tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14338007636835496902024-03-13T20:40:43.580+05:30At Pemberley'Just the knowledge that a good book is waiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier'- Kathleen NorrisKalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-55021596964866191482012-05-15T18:03:00.000+05:302012-05-16T05:31:47.407+05:30Explaining a long break<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's hard to explain an eight-month-long hiatus without starting with an apology for both the break and not informing any interested readers about it. But as it happens, it was a fruitful eight months spent studying for a postgraduate degree in Politics and International Relations: a fascinating experience which has helped me learn more in eight months than I had in the last couple of years. I've been so busy reading non-fiction: academic journals, articles and books that the number of novels I've read during this time has been embarrassingly low (which explains my reluctance to blog). But the fiction I did read was wonderful (<i>I Capture the Castle</i> by Dodie Smith is without a doubt one of my all-time favourite books now, I adored <i>Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day</i>) and the non-fiction was inspirational and thought-provoking (Michael Billig's <i>Banal Nationalism</i>, Ashis Nandy's <i>The Romance of the State</i>, Srirupa Roy's <i>Beyond Belief: India and the Politics of Postcolonial Nationalism, </i>among others).<br />
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My areas of interest would have been very obvious to anybody who has read my blog: Indian history (especially the colonial Raj and Partition), politics and diplomacy. I've been focusing on these very topics during my studies and it has been a wonderful learning experience that has lead to a passion for understanding postcolonialism, nationalism, gender in politics and foreign policy and the annoying habit of trying to slip in the word 'subaltern' as much as I can (as you can see..).<br />
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I will be busy with my thesis/dissertation for the next couple of months and therefore, I cannot promise to be back to blogging as usual. But I do hope to share what I'm reading (and my thoughts about it) in the coming weeks/months, possibly in a new blog (Wordpress? Tumblr?).<br />
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Thank you to those who messaged me/left comments saying they missed my blog posts and asking me if I was alright. It was touching to know that people enjoyed reading my blog so much. I hope all my favourite readers and bloggers have been doing great. I certainly missed reading the classics and genres I so adore and blogging about it, but I'm very thankful for everything I have been learning during this break.<br />
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Edited this post to add that I have just <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/india-book-recommendations.html">updated my list of India-related book recommendations</a> with the best books I have been reading recently. Do check it out (and feel free to leave any suggestions you have)!</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-15070070719115734672011-09-08T11:47:00.002+05:302011-09-08T12:00:15.407+05:30Mansfield Park - Jane Austen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Rating: </b>7/10</div>
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Simultaneously referred to as the <a href="http://betterbooktitles.com/post/1488005453/mansfield">toughest to read, most uninteresting</a>, most controversial of Austen's popular six novels, Mansfield Park is all that and more. The story of good, honest, mildly annoying Fanny Price, moralizing, more annoying, incredibly boring Edmund Bertram is one of an unlikely hero and a heroine, a far cry from the Elizabeth Bennets and the Captain Wentworths of the Austen world. Indeed the two other major characters of Mansfield Park, the glamorous and utterly fascinating brother and sister duo of Henry and Mary Crawford are far more interesting. </div>
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However, Mansfield Park is easily the most intriguing of Austen's books, for it tends to be the antithesis of Pride and Prejudice. The setting is so much more grim, realistic, and despite the tongue in cheek commentary and ridiculously brilliant comic interludes in the form of Mrs. Norris, remains a far cry from the unabashed entertainment of Pride and Prejudice. Indeed, the heroine of Mansfield Park is more a Mary than Elizabeth Bennet and it wouldn't be a stretch to compare Edmund's sermons to Mr.Collins'. </div>
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For the reader expecting a conventional Austen tale, this is a rather incredible experience: a love story where it is easier to like the 'adversaries' and their charm,wit rather than the protagonists to whom you wouldn't mind saying the Regency-equivalent of 'Please loosen up'.</div>
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The Bertrams of Mansfield Park offer a home for their relative Fanny Price, away from the chaos and problems of her own family. Constantly shown her place by her aunt Mrs.Norris, Fanny grows up timid and shy, with only her cousin Edmund to offer her comfort and real care. As the charming Crawfords capture the imagination and hearts of her cousins, Fanny isn't too sure of her feelings towards them. </div>
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Much like most of the inhabitants of Mansfield Park, the reader too is likely to be enamoured by Henry and Mary Crawford. Therefore, when Austen sets up the book as Fanny and Edmund vs Henry and Mary, with Henry professing attachment for Fanny as Edmund does for Mary, she plays with the sympathies of the reader. Mansfield Park challenges the traditional notions of a likable heroine and a hero everyone is ready to fall in love with. </div>
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I will be the first to admit that reading Mansfield Park wasn't all easy going. While the typical wondrous satire of Austen is sure to keep one entertained, the fact that I wasn't all that emotionally invested in many of the main characters might have dampened my excitement. Like all of Austen's works, Mansfield Park is eminently quotable:</div>
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<i>"But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them."</i></div>
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<i>"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."</i></div>
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<i>"In a review of the two houses, as they appeared to her before the end of a week, Fanny was tempted to apply to them Dr. Johnson's celebrated judgment as to matrimony and celibacy, and say, that though Mansfield Park might have some pains, Portsmouth could have no pleasures."</i></div>
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<i>"An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over, and she feels that she may exert al her powers of pleasing without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged; no harm can be done" </i></div>
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As for the characters, Mrs.Norris is an incredible creation of comic genius. Exasperating to the point of calling Mrs.Bennet subtle and restrained, pointlessly wicked and mind-numbingly petty and miserly, she is an unforgettable character. [Part of me thinks that Austen made Edmund marry Fanny precisely because Mrs Norris predicts early in the book that they won't] Deservedly, she finds a place among <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-100-favourite-fictional-characters-as-chosen-by-100-literary-luminaries-526971.html">100 favourite fictional characters as chosen by 100 literary luminaries</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 13px;">. </span></span>Sally Beauman picked Mrs.Norris and provided us with a spot-on description:</div>
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<i>"Mrs Norris in the glittering satire Mansfield Park, is Austen's most profound, subtle portrait of the banality of evil"</i></div>
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Mansfield Park is a rude shock to the reader who has imagined Austen as exemplified by the unforgettable Elizabeth-Darcy romance. Which is what, in my opinion, makes it mandatory reading for Austen fans. You might not adore the book, but it is worth reading for being a brave, unconventional satire. Mansfield Park would also make an excellent book club read, for the simple fact that there is so much to discuss: everything from how on earth Edmund thinks he could '..persuade her that her warm, sisterly regard for him would be foundation enough for wedded love' to what would happen if Mrs.Norris ever knew she inspired an annoying cat.</div>
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Recommended reading, to understand Mansfield Park better: <a href="http://www.lynn-shepherd.com/blog/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-fanny-price/">How do you solve a problem like Fanny Price?</a> by Lynn Shepherd</div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-59900626659545301632011-08-10T11:39:00.000+05:302011-08-10T11:39:17.075+05:30An Irony To Remember: Passports before Partition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've always believed that one of the most fascinating things for a history buff is to spot and acknowledge the many ironies in history. Not just because they give us a chance to compare and contrast, but because they give us an idea of how much we have derailed from what many of our ancestors took for granted. These ironies also provide us a guiding light, if we show the courage to remember and learn from the past.<br />
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The history of the partition of British India and the birth of the two nation states of India and Pakistan is one that is littered with remarkable stories and ironies. Here's one that I'd like to share:<br />
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To quote Mahatma Gandhi is a national obsession of sorts, and not without reason. Everyone eagerly quotes the need to 'be the change' and not take 'an eye for an eye', to 'hate the sin and love the sinner'. However, some Gandhi quotes seem less sacred than others, even when they are arguably more significant. In fact, perhaps because they are more significant and slightly more inconvenient. Case in point:<br />
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<i>“I do not consider Pakistan and India as two different countries. If I have to go to the Punjab, I am not going to ask for a passport. And I shall go to Sind also without a passport and I shall go walking. Nobody can stop me.”</i><br />
<i>[<a href="http://ltrc.iiit.ac.in/gwiki/index.php/Collected_Works/Volume_95/Speech_At_Prayer_Meeting_(34)">Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Speech at Prayer Meeting, 16th June 1947</a>]</i><br />
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The India-Pakistan border is today <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/the_worlds_most_dangerous_borders?page=0,2">one of the most dangerous borders in the world</a> and boasts of rigorous, strict visa regimes on both sides. The two neighbours have fought several wars and are deeply distrustful of each other. Indeed, it is hard to reconcile the fact that anyone could have ever thought of going to Sindh from Delhi without a passport. And before people dismiss this as the rantings of a disappointed old man, it is important to point out that Gandhi wasn't the only one to think so.<br />
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<i>"In the summer of 1947 few could appreciate the full connotations of the division which would ultimately result in some of the harshest border regulations in the world; <b>indeed one newspaper headline read ‘Passport rules believed to be needless at present’</b></i><i> [The Great Partition, Yasmin Khan]</i><br />
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Strange and quite overwhelming for those of us born long after independence, on either side of the border, to imagine this was even considered possible. The horrors of Partition are vital to understanding India and Pakistan. But equally important is the need to understand sentiments that prevailed in the lead-up to August 1947 and how Independence, Partition and its aftermath changed them.</div>
Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-77348454983118297842011-08-05T19:20:00.005+05:302011-08-05T19:30:55.672+05:30Imagine this scenario<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You are a British judge who agrees to draw the line that will, in essence, partition the two sensitive regions of Bengal and Punjab through the Boundary Commission and thereby create the maps of India and Pakistan. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You've never been to India and you're landing in India only to decide how to divide her best. Apparently, the British Government in India thought this was a smart idea since it proved your neutrality. But how can you decide to partition an area you've never even visited? They had an answer: maps. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Image via <a href="http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2002_01-03/chester_partition/chester_partition.html">The 1947 Partition: Drawing the Indo-Pakistani Border by Lucy Chester</a></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So imagine yourself using the 20th century equivalent of Google Maps to draw the borders of new countries. That's sort of what happened. It would have been a fun thing, to take a pencil, ponder over a map and draw a line where you think is best. But sadly, this was all too real and all too serious, where a flick of the pencil and a line drawn slightly slanted, gave birth to conflicts and disputes that exist till date. A rather dubious, slipshod way for two new nation states to be born, boundaries decided by a man who has never even visited the villages his Line broke into parts.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now let's see the material at your disposal to help you decide which regions go to which country: a census that was six years out of date. At a time when small populations had already moved from place to place, rendering any census quite irrelevant.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And oh, your decision will impact about 88 million people at that time, and thousands thereafter. No pressure. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you thank your lucky stars that you never were in that awful position, here's the name of the man who was: Sir Cyril Radcliffe. The man who gave his name to a line that partitioned India and Pakistan, the Radcliffe Line. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wiki informs me that Sir Cyril <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Radcliffe refused his salary of 40000 rupees a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">fter seeing the mayhem occurring on both sides of the boundary that was created by him. The least he could do, I would imagine, after the guilt of that rather thankless job.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i>{Radcliffe line facts found in Yasmin Khan's<b> The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan</b> are predominantly used here}</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Recommended Reading: <a href="http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2002_01-03/chester_partition/chester_partition.html">Drawing the Indo-Pakistani Boundary</a></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i> by Lucy Chester.</i></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i>This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts about Partition and the Indian struggle for Independence, </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><i> as India and Pakistan get ready to celebrate their independence days.</i></span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-2712970706398469302011-07-14T21:14:00.004+05:302011-07-15T02:03:20.711+05:30Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every once in a while there comes a book which tackles serious, crucial issues in a seemingly effortless fashion, with heart and elegance. <i>Major Pettigrew's Last Stand</i> is one such heart-warming tale. Set in the beautiful English countryside, in the village of Edgecombe St. Mary, this is the story of a 68 year old retired English Major falling in love with the charming 58 year old Pakistani shopkeeper Mrs.Ali. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the two find companionship, friendship and love, we realise theirs is no ordinary love story. It is one that is trapped in the conflict of rigid traditions and suspicion on either side, multiculturalism facing its litmus test in the face of subtle yet piercing racism.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Helen Simonson writes like a dream; a dream that brings to life the quaint countryside and the quirks and eccentricities of its people with great wit and charm. Major Pettigrew and Mrs.Ali, united by the loss of their loved ones, their love of literature, make a fascinating couple. The Major is very much a traditionalist (he cannot bear to hear his son use the Royal family as the punchline of a joke), chivalrous, sarcastic and quite hard to dislike. In many a way, Major Pettigrew might be the older version of the oft-referred quintessential 'English gentleman'. Simonson paints a character who despite his stereotypical dislike of certain things/people (his son's American girlfriend whom he initially dislikes mostly for just the fact that she's an American), will grow to accept and adore them once he gets to know them better. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mrs.Ali is a wonderful character: a staunch liberal, she firmly believes in making her own decisions, is unfailingly polite but won't put up with the disdain of others. The Major and Mrs.Ali are the kind of people who would make wonderful dinner guests: charming, courteous and most likely to provide intelligent conversations on everyone from Kipling to Johnson.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What makes <i>Major Pettigrew's Last Stand </i>special is how beautifully it focuses on the simple joys of life, while delving into complex issues of immense importance: the multicultural experience, how the British society reacts to people who hail from former colonies, racism. Simonson is a delightful, incredibly witty, very quotable writer who handles sensitive themes such as multicultural relationships, falling in love after 60 with understated elegance and respect. Her exquisite turn of phrase is captivating:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>'Garden gates and driveways gave glimpses of well-stocked gardens and thick lawns studded with clover clumps and dandelions. He liked the clover, evidence of the country always pressing in close, quietly sabotaging anyone who tried to manicure nature into suburban submission' </i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Comparisons with Jane Austen ,which is what drew me to this book in the first place, are justified, for Simonson makes sparkling satirical observations on society. Indeed Austen would be proud of this line:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Major Pettigrew's Last Stand</i> is a triumph for how skilfully it interweaves the customs of an English village with the warmth and tensions that come with the breeze of multiculturalism in modern day Britain. As Mrs. Ali points out so beautifully in my most favourite book quote in a long time, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>'A couple may have nothing in common but the colour of their skin and the country of their ancestors, but the whole world would see them as compatible.' </i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Reading this book is as pleasant as drinking endless cups of your favourite blend of tea. If you're in the mood for a tale that demolishes the notions that all 'feel good' stories are light and frivolous, this is the best choice. <i>Major Pettigrew's Last Stand</i> is sure to brighten your day.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[P.S I've heard there are talks going on for making this book into a movie. I'm looking forward to it, for this story should lend itself beautifully to adaptation for the screen!]</span></div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-10141815364733694152011-07-03T20:13:00.008+05:302011-07-18T01:10:24.618+05:30Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire - Rajmohan Gandhi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is omnipresent today: the most recognised Indian in the world and a mandatory reference name for almost everyone speaking of peace. You can find him peering at his people from crisp Indian money notes, looking down from portraits in government offices, smiling from <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/mahatma+gandhi+gifts">T shirts and flairs</a>, repackaged for a new generation, and quoted so often that it would probably make him dizzy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">The simplistic saintly Mahatma (Great Soul) of our textbooks, is a depiction that does no justice to the immense complexities and controversies that Mohandas Gandhi faced and overcame. For what makes Gandhi so great is not the fact that he was flawless. Gandhi's place among the most unforgettable men of the millennium came from the fact that he was greater than the flaws that he tried valiantly to overcome. The Mahatma is an outstanding example of the greatness that human beings can aspire to.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Rajmohan Gandhi's magnum opus biography of his grandfather Mohandas is a stunning, beautiful, unforgettable, emotional passage to understanding Bapu, one that takes your breath away as it reveals the sheer magnitude of what Gandhi lived through and achieved.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Mohandas' childhood in Gujarat, where he grew up watching his mother fast on religious occasions, where his nurse Rambha taught him to recite the holy name of Lord Rama whenever he was nervous, where he resolved that he would go out of his way to make Muslim friends, even if he didn't make many Hindu friends, is far more important than people probably think. As we can see, events of his childhood instilled the beliefs that would inspire him while leading a nation. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">A fashionable Mohandas went to London to study to become a barrister. Vegetarianism, agnosticism, love and respect for friends of different cultures and religions enchanted him. He wanted all citizens of the Empire to be treated equally and many aspects of the English way of life inspired him.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">But it was South Africa that marked the biggest turning point of his life. As <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/arts/books/article412191.ece">Nelson Mandela</a> would later say, <i>“You gave us Mohandas; we returned him to you as Mahatma Gandhi”</i>. Facing up to racism and injustice to the Indian community in South Africa, the lawyer Mohandas wrote to newspapers opposing unjust laws and traditions. And more importantly, protested and mobilized several people to protest non-violently. Tolstoy farm, where 'untouchables', people of many religions and countries would live and work together, was a big inspiration for Gandhi. Traits of what India would see Gandhi present to her as solutions to long-suffered problems, are visible already. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">India soon called for her prodigal son and his return to his homeland changed India forever. Travelling third class to discover the real India, Gandhi was clear of the three issues he would focus on: Hindu-Muslim unity, bridging the shameful gap between upper caste Hindus and 'untouchables' and preparing the country, from the villages, to be worthy of freedom. These were issues that would haunt India in the lead-up to Partition and he was prescient enough to understand that very early. Satyagraha and ahimsa became his 'weapons' of choice, as he rejuvenated a party of elite lawyers and urged the Congress to really represent the millions who toiled in the villages of India.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">The political Gandhi was born out of necessity. For there was little social and religious reform he could do without sorting out the politics of India. Gandhi was the hero of Champaran, the initiator of non-cooperation, the controversial creator of Quit India, the exquisite strategist, publicist of the Dandi March. A prolific letter writer, Gandhi wrote regularly for his newspaper Harijan, mentored Nehru, Patel and the top brass of the Congress: his political 'sons' and wore just the minimum of hand-spun cloth in solidarity with the masses of India, many of whom had nothing to wear.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">His experiments with brahmacharya/celibacy (which sometimes involved sleeping naked beside women of his ashram) are no doubt as bizarre and controversial now as they were then, when Gandhi made no attempt to hide it. His usage of religion in politics has been criticised by some, but he understood the importance of religion in every walk of life in India and used it to spread only one message: that all religions preached love, tolerance and goodwill.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">What makes the Mahatma incredible is not just the space and respect he gave to those who disagreed with him, but the earnest effort he made to understand their point of view and even change his opinion if need be. His conversations with Tagore and Ambedkar are a case in point. That Gandhi practised what he preached, is what attracted the world to him. He was the change he wished to see in the world, even if the change he wanted to see, was different from what others wanted to see. Gandhi specialised in holding a high moral ground by loving his enemy. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Churchill, who with great sensitivity asked the Viceroy when the Mahatma was fasting, if Gandhi hadn't died yet, spoke of <i>blood, toil, tears and sweat</i>. So did Gandhi. Except, he spoke of blood, sweat and tears shed by a man who toiled and protested with great courage, non-violently. After all, 'non-violence is a weapon of the strong'.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Even if people had thought him distant and out-of-sync with reality, it was Gandhi who healed some of the many wounds of Partition. Fasting for peace, especially when Delhi was in the throes of horrifying Partition violence, was his ace card of sorts. While Dandi and Quit India might have become the most popular expressions of Gandhi and his triumphs, his greatest moment, without a doubt, came while visiting areas tormented by religious violence.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Be it Noakhali, Bihar, Delhi or Calcutta, wherever Bapu (Father of the Nation) went, he cured the insanity of communalism, he healed wounds with his overwhelming humanity, he spoke the language of love to those who had seen devastation on a scale that would crush India. He made Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who attacked and killed members of the other community repent and promise him that they would protect each other always. His prayer meetings where chants from all religions were recited, whispered peace to ears that had been plugged by the shattering noise of violence. And such was his impact. Sample this excerpt from the book:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><i>Interviews conducted in Noakhali in April and November 2000 (53 years after Gandhi had been there) found residents retaining precise memories of Gandhi...many recalling him spontaneously recited or sang 'Raghupathi Raghav Raja Ram..Ishwar Allah Tere Naam</i>'</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Rajmohan Gandhi writes with a neutrality that is incredible for a man writing about his grandfather. His writing is simple, evocative and poignant, quoting from myriad sources, interpreting and drawing parallels with great sensitivity and shedding light on the lesser known aspects of Gandhi's life, such as the troubled relationship that Gandhi had with his sons. Rajmohan captures the legendary sense of humour of the Mahatma, as also his relationship with the men who would go on to govern India. <i>Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire</i> is a masterpiece that every Indian ought to read and I have no hesitation in saying that Bapu would be very proud of his grandson's work.