Archive for the 'On my bookshelf' Category

When will this madness end?

charukesi September 4th, 2004

Russia - yet another hostage crisis gone terribly wrong…. And most heart-wrenching was this story - when a mother was made to choose between her two children….

Anybody who has read or seen Sophie’s Choice will know what I mean….

From a review of the movie - In the film’s third flashback, Sophie tells Stingo about her “choice.” When she arrived at Auschwitz — on a “beautiful spring night” — she was ordered to select one of her children, who would then be sent to the ovens; the other would be spared. This sequence is especially heartbreaking, as the screaming little girl is carried away to die.

My heart goes out to these mothers… Having to live with the trauma and the guilt for the rest of their lives…

The Remains of the Day

charukesi May 27th, 2004

Made a wonderful discovery recently. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro…. The book is the story of Mr. Stevens (Antony Hopkins in the movie, which I would love to watch), a butler at Darlington Hall, who had been serving Lord Darlington for many years. Darlington Hall goes through several changes following the death of Lord Darlington, as an American businessman moves in, bringing with him a perspective that is entirely American (as opposed to the rigid English). For instance, when his American employer (played, I think, by Hugh Grant in the movie….. could almost see him when I was reading the book) suggests to Stevens a holiday away from the Hall, Stevens is shocked. He slowly starts to like the idea and sets off on a drive in his master’s car.

The journey that Stevens undertakes is a simple and evocative metaphor for his mental journey down the years, and all the events that he has been part of and witness to, as a butler at Darlington Hall. As these events unfold in Stevens’ narration, the reader is able to perceive and understand many more layers than Stevens himself apparently can. For instance, apart from the idea of a holiday, Stevens also decides in favour of the journey in order to meet Miss Keaton, the former house-keeper at the Hall, ostensibly with the purpose of getting her back in her position. However, it is quite clear to the reader that Stevens’ feelings for the house-keeper is much stronger and intimate than he ever lets on… or even admits to himself…. Imagining her to be unhappy in her married life, he has to reconcile to the fact that she is still married, and happily so…. If only he had not ler her get away so many years ago….

As Stevens progresses on his journey reflecting on and analyzing his days at the Hall, he is forced to answer a lot of unpleasant questions within himself. It is almost as if, after all the years of an insular life at the Hall, being away from it suddenly makes Stevens view his life there, as an outsider.

The narration moves across a few decades, with the most engaging part set in the pre-war days of the late 1920s and 30s. Sitting here reading the book, it is almost possible to experience and understand the political climate and discourse of the times. Troubled times, turbulent times…

Here is a book that is absorbing and amusing and at all times, moving. To look at it, at the best of times, Stevens’ character is pompous and rigid. However, underneath lurks a vulnerability that touches you. It certainly made me want to shake him up at times and say, come on, Stevens, have a life…. The book, keeping with the character of the narrator maintains a tone of that elusive, so hard to describe quality – dignity. The quality that Stevens strives for all his professional life. So much so that he has consciously blurred any lines between his professional and personal life.

A quality that he inherits from his father, Stevens senior. The portrait of Stevens senior is full of pathos; a has-been, spent force living in the reflected glory of his past life as one of the great butlers, unwilling to give up his dignity at all costs… At one point, Miss Keaton tell Stevens, I saw your father looking at the ground as he was walking, as if he was searching for something…. What was he searching for? His life gone by? His youth? Strength?

A moving account of life…. What seems to be, what really is, and what might have been….. I highly recommend it and look forward to reading more of Ishiguro’s work….

The Great Indian Chase

charukesi February 27th, 2004

I recently finished reading two books, both by foreign writers on a chase within India. It is rarely that one comes across writings on India that is empathetic without being condescending. And sadly enough, I find that foreigners manage that more often than Indians themselves do (me and my Naipaul basing, will it ever stop?!). Books on India are more and more moving away from a Western audience focus and reaching out just as much to Indian readers. And these two books are great examples of that.

The first one is Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater. A modern pilgrimage through India, says the book. Frater surely pays his respects to the whimsical monsoon gods through his pilgrimage covering the length and breadth of the country. The Economic Times review calls the book ‘altogether an enduring liquid discovery of India’, and believe me, it is a great pleasure to flow along with the narrative.

