Made in Chennai - Tishani Doshi

Poet, Dancer, Writer, Wanderer...

What's the best writing-related advice you got?

The best advice anyone ever gave me was from the American poet CK Williams. He told me to treat writing as a job. That means, don’t do anything else when you’re supposed to be at work. That means have working hours, don’t answer calls while you’re working, don’t go shopping while you’re supposed to be working, and don’t switch jobs without due consideration. Of course, I often break the rules, but it’s good to have them.

What were some turning points you've had along the way?

The first turning point would be discovering a book called Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. The second turning point would be Rilke. The third would be a woman called Cathy Smith Bowers from North Carolina who encouraged and nurtured my poetic ambitions. Everything else was luck, timing and the rest of it.

What are some of the challenges you've had to brave?

Oh you know, the usual. Doubt, rage, bitterness, envy, adoration, betrayal. Humdrum stuff.

Why did you choose Chennai as base? You could have chosen to be based anywhere.

Well, actually, no I couldn’t have chosen to be anywhere. Madras is the city I was born in and where my parents still live. When I decided to become a full-time writer the first thing I did was to quit my job, which meant that I quit my steady source of income, which meant that either I lived in poverty or moved back to the family house. After 8 years of student-like poverty I decided to move back home. That was a decade ago, and I’m still here.

What's your typical day like?

It’s highly typical actually. I like rituals and routines, so I basically have a pattern that I follow regardless of where I am. This involves Yoga, breakfast, writing, lunch, reading, nap, tea, walking, more writing, reading. Food is important, fresh air is important and of course, friends.

What would you consider your secret to success?

Success isn’t actually a word I associate with my life. It reeks of corporate smugness (to me). But, I suppose I’ve been successful in engineering the kind of life I want to live and this has happened mainly because of what I think is my greatest talent: stubbornness (read, perseverance). It really does go a long way. As does a strong support system.

What lies ahead?

I have no idea what lies ahead but I hope more books and other projects. I’m working on a collection of poems right now, so that’s what I have on my table for the moment.

Any words of advice for someone who'd like to be a writer?

Read, read, read. And write, write, write. That’s about it. 

An edited version of this interview was published in Taxi Magazine in 2011.

 

Em and the Big Hoom – Jerry Pinto

What is the book about?

At the heart of the story, is the quirky, irrverently funny Imelda Mendes, also called Em, who is also suicidal when in the throes of bipolar disorder. Her husband, Augustine, also called the big Hoom, is the bulwark of the family. The children - Susan and the narrator son, who stays largely unnamed – are given free access to their beloved Em's letters and diaries wherein we discover more of her story, particularly preceding and following her falling in love with Augustine. Somewhere in the midst of Em's flurry of words and the big Hoom's quiet presence, we sense the deep love and regard they have for each other.

Who is it by?

Jerry Pinto is a poet, writer and journalist, and has edited several anthologies of essays and poems. He is especially known his pieces on Bollywood and his book, Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb, that studies the roles played by Bollywood actor Helen to draw a study of morality and sexuality, particularly in the 1960s, as perceived in Indian cinema and society.

Why should I read it?

This defining account of mental illness in a family, is written with such lucidity, humour and great affection that it could only come from a deeply personal space. 

An edited version appeared in the September 2012 Issue of Culturama

Selected Stories by Saadat Hasan Manto

What is the book about?

This collection contains some of Saadat Hasan Manto's best-known stories set in India and Pakistan during the period of the Partition in the 1940s, about the forgotten, the displaced and the marginalised in both societies. Women, especially prostitutes, feature prominently in this collection of his stories and he writes about them with none of the lasciviousness of the voyeur.

The Dog of Titwal and The Last Salute reveal the mindset of the border security forces of the two countries. There are wonderfully nuanced stories, like A Wet Afternoon and The Blouse, about the stirrings of sexual awareness. Manto's best loved story is the darkly comic Toba Tek Singh, where he speculates on what would happen if India and Pakistan exchanged mental asylum inmates on the basis of religion.

Who is it by?

Manto has been long regarded as one of the most prolific writers of Urdu fiction. His disdain for hypocrisy and his unvarnished depiction of sexuality earning him as many brickbats as admirers.

Translated from the Urdu originals by Khalid Hassan, the stories preserve the combination of irony, intensity and brevity that has come to be recognized as Manto's writerly voice.

Why should I read it?

The charm of the book is as much in the author's intensely human voice as the milieu in which his stories are set – the political climate bears an eerie resemblance to the testy relationship between the two countries today.

An interesting piece of trivia is that the book cover is of a painting by Iqbal Hussain, renowned for his portraiture of prostitutes in Hira Mandi, Lahore, Pakistan, where he lives.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's July 2012 Issue.

Mapping India by Manosi Lahiri

What is the book about?