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Incessant tears poured down my cheeks throughout the last pages of the book, the ones dealing with Gandhi's assassination and the world's response to it. In death as in life, Gandhi united Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, both in India and Pakistan. Indians wept in grief and normal life was forgotten, for '<a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Light_Has_Gone_Out">the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere</a>'. Many Pakistanis skipped their meal that night, to mourn the loss of a remarkable human being. Said Pakistani leader Mian Iftikharuddin, <i>"Each one of us who has raised his hand against innocent men, women and children during the past months, who has publicly or secretly entertained sympathy for such acts, is a collaborator in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi"</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">If I had to condense the life of Mahatma Gandhi, three words would do it: he loved everyone. That overwhelming, incredible, majestic, ever-flowing love for men, women, children; Harijans, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs; Englishmen and women, Germans, Americans, Africans. The world was his family and he couldn't stand a single act of violence that would harm his family. And that reasoning, is possibly why '<a href="http://www.quotes.net/quote/9238">generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.</a>' To all those protesting peacefully in every part of the world for what is right, be it during the recent 'Arab Spring' or under the guidance of Martin Luther King Jr, Aung San Suu Kyi or Nelson Mandela, Gandhi's message is worth remembering: <i>'My life is my message</i>'. This book is an unforgettable journey to understand that message.</span></span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-86639922402207053752011-06-24T14:41:00.007+05:302011-06-29T14:57:32.493+05:30Reader, Writer, Reviewer: Mahatma Gandhi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I quite believe in judging people by the books they read. And when it comes to great personalities, understanding their reading tastes and the books that inspired them, goes a long way in helping us understand these men and women.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm now reading Rajmohan Gandhi's brilliant biography of Mahatma Gandhi: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mohandas-True-Story-People-Empire/dp/0670999326">Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire</a>. Of all the many remarkable things about this great man's life, what strikes me is the importance that he gave to books and how much they influenced his life and ideas. Gandhi was a great reader whenever he found the time for it: for instance especially when he was imprisoned (He read thirty books in the three months he was jailed in Pretoria, South Africa)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mohandas Gandhi's first trip abroad was to study in London and the young man was anxious to understand himself and what he actually believed in, when confronted by those of different cultures and habits. Books helped him immensely in this pursuit. Henry Salt's <a href="http://www.henrysalt.co.uk/bibliography/books/a_plea_for_vegetarianism_and_other_essays">A Plea for Vegetarianism</a>, which Gandhi says he read 'from cover to cover' helped him become a vegetarian by choice. [Remember here that the teenager Gandhi had once believed that the puny, vegetarian Indian couldn't stand up to the meat-eating British man]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A Gandhi toying between atheism and all religions, Hinduism in particular, read Helena Blavatsky's <a href="http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/key/key-hp.htm">Key to Theosophy</a>, Edwin Arnold's translation of the Bhagavad Gita, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Song-Celestial-Bhagavad-Gita-Edwin-Arnold/dp/0766102491">The Song Celestial</a> (a book he would recommend all his life as the best English translation of the Gita) and Arnold's book on the Buddha, <a href="http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/books/lightasi/asia-hp.htm">The Light of Asia</a>. Ever-fascinated to get to know different religions, Gandhi also read the Bible and George Sale's translation of the Quran.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His love and respect for Leo Tolstoy's writings, that would influence him enough to name his 'ashram' in South Africa<a href="http://www.tolstoyfarm.com/"> Tolstoy Farm</a>, began with reading '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You">The Kingdom of God is Within You</a>' which Gandhi says overwhelmed him.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sometimes, Gandhi sought refuge in books and great writers to see the arguments against and approval for some of his ideas. His interest in the works of Henry David Thoreau who he called 'one of the greatest and most moral men America has ever produced' is a case in point. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)">Thoreau's statements on civil disobedience </a>seemed to Gandhi to confirm and approve of his belief in satyagraha.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In a prison reading spree that would be a recurrent feature of his reading life, Gandhi read the following books during a two month imprisonment in South Africa: Thomas Carlyle's <i>Lives</i> of Robert Burns, Samuel Johnson and Walter Scott, Francis Bacon's <i>Essays</i>, Plato's <i>Socrates</i>. He later read Edward Carpenter's 'very illuminating' book <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Civilisation:_Its_Cause_and_Cure">Civilization: Its Cause and Care</a> and also read Charles Dickens' <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Copperfield_(novel)">David Copperfield</a> 'with avidity'.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Perhaps no book captivated him as much as John Ruskin's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unto_This_Last">Unto This Last</a></i>. He resolved to put to practice the 'social equality and simple life' presented by the book, and bought a farm in Phoenix to reside with his family, friends and other members of the Indian community in South Africa.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gandhi's own book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hind_Swaraj_or_Indian_Home_Rule">Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule)</a>, put into words his long-held ideas of self-rule, civilization and how Indian civilisation is embedded with the concept of non-violence. He acknowledges in his preface to the book the inspiration that he received from reading Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau and Emerson. Leo Tolstoy, with whom Gandhi was now corresponding, wrote back having reading Hind Swaraj, that the book was <i>'of great importance not only for India, but for the whole of humanity.'</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In a rather remarkable trial in India (that deserves a post of its own), Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for 'inciting disaffection towards His Majesty's Government' in 1922 in the aftermath of the tragedy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauri_Chaura">Chauri Chaura</a>. In Yeravda jail, Gandhi read a brilliantly diverse set of books sent by friends or from the jail library, devoting six hours a day for reading. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He read Edward Gibbon's <i>The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i>, Kipling's songs of Empire, the Mahabharata, Plato, Jules Verne, Macaulay, Shaw, Walter Scott, Faust, Tagore, Wells, Woodroffe, <i>Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i>; histories of Scotland, of the Sikhs, of India, of birds, of cities; biographies of Pitt, Columbus, Wilberforce, Paul of Tarsus, Kabir; several Christian, Muslim and Buddhist books and a series of Hindu texts; writings of Vivekananda, Dayananda Saraswati, Aurobindo and Tilak.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Writes Rajmohan Gandhi of the Mahatma's varied reading list: <i>'The Empire's Challenger is thus also, in his mid -fifties, a scholar with an appetite'</i>. Gandhi sometimes also reviewed books for his newspapers, notably Katherine Mayo's controversial book <a href="http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=10490">Mother India</a> about India's 'insanitation and other defects' where she claimed 'The drains are India'. Gandhi notes that the book was 'cleverly and powerfully written' and that it is 'a book that every Indian can read with some degree of profit'.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">India's 'Father of the Nation' was a reader, writer and a book reviewer too; always open to understanding different, even extreme, opinions and weighing them with his beliefs, never afraid to learn from them. The books he read influenced his ideas, his policies, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say they ended up influencing the nation and the world. </span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-28469398095286667062011-06-20T01:24:00.001+05:302011-06-20T01:27:06.370+05:30Library Tales - The Incomplete Reader<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After the library of which I have been a member for more than 5 years decided they could not only be petty, but also remain unapologetic to a long-time customer regarding a mistake made by their staff, I thought I had had enough.<br />
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Libraries are far more personal to me than the 'it's just business, we don't really care about you' staff of my previous library can imagine. Going to the library is a trip I always look forward to, making lists in my mind of what books I should look for, saying a little prayer that the book I had long awaited would finally be there for me to take home. And when people make it an unpleasant interaction, well, it's not worth my money.<br />
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<i>"Here is where people, one frequently finds, lower their voices and raise their minds" </i></div>
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<i>- Richard Armour</i></div>
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Therefore, a new library with a fantastic collection of books was found. An interesting experiment has begun, because I chose a temporary membership for a couple of months. This means I cannot borrow books and take them home, but I can read any book I want at the library, leisurely, all day long.<br />
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I, who is so used to snuggling on to the couch, lying on my bed, book in hand, a cup of tea beside me, have had to learn to sit up straight in those sturdy chairs.<br />
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I, who is so used to throwing down my book on my sofa and walking a few paces to take in a major plot twist, has had to sit and stare at the book and utter a sigh, at most.<br />
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I, who is so used to picking any book, whenever I want, has had to understand the knack of picking smaller books that can be finished in one sitting. Or choosing huge reference books and taking notes from them.<br />
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I have also started learning the art of putting a half-finished book in a shelf where I hope none of the full-time members will find it and take it home. Placing the book in the lowest shelf, in the belief that people will be too lazy to bend down, was a big fiasco. It meant that I had read the charming <i>Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day</i>, for, well, just a day.<br />
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There's something rather adventurous about this temporary membership; a far cry from the safe predictability of reading at home. Sure, it is incredibly annoying when the book you loved reading yesterday is missing today and your reading experiences are more incomplete than ever.<br />
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But having people immersed in books around you, jotting down notes furiously, lips moving silently with a book of Keats' poetry in hand, is a rather wonderful thing to see. I'm ever fascinated to see what everyone around me is reading (which is one of the reasons I love book blogging and Goodreads). Sometimes, seeing a wide smile on a person's face as their eyes drink in the pages of a book, is as lovely as reading a good book myself.</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-87580586496249778642011-06-15T19:04:00.003+05:302011-06-15T19:08:13.679+05:30A Common Man and Partition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Fikr Taunsvi writes of Lahore in the traumatic months leading to Partition. A chilling account of what the common man went through, while life-changing decisions were made in Delhi and London:<br />
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<i>'The washerman who lived on the ground floor...had become the father of a tiny baby at three in the morning and..was worried that the bazaars were shut. The sweet-seller who sold milk had locked his shop from inside and was hiding there. He had received no supply today because all milk-vendors are Muslim and this being a Hindu locality, they couldn't step into it. Hospitals were not functioning, neither were doctors, nurses and medicines, and both the mother and the infant were crying. The children were asking, 'Will the curfew never be lifted? Shall we never get milk?'...I wish you had the strength to ask great brains like Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah and other statement and maulvis to wear the guise of this unlettered washerman for a moment. Then you may go request the British to give you freedom. Then demand Pakistan and Hindustan'</i><br />
