Sometimes one comes across a book which is so charming and delightful that the spirit is so uplifted and life takes on a new zing. I for one tend to spin it out so that it lasts longer. But this time I have to speed read because the book is passing on.
The book happens to be …The NO.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
I did read a review of the book here by Malathi who describes it much better.
But a book set in Africa never appealed. Africa seems associated in my mind with famine and plague and heat and generally a sense of defeatism, I guess due to the documentaries we get to see. So I really didn’t try to look for the book. But now that it has fallen into my lap, I am enthralled with it.
There is nothing heavy about the book although some of it deals with some deeper issues. There is such a calm acceptance of life and the good of all there is and love and deep understanding; it gives you second thoughts when you start cribbing about things in your life -is there anything really to crib about? There is a sensibility with which everyone sees to look at life – a very great acceptance and love of the country
There is charming whimsicality… the idea of a women detective..in Botswana..the only one of course, in the country.
I wish the Booker were given to books like this one .
Please do read it..
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Sujatha -in Irandaam Kadhal Kadhai
Although the title says kadhal kadhai-love story; the story is more about a girl liberating herself - even, from love. Sujatha or Rangarajan proves himself as always a forerunner in thought.
This story was first published several years ago so I guess its okay to reveal bits of it.
Nidhi, the protagonist is a headstrong young girl, going to computer classes on the surface but actually going around town with her young lover, Dumbo. Her father suspects something is going on and actually gets a detective agency on her case. Nidhi is outraged. Father hastily arranges a marriage to a whiz kid who comes to his office to raise capital for his venture.
Post marriage, Nidhi finds her unease about her new husband growing. Many things are mysterious and shady in his life. At this point I wanted to abandon the book. We see enough of it on Tv and hear similar stories so often. But I did continue and Im glad.
Because Nidhi is no crying-buckets-type. She is bold and takes charge of her life.She escapes with great difficulty to come back home only to find her parents disbelieving and unsupportive.
In real life, many women can be convinced by her parents to go back. But not Nidhi. She contrives with the other partner of her father's firm to take charge of the firm ( she could since a lot of the shares are in her name) and plans her revenge on her father and her husband.
Meanwhile she sheds her playful girl avatar and becomes a very responsible, successful manager.
The characters in the book are all interesting.Very well etched.
Nidhi blames her father for several things. One he has never been a very good husband nor a good father although he has been a good provider.He has never listened really to her. But only wanted her to listen to his ideas and live life accordingly. In his haste, he doesn't investigate the new bridegroom whom he is convinced is a wonderful 'boy'.
Mom has never opposed her husband. Because, she says, her family was financially dependent on her husband, they taught her never to question him. Her job was look after home and children while he made all the decisions. Im left wondering if some women are/were like this truly?
Augustus, the perfect secretary is one interesting character in the book. Neat, dry, efficient he becomes Nidhi's guide in business and life. At one point she even feels she might marry him. This does happen very often in real life. Women are drawn to men who encourage support and help them; especially when they are going through a distressing patch. Even if they are socially or financially or otherwise junior. And sometimes marry them.
Dumbo the lover who feels outraged when Nidhi presses him to marry her. Too late he realizes what he's given up. He tries to get back to Nidhi later, but she has grown beyond him.
A young girl turning around a company may not be plausible. But the way she turns around her life is great. This story which appeared in Anadna vikatan years ago maybe was a forerunner of the serial which appear today on tv. A strong woman is inspiring and maybe that is why such stories and tv serials are popular. We need role models.
This story was first published several years ago so I guess its okay to reveal bits of it.
Nidhi, the protagonist is a headstrong young girl, going to computer classes on the surface but actually going around town with her young lover, Dumbo. Her father suspects something is going on and actually gets a detective agency on her case. Nidhi is outraged. Father hastily arranges a marriage to a whiz kid who comes to his office to raise capital for his venture.
Post marriage, Nidhi finds her unease about her new husband growing. Many things are mysterious and shady in his life. At this point I wanted to abandon the book. We see enough of it on Tv and hear similar stories so often. But I did continue and Im glad.
Because Nidhi is no crying-buckets-type. She is bold and takes charge of her life.She escapes with great difficulty to come back home only to find her parents disbelieving and unsupportive.
In real life, many women can be convinced by her parents to go back. But not Nidhi. She contrives with the other partner of her father's firm to take charge of the firm ( she could since a lot of the shares are in her name) and plans her revenge on her father and her husband.
Meanwhile she sheds her playful girl avatar and becomes a very responsible, successful manager.
The characters in the book are all interesting.Very well etched.
Nidhi blames her father for several things. One he has never been a very good husband nor a good father although he has been a good provider.He has never listened really to her. But only wanted her to listen to his ideas and live life accordingly. In his haste, he doesn't investigate the new bridegroom whom he is convinced is a wonderful 'boy'.
Mom has never opposed her husband. Because, she says, her family was financially dependent on her husband, they taught her never to question him. Her job was look after home and children while he made all the decisions. Im left wondering if some women are/were like this truly?
Augustus, the perfect secretary is one interesting character in the book. Neat, dry, efficient he becomes Nidhi's guide in business and life. At one point she even feels she might marry him. This does happen very often in real life. Women are drawn to men who encourage support and help them; especially when they are going through a distressing patch. Even if they are socially or financially or otherwise junior. And sometimes marry them.
Dumbo the lover who feels outraged when Nidhi presses him to marry her. Too late he realizes what he's given up. He tries to get back to Nidhi later, but she has grown beyond him.
A young girl turning around a company may not be plausible. But the way she turns around her life is great. This story which appeared in Anadna vikatan years ago maybe was a forerunner of the serial which appear today on tv. A strong woman is inspiring and maybe that is why such stories and tv serials are popular. We need role models.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Ponniyin Selvan
Favorite of my mother's generation - and I can see why. The story is racy having appeared in a weekly and having to enthrall readers each week.
Its innocent and descriptive and great fiction. Well researched too. A very imaginative and prolific writer. Love at first sight with accompanying flowers and butterflies and gazes that cannot be broken; skirmishes at the turn of a page, forest assignations, glories of king and cities..one lives in Chola nadu.
But its the names that fascinate- the brave Vandiyedevan, the beautiful and bold Kundavai, Arulmozhi varmar, Aditha karikalar, Kanthamaran, Alzwarkadiyaan,.. they roll of the tongue so mellifluously.
Ive just finished the first book . 5 more to go .
Its innocent and descriptive and great fiction. Well researched too. A very imaginative and prolific writer. Love at first sight with accompanying flowers and butterflies and gazes that cannot be broken; skirmishes at the turn of a page, forest assignations, glories of king and cities..one lives in Chola nadu.
But its the names that fascinate- the brave Vandiyedevan, the beautiful and bold Kundavai, Arulmozhi varmar, Aditha karikalar, Kanthamaran, Alzwarkadiyaan,.. they roll of the tongue so mellifluously.
Ive just finished the first book . 5 more to go .
Sea of Poppies
Well researched, informative - boring.
One can learn about the opium trade- cruelty of mankind- racism - human nature if one perseveres which I did having loved a couple of his older books.
One can learn about the opium trade- cruelty of mankind- racism - human nature if one perseveres which I did having loved a couple of his older books.
