At Pemberley

Mansfield Park - Jane Austen

2011-09-08T11:47:00.002+05:30

Rating: 7/10

Review:

Simultaneously referred to as the toughest to read, most uninteresting, 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.

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'.

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'.

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.

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.

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:

"But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them."

"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."

"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."

"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"

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 100 favourite fictional characters as chosen by 100 literary luminaries. Sally Beauman picked Mrs.Norris and provided us with a spot-on description:

"Mrs Norris in the glittering satire Mansfield Park, is Austen's most profound, subtle portrait of the banality of evil"

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.

Recommended reading, to understand Mansfield Park better: How do you solve a problem like Fanny Price? by Lynn Shepherd

An Irony To Remember: Passports before Partition

2011-08-10T11:39:00.000+05:30

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.

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:

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:

“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.”
[Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Speech at Prayer Meeting, 16th June 1947]

The India-Pakistan border is today one of the most dangerous borders in the world 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.

"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; indeed one newspaper headline read ‘Passport rules believed to be needless at present’ [The Great Partition, Yasmin Khan]

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.

Imagine this scenario

2011-08-05T19:20:00.005+05:30

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.

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.

Image via The 1947 Partition: Drawing the Indo-Pakistani Border by Lucy Chester

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.

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.

And oh, your decision will impact about 88 million people at that time, and thousands thereafter. No pressure.

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.

Wiki informs me that Sir Cyril Radcliffe refused his salary of 40000 rupees after 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.

{Radcliffe line facts found in Yasmin Khan's The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan are predominantly used here}

Recommended Reading: Drawing the Indo-Pakistani Boundary by Lucy Chester.

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts about Partition and the Indian struggle for Independence, as India and Pakistan get ready to celebrate their independence days.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson

2011-07-14T21:14:00.004+05:30

Rating: 9/10

Review:

Every once in a while there comes a book which tackles serious, crucial issues in a seemingly effortless fashion, with heart and elegance. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 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.

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.

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.

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.

What makes Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 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:

'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'

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:

'When true love combines with clear financial motive, all objections must be swept away'

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 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, '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.'

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. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is sure to brighten your day.

[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!]

Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire - Rajmohan Gandhi

2011-07-03T20:13:00.008+05:30

Rating: 10/10

Review:

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 T shirts and flairs, repackaged for a new generation, and quoted so often that it would probably make him dizzy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But it was South Africa that marked the biggest turning point of his life. As Nelson Mandela would later say, “You gave us Mohandas; we returned him to you as Mahatma Gandhi”. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Churchill, who with great sensitivity asked the Viceroy when the Mahatma was fasting, if Gandhi hadn't died yet, spoke of blood, toil, tears and sweat. 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'.

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.

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:

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'

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. Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire 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.

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 'the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere'. Many Pakistanis skipped their meal that night, to mourn the loss of a remarkable human being. Said Pakistani leader Mian Iftikharuddin, "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"

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 'generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.' 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: 'My life is my message'. This book is an unforgettable journey to understand that message.

Reader, Writer, Reviewer: Mahatma Gandhi

2011-06-24T14:41:00.007+05:30

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.

I'm now reading Rajmohan Gandhi's brilliant biography of Mahatma Gandhi: Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire. 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)

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 Plea for Vegetarianism, 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]

A Gandhi toying between atheism and all religions, Hinduism in particular, read Helena Blavatsky's Key to Theosophy, Edwin Arnold's translation of the Bhagavad Gita, The Song Celestial (a book he would recommend all his life as the best English translation of the Gita) and Arnold's book on the Buddha, The Light of Asia. Ever-fascinated to get to know different religions, Gandhi also read the Bible and George Sale's translation of the Quran.

His love and respect for Leo Tolstoy's writings, that would influence him enough to name his 'ashram' in South Africa Tolstoy Farm, began with reading 'The Kingdom of God is Within You' which Gandhi says overwhelmed him.

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. Thoreau's statements on civil disobedience seemed to Gandhi to confirm and approve of his belief in satyagraha.

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 Lives of Robert Burns, Samuel Johnson and Walter Scott, Francis Bacon's Essays, Plato's Socrates. He later read Edward Carpenter's 'very illuminating' book Civilization: Its Cause and Care and also read Charles Dickens' David Copperfield 'with avidity'.

Perhaps no book captivated him as much as John Ruskin's Unto This Last. 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.

Gandhi's own book Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), 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 'of great importance not only for India, but for the whole of humanity.'

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 Chauri Chaura. 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.

He read Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Kipling's songs of Empire, the Mahabharata, Plato, Jules Verne, Macaulay, Shaw, Walter Scott, Faust, Tagore, Wells, Woodroffe, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; 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.

Writes Rajmohan Gandhi of the Mahatma's varied reading list: 'The Empire's Challenger is thus also, in his mid -fifties, a scholar with an appetite'. Gandhi sometimes also reviewed books for his newspapers, notably Katherine Mayo's controversial book Mother India 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'.

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.

Library Tales - The Incomplete Reader

2011-06-20T01:24:00.001+05:30

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.

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.

"Here is where people, one frequently finds, lower their voices and raise their minds"

- Richard Armour

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, for, well, just a day.

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.

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.

A Common Man and Partition

2011-06-15T19:04:00.003+05:30

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:

'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'

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.

{Taunsvi's quotes are excerpted from Yasmin Khan's brilliant book The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan}

Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell

2011-06-08T16:00:00.006+05:30

Rating: 9/10

Review:

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 Wives and Daughters 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.

First published in eighteen monthly parts in the Cornhill Magazine from August 1864 to January 1866, Wives and Daughters 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.

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.

Like all great novels, Wives and Daughters 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.

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. 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.

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.

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:

'It is odd enough to see how the entrance of a person of the opposite sex into an assemblage of either men or women calms down the little discordances and the disturbance of mood'

"Your husband this morning! Mine tonight! What do you take him for?'

'A man' smiled Cynthia. 'And therefore, if you won't let me call him changeable, I'll coin a word and call him consolable."

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!

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.

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 Wives and Daughters. There are a lot of characters, relationships and themes that are worth discussing, making this book a great choice for readalongs or book clubs.

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.

Memories of a Booklover

2011-06-06T21:51:00.004+05:30

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.

The best discoveries are truly accidental and so it was when I picked Ketaki Kushari Dyson's translation of Rabindranath Tagore's poems: I Won't Let You Go. 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.

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.

***

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.

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.

***

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 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes because she knew I'd love it. The friend who let me read Heidi 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 The White Tiger - was finally available. Bloggers who helped me discover some of my all-time favourite books: The Group, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The Agatha Christie book, Death in the Clouds, that my Aunt borrowed from me to help her from being bored, immediately after giving birth. Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Shashi Tharoor's The Great Indian Novel, gifted by my best friends on my birthday.

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.

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 My Experiments with Truth in Mum's bookshelf and pocketing it for myself to read. Convincing Mum that even though it looks worn out and jaded, Integration of the Indian States 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 India After Gandhi and Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, thanks to a book voucher gift from my parents.