He starts his meteorological journey from Trivandrum in Kerala where the first showers of the monsoon are experienced every year. He chases and sometimes overtakes the rains through Cochin and Bombay and Goa and Delhi and many many other places. His ultimate goal is to finally get to the mecca of monsoons - Cherrapunji, a tall order in those days of insurgency in the North east. The book is an amusing and evocative portrayal of his journey and his encounters with Indian babudom and other normal Indians on the way. Although in the book, Frater makes the journey alone, he takes the reader along with him all the way, right into his own life when the reasons for his fascination with the monsoons becomes apparent.

The monsoon in India is so much a part of our life, our politics, our culture, our discourse. In India, the rains are about crops, about the economy, about the rise and fall of Governments, about festivals and about songs…. and floods and destruction…. and so much more…. And this book takes us through all the nuances, some described by the writer and some consutructed by the reader.

Personally to me, the rains mean: getting wet in the first showers, going to school drenched and sneezing, smelling the wet earth, feeling the cool winds, standing by Marine Drive watching the waves crash on the road….

This book, following his chase happened in 1987. As you read the book, there is so much to remind you of how India was then and how much has changed in this last decade.

The second book is an equally exciting and insightful chase Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God : Retracing the Ramayana through India. A fresh and unique perspective on the Ramayana and its relevance in today’s India. More on this soon.

Delhi through the centuries

charukesi January 15th, 2004

Just finished reading Delhi by Khushwant Singh (I cannot stand Khushwant Singh and do not like Delhi, so why did I even bother?) Discounting Singh’s sex fetish that pervades the narration, the book is an excellent treatise on the psyche of Delhi, the city. As it has been through the ages. As it is today. Ravaged.

The entire commentary is through the eyes of the author (with his obsession for Bhagmati, a hijda prostitute, symbolizing the simultaneous allure and decay of the city), interspersed with stories of the various invaders and rulers recounted by the rulers themselves.

Like I said, this book leaves the reader with a clear understanding of what drives the city today. Instinct. For survival. Of the fittest. As a city that has seen innumerable invaders and plunderers, Delhi has learnt to survive. People come and go…. But Delhi goes on. And the people go on, the only instinct that keeps them going being their innate aggression. The same is true of all of North India as such. It is each one for himself there.

People pouring in from all over into Delhi. True the Turks and Persians no longer inhabit Delhi, but for UPites, Biharis, Punjabis, Delhi still is asylum…… Post partition, Sindhis and Punjabis flocked to Delhi and rebuilt their businesses and lives. The commercial instinct survives to this day.

As opposed to this, look at the South of India (and the West to a large extent, notwithstanding the Portuguese and their love affair with Goa). This region has been away from the action, so to say, and left to mind its own business. A sheltered existence through the centuries. Untouched (literally and figuratively) by what happened in the North. Free to concentrate on their scholarly pursuits, no business-shusiness for them, folks!

And this also reflects in the attitude of each region towards women. After all, what else is left to plunder once the gems and gold have been seized?

A reader had left this comment on my blog a few days ago - about Bangalore - The most surprising thing I encountered was people leave you alone on the road, they don’t innocently bumped into you, as the guys in North do

As a researcher who has traveled through the hinterlands of this country, I know what she means. There is a persecution complex that attaches itself to the women as soon as she steps into the North. Let me assure you that this is not mere imagination but the truth. In the North, prepare to be ogled at, pinched and harassed in other ways. Not just in the interiors but in good old Delhi itself.

And it is true (again I say this from personal experience) that a woman feels much safer in the South and the West (like most others, I have no idea of the East of India).

I remember what I had read about Human Instinct as described by Robert Winston. To me, it is amazing how instincts survive through centuries and centuries…. And define the lives of people in this day and age.….

Who are they writing for?

charukesi November 10th, 2003

Have just finished reading India Unbound. Great reading overall. Gurcharan Das speaks with the authoritative ease of someone who’s been there, seen that and done that. Unlike some others, Naipaul, for instance, who I believe have no clue what they are talking about. Having never been there, leave alone lived there.