Monday, February 11, 2008
no onions nor garlic
'no onions nor garlic' is a hilarious book with a potshot on every page at Tamil Brahmins or TamBramAss as their association is called. Srividya Natarajan must be one herself to know them intimately but holds nothing barred in exposing everything from their superiority complexes to their habits in the loo.
The complicated plot which links two very different Brahmin families by means of an matrimonial ad which states 'no onion nor garlic' gets tighter and tighter until it explodes by the Marina beach. Screwing up the life of puritan Ram, Professor of English, author of Daddy, What Is The Significance of the Poonal and One Hundred Other Questions About Hinduism. , head of several Brahmin associations are Dalit-students-and -Professors-in-the-making. His own daughter Jayanthi for whom he hurriedly seeks an alliance is a rebel with an R. Son Chunky however is a true academic who presents the same paper over and over and talks everyone down.Supportive true Hindu wife Mrs.Ram has to find solace with Godman sri sri sri..
The other family with stereotyped thatha, paatti, baby Raja, anni Chitra and slowpoke brother Kicha plus eligible son Sundar and daughter Uma are managed by mother Sachu with no help from father Vaithi who looks down on all traditions.
Inbetween are a couple of Dalit youngsters who are activists and stage plays in the village of Paavai.
Paavai strikes a chord in us who watch Tamil movies as the home of Paavai Muniamma. As are digs at the Bindu paper. Since the story is set in Chennai though written from foreign shores, its very homey to us. What I liked best was all the cuss words which in my sterile life, I have little chance to hear especially since I dont live in the breeding capital, Chennai which speaks a different lingo from the rest of Tamil Nadu.
Srividya has a breezy irreverence to all, especially academia of which she must be have been a part. The style is mildly reminiscent of Wodehouse in its twist in every line.
In fact, this made me put back the book on several occasions at the library. Sometimes, too much hilarity is hard to stomach, when it never lets up. But I am glad that I did bring it back this time. Though I skipped bits, the plot is enough to keep one reading.
But the zest for life which embraces everything from the Madurai Muniyandi Vilas through koothu performances to 50 Best Jokes to Ford scholars to Seshadri Realites putting up Coromandel Gem Homes on shifty sands is the best part of it all.
The complicated plot which links two very different Brahmin families by means of an matrimonial ad which states 'no onion nor garlic' gets tighter and tighter until it explodes by the Marina beach. Screwing up the life of puritan Ram, Professor of English, author of Daddy, What Is The Significance of the Poonal and One Hundred Other Questions About Hinduism. , head of several Brahmin associations are Dalit-students-and -Professors-in-the-making. His own daughter Jayanthi for whom he hurriedly seeks an alliance is a rebel with an R. Son Chunky however is a true academic who presents the same paper over and over and talks everyone down.Supportive true Hindu wife Mrs.Ram has to find solace with Godman sri sri sri..
The other family with stereotyped thatha, paatti, baby Raja, anni Chitra and slowpoke brother Kicha plus eligible son Sundar and daughter Uma are managed by mother Sachu with no help from father Vaithi who looks down on all traditions.
Inbetween are a couple of Dalit youngsters who are activists and stage plays in the village of Paavai.
Paavai strikes a chord in us who watch Tamil movies as the home of Paavai Muniamma. As are digs at the Bindu paper. Since the story is set in Chennai though written from foreign shores, its very homey to us. What I liked best was all the cuss words which in my sterile life, I have little chance to hear especially since I dont live in the breeding capital, Chennai which speaks a different lingo from the rest of Tamil Nadu.
Srividya has a breezy irreverence to all, especially academia of which she must be have been a part. The style is mildly reminiscent of Wodehouse in its twist in every line.
In fact, this made me put back the book on several occasions at the library. Sometimes, too much hilarity is hard to stomach, when it never lets up. But I am glad that I did bring it back this time. Though I skipped bits, the plot is enough to keep one reading.
But the zest for life which embraces everything from the Madurai Muniyandi Vilas through koothu performances to 50 Best Jokes to Ford scholars to Seshadri Realites putting up Coromandel Gem Homes on shifty sands is the best part of it all.
Love, Again by Doris Lessing
Love, Again is about a good looking, very attractive theatre personality, Sarah who falls in love after a gap of twenty years when she is sixty. And the agony she suffers from the indignity of the whole thing. Because Sarah has been a cool, collected character busy with the business of living after her husband died. With no time for such indulgences as love. And now, at this time of her life, though she admits her figure can give younger girls a run, she still can’t compete with them for the attentions of a younger man. And it hurts.
But a number of people are in love with her. As she says, she is one of those women who always has had someone in love with her. People generally like her.
It’s a significant time for Sarah when life is changing on many fronts. The band of 4 which has worked hard to keep their little theater going find themselves with a major hit on their hands. One can envy the unspoken understanding they enjoy among themselves. They have to bring in new, younger people to help, have to share and then eventually give way to the young Turks. She relinquishes responsibility and support of her niece Joyce, who is a difficult child and whom Sarah has always taken care of. And her family finds that hard to accept.
Her company is putting on a new romantic musical play Julie . Both the play and Julie Vairon are very important in the book. Because a lot of it is about how the play is put on and performed, the machinery and the people behind it.
All the people involved are in love. Sometimes the love maybe reciprocated or it can be on one side only. How quickly affections move from one person to another forms part of it. The masks, the agonies, the little incidents, the constant thinking of the other person. Love Again is a fierce and compelling an examination of the nature of and its origins of love, of its remorseless ability to overwhelm and surprise us. – says the blurb and it is.
At first it was of course reading Lessing because she won a Nobel. Then it was the happiness of the discovery of a new wonderful author I liked. Then it got a bit tedious. But what kept me going were the insights that Lessing has on every page, at every turn into human life and human heart. All the subtleties that we do and think and haven’t thought of are recorded so we can recognise life again and again.
‘
‘You say that as if you knew all about jealousy.’
‘Did I? I remember saying to myself, that’s it never again. I’ll never feel jealousy again. ‘
‘So you were generous too?’
‘If you want to make it generosity. I thought of it as self-preservation. I know one thing, you can kill yourself with jealousy.
I could never say it couldn’t affect a marriage or anything else. It was a question of pride.’
‘You are talking like the kind of woman you seem determined not to be- to seem to be.’
‘What kind of woman?’
‘A love woman. A woman who takes her stance on love.’
‘A mature woman knows that if her husband chooses to fancy the chemist’s wife or the girl who is driving the express delivery cart, and fucks them in her stead, well, its just one of those things.’
‘And vice versa, I think the husband knows that he is holding in his arms the stable boy, because his wife is?’
Sarah waited for a signal or glance that recognizes a situation. And it came: Elizabeth shone that smile on them both that says – in this case with good humored irony- I know what is going on and I don’t mind before going off on her own affairs. There are not many spouses, or partners, strong-minded enough to forgo that look, that smile, or laugh for it makes a claim, and an even stronger one than jealousy or anger.
But a number of people are in love with her. As she says, she is one of those women who always has had someone in love with her. People generally like her.
It’s a significant time for Sarah when life is changing on many fronts. The band of 4 which has worked hard to keep their little theater going find themselves with a major hit on their hands. One can envy the unspoken understanding they enjoy among themselves. They have to bring in new, younger people to help, have to share and then eventually give way to the young Turks. She relinquishes responsibility and support of her niece Joyce, who is a difficult child and whom Sarah has always taken care of. And her family finds that hard to accept.