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 Emma and found it quite boring. The friend who would not let me walk past unless I guessed 'Caput Draconis' or 'Pinefresh'.

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!

The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan - Yasmin Khan

2011-05-28T17:17:00.003+05:30

Rating: 9/10

Review:

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 those who died in the violence of partition for a sentence, not even a paragraph. And quickly moved on to celebrate our Tryst With Destiny, often forgetting that we kept our date with destiny after immense pain, bloodshed and hatred.

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. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan is a stunning book, precisely because it shatters the convenient myths that India, Pakistan and 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.

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.

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:

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.’

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 and simply watching as people died, in a land which they had exploited for more than 200 years and hastily declared independent.

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.

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.

The Great Partition 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.

I hope to post more excerpts from Dr.Khan's book in the coming weeks, as part of A Passage to the British Raj.

Welcome to the British Raj

2011-05-24T14:11:00.007+05:30

"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."

With this brilliant line begins Alex Von Tunzelmann's wonderful Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire, 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 India were, before they became Ruler and Ruled.

The symbol of the East India company

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 an 'agent of British imperialism in India' 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 )

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.

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.

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.

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 Macaulay's Children. 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 .

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.

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 BBC:

Welcome to Bombay

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.

Avoid:

Exposure of your head to sun before 4pm, eating over-ripe fruit or fruits not protected by skin, drinking water from a street fountain, walking bare-footed, drinking intoxicating drinks during the day - especially spirits or soft-drinks from marbled-stoppered bottles, patronising beggars, medicants, fortune-tellers and curio dealers.

Service Organisations:

Freemasonry: Headquarters:

Gallop was also provided a map of Bombay, with specifically marked 'Out of Bounds' areas:

Next week we see what the women, English and Indian, made of each other and the Raj.

Many thanks to Mel U of The Reading Life for joining in with A Passage to the British Raj. His post featuring stories written during the British Raj from what is now Bangladesh is definitely worth reading.

* For a fictionalised, Bollywoodised take on the Great Revolt of 1857, watch Mangal Pandey: The Rising starring Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens.

A Passage to the British Raj

2011-05-20T01:18:00.007+05:30

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 British Raj 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 Partition that killed almost a million in what was one of the largest displacements of people in human history.

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.

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.

A Passage to the British Raj is my small project of sorts, an attempt to chronicle and compile a host of material - books (A Passage to India, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire, The Far Pavilions, The Siege of Krishnapur, Train to Pakistan, The Discovery of India etc), photos, videos, articles etc - that tell the story of the era preceding India's 'tryst with destiny' which can be viewed by anyone interested in the subject.

* This will include book reviews (for useful recommendations, check India- Book Recommendations), 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.

* This isn't a reading challenge, but I welcome everyone who is interested to learn more about the British Raj and the Indian independence movement to join this little project.

* 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 A Passage to the British Raj (as long as you make sure to link to this post).

* Feel free to get involved as per your convenience and leave a comment here to let me know. You do not 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.

* Most crucially, there is no minimum/maximum reading limit or deadline, so enjoy this journey!

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.

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!

The Emotions of Reading

2011-05-16T20:57:00.009+05:30

"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."

- Jasper Fforde, The Well of Lost Plots

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.

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 (The White Tiger), reduce you to tears (Curfewed Night), make you long to live in a fictional universe (the Harry Potter series) and simply stay in your mind forever (The Group, anything Austen). Books are far more than the sum of their words and pages.

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 The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan and when I'm not teary-eyed, I get goosebumps.

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.

Sure, you could argue that a TV show or a film with its visual impact does the job even better. 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.

Two of my favourite things together: Kashmir and Austen

2011-05-02T19:54:00.000+05:30

"To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment." - Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

Kashmir's pristine beauty seems so effortlessly picturesque. While I travelled through this gorgeous place, I had Austen for company.

A Passage to India - E.M Forster

2011-05-01T19:21:00.005+05:30

Rating: 9/10

Review:

A Passage to India is on TIME Magazine's list of the 100 best English novels 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 A Passage to India is anything to go by, Indian weather was the conversation topic of choice in the British Raj. As Ronny remarks:

''There's nothing in India but the weather, my dear mother; it's the alpha and omega of the whole affair'

Forster is eminently quotable, something that adds to my enjoyment of a book. This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:

"We're out here to do justice and keep the peace. Them's my sentiments. India isn't a drawing-room."

"Your sentiments are those of a god," [Mrs. Moore] said quietly, but it was his manner rather than his sentiments that annoyed her.

Trying to recover his temper, [Ronny] said, "India likes gods."

"And Englishmen like posing as gods."

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).

"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."

A Passage to India 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 A Passage to India 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.

Two Years of Book Blogging

2011-04-13T14:21:00.001+05:30

Today marks two years of raving, ranting and gushing about books here At Pemberley.

I've taken long breaks to deal with that nasty thing called non-online life,

Posted intermittently, snappily at times,

Written emotional tributes to people who made my childhood,

Indulged in fantasies enough to pick my own author dinner guest list,

Spent way too much time pretending to be a literary jury member and choosing my favourite books of the year,

Added a lifelong supply of books to my unending 'To-Read' list,

Checked for feedback and replies to my blog posts every few minutes after posting,

Recommended books that have anything and everything to do with India,

Contributed my bit to spread the overwhelmingly contagious Jane Austen love,

Delighted in reading and sharing Rabindranath Tagore's wondrous poetry.

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.

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!

To quote Kathleen Norris: "Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier." Amen to that.

Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai

2011-04-06T23:43:00.003+05:30

Rating: 7/10

Review:

Fasting, Feasting 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. Fasting, Feasting didn't disappoint me, but it isn't the flawless masterpiece it could have been either.

Set for the most part in India, Fasting, Feasting 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.

Before I talk of the writing, here's a quote from the book about Uma's sister Aruna

'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'

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.

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.

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.

In all, Fasting, Feasting 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.

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 :)

Rest In Peace, Uncle Pai

2011-02-24T19:17:00.003+05:30

For every Indian child, books would mean only one thing: Tinkle. 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 Amar Chitra Katha. Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha made me fall in love with books and today, I cannot imagine life without books.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - Syrie James

2011-02-23T18:12:00.004+05:30

Rating: 5/10

Review:

I bought Syrie James' The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen 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. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen 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.

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.

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.

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 Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, according to this book, were both inspired by Mr.Ashford and Jane's romance with him.

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:

''Yes indeed, squire,' said Mr.Morton, 'I have given a great deal of thought to that very subject, and it is a matter of vital interest to me. I think it a right thing for every clergyman to set the example of matrimony in his parish...'

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.

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 The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen is such a case.

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 have loved 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.

Battle for Bittora - Anuja Chauhan

2011-01-20T17:45:00.006+05:30

Rating: 6.5/10

Review:

After tackling the first big passion of India - cricket - in her hilarious first book The Zoya Factor, Anuja Chauhan bases her second book on India's second biggest passion - politics. Battle for Bittora 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.

If Patrick French 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'.

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 Princess Diaries 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.