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These are the real voices of Partition, voices that tell the story of their times, of an event that changed their lives and that of their country, voices that lived through the traumatic possibility of becoming aliens in their own home. It's time we stopped reading only the political and diplomatic version of Partition. The real story of the birth of India and Pakistan lies with the people.<br />
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<i>{Taunsvi's quotes are excerpted from Yasmin Khan's brilliant book <b><a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2011/05/great-partition-making-of-india-and.html">The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan</a></b>}</i></div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-16135328455464504262011-06-08T16:00:00.006+05:302011-06-08T16:21:23.360+05:30Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Rating</b>: 9/10</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For long I've heard Elizabeth Gaskell mentioned in the same hall of fame as Jane Austen: female writers with an uncanny ability to bring to life the society of their times. Now that I have finally experienced the delight of a Gaskell novel, I can see why. At 60 chapters and 650 odd pages, Gaskell's <i>Wives and Daughters</i> is a sprawling read written with seemingly effortless ease. A little patience is always mandatory while reading big fat books and Gaskell rewards patience with some of the most unforgettable characters I've read in a while.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First published in eighteen monthly parts in the <i>Cornhill Magazine</i> from August 1864 to January 1866, <i>Wives and Daughters</i> is an unfinished novel; Gaskell died before adding the final touches to her masterpiece. The story of the charming community of Hollingford, with its gossiping ladies, snobby yet revered Lords and Ladies and most importantly, our sensible, warm-hearted, loving protagonist Molly Gibson and her father, the much respected doctor.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mr.Gibson decides to remarry and seventeen year old Molly is faced with a new stepmother and a stepsister Cynthia, who is charming, unpredictable and eternally irresistible to the menfolk. Molly's beautiful relationship with the Hamley family, her love for Squire Hamley and his wonderful wife, and the friendship between her and the two sons of the family - Osborne and Roger, form the crux of the book. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Like all great novels, <i>Wives and Daughters</i> is very memorable because of a cast of characters, each of whom are masterfully crafted. The new Mrs.Gibson is an absolute delight of a character that Jane Austen would be proud of. Silly, vain, shockingly and embarrassingly insensitive, determined to remove herself from the stereotype of the evil stepmother, Mrs.Gibson and her comic proclamations are bound to keep you entertained. Indeed in an alternate literary universe, I do wish Mrs. Bennet would meet Mrs. Gibson and they would discuss about their daughters.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mr.Gibson is a loving father and a sarcastic foil to his new wife. Molly is too straight forward a character, but some of the passages where she confronts her feelings about the man she might love, are beautifully written. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cynthia, on the other hand, is such a brilliantly complex character. Many a time you intend to hate her, her ego and vanity, her 'inconstancy' too, but she more than redeems herself through the affection she shows towards those she loves.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Hamley brothers are fascinating, and I'd say it is hard not to fall in love with Roger Hamley. He is a literary character who is strong, sensible, kind, intelligent, passionate, with a habit of talking of books and recommending the right ones to to the right people, which, needless to say, I find very charming. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gaskell's writing is deceptively simple, filled with vivid and witty observations and an eye for irony that doesn't mind mocking societal norms and follies. Some of the several quotes I loved:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"Your husband this morning! Mine tonight! What do you take him for?' </i></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"></span>The text is peppered with several cultural and historical references that would be lost to a reader if not for helpful notes (provided in my excellent Penguin Classics edition). Gaskell's greatest strength is her ability to captivate the reader and transport them to the world of Hollingford, making them emotionally bonded to the characters. Indeed it is quite magical that just at the moment I told myself it was getting dreary without Mr.Roger Hamley appearing often, two characters in the book say the same thing!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The world Gaskell creates is one which any reader can relate to, brilliantly realistic in its depiction of timeless themes such as friendship, tragedy, debts and money, marriage, love, mother-daughter relationships. That is probably why there is more than a twinge of sadness that Mrs.Gaskell did not live to tie the ends and provide a fitting finale that would satisfy readers. But that, in no way, takes away the fact that Gaskell has given the world a classic that captures human nature in a witty, poignant fashion.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It has to be a special book if after being treated to 650 pages of the story, one still wishes it would go on. If you're an Austen fan and love books set in 19th century England, you are almost certain to enjoy reading <i>Wives and Daughter</i>s. There are a lot of characters, relationships and themes that are worth discussing, making this book a great choice for readalongs or book clubs. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is also the pleasure of knowing that a BBC adaptation is awaiting the reader who has just finished a classic. I'm looking forward to it.</span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-46214528596104767212011-06-06T21:51:00.004+05:302011-06-06T22:56:38.365+05:30Memories of a Booklover<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Musty books, worn out covers, brown pages that act as remnants of reading and rereading, a blot of ink here, a careless scribble there: the cast of characters at a second-hand bookstore. The dust in the air is overwhelming and I sneeze. Covering my nose with a handkerchief, I prowl around looking for the books I want to take home. It's a lot like a treasure hunt, except, the clues are hazier and there really is no surety of what I would find.<br />
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The best discoveries are truly accidental and so it was when I picked Ketaki Kushari Dyson's translation of Rabindranath Tagore's poems: <i>I Won't Let You Go</i>. An unflattering yellow cover with bright red text; not at all the dainty poetry collection you'd like to display on your shelf. I was hardly a lover of poetry then: I was either confused by it or found it pretentious or was just too thick to understand some celebrated poets. But I knew I had to read Tagore, at least to understand why he was revered as a national treasure.</div>
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Discovering Tagore is one of the best things that have ever happened to my life. And that memory of haphazard rows of books, dusty and waiting to fall at the slightest inadvertent nudge, has always stayed with me.</div>
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That day began very early. I joined the crowd as people waited for their turn to get into the book shop. Faces: smiling as they stifled the early morning yawn, excited and unafraid of jumping to show it, jokes flying in the air, people who previously had no idea of each other's existence exchanging grins as they marched in to get their copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Killjoys who came out with the book, proceeded to open the last page and read from it, immediately leading to angry swear words from the crowd, people shutting their ears to avoid hearing if Harry died or if Ron and Hermione finally got together.</div>
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That was the end of a literary experience like no other. Quite remarkable that waiting in a queue is one of the most wonderful bookish memories I have.</div>
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And then of course comes what is probably the most annoying habit a booklover is guilty of: Remembering people by the books they read and the books they recommend. The teacher who gifted me <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> because she knew I'd love it. The friend who let me read <i>Heidi</i> first and waited till I'm done with the book after which she could get it from the school library. The librarian who gave me a phonecall to let me know that the book I had been waiting for a long time - Aravind Adiga's <i>The White Tiger</i> - was finally available. Bloggers who helped me discover some of my all-time favourite books: <i>The Group, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</i>. The Agatha Christie book, <i>Death in the Clouds</i>, that my Aunt borrowed from me to help her from being bored, immediately after giving birth. Leo Tolstoy's <i>Anna Karenina</i> and Shashi Tharoor's <i>The Great Indian Novel</i>, gifted by my best friends on my birthday. </div>
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Remembering the prodigious collection of books at Grandpa's house and feeling a little envious. Picking the right book for Mum when she says she needs a feel-good read. Never forgetting all the books Dad recommends when I tell him about a topic, with so much variety and relevance as though he's an automated Goodreads archive. That sinking feeling when I dislike a book he recommended or find it too complicated.</div>
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Demanding a friend who is moving to another city to sign the book she is giving me as a farewell gift. Finding Mahatma Gandhi's <i>My Experiments with Truth</i> in Mum's bookshelf and pocketing it for myself to read. Convincing Mum that even though it looks worn out and jaded, <i>Integration of the Indian States </i>by VP Menon is a remarkable treasure of a book that is worth buying. Buying books that I've always wanted to, like Ramachandra Guha's <i>India After Gandhi</i> and Jhumpa Lahiri's <i>Interpreter of Maladies</i>, thanks to a book voucher gift from my parents. </div>
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That friend who is a Snape fan. The friend who always argues that Charlotte Bronte is better than Jane Austen. The friend who told me with remarkable honesty that she couldn't finish <i>Emma</i> and found it quite boring. The friend who would not let me walk past unless I guessed '<i>Caput Draconis</i>' or '<i>Pinefresh</i>'. </div>
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Indeed, almost every book one reads or buys has perhaps an inconsequential or precious story attached to it; remarkable memories for a booklover. Reminisce about your bookish memories and share them!</div>
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</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-55994276416795417162011-05-28T17:17:00.003+05:302011-05-28T19:41:33.705+05:30The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan - Yasmin Khan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For long, most of us have thought we know about partition. The story that our textbooks taught us was a simple one: Pakistan was carved out of India as a land for many Muslims and a partition occurred, one of the largest human displacements ever, and there was a lot of violence in which a lot of people died. We mourned </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">those who died in the violence of partition </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">for a sentence, not even a paragraph. And quickly moved on to celebrate our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryst_with_destiny">Tryst With Destiny</a>, often forgetting that we kept our date with destiny after immense pain, bloodshed and hatred.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If only things were that convenient or simple to the people who lived through the traumatic violent months that were the ominous precursors to India and Pakistan's birth. <i>The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan</i> is a stunning book, precisely because it shatters the convenient myths that India, Pakistan <i>and</i> Britain have maintained as history. Yasmin Khan brings to light the confusion and chaos that prevailed during the 'transfer of power' from the British Raj to the Indian and Pakistani governments. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Words that in retrospect have been inscribed with clarity and meaning - like 'Pakistan', 'independence' - were vague words, the meaning of which differed from person to person in that era! Some questions rang in the hearts and minds of people: 'What exactly was Pakistan going to be? Where would its borders be?' 'Who is a Pakistani? Who is an Indian?' 'What would independence really mean to the poor?' And before they could understand the magnitude of answering these questions, religious violence and ethnic cleansing broke out, partition happened. India and Pakistan were born, leaving behind thousands dead and thousands confused.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yasmin Khan chronicles the months and events that lead to partition, the terror and trauma that men, women and children went through before two countries came into existence. Dr.Khan analyses with impressive neutrality and encourages the reader to grapple with cold facts and form opinions on what partition actually was. Some incidents that she quotes in her book made my heart beat fast and brought tears to my eyes. For instance:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Urdu journalist Shorish Kashmiri writes: ‘Some young people, whose parents had been butchered and whose sisters and daughters had been left in Pakistan, surrounded Panditji (Jawaharlal Nehru). One young man lost his temper and gave Panditji a resounding slap; a slap on the face of the Prime Minister of India. But Panditji said nothing to him. He just placed his hand on the young man’s shoulder. The young man shouted: ‘Give my mother back to me! Bring my sisters to me!’ Panditji’s eyes filled with tears. He said, ‘Your anger is justified, but, be it Pakistan or India, the calamity that has overtaken us is all the same. We have both to pass through it.’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Understanding partition in just an academic point of view is impossible without confronting the emotions that come your way when you read of months of madness and slaughter. Neighbours slaughtering each other, people who once differed with each other on their political beliefs - Congress or the Muslim League - suddenly seeing each other as Hindu or Muslim 'enemies', women, almost 83000 of them 'abducted' on both sides of the border, rape being used as an instrument of war against communities, some politicians and parties aiding and abetting violence, British troops abdicating duty </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and simply watching as people died, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in a land which they had exploited for more than 200 years and hastily declared independent.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yet there were also those who at great danger to their lives, saved the lives of friends from other communities. There are inspiring stories of the many social workers and volunteers who set out to heal wounds, wipe tears, rebuild lives, even when their own lives had been torn apart by partition.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is no doubt about the great tragedy that Partition was. And yes, it ought to be capitalized, just as the Holocaust is. Understanding Partition is crucial for anyone who wants to understand India, Pakistan and indeed their relationship with each other. It saddens me that Partition is used only as a one-word, one-sentence reference, as though it was an event that ought to be remembered, but only as a small axis point. It shouldn't. Partition and its many victims, perpetrators need to be fully understood in the context of the situation in the subcontinent at that time. We need to make our peace with the truths of that turbulent time. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The Great Partition</i> is mandatory reading for anyone interested in India, Pakistan or the British Raj. It doesn't deal just with the politics of Partition from the elite Delhi perspective, but delves into the heart of the common man, from Lahore to Noakhali to East Bengal, who paid the biggest price for Partition. The book is not written in a racy, fiction-style format and therefore might not be the easiest of reads, but it is a wonderful, thought-provoking academic work that I highly recommend.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>I hope to post more excerpts from Dr.Khan's book in the coming weeks, as part of A Passage to the British Raj.</i> </span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-81405903303159338492011-05-24T14:11:00.007+05:302011-05-24T14:50:16.389+05:30Welcome to the British Raj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"In the beginning, there were two nations. One was a vast, mighty and magnificent empire, brilliantly organized and culturally unified, which dominated a massive swath of the earth. The other was an undeveloped, semifeudal realm, riven by religious factionalism and barely able to feed its illiterate, diseased and stinking masses. The first nation was India. The second was England."</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With this brilliant line begins Alex Von Tunzelmann's wonderful <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Summer-Secret-History-Empire/dp/0805080732" style="color: #dfac1d; text-decoration: none;">Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire</a>, a book I highly recommend for its great depiction of the final days of the Raj. The above quote though, is so fitting for the start of our journey, for it gives an idea of what England and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">India </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">were, before they became Ruler and Rule</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">d. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i>The symbol of the East India company</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">It all began with the East India company, the predecessor of the British Raj, which initially dealt with trade in India. It was not long before trade became military and administrative control of many parts of India and the East India Company was soon acting as</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> an '<a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/176643/East-India-Company">agent of British imperialism in India</a>' till the Great Revolt of 1857* (dismissed by the British as just a 'Sepoy Mutiny' and referred to by several Indian historians as 'The First War of Indian Independence.' The truth, as in most cases, probably lies somewhere between those two descriptions )</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The 1857 Revolt shocked the East India Company since it succeeded far more than they thought it would. It was time for a change and the era of the British Raj (British Reign) ruled directly by the Crown, was heralded. It lasted from 1858 to 1947, when Partition tore apart two nations born out of bloodshed and trauma - India and Pakistan. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The British Raj was an exercise of imperial control over the masses of India, to tap into India's immense wealth, raw material and take advantage of warring rulers of Princely states to establish the might of the British. The Raj was also an exercise where two different civilizations and peoples with little in common, found themselves at a place where they needed to interact with each other.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">These interactions fascinate me tremendously, because not only do they showcase the contact between people of different cultures but also serve as a remarkable source of insight into the minds of the people who lived through the Raj and reaped its benefits and disadvantages. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Unlikely friendships were made, alliances were forged, Englishmen served in India with pride (it wasn't for nothing that India was referred to as the 'Jewel in the Crown' of the British Empire), some became Indophiles, many were born and brought up in India and felt alien only when they went to England. Indians, meanwhile, went to England to be educated and many became <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaulayism">Macaulay's Children</a>. It was, in a sense, a wonderful exchange of ideas and cultures. The East met the West, not on equal footing, but it was still a remarkable meeting .</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">So while rich Indian boys were sent to the best English boarding schools and Universities and Indian children were taught by English governesses, several thousand Englishmen and women began to discover India. And with their help, we discover the British Raj.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Here are the contents of a rather amusing (to me) booklet given to Philip Gallop, a new member of the Royal Air Force stationed in Bombay. With thanks to Genevieve and the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/36/a8560136.shtml">BBC</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><i>Welcome to Bombay</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><i>Bombay’s citizens are very anxious to ensure that you enjoy yourselves, so that when you move on you will have the happiest memories of their city.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><i>Service Organisations:</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><i>Freemasonry: Headquarters:</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Gallop was also provided a map of Bombay, with specifically marked 'Out of Bounds' areas:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">Many thanks to Mel U of <i>The Reading Life</i> for joining in with <i>A Passage to the British Raj</i>. His <a href="http://rereadinglives.blogspot.com/2011/05/two-older-short-stories-by-authors-from.html">post</a> featuring stories written during the British Raj from what is now Bangladesh is definitely worth reading.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>* For a fictionalised, Bollywoodised take on the Great Revolt of 1857, watch <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangal_Pandey:_The_Rising">Mangal Pandey: The Rising</a> starring Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens.</i></span></i></span></div>
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</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-49829851978615216832011-05-20T01:18:00.007+05:302011-05-20T09:05:08.290+05:30A Passage to the British Raj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Every time I have been asked the question 'If you could travel back in time to any period, which era would you prefer?', my answer has been the same. 1858 to 1947, India. In other words, the period of the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj"> British Raj</a> that took over from the East India Company to rule the 'jewel in the crown' of the British Empire - India. When the British Raj formally ended, there were two nation states - India and Pakistan - carved out of it through a devastating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India">Partition</a> that killed almost a million in what was one of the largest displacements of people in human history. </div>
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Partition is an event that haunts relations between India and Pakistan till today, an event that lead to as much suffering as it enabled freedom.Therefore understanding the British Raj, in my opinion, goes a long way in understanding the present situation and relationship between the two countries. Indeed the impact of the Raj on India is profound, both negative and positive and for anyone who loves studying history, this time period is a remarkably rich canvas to learn about. </div>
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There are several brilliant books, both fiction and non-fiction, films, incredible photographs and videos from and based on the Raj. The material available is just inexhaustible. I've been on a British Raj reading spree of late, and when I'm not reading books and articles, I'm engrossed in remembering dates and events that lead to Independence and Partition. </div>
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<i>A Passage to the British Raj</i> is my small project of sorts, an attempt to chronicle and compile a host of material - books (<a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2011/05/passage-to-india-em-forster.html">A Passage to India</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Summer-Secret-History-Empire/dp/0805080732">Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Far_Pavilions">The Far Pavilions</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege_of_Krishnapur">The Siege of Krishnapur</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_to_Pakistan">Train to Pakistan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discovery_of_India">The Discovery of India</a> etc), photos, videos, articles etc - that tell the story of the era preceding India's '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryst_with_destiny">tryst with destiny</a>' which can be viewed by anyone interested in the subject.</div>
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* This will include book reviews (for useful recommendations, check <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/08/india-book-recommendations.html">India- Book Recommendations</a>), movie reviews, excerpts from books, snippets from articles, links to interesting websites, quotes, photographs and just about anything history and literature-wise relevant to the British Raj. I hope to post as and when something interesting comes my way and hopefully, once a week. </div>
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* This <u>isn't a reading challenge</u>, but I welcome everyone who is interested to learn more about the British Raj and the Indian independence movement to join this little project. </div>
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* You can read things I post, read books/watch movies related to the Raj and review them, share interesting links or information you find, post them on your blog as part of <i>A Passage to the British Raj</i> (as long as you make sure to link to <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2011/05/passage-to-british-raj.html">this</a> post).</div>
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* Feel free to get involved as per your convenience and leave a comment here to let me know. You <u>do not</u> need to be an expert on the history of the British Raj nor do you need to know a lot on the subject, as long as you're interested in reading about it now. </div>
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* Most crucially, there is<u> no minimum/maximum reading limit </u>or deadline, so enjoy this journey!</div>
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Finally, there are several interpretations, sometimes poles apart, of the history of British India and the birth of India and Pakistan. My interest lies solely in reading and trying to understand all sides of the picture. I don't claim to be an expert, merely someone who has a passion to understand the history that made her country. </div>
