Book Review: Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan

Title: Those Pricey Thakur Girls
Author: Anuja Chauhan
Publisher: Harper Collins India
ISBN: 978-93-5029-602-8
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 392
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

I do not read popular fiction or any book that is categorized as chick-lit. I am wary of them, because there are dime a dozen of them, sprouting like crazy in the country. I try not to read them or take any requests for reviewing them. However, this time round I decided to read something that was written in a lighter vein and picked up, “Those Thakur Girls” by Anuja Chauhan and I can only say that I have never laughed this hard while reading a book. This book came as a much needed break from the heavy handed literary fiction and non-fiction that I was lapping up no end.

“Those Pricey Thakur Girls” is not chick-lit, well not at least according to me. It is fiction, popular fiction if anything else. It is also Jane Austen in Delhi, or rather hints and traces of Pride and Prejudice in Delhi in the 80’s and just by that you should know that it is a romp of a read. At the same time, Anuja Chauhan touches on the political and social issues of those times, however does not let the novel dwell on it too much. The book if anything is that of the romantic comedy genre and as I said before, I loved it.

The setting: Hailey Road in Delhi. The family: But obviously the Thakur clan. The characters: Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur, his wife Mamta Thakur, and their five daughters, who are named alphabetically from A to E. Each daughter has her own eccentricities. Each daughter comes with her own opinions and way of living. Amidst all this is the fourth daughter Debjani, who essentially the story is about, of how she becomes a news reader on DeshDarshan (a tongue-in-cheek but obviously on the national channel) and the appearance of Dylan Singh Shekhawat (her father’s closest friend’s son) and but obviously the tone of the book is set – of misunderstanding, of romance and of whether or not they will get together.

What I loved about the book was the setting. Love in a pre-Internet era. I have not read anything else like this in a long time, and was taken in a lot with the setting. I could relate to some of the references, considering I am an eighties child and that was fun as I went along the book. Anuja’s writing mostly is funny and there were times I could not help but laugh out loud. The Indian families in the book automatically provide for so much fodder for humour and sarcasm. The characters are well-etched which was a surprise to me considering there are so many of them in the book – interlinked families in a growing metropolis.

I have never enjoyed a popular fiction book with such enthusiasm. I was almost sad when it came to an end. It is a good thing that I have not read any of Chauhan’s earlier works, which now means that I should before another one of her books is out.

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Book Review: The Cripple and his Talismans by Anosh Irani

Title: The Cripple and his Talismans
Author: Anosh Irani
Publisher: 4th Estate, Harper Collins India
ISBN: 978-93-5029-603-5
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 232
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

“The Cripple and his Talismans” by Anosh Irani is a unique book. Of course I have read of books that have magic realism as the central theme and all of that, yet somehow this book seemed interesting and different from what I had read in the past. There was this urgency in the book that made me want to know what happens next and at the same time, a sense of stability that allowed me close the book after a couple of chapters and mull over what I had just read. It is almost confusingly therapeutic and disturbing when a book does that to you.

I had first heard of Anosh Irani when I encountered him in one of his sessions at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013. Before that I am surprised that I hadn’t heard much about him. Maybe I was too busy exploring other writers. However, once I got to know about The Cripple and his Talismans, I had to read it. It seemed too intriguing and inviting. At the same time, it was first published in 2004 and only published in India now, in 2013 by Harper Collins. So that is in brief about what dragged me to reading this book.

“The Cripple and his Talismans” is like the title suggests, about a cripple. A man in search of his lost arm. He wakes up one day and his arm is missing. Along the way on his so-called conquest to find his arm, he meets a variety of people – a woman who sells rainbows to a coffin maker to a giant, to a homeless boy riding the trains, which all lead him to one person – an underworld don at that, and the only one who can tell him about the clues along the way and explain the dilemma he is in.

All the action takes place in Bombay and that to me was the crux of the story. The city, its smells, the places make for the crux of the tale. To a very large extent, while reading the book, I was wondering about how Anosh now lives in Canada and all his books are set in the city he was born and grew up. To me that says a lot about the writer. More so, this being Anosh’s first book, it is quite experimental and adventurous for a first book and the same time, it is very-well written.