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:

'Because if my life really had turned into a bad Madhur Bhandarkar film (Called Politics, you know, like Corporate and Fashion and Jail), I had to play this smartly'

'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'

'Bitiya, marrying into a minority community is a good idea,' Rocket Singh volunteered. 'It will increase your vote bank and show ki you are a progressive. But be practical, please choose a large, healthy minority! There's no such thing as a Parsi vote bank - they're practically extinct.'

'But they're rich,' interrupted Our Pappu, with a worldly wise air..'

But all the charm, sarcasm and fun falls flat because of mundane, repetitive scenes. This is a problem that I had with The Zoya Factor 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 Battle for Bittora and Zoya from The Zoya Factor - are both chirpy, pretty women who are prone to massive crushes.

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.

I much prefer The Zoya Factor to Battle for Bittora, 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 Shaadi, Khaadi aur Azaadi!) shines through her books.

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.

A Dinner Guest List

2011-01-13T18:49:00.005+05:30

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 Nationalism, 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:

1. Rabindranath Tagore - 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 Tagore as Albus Dumbledore. I imagine that he would be wise, excellent at conversation and patient enough to put up with less intelligent mortals like yours truly.

2. J.K Rowling - 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.

3. Jane Austen - 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 ~~freak her out~~ startle her by being the crazy fangirl that I am. I shall also limit references to Mr.Darcy. He exists. Enough.

4. Nayantara Sahgal - It's getting tougher to not be my fangirlish self because Ms. Sahgal is one of the Indian writers I absolutely adore. I shall ~~interview~~ 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: Prison and Chocolate Cake.

5. Basharat Peer - 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 Curfewed Night, 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.

6. Jasper Fforde - 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.

7. Alex Von Tunzelmann - I really liked Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire 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 reviews of period films.

This is such an eclectic guest list. ~~I'm making up for the great disappointment of not being able to go to the Jaipur Literature Festival by dreaming up the list of authors I'd love to talk with~~. What's your list? :)

Serious Men - Manu Joseph

2011-01-10T18:14:00.006+05:30

Rating: 9.5/10

Review:

I've been waiting to read Serious Men 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.

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. The two characters upon whom this novel rests are incredibly three dimensional and are developed with several shades of grey.

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.

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.

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.

Joseph's treatment of Ayyan Mani did remind me of Booker winning writer Aravind Adiga'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.

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:

'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..'

'The dedication of passwords was the new fellowship of marriage. To each other, couples had become furtive asterisks.'

'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.'

'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'.

'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.'

Serious Men 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.

Needless to say, I'm adding Serious Men to my India - Book Recommendations.

P.S Apologies for the length of the review. I just couldn't resist adding all those great quotes.

Happy 2011!

2010-12-31T12:14:00.000+05:30

Here's wishing all of my fellow booklovers a wonderful, prosperous and happy 2011. May all your dreams come true. Let peace, love and good books prevail forever!

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 :)

Books of the Year: Non-Fiction

2010-12-24T20:43:00.003+05:30

It's probably a personal thing, but non-fiction always seems to strike me emotionally much more than fiction. I love reading biographies, memoirs, political/historical books and this year was an amazing reading year for me, non-fiction wise! Without further ado, here's my list of the top five non-fiction books that I would recommend to anyone interested in these subjects:

5. Diplomatic Divide: Cross Border Talks by G.Parthasarathy and Dr.Humayun Khan

Thousands of books have been written about India, Pakistan and the conflicts and the hurdles that hamper a good relationship between the two neighbours. Diplomatic Divide: Cross Border Talks is different because this book sees Indo-Pak relations through the eyes of Pakistani diplomat Humayun Khan who served in India and former Indian diplomat G.Parthasarathy who served in Pakistan.

Therefore, the book places on the table both sides of all the issues that India and Pakistan call 'core issues'. Since the book is written by men who have actually been part of decisions that have shaped the way India and Pakistan interact with each other, their thoughts hold a lot of weight. Also, the book isn't stuck in chronicling the follies and lost chances of the past, but also makes important suggestions for the future. To everyone interested in the history and politics of India and Pakistan, I highly recommend Diplomatic Divide: Cross Border Talks.

4. City of Djinns by William Dalrymple

I remember having a conversation with a friend who was talking about how she's not a huge fan of foreigners writing about India. I think I told her 'Well, William Dalrymple writes beautifully about India. Oh wait, I don't really think we can call him an outsider'. And that's exactly the thing about Dalrymple. He writes about India like he really cares about the country and not as a condescending collection of stereotypes and cliches that a Western audience expects. City of Djinns is his tribute of sorts to Delhi and everything about it, from the people to the Sufis to Yunani to Partition to Bureaucratic red tape to the Mughals. His writing is witty, smooth and easy and engages you in a journey, discovering the charm, beauty and complications of Delhi alongside Dalrymple. If you've ever been to India/Delhi or want to, this book is an absolute must-read!

3. Letters from a Father to his Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru

Anyone who's been following my blog for a while will know that I'm a huge fan of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his writings. Letters from a Father to his Daughter is a collection of the letters Nehru wrote to his daughter Indira (Gandhi) when she was ten. Nehru writes with such grace as he explains in exquisitely simple language the story of the world, its civilizations, India and her people, nature and so much more. This book seems to have been geared towards an Indian audience, but I earnestly believe that every child, across the world, ought to be given a chance to read this book. Nehru's world view, his opinions and his dreams for his country and his fellow citizens is reflected beautifully in this book. The values that he speaks about and the small anecdotes and messages that he teaches his daughter are universal. This is one of those books that I'd love to pass on to my children.

2. Nehru: The Making of India by M.J.Akbar

This book is a masterpiece. Writing a biography of a man who lived a full and busy life that saw history being made, the birth of two countries and the journey of fragile, battered young India being strengthened and healed, is an incredibly tough task. Nehru left behind a voluminous collection of letters to family members, Chief Ministers, Heads of States, apart from his own books. This might become a biographer's nightmare since there's just too much material about the man. But M.J.Akbar does an admirable job of chronicling the life of one of India's most charismatic, intellectual and visionary leaders.

At a time when blaming Nehru for every single problem has become the fashion, M.J Akbar's biography is an important book to read. Nehru: The Making of India does not acquit Nehru of the mistakes he made, but does not shy away from showering praise where it is required. This is an amazing portrait and rich tribute to a man whom many love, many hate but nobody can ignore when talking of India.

My pick for Non:Fiction Book of the Year is actually my Book of the Year. I know genres make some books incomparable, but I have no hesitation in picking this incredible, shattering book as my Book of the Year.

1. Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer

This book has found a place in so many 'Best of 2010' lists that I've lost count. More importantly, Curfewed Night deserves each and every one of the recommendations and awards it has got. This is journalist/writer Basharat Peer's part-autobiographical tale of Kashmir and what it means to be a Kashmiri. This is a book that shatters the comfortable cocoon of myths on the basis of which many people see the valley. It is a heart-breaking, emotional and incredibly important book that every Indian ought to read. Peer has spoken in many an interview about how tough it was to write the book, but his writing itself flows with such ease and brutal honesty, conjuring unforgettable images of his Kashmir. The places he visits, the many people he meets, all have a story to say, a story it is time we listened to.