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That's just about everything and I do hope you will all join me in this exciting passage to the British Raj. Spread the word!</div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-54846802526920710962011-05-16T20:57:00.009+05:302011-05-17T00:12:01.631+05:30The Emotions of Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><i>"After all, reading is arguably a far more creative and imaginative process than writing; when the reader creates emotion in their head, or the colors of the sky during the setting sun, or the smell of a warm summer's breeze on their face, they should reserve as much praise for themselves as the do for the writer - perhaps more." </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><i> - Jasper Fforde, The Well of Lost Plots</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">As always, not only does Mr.Fforde make a good point regarding fiction, he makes it beautifully. For long people have spoken of the magic of books, how books suck the reader into a world of their own, how they linger in the hearts and minds of readers long after the last page has been turned. Bookmarks acting as anchors navigating us through the literary world, dogears acting as messy reminders of a sentence much loved: these are remnants of a familiar reading experience. And like Fforde points out, it is the reader's emotional involvement with a book that makes the book a wonderful read.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">For me, topics I relate to, themes I love, eras I'm interested in, make the book more personal. I tend to remember the books that moved me to tears more than the ones that were just thrilling. Indeed when I sit back and think about it, I'm amazed by the power and control that a good book has on its reader: it can make you angry (<a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2009/05/white-tiger-aravind-adiga.html">The White Tiger</a>), reduce you to tears (<a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/09/curfewed-night-basharat-peer.html">Curfewed Night</a>), make you long to live in a fictional universe (the <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/11/growing-up-with-harry-potter.html">Harry Potter</a> series) and simply stay in your mind forever (<a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/04/group-mary-mccarthy.html">The Group</a>, anything <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/search/label/Jane%20Austen">Austen</a>). Books are far more than the sum of their words and pages.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I distinctly remember refusing to read some books at night, fearing that their topics were too sensitive and that I'd be left with nightmares. Sometimes I just stop at a paragraph, pause, linger and personalize it. I'm now reading Yasmin Khan's brilliant book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Great-Partition-Making-India-Pakistan/dp/0300120788">The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan</a> and when I'm not teary-eyed, I get goosebumps. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Clearly, Partition is an intensely emotional topic for many Indians and Pakistanis and a book doesn't really seem like the best outlet to learn about it and react to it. But it is. Sitting in a corner, book in hand, I reconcile with the history that made my country and the tragedies and confusions that came with it. Flipping through pages, I stare at events that impacted the subcontinent.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Sure, you could argue that a TV show or a film with its visual impact does the job even better. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">But there's something rather magical and comforting about sinking into a book and coming out of it understanding the world, looking at things in a different light. And many of those who claim books can change lives do have a point.</span></span></div>
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</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-25121221040650981972011-05-02T19:54:00.000+05:302011-05-02T19:54:46.021+05:30Two of my favourite things together: Kashmir and Austen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15px;">Kashmir's pristine beauty seems so effortlessly picturesque. While I travelled through this gorgeous place, I had Austen for company. </span></div>
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</i></div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-27507709151156062922011-05-01T19:21:00.005+05:302011-05-01T22:14:25.595+05:30A Passage to India - E.M Forster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>A Passage to India</i> is on TIME Magazine's list of the <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1951793_1951944_1952611,00.html">100 best English novels </a>from 1923 to the present. It is, deservingly, an oft-recommended classic that could be mandatory reading for anyone wishing to make sense of the British Raj and the complex web of relationships and attitudes it spawned between people of different cultures and different races. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As an enthusiast of all things history, especially related to the British Raj, I'm glad I finally got around to reading Forster's masterpiece. This classic captivated me for the simple fact that Forster is a pleasure to read and he takes on a canvas that is as confusing, myriad and breathtaking as the country it is set in. It is the reader whom Forster takes on a passage to India, the India of the British Raj, showcasing a look into the attitudes, practices and opinions of the people who lived in that time. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The plot seems deceptively simple: Adela Quested arrives in India along with Mrs.Moore to whose son Ronny serving in India, she might most possibly decide to get married. In their quest to find the 'real India' Ms.Quested and Mrs.Moore decide they need to meet Indians who are the ones oppressed by their British rulers. They meet Dr.Aziz, who is such a complex character I still haven't decided if I like him or not, and strike an unlikely friendship that sets off a series of events that will change the lives of all the characters in this book. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dr.Aziz's journey in making friends with Britishers like Cyril Fielding and Mrs.Moore is a wonderful exploration of racism, the scope of a relationship between the rulers and the ruled and the tensions it is subjected to. The story of Miss Quested and Dr.Aziz's misfortunes in the Marabar caves is a wonderful device with which Forster indulges in a brilliant analysis of cultural, religious, racial identities and the impact when they clash.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Forster is at his best when he provides vignettes of the manners and attitudes of the British men who governed India, right from the frivolous, never-ending conversation about Indian weather to startling though not surprising racist comments about Indians. Indeed, if <i>A Passage to India</i> is anything to go by, Indian weather was the conversation topic of choice in the British Raj. As Ronny remarks:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>''There's nothing in India but the weather, my dear mother; it's the alpha and omega of the whole affair' </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Forster is eminently quotable, something that adds to my enjoyment of a book. This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"We're out here to do justice and keep the peace. Them's my sentiments. India isn't a drawing-room."<br /><br />"Your sentiments are those of a god," [Mrs. Moore] said quietly, but it was his manner rather than his sentiments that annoyed her.<br /><br />Trying to recover his temper, [Ronny] said, "India likes gods."<br /><br />"And Englishmen like posing as gods."</i> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Forster not only analyzes British attitudes about Indians, but also the clash of personalities between Muslims and Hindus in their India. There are intriguing conversations about the Mughal emperors, each of their contributions to the identity of Muslims in India and the identity of Indians themselves. There are stunningly descriptive, beautifully written passages about the fun and frolic of festivals like Gokul Ashtami (which, as Forster remarks, forms a stunning contrast to the solemn nature of many Christian festivals).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"By sacrificing good taste, this worship achieved what Christianity has shirked: the inclusion of merriment. All spirit as well as all matter must participate in salvation, and if practical jokes are banned, the circle is incomplete."</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>A Passage to India</i> is clearly written by a writer, who while he may not be an impartial observer nor an encyclopedia of information about the Raj, offers an important perspective that would be foolish to ignore. This book is one I cannot wait to re-read, for there is certainly more than meets the eye of a first-time reader, even though the reader may be armed with a lengthy spoiler-filled introductory analysis. I highly recommend <i>A Passage to India</i> to anyone who loves classics, is interested in the British Raj or likes to understand race and religion in the context of interaction between people of different countries placed in an unequal platform.</span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-38929294518579431832011-04-13T14:21:00.001+05:302011-04-13T14:24:03.670+05:30Two Years of Book Blogging<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today marks two years of raving, ranting and gushing about books here At Pemberley. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've taken <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/07/break-at-pemberley.html">long breaks</a> to deal with that nasty thing called non-online life,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Posted intermittently, snappily at times, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Written <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2011/02/rest-in-peace-uncle-pai.html">emotional</a> <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/11/growing-up-with-harry-potter.html">tributes</a> to people who made my childhood, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Indulged in fantasies enough to pick my own <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2011/01/dinner-guest-list.html">author dinner guest list</a>, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spent way too much time pretending to be a literary jury member and choosing my <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/search/label/End%20of%20Year%20lists">favourite books</a> of the year, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Added a lifelong supply of books to my unending 'To-Read' list,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Checked for feedback and replies to my blog posts every few minutes after posting,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Recommended books that have anything and everything to do with <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/08/india-book-recommendations.html">India</a>, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Contributed my bit to spread the overwhelmingly contagious <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/12/year-of-austen.html">Jane Austen love</a>,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Delighted in reading and sharing <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/search/label/Thursdays%20with%20Tagore">Rabindranath Tagore's</a> wondrous poetry.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Books are my confidantes, my favourite means of escape from boring reality and quite simply, I belong to the I-can't-imagine-life-without-books category of people for whom blogging is yet another excuse to talk about books. I tend to believe that sharing your thoughts about a book is probably second only to reading the book itself.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To all my followers, to all those who have taken the time to comment on my blog, to all the wonderful book blogs and bloggers who inspire me, and to the amazing authors and their books without whom this blog wouldn't exist, much love and a sincere thank you. I do hope that you've enjoyed reading my blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Have a wonderful life and happy reading!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To quote Kathleen Norris: <i>"</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier."</i> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Amen to that. </span></span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-6780263016022880372011-04-06T23:43:00.003+05:302011-04-07T00:01:18.772+05:30Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Rating:</b> 7/10</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Fasting, Feasting</i> has long been on my list of books I've wanted to read, for two reasons. One, because Anita Desai is considered one of the best Indian writers and it seemed almost blasphemous that I had never read her books. Two, because this book was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1999. <i>Fasting, Feasting</i> didn't disappoint me, but it isn't the flawless masterpiece it could have been either.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Set for the most part in India, <i>Fasting, Feasting</i> starts out as a chronicle of the life of Uma, the first child, the unattractive, clumsy, pitiable daughter who is a burden on her parents MamaPapa conjoined beautifully as they are more of a single entity than two separate lives. The mishaps, tragic occurrences of her life make up most of the book, as she battles it out being the far-from-perfect, plain daughter whose attempts at marriage end in a disastrous fashion. Indeed Uma is the 'unmarried commodity' in a society where it is acceptable for a woman to be a failure at education, but sacrilegious to be a failure at marriage. Neglected, lonely, craving for company, left to do her parents' bidding as though she is their slave not child, Uma is the central focus of the 'Fasting' part which takes up most of the story.