Her company is putting on a new romantic musical play Julie . Both the play and Julie Vairon are very important in the book. Because a lot of it is about how the play is put on and performed, the machinery and the people behind it.
All the people involved are in love. Sometimes the love maybe reciprocated or it can be on one side only. How quickly affections move from one person to another forms part of it. The masks, the agonies, the little incidents, the constant thinking of the other person. Love Again is a fierce and compelling an examination of the nature of and its origins of love, of its remorseless ability to overwhelm and surprise us. – says the blurb and it is.
At first it was of course reading Lessing because she won a Nobel. Then it was the happiness of the discovery of a new wonderful author I liked. Then it got a bit tedious. But what kept me going were the insights that Lessing has on every page, at every turn into human life and human heart. All the subtleties that we do and think and haven’t thought of are recorded so we can recognise life again and again.
‘
‘You say that as if you knew all about jealousy.’
‘Did I? I remember saying to myself, that’s it never again. I’ll never feel jealousy again. ‘
‘So you were generous too?’
‘If you want to make it generosity. I thought of it as self-preservation. I know one thing, you can kill yourself with jealousy.
I could never say it couldn’t affect a marriage or anything else. It was a question of pride.’
‘You are talking like the kind of woman you seem determined not to be- to seem to be.’
‘What kind of woman?’
‘A love woman. A woman who takes her stance on love.’
‘A mature woman knows that if her husband chooses to fancy the chemist’s wife or the girl who is driving the express delivery cart, and fucks them in her stead, well, its just one of those things.’
‘And vice versa, I think the husband knows that he is holding in his arms the stable boy, because his wife is?’
Sarah waited for a signal or glance that recognizes a situation. And it came: Elizabeth shone that smile on them both that says – in this case with good humored irony- I know what is going on and I don’t mind before going off on her own affairs. There are not many spouses, or partners, strong-minded enough to forgo that look, that smile, or laugh for it makes a claim, and an even stronger one than jealousy or anger.
Friday, February 8, 2008
In the Country of Men By Hisham Matar
This is yet another country which I’ve never thought about. Libya under Qaddafi or the Guide as he has to be called. What is actually happening there to common people. Or just people. We don’t realize what it means to live under the constant threat of terror and fear. When the slightest rebellion can mean questioning, mutilation and death by hanging under the eyes of a mob which lusts for blood. Mob frenzy which sounds akin to the Romans cheering for death by violence. When a neighbour, a beggar, a relative, a person you thought was your friend can lead to your downfall. When your phones are tapped. And you don’t know where to turn for trust.
The story is told by a little boy, Suleiman called Shooma. Though love surrounds Shooma, he is left alone to his own devices a lot in troubled times. Neglected by his young mother who drinks to keep away the fear of her rebel husband being killed and his father who is involved in rebelling , Shooma is confused by the lies he meets at every angle . With no one to confide in, Shooma gets involved with the spies sent to investigate his father. In a climate of suspicion, he is alienated from the neighborhood boys.
Hisham Matar goes back to being a nine year old boy with his confusions and justifications. His love and need to protect his mother. The longing for his Fathers love of which he gets little demonstrably. His fights with the neighborhood boys.
At the very moment Suleiman wants and needs love, he drives away people. He finds a streak of cruelty in him. And it’s this exploration of a boy’s psyche that lifts the book up high. Parents of little boys and those without boys too should read it to know how confused and contrary a boy can be. Or any human being can be. It rings an echo within.
Interwoven is the story of Suleiman’s young, beautiful, willful mother who makes decisions for the good of the two men in her life- husband and son which are painful for their soul but necessary for them to live.
The writing is good and the story moving. One needs a little patience to read it through but one can see why it got shortlisted for the Man Booker.
The story is told by a little boy, Suleiman called Shooma. Though love surrounds Shooma, he is left alone to his own devices a lot in troubled times. Neglected by his young mother who drinks to keep away the fear of her rebel husband being killed and his father who is involved in rebelling , Shooma is confused by the lies he meets at every angle . With no one to confide in, Shooma gets involved with the spies sent to investigate his father. In a climate of suspicion, he is alienated from the neighborhood boys.
Hisham Matar goes back to being a nine year old boy with his confusions and justifications. His love and need to protect his mother. The longing for his Fathers love of which he gets little demonstrably. His fights with the neighborhood boys.
At the very moment Suleiman wants and needs love, he drives away people. He finds a streak of cruelty in him. And it’s this exploration of a boy’s psyche that lifts the book up high. Parents of little boys and those without boys too should read it to know how confused and contrary a boy can be. Or any human being can be. It rings an echo within.
Interwoven is the story of Suleiman’s young, beautiful, willful mother who makes decisions for the good of the two men in her life- husband and son which are painful for their soul but necessary for them to live.
The writing is good and the story moving. One needs a little patience to read it through but one can see why it got shortlisted for the Man Booker.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
The Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The scenario is so bleak and the story so sad that you wonder where the thousand suns are shining. The miserable lives, women in Afghanistan have been forced to lead during the political turmoil of the last 50 years. And probably before that too, in a society where men can marry twice and thrice so easily, beat their wives to a pulp, take away their rights on a whim and treat them as little more than useful cattle.
This is the life of Mariam, born to a father who cannot acknowledge her and a mother who resents it bitterly. Her life is always controlled by other people and the one time she tries to take control; it ends up in even greater disaster. She resigns herself to a life of utter loneliness and suppression. Except for her last brave, swan song.
Yet there is the other protagonist, Laila, beautiful, clever and bold who is always fighting against her circumstances. Beaten down literally and by circumstances again and again, she rises each time to try and carve her own life.
And hopes to see the thousand suns rising on her own city, Kabul.
One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls
Life in Afghanistan sounds so unbearable to us, cocooned in comfort and security and freedom, that you wonder how human beings can survive such things. Or want to return to such a country. But they do. And it is that spirit which makes the book worth reading. The story leads one on, though it does invoke feelings of guilt and horror.
The characters didn’t really come alive for me. Maybe it is because I know that it is a man writing, but they didn’t seem real flesh and blood characters, or they are far too removed from my experiences. But Kabul and its horrors stay in the mind.
A book to read definitely.
This is the life of Mariam, born to a father who cannot acknowledge her and a mother who resents it bitterly. Her life is always controlled by other people and the one time she tries to take control; it ends up in even greater disaster. She resigns herself to a life of utter loneliness and suppression. Except for her last brave, swan song.
Yet there is the other protagonist, Laila, beautiful, clever and bold who is always fighting against her circumstances. Beaten down literally and by circumstances again and again, she rises each time to try and carve her own life.
And hopes to see the thousand suns rising on her own city, Kabul.
One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls
Life in Afghanistan sounds so unbearable to us, cocooned in comfort and security and freedom, that you wonder how human beings can survive such things. Or want to return to such a country. But they do. And it is that spirit which makes the book worth reading. The story leads one on, though it does invoke feelings of guilt and horror.
The characters didn’t really come alive for me. Maybe it is because I know that it is a man writing, but they didn’t seem real flesh and blood characters, or they are far too removed from my experiences. But Kabul and its horrors stay in the mind.
A book to read definitely.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Dollar-City
Manal kadigai by M. Gopalakrishnan is the ultimate book on Tirupur, South India.