This is a coffee-table book filled with historical maps featuring India, sourced from map archives and private collections from across the world. The study of how India has been mapped over the centuries, is inextricably linked to a study of the country's history, the military and commercial interests in the country and the very development of cartography itself.

Who is it by?

Manosi Lahiri is a geographer and author of several books.

Why should I read it?

This book is a treasure trove of information for anybody interested in history, exploration and cartography. Painstakingly compiled over six years, the book covers subjects ranging from Indian cosmographic traditions, European maps of the 1500s, the days of 'graphic designer cartographers' who had never visited the country they depicted and the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India that took 40 years to complete.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's October 2012 Issue.

Abandon by Pico Iyer

What is the book about?

John Macmillan is a scholar of Sufi poetry in search of an original manuscript that nobody else has translated. Camilla Jensen is a whimsical woman, perpetually lost and in disarray, who longs for the stability that John seems to represent. Abandon is about the intertwining of the quests of these two seekers.

Who is it by?

Pico Iyer is an essayist and a well known travel writer of several books like Video Night in Kathmandu, The Lady and the Monk and Falling off the Map. Abandon is his first novel.

Why should I read it?

Abandon is a cryptically layered story about quests. On the surface, it is about the protagonists’ individual struggles to attain what seem to be elusive goals. At a deeper level, the book mirrors the Sufi concept of the search for the beloved and about the duality of the word ‘abandon’ itself.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's November 2012 Issue.

Red Skies & Falling Stars by Diti Sen

What is it about?
As personal stories go, this one is filled with nostalgia of a privileged life in an urban Bengali family of the 1960s, with a house in Calcutta and holiday home in Bihar, with servants and care-takers aplenty. When the oldest daughter, Amu, runs away from home to join the Naxal Movement, the parents are heartbroken. Rumi, the youngest daughter and the primary narrator grows up unforgiving of Amu‘s deed for the way it alters personal equations within the family.
 

Who is it by?
Diti Sen is a freelance writer and has written a book for children, called The Two Friends.
 

Why should I read it?
Read the book, not for its literary merit or the story itself, but for its portrayal, albeit brief, of what the Naxal Movement of the 1960s and 1970s came to mean, not only for the Naxalites, their families, and the tribals that the Movement sought to emancipate, but also as a foundation for the more recent rise in Maoist activity.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's December 2012 Issue.

Ice Candy Man/Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa

What is the book about?

Precocious, little Lenny Sethi is fascinated by the Ice Candy Man who flirts incessantly with Shanta, her ayah. When Lahore is declared part of Pakistan, a spate of migrations, conversions and violence erupt in the city. Lenny witnesses the Ice Candy Man's transformation, as he revels in the carnage unfolding on the streets. Lenny is then deceived by him into revealing Shanta's whereabouts and along with a group of marauders, he abducts Shanta. Lenny's godmother, Roda, becomes her bulwark and rights the wrong caused by Lenny's truthfulness.

Who is it by?

Bapsi Sidhwa's is one of the definitive voices of the Indian subcontinent. Her novels, written in English, have been translated into several languages. Sidhwa is, much like her polio-afflicted protagonist Lenny, a Zoroastrian of Pakistani origin and the city of Lahore is central to many of her novels.

Why should I read it?

Also called Cracking India, the book vividly captures the bestial violence that erupted during the Partition as witnessed by Lenny. Sidhwa wonderfully captures Lenny's voice, with all its petulance, raw frankness and stirring sensitivity. Ice Candy Man has also been made into a movie, Earth, by Deepa Mehta.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's August 2012 Issue.

Published again

My short story, The Fix, about how coffee becomes an unlikely catalyst of change for the protagonist, has just been published in an anthology called City of Gods by Unisun Publications.

This book has been a long time coming, but having seen the actual product, I realise that the wait was well worth it.

If you read it, do let me know what you think.

Shameless self-plug here - http://www.flipkart.com/city-gods-8188234729/p/9798188234720?pid=9798188234720&ref=403ce275-ae63-4046-9ff9-5af5f650592d

The Canyon of Souls - Ronald Malfi

Timothy Overleigh has inner demons to fight - a specific one is that of his estranged wife, Hannah who died in an accident in Italy. Timothy blames himself for not being an attentive husband, and thereby driving her away from him. Hannah's death not only throws him into a downward spiral when it comes to his sculpting but also turns him self-destructive.

When Tim meets with a spelunking accident in a cave, it is a vision of Hannah that gets him out. When she begins to appear frequently to him, Tim decides that he's had enough and accepts an offer from an old acquaintance and adventurer, Andrew Trumbauer, to join an expedition to the mystical Canyon of Souls where no man has gone before and lived to tell the tale.

The rather disparate individuals for the expedition are all connected to Andrew in some way. Other than Tim, who is battling alcohol withdrawal, the crew comprises the very fatherly John Petras, the brash, talkative Chad Nando, the ex-Marine Curtis Booker, a quiet Australian Michael Hollinger and an out-of-shape, unlikely climber, Donald Shotsky. Just before they leave, a local named Shomas secretly warns Tim that the canyon is not meant to be crossed and if it is, great disaster would befall the group. This warning is, or course, ignored.