Curfewed Night had me in tears more than once and refused to let me put down the book and turn to happier things. One of the things that Peer writes about in this book is his anger and sadness at the fact that almost every zone of conflict in the world has many books written about it by its own people, except Kashmir. Peer need not worry about that any longer. His book serves as that unforgettable voice that helps us understand the many realities of the valley. Many people have many opinions on Kashmir and for them all, this book is highly recommended. The way you look at Kashmir may never be the same again once you read Curfewed Night.

Books of the Year: Fiction

2010-12-21T23:34:00.008+05:30

The number of bad books I've read this year are few, the number of mediocre/disappointing books I've read this year are more, but I had the fortune to read several excellent books. Some stood out for their writing style, the subject they dealt with, the impact they made on me, the originality or uniqueness of the tale etc. This is a year-end collection of the top books I've read. These are books I'd recommend vigorously, lend or even hand-sell. ~~And then I shall badger you to post a review or I'll end up interviewing you on everything about the book and how you liked it.~~

Without further ado, here are my top fiction books of 2010:

5. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

Zama is the Indian Alexander McCall Smith. His writing is simple, beautiful and when telling a story that is as heartwarming and vivid as this one, very effective. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is the tale of retired Mr.Ali who starts a 'marriage bureau', and the many people he meets as he tries to find the 'right match' for the right person. The social commentary is subtly, but gorgeously done and Zama conjures the image of that Indian neighbourhood, with all its quirky, annoying yet loving neighbours, that all of us remember with nostalgia. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is a feel-good book that is a rich treat for the reader. I'm looking forward to reading its sequel The Many Conditions of Love and will watch out for Zama's forthcoming books.

4. Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

I'm usually not a fan of short stories, because it takes a gripping novel to engage me. But Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth captivated me, mostly due to Lahiri's prodigous writing talent. Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of stories that deal with the overseas experience, its cultural repercussions etc. Unaccustomed Earth is a more mature, darker take on the immigrant phenomenon and its challenges. These are stories that are emotional, tragic, entertaining and overall, memorable. The hype surrounding Lahiri is entirely justified, for her eye for detail and engaging writing transforms short stories into unforgettable experiences.

3. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

This is one of those books that I never would have read if not for the blogger world and the many positive reviews and recommendations that I saw for the book. I had many reservations, especially because the primary theme of the book deals with Math and numbers and I, well, I'm the last person you'd catch reading books related to Math. But I'm glad I picked this book because The Housekeeper and the Professor is a unique, engrossing tale of the relationship between a genius Maths Professor who has only 80 minutes of short-term memory and his Housekeeper and her son. The characters involve you into the book and though it is a short book, its effect is definitely long-term. Don't be put off by the Math-related theme of the book. Math here is used as a beautiful tool to understand people, their emotions and life itself. Really.

2. Rich Like Us by Nayantara Sahgal

I'm an unabashed fan of Nayantara Sahgal and I'm proud to be. Sahgal is one of the not-so-popular Indian authors, something which is a loss for the reading community in general. Because Nayantara Sahgal is one of the more intellectually slanted writers who bring to life the politics and history of the times with her wonderful writing. Rich Like Us is a tale of India from before independence to Emergency, through the stories of two women - one a cockney memsahib married to an Indian and the other a forward-thinking Indian woman. Sahgal writes skilfully and her talent of interweaving the lessons and stories of the past with the ideals of the present, is remarkable. Rich Like Us won the Sinclair Prize and the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Best Novel and it is easy to see why. Evocative, gripping and unforgettable, Rich Like Us is a book that I cannot recommend enough.

Picking the Book of the Year: Fiction was incredibly tough because there are so many equally brilliant books from different genres, and therefore are incomparable. Therefore, as an indecisive Libran, I cannot select between the following two and I'm presenting to you my Top Fiction Book(s) of the Year:

1. The Group by Mary McCarthy

The Group is an incredible masterpiece that tells the tale of eight Vassar graduates, women whose stories, experiences and opinions stay with the reader and linger in our minds. Set in the Great Depression, The Group drives home the status of women and the struggles and problems that they face as a consequence of their choices. McCarthy writes with such exquisite ease and brutal honesty about complex, depressing, even embarrassing but important issues. The Group is an important feminist voice that may shock you, startle you, make you uneasy, but will remain with you for a long time.

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

If I was asked to pick a book to reread from the list of books I've read in 2010, I would not think twice. If I was asked to pick the book that I would most like to gift a friend, I know exactly which book I would choose. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is to fiction what The Sound of Music is to musicals - unforgettable, charming, emotional and heart-warming. This is an epistolary novel about an author getting to know about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the stories of its members and how they formed the society during the German occupation of Guernsey. A treat to every bookworm, this book is a wonderful mix of witty writing, fascinating characters and memorable scenes. If you haven't read this book already, well, what are you waiting for? In my opinion, this is a book worth buying and seeking refuge in, whenever in need of a comforting, relaxing and beautiful story.

What are your favourite fiction books from this year?

Note: These aren't books published in 2010, but books I read in 2010

P.S I'm looking forward to posting my final end-of-year list, that is the Top Non-Fiction books of the year. Many of the most memorable books I've ever read, find a place in the list :)

Classics Countdown

2010-12-18T13:21:00.005+05:30

I love classics. They may not be the easiest books to read nor will they all be to my taste, but they're books that almost always make me think, they're books that stay with me long after I'm done reading them. This year was quite a fruitful year as far as reading classics go. Here's my pick of the popular classics I've read this year. Get a cup of tea ready to sip in, and curl up with these books as they transport you to their era.

5. Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped to, but it was still a beautiful read. I had my problems with the book in that it had too many characters that clutter the narrative and confuse the reader. But Flagg is a wonderful writer who brings to life the characters, the town and the time frame she talks about. She tackles many important issues in the book like lesbianism, racism and feminism and does so without making it seem pretentious or preachy. Also, the descriptions of food in the book would give Enid Blyton a run for her money.

4. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
In one word, Rebecca is a haunting book. The atmosphere of Manderley, its inhabitants and their story is so powerfully created that readers think of a certain 'mood' the moment they hear the word 'Rebecca'. I thought many of the 'twists' were obvious and I disliked the spineless unnamed narrator. I understand that she's supposed to be dull, but she's far too naive that the tale moves to the predictable arena. However, Rebecca is worth a read just for Du Maurier's excellent writing style and a gripping finale.

3. Persuasion by Jane Austen
Is it sacrilegious that an Austen fan does not choose Persuasion to be her 'Classic of the Year'? I hope not, because once you see the top two, you would forgive me. But Persuasion is a remarkable book. A mature look at a relationship that flourished once, was broken, and left to grow again when the hero and the heroine were under totally different circumstances. The book boasts of memorable characters, especially a wonderful Captain Wentworth whose letter to Anne Elliot has earned its place in literary history as one of the best love letters ever written. Persuasion is a treat to every reader, Austen-fan or not.