It follows the lives of 5 young boys who leave school and start working in Tirupur’s sweat shops; through the romps of youth, their trials in the working world and their personal lives. Each of them takes a different path although bound by a common denominator of the ‘banian business.’ The title means hour glass and the book goes through a couple of decades.
There is Siva, a smooth talker and hard worker, steadily moving upward; changing from a shy young boy who is the butt of the jokes when he starts work in a bra company, moving on to becoming partner and then a big business man himself. People are attracted to him. He uses them without compunction and then discards them when he needs them no longer.
Shanmugham is the poet who is never recognized. And a womanizer, whose own personal life ends up with a question mark.
Anbu, who works hard, struggles and yet never gets anywhere.
Steady Tiru who looks after his own and does his chosen job with dedication and strong principles even if it ruins him. Chettiar says of him ‘a man can be good but sometimes he can be too good to prosper in such a place’.
Rajamani is the communist; the man with ideals and dreams who gets disillusioned.
Paranthaman, finding his own personal life in a mess, listens avidly to the adventures of Shanmugham, half believing, a little envious, and yet reveling in second hand capers to assuage his soreness with life.
The women in their lives don’t figure much except as partners in bed and a little more besides. It’s the men who make Tirupur and are the main figures in this epic work.
There are a few woman characters that stand out. The young girl whose life moves from luxury to hardship overnight and yet is self possessed and confident. The watchful wife who has to keep a tab on the wayward husband. Vimala, the girl who shares the life of the upcoming Siva in every sphere but whom he never thinks to marry. The beautiful divorcee he plays around with.
There are other quiet women in the background who still make a mark.
Chettiar‘s wife who runs away with the movie manager while her husband is busy producing a movie just to get close to the leading lady. The good daughter in law who disappears with the god-man the family has been promoting. Shanthi, who leans on her brother‘s friend in gratitude when he bails them out.
Each character is lightly sketched and yet rings a chord in the mind. Of course, this character is real.
But it’s the dollar city of Tirupur which has a turnover of crores and figures on any business map in the world which is the real protagonist of the story. The different people it takes to keep this industry ticking. The moves they have to make.
The small boys who are lured there by stories of jobs and wealth and are promptly kidnapped by agents and housed in buildings, to become bonded labour till they grow enough to rebel and move on, only to be replaced by others.
The hardworking women who can’t stay home to cook and clean. They have to be in the workplace even if it means breaking up their married lives. In spite of the rough words, the brushes, the sexual harassment, the hard work that takes its toll on hands and mind.
The young girls who are led by promises of clothes and money into easy sex.
The tailors with their calloused hands. The stressed out supervisors who fall to drink.
The go-betweens who live on their mopeds and keep running between factory and bank and agent. The small business men carrying huge loads on their two wheelers, making a business of ‘seconds. ‘ Some of them save and send home, some spend the money easily, and some save to become mudalalis themselves, bringing kith and kin to earn money like they’ve never seen before.
The men who work the ‘lines’; going from city to city to sell the products in shops and then to collect the money from them. Their travails in strange cities
The men and women who run the barotta and chai kadais that are the life blood of the city. The old ladies who run the idli and dosai kadais with sweaty faces and worn bodies.
The mudalalis who sweep in and out in their cars which they keep changing.
The problems of leading such a life on the go are satiated in food, wine and women. At all levels, rich and poor. The foreign priest says he never had to give so much absolution in any other city in his life.
Each chapter is a little story revealing a little more about Tirupur. And the lives and thoughts of the people who live there. It’s hard to call it a novel. It’s more a series of short stories put together.
There are little poignant vignettes. Like the little boy who is sent out to buy tea and plays on the sand and falls asleep. The bull like agent who recounts the most sensuous encounter he has ever had in his life which happens in a crowded train compartment. Hardened Shiva breaking down when his friend’s little daughter runs away thinking he is yet another creditor. The delight of a young boy from the country in eating an omlette for the first time.
The noise and the smell of the factories and the bustle of the city that never sleeps at night. The buses and the traffic and constant roar of vehicles. The new flyover and the displaced mad man beneath. The havoc caused by the dye from the factories in the surrounding areas. The toll it takes on those who live there. The office of the anti child labour agency which grows in posh ness, and yet the plight of the child laborer remains the same.
It’s a book which encompasses gigantically a whole city and its way of life. With poetic descriptions of this dirty fast moving city and the beauty of the countryside around. Its all of 500 pages and more and in Tamil. It took me months to read it and that’s why I write so much. Because it hasn’t quite left me.
On zine5.com on 9th Jan, 2008
It follows the lives of 5 young boys who leave school and start working in Tirupur’s sweat shops; through the romps of youth, their trials in the working world and their personal lives. Each of them takes a different path although bound by a common denominator of the ‘banian business.’ The title means hour glass and the book goes through a couple of decades.
There is Siva, a smooth talker and hard worker, steadily moving upward; changing from a shy young boy who is the butt of the jokes when he starts work in a bra company, moving on to becoming partner and then a big business man himself. People are attracted to him. He uses them without compunction and then discards them when he needs them no longer.
Shanmugham is the poet who is never recognized. And a womanizer, whose own personal life ends up with a question mark.
Anbu, who works hard, struggles and yet never gets anywhere.
Steady Tiru who looks after his own and does his chosen job with dedication and strong principles even if it ruins him. Chettiar says of him ‘a man can be good but sometimes he can be too good to prosper in such a place’.
Rajamani is the communist; the man with ideals and dreams who gets disillusioned.
Paranthaman, finding his own personal life in a mess, listens avidly to the adventures of Shanmugham, half believing, a little envious, and yet reveling in second hand capers to assuage his soreness with life.
The women in their lives don’t figure much except as partners in bed and a little more besides. It’s the men who make Tirupur and are the main figures in this epic work.
There are a few woman characters that stand out. The young girl whose life moves from luxury to hardship overnight and yet is self possessed and confident. The watchful wife who has to keep a tab on the wayward husband. Vimala, the girl who shares the life of the upcoming Siva in every sphere but whom he never thinks to marry. The beautiful divorcee he plays around with.
There are other quiet women in the background who still make a mark.
Chettiar‘s wife who runs away with the movie manager while her husband is busy producing a movie just to get close to the leading lady. The good daughter in law who disappears with the god-man the family has been promoting. Shanthi, who leans on her brother‘s friend in gratitude when he bails them out.
Each character is lightly sketched and yet rings a chord in the mind. Of course, this character is real.
But it’s the dollar city of Tirupur which has a turnover of crores and figures on any business map in the world which is the real protagonist of the story. The different people it takes to keep this industry ticking. The moves they have to make.
The small boys who are lured there by stories of jobs and wealth and are promptly kidnapped by agents and housed in buildings, to become bonded labour till they grow enough to rebel and move on, only to be replaced by others.
The hardworking women who can’t stay home to cook and clean. They have to be in the workplace even if it means breaking up their married lives. In spite of the rough words, the brushes, the sexual harassment, the hard work that takes its toll on hands and mind.
The young girls who are led by promises of clothes and money into easy sex.
The tailors with their calloused hands. The stressed out supervisors who fall to drink.
The go-betweens who live on their mopeds and keep running between factory and bank and agent. The small business men carrying huge loads on their two wheelers, making a business of ‘seconds. ‘ Some of them save and send home, some spend the money easily, and some save to become mudalalis themselves, bringing kith and kin to earn money like they’ve never seen before.