If there is one thing that riles me with the book, it is this : why do all Indian authors (most, if not all) write for a Western audience ? Sometimes, it seems to me that Indian authors go out of their way to conform to Western expectations and stereotypes of India and Indians.

Das too falls into the trap and sets about explaining the simplest of concepts (intuitive to any Indian reader). His language at time is clearly oriented towards the Western reader. India is the largest market for blenders, he says. Sure, but who says “blenders” in India. I blinked for a second too.

This might be a very simplistic example, but my point is larger. Indian authors write with a focus on Western audiences. Why ?

Reminds me of Indian restaurants in the UK (why UK, some upper-end restaurants in India do this too) which have sub-titles for the most basic dishes :

Idli - soft fluffy pancakes made of rice. Sounds yummy, but what are pancakes please ?

Having said this, I repeat, the book is engrossing and makes for excellent reading. For a more detailed review, read me on mouthshut.

Forty Years of Liberalization ?

charukesi November 6th, 2003

Am reading India Unbound by Gurcharan Das. More on the book soon. But there is one particular passage in the book which has me really shaken.

Das says that Lal Bahadur Shastri, India’s Prime Minister after Nehru was the first person to be aware of the pitfalls of the ‘controls’ regime set in motion by his well-intentioned(?) predecessor.

I quote from the book : In the complex, non- monolithic government that India had become, controls were causing delays, waste and enormous harm. He thought it was time to loosen up, and entrusted the task to L.K.Jha, his principal secretary. The Times of India ran a story in the front page in early December 1965 saying the government was contemplating liberalizing some of the less useful controls – it was the first time I came across the word “liberalization”.

Unfortunately, within four months Shastri died and with him all prospects of liberalization. Indira Gandhi was back on the scene, and with a vengeance, with Garibi Hatao. Then followed nationalization of banks and the rest as they say, is history.

Gurcharan Das also says that Rakesh Mohan, the head of the NCAER has conservatively estimated the economic cost of Indira Gandhi’s follies at 1.3 percent lower per capita GDP growth per year. In simpler terms, if those reforms were set into motion around that time, the per-capita GDP would have been atleast 80% higher in 1990 - $550 instead of $300.

Even putting aside depressing thoughts of what we have lost and thinking about what we could have gained is mind-boggling. India would have been an open, liberalized economy for close to forty years now. And if the prosperity of just more than a decade is anything to by….

Anyways, Das’ hope for the future and optimism is infectious….

The Nature versus Nurture Debate

charukesi October 31st, 2003

I just finished reading a fascinating book called ‘Human Instinct’ by Robert Winston. The book is a detailed analysis of the great debate : nature v/s nurture. The question which has been haunting social scientists (and those from the natural sciences too) : which is more powerful in shaping our identity : our genes or our upbringing?

I quote from the blurb : what drives a happily married man to fantasize about pretty, young women seen on a tube train ? Why does a seriously injured mountaineer battle against impossible weather conditions to spend three days crawling down to the safety of the base camp ?…. All of these impulses are driven by our human instincts……

With this, it was impossible for me not to pick up this book. And once I started reading it, it was impossible to put it down. As a student of social psychology, I was particularly enthralled by the range of human emotions covered by Winston, such as risk, trust, competitiveness, aggression and sex drive, to mention only a few. He links all our present-day emotions to our very early days on the wild Savannahs, when our ancestors braved the elements and predators, and survived, passing on their superior, dominant genes to us.

Winston presents his case and explanations in simple idiot-friendly English avoiding heavy mathematical calculations and scientific gobbledygook. Yet, as the book progresses, there is no doubt that all arguments are based on solid experiments, understanding and reasoning.

What I found particularly gratifying was the way the book ended, with a discussion about the notion of a supreme being - god - that goes against all rational, scientific thought and reasoning. Winston says….. but science does not explain everything, and to pretend that it does, seems to me arrogant. That is enough is endear him to all readers, if nothing else.

Whether you are a serious scholar of science, psychology or any related subject, or you merely like reading about human nature, this is a must-read.

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