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M.Montgomery
Reading this book made me want to go and live in Prince Edward Island along with that red-haired, vivacious Anne Shirley and her amazing, wondrous imagination. Anne of Green Gables is one of those books that tugs your heart strings and makes you feel that you're part of the story because you genuinely care about the characters. Anne of Green Gables is a charming, emotional experience that you shouldn't deny yourself and is one of the most memorable books I've ever read.

1. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
It wasn't at all tough for me to choose A Tree Grows In Brooklyn as my 'Classic of the Year', for no book made me laugh in joy, smile fondly, feel angry, break into tears as this coming of age book did. Francie Nolan's growing up saga is a story that every one of us will have something or the other in common with. Smith writes like a dream; her language is rich yet easy and she conjures vivid images of the past that is she is writing about. She tackles the subject of poverty beautifully, without romanticising or trivialising it. This book could have easily become a compilation of cliches, but Smith writes so realistically that it is hard not to be moved by the book. The host of characters she has created will stay with you long after you're done reading this book and that is exactly the greatest thing about the book - it is an unforgettable experience.

P.S Coming up next are my final end of the year lists where I pick my Book of the Year in the genres of Fiction and Non-Fiction :)

A Year Of Austen

2010-12-11T00:02:00.001+05:30

'My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company'

Austen and Janeites are excellent company. This year, my Austen obsession manifested not in terms of the number of Austen-related books I read and movies I watched, but in terms of how I could relate every random thing that happened, to Austen.

Indeed I wrote a profile of myself - an Indian Austen fan - as a guest post for the lovely Priya at Uniquely Priya. I referenced Salman Rushdie's quote that linked Austen and Indian women. I wrote about what it meant to be an Austen-tatious Indian:

"To me, Austen’s books have been something to seek solace in, no matter what. They are books for all moods. When I’m sad, a few witty sentences of Pride and Prejudice or a heart-warming letter in Persuasion, can put a smile to my face. When I’m lonely, it’s pretty nice to have Mr. Darcy and Mr. Tilney for company. Every time Auntie X harps about the need for ‘you girls’ to get married to an NRI, I think of Mrs. Bennet looking to push her daughters to the richest man possible. Every time Mr. Y speaks about his looks, I’m reminded of the vain Sir Elliot in Persuasion."

I even used/misused an Alfred Tennyson quote to prove a point about Mr.Darcy: For men may come, men may go, but Mr. Darcy goes on for ever ;)

The Year of Listening to Pride and Prejudice:

Matthew Macfadyen is an amazing actor. But what's more amazing is his voice. Especially when he reads out a wonderful passage from Pride and Prejudice for the Carte Noire readers. I downloaded this a long while back and I'm glad I did. I start out early every morning, come home after a long time and in my journeys by bus, auto or just walking, it is nice to listen to Mr.Macfadyen read from Austen. It is good company, I must admit.

'The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.'

I have a yearly tradition of reading Pride and Prejudice at least once every year. This year was no different. But if there is an Austen book that stole my heart this year, it has to be Persuasion. After hearing from all and sundry about the wonderfulness of Captain Wentworth, I decided to find out for myself what was so great about him. And I'm glad I did!

Persuasion is a beautifully written, mature love story; the kind that you feel was ahead of its time. Anne Elliot isn't a typical dashing heroine, but a heroine you care about, one whose personality flows so well with the story. I loved Persuasion and it is my second most favourite Austen book, next to Pride and Prejudice. And oh, that letter!

That made this Darcy fangirl a Wentworth fangirl too.

I also watched Rupert Penry-Jones' version of Persuasion and well, that's the only thing I have to say about it: Rupert Penry-Jones. The movie did not do justice to the book and I'm hoping that the Ciaran Hinds version is much better.

'Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can..'

One of the highlights of my year in Austen is Miss Austen Regrets. In one word, this take on Jane Austen's life is: unforgettable. I believe this is a must-watch for every Austen fan and I'm sure you won't regret watching this movie. Miss Austen Regrets depicts Jane Austen the way I imagined her to be: spunky, sarcastic, witty and brave. To all those disappointed by Becoming Jane, Miss Austen Regrets will be your healing balm. Olivia Williams is phenomenal as Austen and it will be hard to get her image out of your mind when you read Austen.

'How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!'

I was predisposed to like these two Austen-inspired books: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. I first saw the movie version of The Jane Austen Book Club and I loved it! I thought the book might disappoint someone who had seen the movie first, but that's not the case. Fowler writes beautifully and the book features several discussions about Austen herself, her characters and her books that every Austen fan would love to be part of! The Jane Austen Book Club is a poignant, heart-felt tribute to the legacy of Austen and the impact she has had on so many of us.

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, on the other hand, is pure fun. An Austen fan wakes up to find herself in Jane Austen's time, something that isn't quite as rosy and romantic as the Jennifer Ehles and Matthew Macfadyens have lead us to feel. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is a little like Lost in Austen meeting Bridget Jones' Diary. The storyline isn't original, nor too surprising and I felt the romance parts were a little boring. But where Rigler scores is in bringing out, quite comically, what it means for a 21st century Janeite to find herself stuck in Austen's England. The reality-check of sorts is hilariously written and I enjoyed reading it! (On a related note, this is great fun)

This year in Austen terms was a very memorable one. I would have loved to had more time to read many Austen-inspired books and biographies, but work and study left me with little time.To quote the lady herself: Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings. How was your year, Austen-wise?

Thursdays With Tagore - December 9

2010-12-09T18:00:00.003+05:30

This week on Thursdays with Tagore is a poem I've known by heart and have sung ever since I was a child. It was one of our daily prayer songs in school. I used to just recite the words those days, focusing more on coming to the end of the poem and opening my eyes, than savouring the words. Today though, when I read through the words, nostalgia strikes me alongside pleasure at understanding the simple and compassionate meaning of the poem.

This is my prayer to thee, my lord — strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.

What a beautiful message to teach everyone, especially children!

Thanks to Mel U at The Reading Life for sharing this link which has the English version of Tagore's Nobel Prize winning Gitanjali along with a wonderful introduction by William Butler Yeats. Do check it out!

From this week onwards, I will be posting a couple of end-of-year lists including my pick for Book of the Year (Fiction and Non-Fiction). Do look out for that!

Next Thursday, I will not be posting a new poem, but I'll be re-posting a couple of poems featured in Thursdays with Tagore and will be asking you to vote for your favourite Tagore poem among those. I know that is an awfully tough task, but I'd love to find out your pick among the several poems I've shared with you this year. I'm excited and I hope you'll enjoy voting :)

Thursdays With Tagore - December 2

2010-12-02T20:50:00.000+05:30

This Thursday, I dare you to not smile while reading this poem:

When I bring to you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints - when I give coloured toys to you, my child.

When I sing to make you dance I truly know why there is music in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth - when I sing to make you dance.

When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands I know why there is honey in the cup of the flower and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice - when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.

When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely understand what the pleasure is that streams from the sky in the morning light, and what delight that is which the summer breeze brings to my body - when I kiss you to make you smile.

This is a wonderful, heart-warming poem where Tagore understands the ways of nature through his affection for the child. The comparisons are simply, yet delightfully done. This is a beautiful poem that made my evening! How about you?