The men who work the ‘lines’; going from city to city to sell the products in shops and then to collect the money from them. Their travails in strange cities
The men and women who run the barotta and chai kadais that are the life blood of the city. The old ladies who run the idli and dosai kadais with sweaty faces and worn bodies.
The mudalalis who sweep in and out in their cars which they keep changing.
The problems of leading such a life on the go are satiated in food, wine and women. At all levels, rich and poor. The foreign priest says he never had to give so much absolution in any other city in his life.
Each chapter is a little story revealing a little more about Tirupur. And the lives and thoughts of the people who live there. It’s hard to call it a novel. It’s more a series of short stories put together.
There are little poignant vignettes. Like the little boy who is sent out to buy tea and plays on the sand and falls asleep. The bull like agent who recounts the most sensuous encounter he has ever had in his life which happens in a crowded train compartment. Hardened Shiva breaking down when his friend’s little daughter runs away thinking he is yet another creditor. The delight of a young boy from the country in eating an omlette for the first time.
The noise and the smell of the factories and the bustle of the city that never sleeps at night. The buses and the traffic and constant roar of vehicles. The new flyover and the displaced mad man beneath. The havoc caused by the dye from the factories in the surrounding areas. The toll it takes on those who live there. The office of the anti child labour agency which grows in posh ness, and yet the plight of the child laborer remains the same.
It’s a book which encompasses gigantically a whole city and its way of life. With poetic descriptions of this dirty fast moving city and the beauty of the countryside around. Its all of 500 pages and more and in Tamil. It took me months to read it and that’s why I write so much. Because it hasn’t quite left me.
On zine5.com on 9th Jan, 2008
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Desais
Just been skimming through Feasting, Fasting By Anita Desai. And I'm going to return it barely read to the library.
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, is also a book which I haven't been able to finish although I have tried several times.
I saw an interview with Anita Desai on NDTV last week on Just books. And she looked such a sweet old nice lady. I thought I am doing her an injustice by avoiding her books. She teaches creative writing at a couple of universities in New York and the UK. So she must be very creative herself.
The bad news she delivered in the interview is that creative writing can't actually be taught. It has to be in you. I say bad news, because the only people reading this will be bloggers themselves and all bloggers secretly hope, that they will write a book one day.
But attending a class gives you the time and space and discipline to hone your skills and give you little ways to improve. But the basics have to be already there.
The Desais have real life- like characters. And the things they go through are very real. The only problem seems to be (from the little I've read) that the characters and situations are very depressing. It’s all very grey. Which doesn’t make for good light reading.
I might have persevered with it except that my daughter's friend wants to borrow some books on the library on my cards.
I ask her "why don’t you come home and take some books from here?"
"I've read all of them Aunty. And they are all old books'.
All or most of them in the two years they were in school together? What has been going on?
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, is also a book which I haven't been able to finish although I have tried several times.
I saw an interview with Anita Desai on NDTV last week on Just books. And she looked such a sweet old nice lady. I thought I am doing her an injustice by avoiding her books. She teaches creative writing at a couple of universities in New York and the UK. So she must be very creative herself.
The bad news she delivered in the interview is that creative writing can't actually be taught. It has to be in you. I say bad news, because the only people reading this will be bloggers themselves and all bloggers secretly hope, that they will write a book one day.
But attending a class gives you the time and space and discipline to hone your skills and give you little ways to improve. But the basics have to be already there.
The Desais have real life- like characters. And the things they go through are very real. The only problem seems to be (from the little I've read) that the characters and situations are very depressing. It’s all very grey. Which doesn’t make for good light reading.
I might have persevered with it except that my daughter's friend wants to borrow some books on the library on my cards.
I ask her "why don’t you come home and take some books from here?"
"I've read all of them Aunty. And they are all old books'.
All or most of them in the two years they were in school together? What has been going on?
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Six Impossible Things by Elizabeth Cadell
"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Alice in Wonderland.
Reading Elizabeth Cadell, one doesn't have to believe in impossible things happening. One is just swept along by the improbably-probable story, the charm of the characters and just the general sweetness of the atmosphere.
I own one Cadell -The Past Tense of Love which is the best I've come across so far and its something I resort to once in about every two years when the world is just too much for me to restore my smile and balance.
She wrote feel-good stories long before the word was invented. There is lots of romance, lots of rumination and lots of living. And quite a bit of wisdom. Besides lots of situations which keep you quietly smiling or worse .
This is a bit of coversation between brother and a sister he discovers, is growing up- too fast for him.
" But all I wanted to know was whether you kissed her with what Luke calls deadly intent, or whether..."
" With what Luke calls what?"
"Deadly intent. He says that even given the time and the place and the girl, a man needn’t lose his head ; he can still make a planned approach. That is, he can decide in his mind whether he wants to let the atmosphere engulf him or whether he'll keep it cool. If he really wants the girl, then he kisses her with deadly intent. Do you follow?'
" I can't say I do. Is this the kind of thing Luke always talks about?"
"How should I know? I only met him a week ago."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Alice in Wonderland.
Reading Elizabeth Cadell, one doesn't have to believe in impossible things happening. One is just swept along by the improbably-probable story, the charm of the characters and just the general sweetness of the atmosphere.
I own one Cadell -The Past Tense of Love which is the best I've come across so far and its something I resort to once in about every two years when the world is just too much for me to restore my smile and balance.
She wrote feel-good stories long before the word was invented. There is lots of romance, lots of rumination and lots of living. And quite a bit of wisdom. Besides lots of situations which keep you quietly smiling or worse .
This is a bit of coversation between brother and a sister he discovers, is growing up- too fast for him.
" But all I wanted to know was whether you kissed her with what Luke calls deadly intent, or whether..."
" With what Luke calls what?"
"Deadly intent. He says that even given the time and the place and the girl, a man needn’t lose his head ; he can still make a planned approach. That is, he can decide in his mind whether he wants to let the atmosphere engulf him or whether he'll keep it cool. If he really wants the girl, then he kisses her with deadly intent. Do you follow?'
" I can't say I do. Is this the kind of thing Luke always talks about?"
"How should I know? I only met him a week ago."
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Lightning Keeper by Starling Lawrence
This is a rather strange book because there is a story interwoven with a great deal of technical writing. I've read one which is interwoven with recipes and a great deal of cooking but tech stuff doesn't interest too many people.
Its the era of the industrial revolution when electricity is just beginning to replace steam as power. So the wonderful energy,the enthusiasm, the belief in the Mechanical God of the Inventor is all there.There are detailed descriptions of many things from cars to railroads and even pictures of the era.
The story takes place in a little town not too far from New York but set in the very cold mountains with a huge and picturesque waterfall. The waterfall drives some large wheels which power the iron and steel works which is the core of the little town.
Amos Bigelow is the third generation owner of the Iron works, which is fast getting outdated and uncompetitive in a world where new methods and machinery are taking over. He is ably assisted by his daughter Harriet who has a better head on her delicate shoulders. (can any heroine ever have any other kind?)
They procure a large order which could make or break the industry. To their rescue comes Toma, a Serbian refugee who is a natural engineer and inventor.Can he make a new kind of turbine which would help not only Bigelow but also GE, already a major force in Americ?
Behind all the industry and hard work, is a gentle love story between Harriet and Toma and the local legislator who owns the bank which finances the industry. Harriet is torn between her own feelings and what she thinks is right for her family.