</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'Here was Aruna visibly ripening on the branch, asking to be plucked: no one had to teach her how to make samosas or help her to dress for an occasion. Instinctively, she knew. The pale, pale pink sari, the slender chain of seed pearls, the fresh flowers, the demure downcast turn of the eyes, the little foot in the red slipper thrusting out suddenly like a tongue, and the laughter low and sly'</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anita Desai could write anything and I would read it. She is an enormously gifted author who does not feel the need to use complicated words or a laborious turn of phrase to convey her point. She writes simply, beautifully, vividly and paints a tragicomic picture of first a dysfunctional Indian family and then a dysfunctional American one. Several reviews said that Desai wrote like Austen, with a keen passion to observe and comment about society and I definitely agree with that assessment. There's no pretentiousness in her writing, something which in my humble opinion, her daughter Kiran Desai's writing suffers from. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This book is a must-read if simply for the brutally painful, important feminist observations on Indian family life. There is the daughter who is considered a big failure if she cannot land a good husband, the brilliant, beautiful, brainy cousin who isn't allowed to go to Oxford, with more focus on preparing her for marriage, a state of affairs where being beaten up by the husband and the in-laws is considered nothing unusual, nor worth acting over. The book soaks in tragedy and the helplessness of its characters might annoy you a lot, but the sinking realisation that this situation is a reality to many women, makes the book a gripping read.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My problem with the book, if I can call it a problem, is the rather abrupt need for the 'Feasting' part which chronicles Uma's brother Arun's time in the U.S, living with an American family during holidays. The boy has been brought up with the sole aim of studying, and studying well, finally being sent to study in the University of Massachusetts. Arun is quite a disappointed, weird lad and an absolute loner. Suddenly to prop him up as the main character in the final 'Feasting' part of the book seemed out of place to me. The pity and sympathy I had for Uma had fast evaporated by the time I got to Arun's sad story. The American family seemed more like a caricature - the overbearing mother, the son obsessed with fitness, the bulimic daughter. All of this succeeds only in making the reader as uncomfortable as Arun.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In all, <i>Fasting, Feasting</i> is definitely worth reading, but prepare for tragedy, pain and unhappiness. Judging by just the excellent 'Fasting' part with its unforgettable images of the society's expectation of women and their roles, I would almost give the book a perfect ten. But the abrupt 'Feasting' part reduced my appreciation for the book. Regardless, I look forward to reading Anita Desai's other books and I'm glad I finally got around to reading another wonderful Indian writer.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">P.S Delighted to be back blogging about books! I sure did miss being at Pemberley and look forward to catching up with all my favourite book blogs :)</span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-43349746565344333332011-02-24T19:17:00.003+05:302011-02-24T20:18:45.871+05:30Rest In Peace, Uncle Pai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For every Indian child, books would mean only one thing: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinkle">Tinkle</a>. My Grandma, cross at me reading 'comics' with small images and text that might harm my eyes, would scold me for reading Tinkle. And I would argue with her valiantly. Any criticism of Tinkle felt like a personal criticism. Excellent performance in exams, good behaviour would be rewarded with a special copy of Tinkle or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amar_Chitra_Katha">Amar Chitra Katha</a>. Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha made me fall in love with books and today, I cannot imagine life without books.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Uncle Pai, as he was known by every child and teenager (who wouldn't admit he/she still reads Tinkle but enjoyed it tremendously), is no more. After seeing that Indian children seemed to know more about Greek mythology than Indian mythology, Anant Pai launched Amar Chitra Katha, India's largest selling comic book series which told to a young India stories from its past. Mythology, history, fables, epics, the colourful pages of Amar Chitra Katha were the Indian child's guide to understanding India and her rich, vibrant past. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One of the most vivid images I have of my childhood is of lounging on my bed and seeking refuge from the searing heat during summer holidays, through the way I knew best: flipping through the pages of Tinkle Summer Special. Anant Pai's Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha came to define many of our childhoods. A friend recalls how fashionable and important it was to possess a copy of the latest edition of Tinkle digest. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Long-winding train journeys with noisy kids would usually be a nightmare for parents. But a copy of Tinkle, bought hurriedly at the railway book stall, would reduce tension for a couple of hours at the least. So addictive were these books that before every exam, my mother would confiscate my copies of the books. Only to discover more hidden editions of Tinkle every day. Tinkle was smuggled into school bags and kept between the pages of text books and stealthily read while a particularly boring Biology teacher droned on and on. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A big hug and a copy of Tinkle was the best way to say sorry to me. My head was always immersed in a copy of Tinkle, leading my Grandma to scold my parents for spoiling the child by always getting her these comics. For all my love of Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha, I never really knew or read about the man who created these books. 'Uncle Pai' was just a name, a friendly name. I was more interested in reading the actual books.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course, at one point, it became 'fashionable' for me to read non-Indian authors. As I grew older, Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene captivated me and my huge collection of Tinkle books was left forlorn. But no beautiful building exists without a strong foundation. Anant Pai's books were the firm foundation of my love for reading. I would have never really become a bookworm if not for Mr.Pai.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To every Indian child who grew up reading his books, his death will be a personal loss. For several hours of glorious reading, for the unadulterated joy of running to the neighbourhood newspaper shop and getting the latest edition of Tinkle, for memories that were born out of reading Amar Chitra Katha, for the nostalgia-tinted thrill that sighting a rack of Tinkle books brings to me even now, I cannot thank Anant Pai enough. I am forever indebted to you, Uncle Pai, for lighting the spark of reading in me. Your books remain with us all, bound to be gifted from generation to generation of Indians. You shall always remain 'Uncle' Pai to me, the friendly uncle who helped a child discover books. May you rest in peace. </span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-54912406209393765272011-02-23T18:12:00.004+05:302011-02-23T18:22:25.929+05:30The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - Syrie James<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I bought Syrie James' <i>The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen</i> because I had read several glowing reviews and I particularly liked the premise. I wanted to absolutely love this book, but as my rating tells you, I didn't. <i>The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen</i> is by no means a bad book. It just doesn't, in my opinion, add much to the variety of Austenian books that are now abundant. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The story goes like this: An old attic chest containing Jane Austen's memoirs is discovered, a remarkable treasure for Austen fans around the world. This book is, more or less, what Jane Austen wrote in her memoirs, with helpful footnotes added in by an 'editor'. What the memoir reveals is something that every Janeite would be delighted about: Austen who wrote with such insight on love and relationships but never seemed to have a significant man in her life, actually had a love of her life: Mr. Ashford.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Syrie James has quite a challenging task at hand: she has to write as Jane Austen, an author who is known for her subtle wit, heavy sarcasm and fascinating observations on society. I think James is quite up to the task and brings across the feel and mood of our Austen and her era. But my major problem with the book comes from the fact that there's not a single thing in the book that an Austen fan wouldn't know. Therefore, the book is extremely predictable and gives you nothing special.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What irked me the most was the fact that so very conveniently, this book's Ms.Austen drew from her own life to script the life of her characters. But that's an understatement: James' Austen does not 'draw' from her own life. She more or less takes events from her life as significant plot lines in her books. Indeed <i>Sense and Sensibility</i> and <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, according to this book, were both inspired by Mr.Ashford and Jane's romance with him.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I didn't like the fact that there was no subtlety in explaining how her life inspired her work. Mr.Ashford's 'engagement' = Edward's engagement with Lucy Steele, Mr.Ashford = Darcy, Pembroke Hall = Pemberley, Mr. Morton = Mr.Collins, Mr.Wellington = Mr.Willoughby. It's like Austen never really created a world with her books. She just was 'inspired'! And when actual quotes from Austen's books seem to be presented as dialogues of the characters, I was annoyed. Sample this:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What I disliked was the fact that Austen seemed to vent her anger with the people in her real life by giving their traits to her characters. I just never imagined that the crux of two of her classics could be copy pasted from her own life and that seemed to trivialise, in a sense, the writing talent of Ms.Austen. Inspiration is well and good, but copy pasting plot lines seemed awkward to me.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With a deluge of Austen-related fiction cropping up, I think it is important for each book to have its specialty or unique value. Otherwise, it might end up drowning in the ocean of Austenian fiction, each overlapping with the other and offering little to the reader. Sadly, I think <i>The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen</i> is such a case. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I seem to be in the minority in this regard. As honest as I have been about this book, I think it is important for me to point out that most of my fellow Austen fans and bloggers <a href="http://avidreader25.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-reviews-lost-memoirs-of-jane.html">have</a> <a href="http://austenprose.com/2010/12/19/the-lost-memoirs-of-jane-austen-by-syrie-james-a-review/">loved</a> this book. I wouldn't really recommend this book unless it is for a boring weekend, but you might thinking of borrowing the book from a library just in case you might love it. </span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-56430852479541730032011-01-20T17:45:00.006+05:302011-01-20T17:50:33.416+05:30Battle for Bittora - Anuja Chauhan<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After tackling the first big passion of India - cricket - in her hilarious first book <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2009/11/zoya-factor-by-anuja-chauhan.html">The Zoya Factor</a>, Anuja Chauhan bases her second book on India's second biggest passion - politics. <i>Battle for Bittora</i> is the story of Jinni (Sarojini) Pande and Zain Altaf Khan, friends, childhood sweethearts, and now, Lok Sabha candidates fighting their first election. Against each other. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If <a href="http://www.theindiasite.com/family-politics/">Patrick French</a> would start classifying fictional Indian characters, Jinni would be a hyper-hereditary MP (HHMP) whose grandmother is the incorrigible Pushpa Pande, three time MP from 'Pavit Pradesh' and the scion Zain would be slotted as 'Royal Family'.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The premise is definitely interesting - this is a tale of love and the Lok Sabha. Yes, you read that right. It's easy to draw parallels with Meg Cabot's <i>Princess Diaries </i>where Mia Thermopolis must become Princess of Genovia after her exasperating Grandmere forces her to. But the theme, a light, funny take on Indian politics, is still promising.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Politician Margaret Alva's daughter-in-law Anuja Chauhan has that uncanny ability to make her reader grin, smile widely and even, laugh out loud. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the 'Grand Old' Pragati Party with the Indian tricolour on its flag and the IJP (Indian Janata Party) with the saffron flag and marigold symbol references. Indeed that is the strong point of the book - Chauhan's exquisite popular culture and political culture references that are laden with wit. Nobody is spared - from Rahul Mahajan to Rahul Gandhi, there are enough references to make you chuckle. There are wry remarks about Fab India sarees, white kurtas, the penultimate decision - to ignore or accept a Facebook friend request. Sample some of them:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>'Because if my life really had turned into a bad Madhur Bhandarkar film (Called <b>Politics</b>, you know, like <b>Corporate</b> and <b>Fashion</b> and <b>Jail</b>), I had to play this smartly'</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>'Whichever way you look at it, it can't be denied that, with about three and a half exceptions, Indian pollies are an unbeautiful lot'</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>'But they're rich,' interrupted Our Pappu, with a worldly wise air..'</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But all the charm, sarcasm and fun falls flat because of mundane, repetitive scenes. This is a problem that I had with <i>The Zoya Factor</i> too. There are several scenes that add little to the story and serve only to dampen its pace and annoy the reader. Also, Chauhan's heroines tend to be similar - Jinni from <i>Battle for Bittora</i> and Zoya from <i>The Zoya Factor</i> - are both chirpy, pretty women who are prone to massive crushes. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Zain Altaf Khan is a typical charming, suave, gorgeous hero, the kind women love to read about and the kind a Bollywood hero would look forward to playing. This is a book that is more than 400 pages long and I think crisp editing would have made it better. Nobody is expecting Chauhan to keep us guessing at every stretch, but predictability can be forgiven only when the book captivates you. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I much prefer <i>The Zoya Facto</i>r to <i>Battle for Bittora</i>, despite the fact that I enjoy political fiction more than sport-related fiction. However, I still look forward to reading Chauhan's upcoming books because her wonderful sense of humour (Here's a salute for <i>Shaadi, Khaadi aur Azaadi!</i>) shines through her books.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I wouldn't recommend this book to those who aren't acquainted with India, because the book is at its best with its in-jokes and the Hindi accented words will be tough to understand. But to all others, this is chick lit that is worth a read. It won't be extraordinary, but will almost certainly brighten a dull day.</span></div>