South Asian Challenge 2011

2010-12-01T19:29:00.004+05:30

One of the many things I've learnt this year is the fact that I'm dismal at completing challenges. The list of challenges I've completed - don't look at my sidebar! - is embarrassingly low, due to a combination of work, lethargy, work, work and work. But one challenge that I completed very early in 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed was the South Asian Author Challenge.

It was easy for me to complete (and indeed exceed) the maximum level of that challenge because I always read a lot of Indian authors. I've discovered many a wonderful author through the challenge and I hope you've found some good recommendations from my blog too.

I'm delighted that Swapna Krishna at S.Krishna's Books is continuing with this challenge and I'm happy to sign-up for the South Asian Challenge 2011. Here are the slightly different rules for the new version, which concentrates not on the nationality of the author alone, but rather the geographical area that the book deals with. I'm being (probably overtly) ambitious in choosing the challenge level of 'South Asian Guru' where I read more than 10 books. I'm going by the fact that this year I've read almost 15 South Asian books and I hope the trend will continue next year too!

A tentative list of some of the books I'd like to read next year:

1. Serious Men - Manu Joseph - DONE

2. Nationalism - Rabindranath Tagore

3. India Remembered - Pamela Mountbatten and India Hicks

4. Jawaharlal Nehru: Civilizing a Savage World - Nayantara Sahgal

5. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

6. Chef - Jaspreet Singh

7. The Far Pavilions - M.M.Kaye
8. A Passage to India - E.M Forster - DONE

Thank you once again Swapna for hosting this! I'm glad that this challenge gives people across the world an opportunity to discover new authors, cultures and traditions.

Thursdays With Tagore - November 25

2010-11-25T16:45:00.000+05:30

The poem I'm sharing this week is probably my all-time favourite Tagore poem and definitely one of his most popular poems. It has a lot of personal importance too because this is the first and only poem that has brought tears to my eyes so far.

I'm sharing it this week for two reasons. First, this is one of those poems that I believe everyone ought to read. I don't know of anyone who's read the poem and not liked it. This poem finds its way into most speeches addressed to Indians or about India. Recent samples being President Obama's speech at Parliament and PM Dr.Singh's speech in the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Second: On the eve of the second anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, something that shocked, startled and pained many of us, I think this is an important reminder of a great man's dream for his country. A dream that might sound Utopian, but one that is worth putting our heart and soul in to attain.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

I am not going to try analysing the way simple words are used exquisitely or the wonderful metaphors. Because this poem is all about the emotion. Read it again, again, again and experience it. This poem, like many of Tagore's poems, is not restricted to India alone and fits just as beautifully for any country.

Growing Up with Harry Potter

2010-11-20T11:58:00.006+05:30

To many of us, the Harry Potter series is more than just a best-selling book series that spawned a successful movie franchise. We grew up with Harry Potter. We stood outside bookstores early in the morning to get our copy of the books. We cried our eyes out when a character died. We debated endlessly about probably theories, ships and ideal endings. We kept track of every word J.K.Rowling said in her interviews, hoping to find clues about what would happen next in the series.

We met some amazing people and broke the ice by talking about Harry Potter. We managed to get a Harry Potter reference into the essays we wrote for school. We stuck Harry Potter posters on to our walls and could quote from the book extensively. If Harry Potter had been a subject, we would have all topped class. We have friends from across the world, people of different cultures, traditions - all united by The Boy Who Lived. We have cherished memories related to Harry Potter and it is so very much a personal thing. We are the Harry Potter generation.

I like the Harry Potter movies, but they're nowhere near as magical as the books. And as I get ready to watch the movie soon with a couple of friends, I can't believe how emotional this is! This is the beginning of the end of a movie franchise that is as unforgettable as the books it is based on. Though I want to run and watch the movie as soon as possible, part of me also wouldn't mind not watching the movie for a while, if just to extend the Harry Potter-related stuff I have left to enjoy.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to watching the movie and reviewing it and I hope everyone has something or the other to enjoy in Deathly Hallows Part 1. Because remember, in a sense, this is the culmination of our journey alongside a little boy with a lightning scar, who was left outside Number 4, Privet Drive one night.

P.S. I'm delighted that my blog now has 100 followers! Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy writing it :)

Thursdays With Tagore - November 18

2010-11-18T15:51:00.000+05:30

This is a beautiful poem where Tagore touches upon subjects that we're familiar with from many of his other poems.

Deliverance is not for me in renunciation. I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.

Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wines of various colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim.

My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame and place them before the altar of thy temple.

No, I will never shut the doors of my senses. The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.

Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy, and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.

I love the metaphor of the earthen vessel being filled with the draught of the colours and fragrance, a recurring element in his poems. Sample: 'This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life'. The crux of this poem is one that Tagore often speaks about; the need to see, experience, live and love and not renounce. He is scornful of meditation and remarks "But I meanwhile, with hungry eyes that can't be satisfied, shall take a look at the world in broad daylight." The final line of this poem is a beautiful, fitting conclusion.

Thursdays With Tagore - November 11

2010-11-11T00:01:00.000+05:30

This week's Tagore poem is very different from the rest I've posted, because this reads like a story. So simple and seamless.

I had gone a-begging from door to door in the village path, when thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream and I wondered who was this King of all kings!

My hopes rose high and methought my evil days were at an end, and I stood waiting for alms to be given unasked and for wealth scattered on all sides in the dust.

The chariot stopped where I stood. Thy glance fell on me and thou camest down with a smile. I felt that the luck of my life had come at last. Then of a sudden thou didst hold out thy right hand and say, "What hast thou to give to me?"

Ah, what a kingly jest was it to open thy palm to a beggar to beg! I was confused and stood undecided, and then from my wallet I slowly cook out the least little grain of corn and gave it to thee.

But how great my surprise when at the day's end I emptied my bag on the floor to find a least little grain of gold among the poor heap! I bitterly wept and wished that I had had the heart to give thee my all.

This is such a beautiful parable of sorts! It has a nice little twist in the end and is of the type that I would like to read to children. Again, the sheer variety of Tagore's writing is amazing.

The Music Room: A Memoir - Namita Devidayal

2010-11-08T22:05:00.005+05:30

Rating: 7/10

Review:

Allow me to lapse into a little bit of nostalgia before I review this book. Like many Indian girls, it was customary for me too to learn Indian classical music right from a very young age. Though I love music, the rigid, packed schedule of school, music and home work meant that I was always reluctant to go to music class. But that wouldn't matter, since it was almost blasphemous to mention anything close to 'I hate music class'! Anyway, my Music teacher was always kind, lovely and patient with me, having seen many such reluctant learners.

Music is such an intrinsic part of most Indian families, that it is common to name their children after ragas (Don't we all know our Kalyanis, Ragamalikas and Sahanas?) Music here could be a refuge, a spiritual recourse or something that people love to talk, discuss and even debate, showing off their musical knowledge. If there is a girl learning music in the family, you can be assured that everyone who meets her will ask about the new Kriti she learnt, whether she's waking up early in the morning for voice culture exercises and if she made it to the recent Bombay Jayashri concert. Music, the great leveler of sorts, is a part of each and everyone I know here and this debut book of Namita Devidayal pays tribute to that universal language of music.