The journey of the man in search of his missing arm is often hilarious, sad, and at the same time human and absurd. Anosh mentioned about this book that it came to him in a dream, almost a vision, where he saw a basement, and arms hanging from the ceiling and he knew that he had to write this book and he did.

“The Cripple and his Talismans” is not an easy read. It demands a lot from the reader. The writing is simple and yet the situations aren’t. The characters jump off from every page and take the reader unaware. The writing radiates, teeming with the city’s boisterousness and energy and its laziness sometimes on a Sunday afternoon. To read something like “The Cripple and his Talismans” and not get affected by it, by its sheer magnitude, insanity, and almost a shock-like quality is not a possible feat.

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Book Review: Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean via Amruta Patil

Title: Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean via Amruta Patil
Author: Amruta Patil
Publisher: Harper Collins India
ISBN: 978-93-5029-416-1
Genre: Graphic Fiction, Mythology
Pages: 272
Source: Personal Copy (A Gift from a Dear Friend)
Rating: 5/5

There is the concept of the storyteller in the Indian tradition, also known as the sutradhar. The one who holds the thread, that’s what it means. Of storytelling, of plots, of history and of the present and the future. One must not underestimate the ability of a storyteller. There is more to them than what meets the eye. This is what Amruta Patil tries and brings about amongst many things in her latest offering, “Adi Parva”.

“Adi Parva” is Book 1 of the Mahabharata. It is how the epic came to be, which is narrated by Sauti (traditionally) to the rishis after the Sarpasatra (killing of the snakes) of Janamejaya (a direct descendant of the Pandavs). The first volume starts with how the Mahabharata came to be and ends with the birth of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The Mahabharata as a tale is known to all. Its popularity cannot be contested. Many forms have been given to it in stories and different perspectives as well. This one however is told in the form of a graphic novel and Amruta Patil uses her craft stupendously. To take a mythological tale and to present it differently is challenging enough, however to keep balancing it between the present and the past is more difficult, which Amruta has successfully managed.

The book took me in its charm right from page one. The illustrations are breathtaking no doubt, however what is also very charming about the book is the way the tale has been narrated. There are intervals – almost parallel narratives – from the sutradhar to the story itself. The title in itself is unique: “Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean” via Amruta Patil. It is as though the author in herself is the sutradhar (which is of course another way of looking at it). The drawings will definitely make me want to reread the book.

There are various themes running through the entire story – of feminism (underline however it is there), rivalry, the context of times gone by and the current times, of the different ages and how men and their nature changes and more so the idea of storytelling. The beauty and grace given to a story of war (it is not only that) can only come through an illustrator such as Patil. She breathes life into the story with her graphics, her imagery and her perspective. I waited long enough for Kari’s sequel; however this was just what I needed instead of that. I know for sure that I will be eagerly waiting for the other installments in this series. The way it would unfurl – we all know that – however to see it from Patil’s point of view and through her illustrations, will be a different experience altogether.

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Book Review: The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph

Title: The Illicit Happiness of Other People
Author: Manu Joseph
Publisher: Fourth Estate
ISBN: 978-9350293645
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 352
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Manu Joseph is definitely the most promising writer on the Indian Literary scene as of now and well-deserved of that place in my opinion. Serious Men made a great impact in the literary world and rightly so. It was a sweeping novel of family, doubt, and loss in an emerging India, full of hopes, aspirations and the need to get somewhere. Manu Joseph writes with a keen eye to details. He knows what he wants to convey to the much-eager reader and he delivers to the maximum.

“The Illicit Happiness of Other People” is yet again another example of his genius. The reader should not compare it to Serious Men. It may be the same writing style, but of course, the plots are radically different.

“The Illicit Happiness of Other People” is set in Madras in the early 90s when technology was well on its way to invade the country and the lifestyle changes were crawling up unaware to the Great Indian Middle Class. Ousep Chacko is an anarchist. He is a family man. He is an alcoholic. He wants to know what happened to his first-born seventeen year old Unni Chacko, the highly talented comic book writer and illustrator. Why did he do what he did? What compelled him to? The only clue he has on hand is his son’s comic strip and he has to string and make sense of his son’s life through that and meeting people he doesn’t know existed in Unni’s life.

