in love with a Muslim boy. Karthik is a management consultant who worked at a job he hated, but the society had put this notion in his head that he had to have his own flat, his own car, had to provide for his family. But, that’s not all he is, isn’t it? He also has another identity which he is afraid to reveal because people will not accept him.

People from different backgrounds scared of falling in love because the people they love will not be accepted by their families and friends and the ‘diverse’ society. People from different economic status wanting to live a better life, but being stalled because of people in an upper bracket of that economic status. Parents wanting their children’s happiness, but only if it aligns to their definition of happiness. All of this is captured in the novel in a very subtle way. Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. The land of opportunity. Maximum City. Aamchi Mumbai, but, to whom?

Milk Teeth is astounding. I started reading it, and I was immediately hooked to it. And, the weirdest thing is I can’t put a finger on what that factor was which made me glued to the book till I finished it. It has power and masterful writing. It has layered details which will make you introspect and maybe even take you to the root of all those layers. You will also love the characters, will celebrate in their joys and defend their wrongs. The fact that this is a debut novel made me respect the author even more. I would strongly recommend everyone to read it. I have rated Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale at 4.5/5 stars!

Until next time,