Devidayal uses her personal experiences with her Music Guru Dhondutai Kulkarni to trace the history of two of India's greatest singers: the legendary Alladiya Khan and his disciple Kesarbai Kerkar and their legacies and the kind of environment they lived in. The language is simple, engrossing and filled with small stories and anecdotes about these three great musicians and their lives, even as the concepts that are vital to Indian music, and indeed music as a whole, are explained.

The narrative, however, is not as simply structured as the language. It jumps into flashback mode quite a lot and often, abruptly. But that is no great fault, as the book is a page-turner that will appeal to just about anyone who loves music or likes to read about India. Devidayal deals with concepts surrounding music and its religious and social repercussions. Sometimes the book might read like a chapter from Theory of Indian Music or the like, but it only adds on to the reader experience, by helping them understand the concepts referred to in the book.

The final parts of the book were a bit of a dampener and it became a rather predictable ending, which is what stops this book from being more than just a good book, in my opinion. However, the good things far outweigh the negative points in this book. The relationship between little Namita and her teacher Dhondutai is so beautifully and realistically portrayed and it is hard not to care for them both.

Pandit Ravishankar is quoted in the gorgeous book cover, saying that this book is 'A must for every musician and music lover!'. That just about sums it up. Settle down comfortably and prepare for a trip down memory lane and a peek into the wonderful world of Indian music that has long enthralled people across the world, no matter what country, religion, gender or race they belong to.

An evening inspired by Tagore

2010-11-05T21:28:00.002+05:30

This Thursday was different from my usual ones, because I got to see an entirely new perspective on Tagore. I happened to visit an exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai, organised by the InKo Centre showcasing the works of seven major artists from Korea as a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on the year of his 150th birth anniversary. Now what exactly is the connection between Tagore and Korea? The answer is this poem:

The lamp of the east

In the golden age of Asia

Korea was one of its lamp-bearers

And that lamp is waiting to be lighted once again

For the illumination in the east

( The Lamp of the East, Rabindranath Tagore, 1929)

This is a poem that apparently not only finds its place in Korean school textbooks today, but also served as an inspiration to the Korean people when they were under Japanese occupation. Another testament to the power of Tagore's words and their long-standing influence.

I'm an absolute ignoramus as far as paintings are concerned, and the most in-depth, knowledgeable and deep thing I can say about the exhibition is that it was beautiful. I wouldn't have gone for it if not for the Tagore connection but I'm glad I dropped by. There weren't many obvious (to me) connections to Tagore's poetry in the paintings, but for the fact that I'm pretty sure Tagore would have been delighted by the idea of two countries joining hands through art and through him.

There were some lovely paintings of Cactuses, gorgeous depictions of nature in Korea, some interesting paintings of Tagore, Gandhi and Mother Teresa and my personal favourite (probably because it was in- your-face and easy to understand) - the beautiful video of a white Korean 'Moon Jar'. This video captured the four seasons, depicting rather gorgeously the blossoming of flowers, the change in climate with petals getting drenched in rain, winter setting in with snow covering the blossoms and finally autumn and the shedding of petals.

The exhibition is on till the 13th of this month and if you're interested in either art or Tagore or both, I definitely recommend you check it out if you are in the city. To me, whose knowledge of art is pretty abysmal, this exhibition was a chance to understand what Gurudev means to so many people in so many countries and how relevant people find him to be even today.

Photos from: The Hindu

Thursdays With Tagore - November 4

2010-11-04T00:01:00.000+05:30

This poem caught my eye the moment I read it, because of the gorgeous, lush imagery and beautiful use of contrast.

When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides

shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.

This is one of those Tagore poems that I want someone to read out to me! Someone like Matthew Macfadyen or even maybe Amitabh Bachchan.

P.S. Expect something a little different, yet Tagore-related to come up soon on the blog :)

Thursdays With Tagore - October 28

2010-10-28T00:17:00.000+05:30

This week on Thursdays with Tagore, I'm featuring a poem that moved me a lot and is a subject that Mahatma Gandhi (Incidentally, it was Tagore who gave Gandhi the title of Mahatma or Great Soul) spoke a lot about. But no body puts it more meaningfully and emotionally than Tagore in this case.

Here is thy footstool and there rests thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.

When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.

Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.

My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost.

Any analysis of the poem is in a sense unnecessary, because it speaks for itself: simple, striking and something that moves you to think.

A Gift, A Purchase and one more addition to the Wishlist

2010-10-26T19:45:00.000+05:30

At least one aspect of my birthdays are quite predictable to me: the fact that someone will gift me a book! And this October 18, my friends gifted me a classic that I've been long wanting to read. I've of course heard that this masterpiece is not necessarily an easy read and not for everyone, but I'm still excited about having Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina on my shelves!

Shocking though it may be, I've not read a single of Tolstoy's books. Have you? Is Anna Karenina better than War and Peace like my Dad seems to think?

At the cost of repeating myself, Rabindranath Tagore is my all-time favourite poet. But he was more than just a poet; he was a novelist, musician, painter, playwright and one of the foremost thinkers, feminists and makers of modern India (more on that later). He also delivered some very memorable, 'chillingly prophetic' lectures during the First World War that spoke of the theory of nationalism as an inclusive and not exclusive idea. Penguin India has published a collection of these lectures titled Nationalism which it calls 'mandatory reading in today's climate of xenophobia, sectarianism, violence and intolerance'. Plus, this book has an introduction by one of my favourite writers Ramachandra Guha. Needless to say, I just had to buy it. I can't wait to read and review the book!

I'm still not done with Guha's magnificent India After Gandhi. In my defense, it is a mammoth, almost 1000 page book which transverses the history of India after Independence in its pages and it isnt worth running through such a book. Savouring it and slowly studying it is a much better bet for me. Anyway, I'm extremely excited about Guha's newest book which hasn't released yet here. Makers of Modern India is a book where Guha 'profiles nineteen Indians whose ideas had a defining impact on the formation and evolution of our Republic, and presents rare and compelling excerpts from their writings and speeches.' Read more about it here.

Thursdays With Tagore is back!

2010-10-21T00:00:00.004+05:30

Of all the things I've missed about blogging, what I've missed the most, is sharing Gurudev's poems with fellow bloggers. I don't know about you, but I've always thought of Thursdays with Tagore as a sort of poetry club where people from across the world read, feel, enjoy, reflect and think of the great man's poems. Tagore loved the idea of making the East merge with the West and exchange thoughts and ideas ( Santiniketan was based on that idea) and I'm happy we're doing the same in our own little online way :)

Enough of me rambling. I'll let Tagore speak. From the Gitanjali:

Thy gifts to us mortals fulfill all our needs and yet run back to thee undiminished.

The river has its everyday work to do and hastens through fields and hamlets; yet its incessant stream winds towards the washing of thy feet.

The flower sweetens the air with its perfume; yet its last service is to offer itself to thee.