There is the strange relationship between Horatio , the black man who runs the turbines and Olivia , the beautiful woman he lives with. Horatio was living with her mother , who dying , entrusted her daughter to him. When Olivia was 12 years old, Horatio enters her bed saying he needs it and stays there, never letting her know anyone else in the world.
so when the handsome Toma comes along, she sets out to get him and she does.
But Harriet is always in his heart and head and Olivia knows it. She's doomed to unhappiness.
Maybe I'm guilty of gender generalisation but there seems to be techy stuff for the men and the love story for the women. And both can skip the other half.:-)
Its written very well so worth a look whatever gender you are.
Its the era of the industrial revolution when electricity is just beginning to replace steam as power. So the wonderful energy,the enthusiasm, the belief in the Mechanical God of the Inventor is all there.There are detailed descriptions of many things from cars to railroads and even pictures of the era.
The story takes place in a little town not too far from New York but set in the very cold mountains with a huge and picturesque waterfall. The waterfall drives some large wheels which power the iron and steel works which is the core of the little town.
Amos Bigelow is the third generation owner of the Iron works, which is fast getting outdated and uncompetitive in a world where new methods and machinery are taking over. He is ably assisted by his daughter Harriet who has a better head on her delicate shoulders. (can any heroine ever have any other kind?)
They procure a large order which could make or break the industry. To their rescue comes Toma, a Serbian refugee who is a natural engineer and inventor.Can he make a new kind of turbine which would help not only Bigelow but also GE, already a major force in Americ?
Behind all the industry and hard work, is a gentle love story between Harriet and Toma and the local legislator who owns the bank which finances the industry. Harriet is torn between her own feelings and what she thinks is right for her family.
There is the strange relationship between Horatio , the black man who runs the turbines and Olivia , the beautiful woman he lives with. Horatio was living with her mother , who dying , entrusted her daughter to him. When Olivia was 12 years old, Horatio enters her bed saying he needs it and stays there, never letting her know anyone else in the world.
so when the handsome Toma comes along, she sets out to get him and she does.
But Harriet is always in his heart and head and Olivia knows it. She's doomed to unhappiness.
Maybe I'm guilty of gender generalisation but there seems to be techy stuff for the men and the love story for the women. And both can skip the other half.:-)
Its written very well so worth a look whatever gender you are.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Devi By Satyajit Ray
I meant to nap. Post lunch. Drowsy Sunday afternoon. But this kept me awake and glued there.
Sharmila Tagore again, looking so wondrously lustrously beautiful. With huge kohl rimmed eyes, thick dark eyebrows, cheeks that hadn’t got the dip yet but are filled out in teen health, cascading dark hair in the Bengali fashion layered in front with the simple saree over it. She doesn’t talk much, only looks and you know. And she was only 13 when the movie was made. It must be that Tagore blood.
She is the happy daughter in law of a rich family in some village, of course by the river. She is beloved by the parrot, the grandson and the father-in-law besides of course her scholarly husband, all of whom she looks after with demure cheerfulness.
Husband goes away to study in Calcutta. Father-in-law who is just cheered by her presence and calls her his ‘ma’ because she is like a mother to him.
One night he has a dream. Sees the daughter in law as the Goddess. He comes to her room in the night and falls at her feet. She is reincarnated and celebrated in the village thereafter as Devi. Miracles occur and the hordes increase. Her husband comes back, is shocked and tries to take her away.
Ray seems to have originated so many stories and feelings that we see in movies even today. The loneliness of the person endowed with mystic powers. How doubt creeps into everyone, even herself. Is she really Devi?
The contrast between the two brothers is remarkable and yet maybe is common. Elder brother is under the thumb of his father. When he says, ‘believe’, he believes. What am I to do, he asks his enraged wife? My father has all the money. Shall I fall at your feet too? Will that make you happy?
On the one hand is the weak, drunken brother with the unhappy wife who doesn’t respect him and is resentful of the affection shown by her father in law to the younger daughter in law.
On the other, is the decisive, outspoken scholarly younger brother who can talk back to his father. And he has the sweet beautiful docile wife.
Does it all go together? Or does one quality lead to the other factors?
Certain things come through to show the hand of the Master. The vacant look of the beggar boy as his father sits beside him and sings beautifully in praise of Devi. The unhappiness and resentfulness of the elder daughter in law even thought she hardly speaks and is only a figure in the background.
The movie ends hauntingly.
It won the President’s Gold Medal, New Delhi, 1961
Sharmila Tagore again, looking so wondrously lustrously beautiful. With huge kohl rimmed eyes, thick dark eyebrows, cheeks that hadn’t got the dip yet but are filled out in teen health, cascading dark hair in the Bengali fashion layered in front with the simple saree over it. She doesn’t talk much, only looks and you know. And she was only 13 when the movie was made. It must be that Tagore blood.
She is the happy daughter in law of a rich family in some village, of course by the river. She is beloved by the parrot, the grandson and the father-in-law besides of course her scholarly husband, all of whom she looks after with demure cheerfulness.
Husband goes away to study in Calcutta. Father-in-law who is just cheered by her presence and calls her his ‘ma’ because she is like a mother to him.
One night he has a dream. Sees the daughter in law as the Goddess. He comes to her room in the night and falls at her feet. She is reincarnated and celebrated in the village thereafter as Devi. Miracles occur and the hordes increase. Her husband comes back, is shocked and tries to take her away.
Ray seems to have originated so many stories and feelings that we see in movies even today. The loneliness of the person endowed with mystic powers. How doubt creeps into everyone, even herself. Is she really Devi?
The contrast between the two brothers is remarkable and yet maybe is common. Elder brother is under the thumb of his father. When he says, ‘believe’, he believes. What am I to do, he asks his enraged wife? My father has all the money. Shall I fall at your feet too? Will that make you happy?
On the one hand is the weak, drunken brother with the unhappy wife who doesn’t respect him and is resentful of the affection shown by her father in law to the younger daughter in law.
On the other, is the decisive, outspoken scholarly younger brother who can talk back to his father. And he has the sweet beautiful docile wife.
Does it all go together? Or does one quality lead to the other factors?
Certain things come through to show the hand of the Master. The vacant look of the beggar boy as his father sits beside him and sings beautifully in praise of Devi. The unhappiness and resentfulness of the elder daughter in law even thought she hardly speaks and is only a figure in the background.
The movie ends hauntingly.
It won the President’s Gold Medal, New Delhi, 1961
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Sculptress by Minette Walters
It took this book for me to realize that Im still a whodunit fan. I couldn’t let go of the story. And Minette Walters, British, is a good writer. That’s a nice change from the whole lot of Americans I’ve been reading. The book says Edgar Award Winner. That could mean the author or this particular book- still it’s a good guide for the die-hard whodunit fan.
There’s one conversation in the book, between a Nun and the heroine, Roz that lingers. About Beauty not being skin deep.
Plato said ‘Outer beauty reflects inner beauty’. Which has been refuted by a great many thinkers. Courtesty- BJ Krishnan.
Minette Walters, through her nun says : beauty, like wealth is a moral asset. the wealthy can afford to be law abiding, generous and kind. The very poor cannot. even kindness is a struggle when you don’t know where your next penny is coming from.
Poverty is only uplifting when you can choose it.
Beauty cushions you against the negative emotions that loneliness and rejection inspire. Beautiful people are prized- they always have been. So they have less reason to be jealous, less reason to be jealous, less reason to covet what they can’t have. They often could be the cause of all those emotions, rarely the instigators of them.