</div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-2192641404041524072011-01-13T18:49:00.005+05:302011-01-13T18:55:42.307+05:30A Dinner Guest List<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A couple of days ago, when I was reading Ramachandra Guha's introduction about Rabindranath Tagore in Penguin's new edition of Tagore's book </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/section/PENGUIN_CLASSICS/Modern_Classics/Nationalism_9780143064671.aspx">Nationalism</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, I realized how much India missed him. I also immediately started wondering how much I'd love to meet him and talk with him. And on that not-so-original route, I wondered what were the writers, dead or alive, I'd invite, if I had the chance to have them all over for dinner. I came up with this list:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. <b>Rabindranath Tagore </b>- Duh, obviously. I'd be shivering and extremely nervous, but it would all be worth it if I could just tell him how much his poems and essays have delighted me. His physical appearance always makes me think of <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_l1ZwDmflrB4/S-XNrP4qJFI/AAAAAAAAB9w/XnpwxPQ_4ro/s1600/Rabindranath-Tagore.jpg">Tagore</a> as <a href="http://www.nedgallagher.com/journal/images/AlbusDumbledore.jpg">Albus Dumbledore</a>. I imagine that he would be wise, excellent at conversation and patient enough to put up with less intelligent mortals like yours truly.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>J.K Rowling</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> - This is the woman who has made me connect everything I see and everything that happens around me to Harry Potter. Notice the Albus Dumbledore reference above. I grew up with Ms.Rowling's boy wizard, made so many wonderful friends because of Harry Potter and discovered the absolute thrill of reading a good book. I would also ask her the recipe for the perfect Butterbeer.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. <b>Jane Austen</b> - Granted my manners would probably shock Miss Austen and I would possibly not immediately understand any sarcastic remark she directs at me. But to be in the company of such a glorious writer would be amazing. I promise to not <s>freak her out</s> startle her by being the crazy fangirl that I am. I shall also limit references to Mr.Darcy. He exists. Enough.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">4. <b>Nayantara Sahgal</b> - It's getting tougher to not be my fangirlish self because Ms. Sahgal is one of the Indian writers I absolutely adore. I shall <s>interview</s> ask her about all the trivia she can remember related to her uncle Jawaharlal Nehru (who I'd invite as well if I weren't so intimidated), her cousin Indira Gandhi and indeed about how it felt living in the British Raj and later, independent India. I shall also congratulate her for one of my most favourite book titles ever: <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2009/09/prison-and-chocolate-cake-by-nayantara.html">Prison and Chocolate Cake</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">5. <b>Basharat Peer</b> - I know he's written only one book so far but it was one of the most heart-breaking ones I've ever read. By the end of <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/09/curfewed-night-basharat-peer.html">Curfewed Night</a>, I wanted to tell the author how incredibly emotional it had been to read his book. Plus, to write about such a personal issue with such elegance and brutal honesty is incredible, and I want to thank him for that.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">6. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Jasper Fforde</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> - Because I adore insanely creative people - emphasis on the creative part. I loved Fforde's Thursday Next series and though I haven't read his latest works, I think he's just too witty to exclude from any list that refers to authors and conversations.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">7. <b>Alex Von Tunzelmann</b> - I really liked <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Summer-Secret-History-Empire/dp/0805080732">Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire</a> and though it's not my all-time favourite book or anything, I simply loved Von Tunzelmann's flair for the interesting minor details that makes history so very special. Plus, we have several common interests: India, Partition, pre-Independence drama, the British Raj, Nehru, Jinnah, Patel, the Mughals. Yeah, you get it. Loads to talk about! I also enjoy reading her <a href="http://www.alexvontunzelmann.com/Reel%20History/Reel%20History.html">reviews</a> of period films.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is such an eclectic guest list.<s> I'm making up for the great disappointment of not being able to go to the <a href="http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/">Jaipur Literature Festival</a> by dreaming up the list of authors I'd love to talk with</s>. What's your list? :)</span></div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-74670537863550038542011-01-10T18:14:00.006+05:302011-01-10T22:18:02.310+05:30Serious Men - Manu Joseph<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Rating:</b> 9.5/10</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've been waiting to read <i>Serious Men</i> for ages. I saw nothing but good reviews, and judging from his articles, I knew I would like to read Manu Joseph's book. This is a book that does not get bogged down because of the hype. Serious Men is a fantastic satirical tale of two men: Ayyan Mani, a Dalit who has had enough of being looked down upon and leading an unremarkable life, and his Brahmin boss Arvind Acharya, a remarkable scientist whose power and authority receives a severe blow after a scandal. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Through them, Joseph sketches a shatteringly realistic portrayal of modern day India, her people and the idiosyncrasies of science. The book is also a blunt reality check of the influence of the 'c' word - caste - on the minds and politics of the people. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The two characters upon whom this novel rests are incredibly three dimensional and are developed with several shades of grey. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ayyan Mani wants the glory that he feels was denied by the upper caste Brahmins to his ancestors, who were treated as Untouchables. He starts playing a dangerously exciting game by building a web of lies to present his son as a celebrated 'genius'. The more popular his son becomes, the more dangerous the game is. Ayyan Mani is definitely one of the most complex, memorable characters I've ever read. He's an underdog who can stoop to any level to achieve what he wants. There are sudden flashes of sympathy, affection, even compassion, but all of these emotions are secondary to Mani's ambitions of giving his family a good future, no matter what.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Arvind Acharya isn't as original a character as Mani, but is constructed with such skill that you can picturise Acharya sitting across you and pondering about the big questions of the Universe. In the hands of a less talented writer, this book could have been boring. But Joseph is, quite simply, a treat to read. His dark sarcasm, even darker humour and dispassionate assessment of Indian society are bound to stay with the reader for long. Joseph is an amazing observer who describes the little things that we often shrug away, to make the larger point</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I would read just about anything he writes because he possesses the rare talent of recreating harsh realities, stripped of the fluff, and doing so without being pretentious. To the very sensitive reader, many parts of this tragic satire could be controversial or shocking. This is not a perfect book - some of the final portions of the book were a little too convenient, there weren't many fully-fleshed female characters. But this is far too important a book to ignore.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Joseph's treatment of Ayyan Mani did remind me of Booker winning writer <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2009/05/white-tiger-aravind-adiga.html">Aravind Adiga</a>'s characterisation of his protagonist Balram Halwai. Both of these characters are underdogs who have been the recipients of the worst of what India has to offer. But Ayyan Mani is more complex, entirely too fascinating - sometimes scary, sometimes saddening. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are whole passages of sheer brilliance. I started marking the good quotes and stopped after a while, because I didn't want a book full of dogears. Joseph's exquisite turn of phrase and easy yet vivid writing style makes him an author who is a joy to read. I'm including a couple of my favourite lines from a very quotable writer:</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'In the twilight that was now the colour of dust, in the fury of horns that was a national language because honking had telegraphic properties..'</span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'The dedication of passwords was the new fellowship of marriage. To each other, couples had become furtive asterisks.'</span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'And one day, very soon in fact, Adi would be an adolescent. An adolescent son of a clerk. A miserable thing to be in this country. He would have to forget all his dreams and tell himself that what he wanted to do was engineering. It's the only hope, everyone would tell him. Engineering, Adi would realize, is every mother's advice to her son, a father's irrevocable decision, a boy's first foreboding of life.'</span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'On the pavement by the side of the road was planted a banner two storeys high. Even in the blow-up the celebrity appeared stunted. He stood in a safari suit, his palms joined in greeting. His face was a light pink because poster artists did not have the freedom to paint his face black. His little mop of hair was spread thinly over an almost flat scalp. And his thick moustache had sharp edges. Just above his head was an English introduction in large font - DYNAMIC PERSONALITY. A thinner line that followed said he was the honourable Minister S Waman. It seemed appropriate that it was at Waman's black shoes the author took credit, in Marathi and in diplomatically-chosen small font - 'Hoarding Presented by P.Bikaji'. </span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'A mysterious character of UFOs is that they are sighted only in the First World,' she said, 'and no alien conquest of Earth begins until the mayor of New York holds an emergency press conference. When Mars attacks, it attacks America.'</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Serious Men</i> is a remarkable book. It's not the kind of book that you read, review and forget. It's the kind of book that you yearn to discuss, debate, analyze and always remember. Indian literature will be proud of another amazing new entrant to its ranks, an author who can rip apart the double standards of society to provide the raw and very real picture. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Needless to say, I'm adding <i>Serious Men</i> to my <a href="http://atpemberley.blogspot.com/2010/08/india-book-recommendations.html">India - Book Recommendations</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">P.S Apologies for the length of the review. I just couldn't resist adding all those great quotes.</span></div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433800763683549690.post-10954544421286448422010-12-31T12:14:00.000+05:302010-12-31T12:14:40.657+05:30Happy 2011!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here's wishing all of my fellow booklovers a wonderful, prosperous and happy 2011. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">May all your dreams come true. Let peace, love and good books prevail forever!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Also, thank you for being so generous with your comments and feedback to my blog this past year. I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed posting it :)</span></div>Kalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07412141003430058757noreply@blogger.com11