Thy worship does not impoverish the world.

From the words of the poet men take what meanings please them; yet their last meaning points to thee.

This is beautiful as ever. The metaphors - of the river, the flower, and the interpretation of the poet's words - bring the poem to life and make it simple, yet rich with meaning. I love how short yet evocative this poem is. What do you think?

Alyce, Vaishnavi, Priya Parmar, Priya Iyer, Suko, Whitney, JoAnn, The Book Mole and all others who've dropped by to spend Thursdays with Tagore, hope you'll be back again and have a lovely time :)

Rich Like Us - Nayantara Sahgal

2010-10-17T20:17:00.012+05:30

Rating: 9/10

Review:

Rich Like Us is a snapshot of India and her people before and after independence, and the story of how the Emergency of 1975 ruined the democratic values that this country was founded upon. This is a story told through the lives of two women - the 'Cockney memsahib' Rose and the young, well-educated, unconventional Sonali. I went in looking for a tale about the Emergency but this book is a chronicle of the ills, weaknesses and strengths of a country so complex that it would take more than a lifetime to 'discover'.

Sahgal's writing is beautiful, sometimes almost lyrical while at times overboard with metaphors. Nevertheless, to convey powerful ideas and opinions in a deceptively simple style is a great achievement indeed. This book is very quotable too. Sample this:

'Only the perfect relationship can be utterly destroyed the moment one fine hairlike crack appears in the structure, when betrayal becomes a matter of one person ordering fish and chips for dinner instead of the stew agreed on, and a chapter read separately out of a book two were reading together.'

It is very easy to see why this book won the coveted Sahitya Akademi award and the Sinclair Prize and equally difficult to see that not many even in India read Sahgal's books! I can only say that you're missing out on one of the most wonderful writers I've read, one who has a keen eye for history and politics and seamlessly intertwines the both in her books.

The two female protagonists in this inherently feminist book which feels no need to shout out its feminist theme from the rooftops, are amazingly interesting and beyond cliches. Both the strength and something of a weakness of this book, is the fact that Sahgal deals with so many themes from sati to corruption to religion to the British Raj to Ramayan to partition to politics which on one hand is an amazing collection of thoughts and on the other, might be too overwhelming and sometimes irrelevant.

Politics forms a major part of the book and Sahgal, a well-known critic of her cousin Indira Gandhi, minces no words in slamming Mrs.Gandhi's emergency and her nepotism in bringing up her son Sanjay to a position of great power. Of course not once does she mention either Indira or Sanjay by name (she calls them 'Madam and her son' instead), but she doesn't need to. Her sharp sarcasm and dry sense of humour sparkles and makes this book all the more exciting.

Sahgal dedicates this book to 'The Indo-British experience and what its sharers have learned from each other' . That is exactly what the book is all about, in addition to being a wonderful experience for the reader that I highly recommend.

I Miss...

2010-10-07T19:59:00.003+05:30

There's nothing more annoying than not finding time to finish reading a book. My list of books that I'm-half-done-with-but-had-to-give-back-to-the-library-because-I-found-no-time is embarrassingly too many, especially this previous month. I've been just so caught up with work that September was a pretty pathetic reading month. I've made the effort to read, but it's just no use reading a book with something else weighing on your mind.

I miss settling on to my couch and reading endlessly. I miss facing the 'Which book to read first?' 'Which book to review next?' dilemma. I miss the time when my only worries were clichéd plot lines, editing mishaps and predictable characters. I miss analysing books, discussing Austen, quoting from Persuasion, making a wishlist of Pride and Prejudice goodies, singing DownTown with Amanda Price in Lost in Austen.

I miss looking forward to every Thursday, laying out in my lap a copy of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali, savouring every beautiful word of those poems and typing them out in my blog, waiting eagerly for responses. I miss jotting down points for my reviews. I miss blogging and my blogger friends. I miss reading without a care in the world. I miss the calmness the mind acquires when the hand feels the pages of a book, the inadvertent smile and anticipation when I flip pages, the sigh, the gasp, the snort, the grin and the myriad emotions that a single book can evoke in me.

When I had all the time in the world for books, of course I loved it and appreciated it. But never did I realise how special it was. So every one of you with a book in hand or a book to go home to and the time to read, please love the reading experience. Its precious, special and one of the most beautiful things in life.

I look forward to some of the load getting off my shoulders in the coming weeks/months. In the meantime, I hope to get back to Thursdays with Tagore and book discussions, even if I don't find the time to read or review new books. Hope you're having a good week :)

Curfewed Night - Basharat Peer

2010-09-06T16:56:00.006+05:30

Rating: 10/10

Review:

If a book’s greatness is measured by the impact it has onits reader, then Curfewed Night is indeed a great book. This part-autobiographicaltale of Kashmir written by journalist/writer Basharat Peer is a must-read forevery Indian, for the simple reason that this is, finally, the story of Kashmir as told by a Kashmiri.

In the feverish discussions and deliberations aboutconflicts, most analysts, ‘experts’ and even the common man talk only in termsof the ‘issue’. Kashmir is discussed inseveral angles; as a political, economic, ethnic, religious and strategicissue. In all such intellectual discussions, we often miss out on the anglethat matters the most; the emotional, human side to the problem.

Curfewed Night is a harsh reminder of the troublesand travails borne by the common man of Kashmir.It is an uncomfortable, hurtful, unforgettable, even embarrassing read and Peerwrites with such clarity and indeed calm, even while recounting many a personaltragedy or loss. What strikes me most about this book is the fact that nowheredoes Peer make judgements, nowhere does he unleash hatred, and nowhere does hetake sides politically. It is precisely this that makes the book so powerful;the fact that it is written from the heart and the fact that because it talksof events and issues from a personal angle, it seems so much more real andstriking to us.

Indeed Curfewed Night was for me a journey into theravaged valley with the author, while understanding his life, his convictions,his family, friends and his Kashmir. Peer’swriting is beautifully simple, innately evocative and sometimes almost poetic,conjuring images of his time in the valley and the people who form a part ofhis journey. This is one of those books by the end of which you feel you knowthe author very well and begin to care for them and hope there is a ‘happyending’ in sight.

Peer talks about his initial fascination for militancy, thejourney to study outside Kashmir, becoming ajournalist and coming back home. Alongside personal accounts, he talks of thescheme of things in Kashmir at that point, beit the aftermath of the Parliament attack or the Indo-Pak bus service.

The narrative might seem disjoint at times, but it neverhampered my reading of the book because in my mind, Curfewed Nightwasn’t as much about Kashmir alone as it wasabout Kashmiris. This book moved me to tears more than once and was an emotional journey for the reader too, not just the writer. I’m veryglad that I read this unforgettable account written with such passion that ishard to dismiss.

Peer is a writer to watch out for and I’m looking forward towhatever he writes in future. Curfewed Night has been long listed forthe Guardian first book Award and here’s wishing Peer all the very best. I’mthankful to him for giving us a book that must have taken a lot of grit anddetermination to write.

Needless to say, I’m adding this book to my list ofIndia-related book recommendations.