I’m trying to think of the beautiful people I know. Im not sure. They seem to be torn by the same negative emotions as other people. Although people are much nicer to them.
But it does seem to be easier to be virtuous when you are wealthy.
There’s one conversation in the book, between a Nun and the heroine, Roz that lingers. About Beauty not being skin deep.
Plato said ‘Outer beauty reflects inner beauty’. Which has been refuted by a great many thinkers. Courtesty- BJ Krishnan.
Minette Walters, through her nun says : beauty, like wealth is a moral asset. the wealthy can afford to be law abiding, generous and kind. The very poor cannot. even kindness is a struggle when you don’t know where your next penny is coming from.
Poverty is only uplifting when you can choose it.
Beauty cushions you against the negative emotions that loneliness and rejection inspire. Beautiful people are prized- they always have been. So they have less reason to be jealous, less reason to be jealous, less reason to covet what they can’t have. They often could be the cause of all those emotions, rarely the instigators of them.
I’m trying to think of the beautiful people I know. Im not sure. They seem to be torn by the same negative emotions as other people. Although people are much nicer to them.
But it does seem to be easier to be virtuous when you are wealthy.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
On Small Remedies
My mother died when she was 55. I heard my grandmother who was 75, moan the passing of a child before her own end. And it came to me, that it must be a terrible thing to see your child die; to see the body lie perfectly still, to see ‘her’ become an ‘it’ to be taken away for ever.
I don’t know if one can truly understand the emotion from the outside. Shashi Deshpande tells one how it can be in Small Remedies. To lose a beloved child; one who was the centre of existence and then to deal with the guilt and the nothingness thereafter.
Small remedies are the remedies we try so hopefully and routinely and sometimes desperately to stave off bad luck and invite some good. The mango thoranams, the rituals to ward off the evil eye, the prayers and offerings to gods and saints, the fasts.
But they can’t keep the big troubles at bay, can they?
Madhu, the protagonist of the book tries hard. Like the hero of Joseph Heller’s Something Happened, she knows something is going to happen and tries all the Small Remedies she can to keep it at bay.
She embraces marriage and motherhood wholeheartedly only to be bereaved of both roles suddenly. How she recuperates slowly in the house of a young couple watching their love and writing the story of a legendary singer is the thread of the book.
There are many rooms in the mind of the protagonist, Madhu. She lifts the curtain to one room, gives us a glimpse and skips to the next coming back to the first only later. There are many unexpected corners to turn and rooms to explore .We get the story in little glimpses that keep us enthralled and immersed. A story teller who is not linear but who narrates in colorful kaleidoscope allowing the reader to put the story together in her own mind.
Madhu traces the stories of two greats - each so different from the other. One, a singer who steps across a conservative threshold to make her way in the world of music to die a legend; while the other, her aunt, is a social worker and union leader who finds love in an unlikely person. Women who strive to break the invisible barriers and what they each give up to get what they want.
Shashi Desphande is a woman writer writing of women and their lives. Of their thoughts and their relationships with people. In so many intimate, telling flashes, that you think, this is so true.
There are many females in her books. And you almost always recognise each one of them as someone you know. Sometimes you see a bit of each in yourself.
Each character is etched out in the way they speak and behave. Clothes are hardly mentioned, appearances almost never except where necessary; as of the beautiful singer who has to be beautiful to hold the stage and men. She doesn’t judge but portrays them in completeness even though they may appear as glimpses.
Food is incidental except for the occasional hot ginger chai drunk in rain while trees and young growing things are mentioned with passion
The relationships within couples which keep changing - between Som and Madhu – Tony and Rekha – Latha and Hari - Leela and Joe teach us life can never be static between two people. The one that stays nebulous is between the singer and her tabla player. But then, the singer never does become real.
The nuances of life keep turning up in unexpected ways – ‘thin white limbs as Munni runs to relieve herself behind a bush ‘; Hari studying the problem of where to place a bucket when it starts raining to catch the drips - so many little glimpses of life that ring true.
The story holds you and slowly leads you on. It is a book to be sipped slowly and relished, not to be read in one gulp to get to the end. Because you know this is a picture of a slice of life and its not going anywhere.
Some books match our mood of life at the moment. And this one met mine.
posted on zine5 on Nov 29, 2007
I don’t know if one can truly understand the emotion from the outside. Shashi Deshpande tells one how it can be in Small Remedies. To lose a beloved child; one who was the centre of existence and then to deal with the guilt and the nothingness thereafter.
Small remedies are the remedies we try so hopefully and routinely and sometimes desperately to stave off bad luck and invite some good. The mango thoranams, the rituals to ward off the evil eye, the prayers and offerings to gods and saints, the fasts.
But they can’t keep the big troubles at bay, can they?
Madhu, the protagonist of the book tries hard. Like the hero of Joseph Heller’s Something Happened, she knows something is going to happen and tries all the Small Remedies she can to keep it at bay.
She embraces marriage and motherhood wholeheartedly only to be bereaved of both roles suddenly. How she recuperates slowly in the house of a young couple watching their love and writing the story of a legendary singer is the thread of the book.
There are many rooms in the mind of the protagonist, Madhu. She lifts the curtain to one room, gives us a glimpse and skips to the next coming back to the first only later. There are many unexpected corners to turn and rooms to explore .We get the story in little glimpses that keep us enthralled and immersed. A story teller who is not linear but who narrates in colorful kaleidoscope allowing the reader to put the story together in her own mind.
Madhu traces the stories of two greats - each so different from the other. One, a singer who steps across a conservative threshold to make her way in the world of music to die a legend; while the other, her aunt, is a social worker and union leader who finds love in an unlikely person. Women who strive to break the invisible barriers and what they each give up to get what they want.
Shashi Desphande is a woman writer writing of women and their lives. Of their thoughts and their relationships with people. In so many intimate, telling flashes, that you think, this is so true.
There are many females in her books. And you almost always recognise each one of them as someone you know. Sometimes you see a bit of each in yourself.
Each character is etched out in the way they speak and behave. Clothes are hardly mentioned, appearances almost never except where necessary; as of the beautiful singer who has to be beautiful to hold the stage and men. She doesn’t judge but portrays them in completeness even though they may appear as glimpses.
Food is incidental except for the occasional hot ginger chai drunk in rain while trees and young growing things are mentioned with passion
The relationships within couples which keep changing - between Som and Madhu – Tony and Rekha – Latha and Hari - Leela and Joe teach us life can never be static between two people. The one that stays nebulous is between the singer and her tabla player. But then, the singer never does become real.
The nuances of life keep turning up in unexpected ways – ‘thin white limbs as Munni runs to relieve herself behind a bush ‘; Hari studying the problem of where to place a bucket when it starts raining to catch the drips - so many little glimpses of life that ring true.
The story holds you and slowly leads you on. It is a book to be sipped slowly and relished, not to be read in one gulp to get to the end. Because you know this is a picture of a slice of life and its not going anywhere.
Some books match our mood of life at the moment. And this one met mine.
posted on zine5 on Nov 29, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Dick Francis - Under Orders
Its very sad and disconcerting when you go 'off' an author you've enjoyed for years. Dick Francis has been a prime favorite for years. I would walk for miles to get one.
But now his latest, Under Orders seems so so-so.