While this plot is unfolding itself, we have his second son, Thoma who hasn’t shown as much promise as Unni and is often ignored by his father. All his father wants is answers about Unni’s life. The other angle is that of his wife, who is suffering in silence. Unni’s cartoons reveal more than what Ousep wants to know and that reels the story in a completely different direction, with the arrival of a stranger who will change things for the three of them.

The book is beautifully written and heart-breaking to a large extent, with the right doses of humour thrown in. I must admit that it took me sometime to sink into the book at the beginning, but when I did, I could not stop myself from reading. The story is infectious and grows on you. Just when you think that the writing and characters have become predictable, there is a sense of comfort; Joseph surprises you by pulling an unexpected rabbit out of his wordsmith hat.

The writing and the characters reach out to you in ways you can never imagine. Your heart goes out to Ousep and yet there are times you wish he didn’t do things that he does. Thoma as the recluse is brilliantly etched and the mother, though silent plays a crucial part in the book. The highlight of the book for me was when it all made sense, when the book looped in. Characters searching for happiness and fulfillment in a book are most tragic for the reader. It almost holds a mirror sometimes. You then know the ulterior motives of characters. They just want happiness after all, so much so that they start despising others for being happy.

I cannot stop raving about this book. Nothing is out of place and nothing is flawed in the writing. Whoever says that Indian Writing has not yet reached its pinnacle has to read this book to probably take back their words. I would recommend it to whosoever I meet.

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Book Review: The Liberals by Hindol Sengupta

Title: The Liberals
Author: Hindol Sengupta
Publisher: Harper Collins India
ISBN: 978-93-5029-143-6
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 311
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

So one cannot help but compare parts of, “The Liberals” by Hindol Sengupta to Pavan K Varma’s, “The Great Indian Middle Class”, however that is just those very small parts. The rest of the book is nothing like it. The reason I start my review with this comparison is that both the books have their roots in the Indian Middle class.

“The Liberals” is in part a meditation on the nature of things in the country over the last decade or so or maybe a little more and at the same time, it is a travelogue covering three metros of the country and the mentality that prevails.

When I say mentality, I do not mean in the loose sense of the word. It is evident that Sengupta has done enough research and more while writing the book. He sort of gets into the skin of the middle class so to say and gives us the true picture, ensuring that the writing doesn’t get too technical or boring.

Hindol Sengupta’s book is a slice-of-life of a majority that populates India – of how they live, their way of thinking (sometimes veering into generalization, which I could also ignore in parts), the so-called, ‘herd mentality’, the new “Keeping up with the Joneses” or the Joshis in this case, and most importantly – their reactions to situations and the economy.

The book is not a heavy read, as I thought it would be when I started it. It does speak of the economy of the country, but does it very cleverly, looping in the core of the book: The people.

Hindol has very sharp and accurate observations and those in part come from his upbringing as well, which is also spoken about a lot in the entire book. For instance, how he prays in English. On the surface it probably seems of minor importance, but then again the roots of this activity might not be that simple.

He speaks of the new hope that generated itself with the increase in the so-called, “per capita income”. Of how the middle class went from dreaming to affording and the new-found affluence and its impact on day-to-day living. Those were the parts that I could connect to the most. I guess at some level children of the 80s can definitely connect to this as we grew up with the beliefs and ideologies of our parents, that were transferred to us, till we adopted new ones.

The cities described and talked about only serve as a loose prototype of the Indian middle class. I am sure there is more to that, but then again it could also be the size of the book that demanded only limited cities to feature and be spoken about. At times, I did get a little bored of the writing, as it crossed over to being repetitive in parts, and yet the new chapter ensured I was shaken off by that feeling.

“The Liberals” does not speak of anything new. The concepts and ideas and events are universal to probably every Indian. What is new though is of course the author’s point of view, the anecdotes (which you and I can relate to), the way he has structured the book and but of course the writing. I would urge you to read the book only because to a very large extent, it is a mirror to the times gone by, to what we are living now and probably how we would be in the future.

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