I don't know whether I have moved on or he has become a little stale but I just read through this book fast.
I can see some changes in him though. Before, the hero never found true love. The lover would move on or they would quarrel ..it was never happy married domesticity. But Francis seems to have mellowed in this department.
"To love someone is a delight, to be loved back as well is a joy beyond measure.”
Well, well, who would expect it of cynical, one armed, steel hearted Sid Halley or Dick.
Another change is little nuggets of information. Dick's books always have a theme- aero taxis, guns, jewellery business, wine making, art, glass blowing- for which he does a lot of research besides the constant background of horse racing. But now he digresses from the story to include bits of history.
The sharp sentences, the wit, the pain filled climax, the analysis of why the villain is what he is, human insights are all there.
Hopefully I will get to enjoy it all once more.
But now his latest, Under Orders seems so so-so.
I don't know whether I have moved on or he has become a little stale but I just read through this book fast.
I can see some changes in him though. Before, the hero never found true love. The lover would move on or they would quarrel ..it was never happy married domesticity. But Francis seems to have mellowed in this department.
"To love someone is a delight, to be loved back as well is a joy beyond measure.”
Well, well, who would expect it of cynical, one armed, steel hearted Sid Halley or Dick.
Another change is little nuggets of information. Dick's books always have a theme- aero taxis, guns, jewellery business, wine making, art, glass blowing- for which he does a lot of research besides the constant background of horse racing. But now he digresses from the story to include bits of history.
The sharp sentences, the wit, the pain filled climax, the analysis of why the villain is what he is, human insights are all there.
Hopefully I will get to enjoy it all once more.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Everyman -Philip Roth
Everyone has been speaking of Philip Roth sp that I finally got one. It’s called Everyman and must be very new because it talks about post 9/11.
Everyman's Jewellery is the name of the shop of the protagonist’s father which he starts 'to leave something for his two sons'. Typical Jews. The sons make much more money in other fields. But that is incidental.
The story, told in a no-stopping -for -breath narrative is about death and disease.
Probably Roth has got to the stage himself. I have no idea never having read him before but judging from the blurbs, not one of his best. Still it holds one - the smooth flow of words and narrative.
It moves. The constant battle with the body. The unbearable pain. the embarrassment, the humiliation , the bewilderment of not being able to be active anymore. the diminishment of self which is hardest to bear.
"It’s so shameful.Not being able to look after oneself, the pathetic need to be comforted, the isolation, the dread”, cries a woman in a retirement community who has to psyche and drag herself through the day.
We can sympathize and resolve not to let it happen to us. But it does, seems to be Roth’s message. To everyman, blows must fall and among them are disease and death and there is little you can do about it. Just live and try to accept it as well a
Everyman's Jewellery is the name of the shop of the protagonist’s father which he starts 'to leave something for his two sons'. Typical Jews. The sons make much more money in other fields. But that is incidental.
The story, told in a no-stopping -for -breath narrative is about death and disease.
Probably Roth has got to the stage himself. I have no idea never having read him before but judging from the blurbs, not one of his best. Still it holds one - the smooth flow of words and narrative.
It moves. The constant battle with the body. The unbearable pain. the embarrassment, the humiliation , the bewilderment of not being able to be active anymore. the diminishment of self which is hardest to bear.
"It’s so shameful.Not being able to look after oneself, the pathetic need to be comforted, the isolation, the dread”, cries a woman in a retirement community who has to psyche and drag herself through the day.
We can sympathize and resolve not to let it happen to us. But it does, seems to be Roth’s message. To everyman, blows must fall and among them are disease and death and there is little you can do about it. Just live and try to accept it as well a
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
WHITE BANNERS
This is an old book written by a Lloyd.C.Douglas. But it has a definite feminine feel to it. The thoughts and the story.
It’s in key with the thoughts of our oldest philosophers which are being revived today.
NO resistance. Go with the flow. Don’t rail against what is happening to you. Don't curse people who let you down or do bad things to you.
Trust in a higher being. Or Nature or It. or They.
Don’t bargain with Them. Don’t ask. You can hope, but not implore.
Best things could happen or not. Usually they do, when you do your best and trust is the theme of the book.
It also emphasises on doing good, more on ' being good' known only to you. You don’t tell anyone about it. And that builds your character.
The protagonist is a person who gives birth in a state hospital and has to give up the child for adoption. She feels she has used the state resources and has to repay it in some way. So she goes to work in a Professors house as maid; he being a tax payer.
It was a surprise to see these thoughts in a Western man and so many years ago.
It’s in key with the thoughts of our oldest philosophers which are being revived today.
NO resistance. Go with the flow. Don’t rail against what is happening to you. Don't curse people who let you down or do bad things to you.
Trust in a higher being. Or Nature or It. or They.
Don’t bargain with Them. Don’t ask. You can hope, but not implore.
Best things could happen or not. Usually they do, when you do your best and trust is the theme of the book.
It also emphasises on doing good, more on ' being good' known only to you. You don’t tell anyone about it. And that builds your character.
The protagonist is a person who gives birth in a state hospital and has to give up the child for adoption. She feels she has used the state resources and has to repay it in some way. So she goes to work in a Professors house as maid; he being a tax payer.
It was a surprise to see these thoughts in a Western man and so many years ago.
Friday, October 5, 2007
The Hungry Tide
I've been reading the Hungry tide by Amitav ghosh for about a week now. And I can really feel Im floating down the river in the Sunderbans whenever I pick up the book.
At first the feeling that flooded me was how can this guy know what is going on in the minds of fisherfolk, simple folk who are a class apart from him obviously? He is into this life which must be removed from his in Calcutta. So much of research about dolphins, the ecology of the Sunderbans, history and so many little nuggets of information has been woven into the story.
Few characters but they are so real with their inner lives and strengths. Each one of them is strong from somewhere inside. And the poetry within too. Besides Rilke’s which he has interspersed.
The life on the boats itself is so amazing. Here we are safe in our cocoons thinking about our comfort 95% of the time- good food, good roads, cars, shelter, cleanliness, better furnishings. And here is a bunch of people on a little boat, with primitive food and toilet and sun in their eyes and infinite patience in their hearts.
Priorities are so different.
Amitav’s regard for people itself is amazing. There is hardly any physical description of people anywhere in the book while there are many of the waters and the land. When he describes the thoughts of people, they are on a different plane hard to outline. Its like a leap in thought.
A book to be savored and read slowly.
At first the feeling that flooded me was how can this guy know what is going on in the minds of fisherfolk, simple folk who are a class apart from him obviously? He is into this life which must be removed from his in Calcutta. So much of research about dolphins, the ecology of the Sunderbans, history and so many little nuggets of information has been woven into the story.
Few characters but they are so real with their inner lives and strengths. Each one of them is strong from somewhere inside. And the poetry within too. Besides Rilke’s which he has interspersed.
The life on the boats itself is so amazing. Here we are safe in our cocoons thinking about our comfort 95% of the time- good food, good roads, cars, shelter, cleanliness, better furnishings. And here is a bunch of people on a little boat, with primitive food and toilet and sun in their eyes and infinite patience in their hearts.
Priorities are so different.
Amitav’s regard for people itself is amazing. There is hardly any physical description of people anywhere in the book while there are many of the waters and the land. When he describes the thoughts of people, they are on a different plane hard to outline. Its like a leap in thought.
A book to be savored and read slowly.
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