As the group battles the elements, every man, except the now-aloof Andrew, begins to depend on the others. Once they reach the point beyond which no man has returned alive, things begin to go horribly wrong for the climbers. Tim suspects Andrew of jeopardizing the expedition, but each time, Andrew seems to have a plausible explanation for the accidents that befall them. As each member of the group begins to die, Tim comes into his own, laying his old fears to rest and embracing his own guilt over Hannah, as his survival instinct kicks into high gear in the altitudes of the Himalayas.

Malfi's book is a quick read, although the language seems a trifle laborious. It's confusing to find a good plot being let down by careless wordcraft. There are some repetitive usages of phrases, some obvious spelling errors and some words that disrupt the cadence and some metaphors that to me, seemed simply too convoluted. Maybe a once-over by an experienced editor could have smoothed out some of the chinks in the language. Malfi already had two chances to do that - a quick websearch reveals that the same book was published earlier as The Ascent. Andrew Trumbauer's reasons for choosing each member of the group, in some instances, seem a bit of a stretch.

There would have been a real threat to the narrative if the journey seemed too easy for it to be beyond the abilities of the skilled climber. But Malfi does justice to this part, making the climb as arduous and dangerous as it turns out.

Canyon of Souls has enough adventure to keep the 'armchair-adrenaline junkies' happy and there're a few insights into the human mind to satisfy those who want a wee bit more from their average read.

Published on Bookchums.com. Book Cover Pic from publisher's website.

A sampler of the novel is available at : http://www.greyoak.in/canyon-of-souls.htm 

 

Update: For some strange reason, I had this niggling feeling that the author was not as American as we would like to assume from the profile. Reminded me of this Indian writer I met who wanted to try writing a convincing novel set in America with American characters, with no trace of Indianness in either the plot or the narrative or the characters. Is it really possible to shrug off the colonial nuances that influence our English?

Published.

I have some great news to share - one of my short stories has been published! I know, I know, it's one puny story and I have an entire career of short stories and novels ahead of me. But a writer's first published story is always special.

Urban Shots is a series of short story collections published by Grey Oak & Westland. My short story, Gap, is in the edition called Urban Shots:Crossroads. Edited by bestselling author, Ahmed Faiyaz, this anthology explores the conflict, chaos and confusion in the lives of interesting and colourful characters in Urban India. 


The entire process of dealing with Grey Oak has been great and their co-publishing tie-up with Westland has ensured that the book could be pre-ordered from many online retailers in India. The book is now available, ready to be shipped, and these online stores are vying with each other to offer the best discounts on these titles:

Flipkart
Landmark
Indiaplaza
Crossword

The book launches are scheduled on the following dates in the following cities:

19 Jan 2012 - 7 pm, Landmark, Infiniti Mall, Andheri, Mumbai

20 Jan 2012 - 7 pm, Landmark, Phoenix Marketcity, Pune

Watch this space for details of the Bangalore and Chennai launches.

Do read my story, Gap, and let me know what you think.

Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For a person vaguely interested in nature and not too keen on actively interacting with species other than my own, I found this book an excellent read. This book is in no way depressing, but it is sobering to read about how callously we treat our resources.

Douglas Adams (yes, him) wrote this book after travelling with Mark Carwardine in search of endangered species like the Kaka Po, the White Rhino and the Baiji Dolphin. He met some of the most passionate of conservationists and sighted the actual species, describing these voyages in his inimitable brand of humour.

A must read for any one who has even vaguely identified a bird other than those in the backyard.

Reviewed on www.goodreads.com

Freedom at Midnight

Authors: Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins

Freedom at Midnight is an immensely readable account on the political climate surrounding Indian Independence in 1947.

It begins with the arrival of Lord Mountbatten as the Viceroy of India in April 1947 and ends with the last British soldiers leaving Independent India in February 1948 through the Gateway of India to the strains of Auld Lang Syne.

In this period of less than a year, Lord Mountbatten's task was to help ensure the transfer of power to reliable Indian hands. He did this by what the authors call Operation Seduction – using his immense charm to negotiate with leaders of various political factions to ensure the transition is smooth. However, as the book details, this was easier said than done.

For one, the Viceroy had to keep the best interests of Britain at heart at all times. Then, there was the decision on the able hands in which to entrust India. The personalities that Mountbatten dealt with are portrayed in lucid detail. These include the individual idiosyncracies, habits as well as unique challenges surmounted by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The most critical matter of all was the drawing of the borders, made more difficult by the long standing discord between Hindus and Muslims. There was the core issue of partitioning a country on religious grounds which was bound to have repercussions not only on the lives and livelihoods of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs alike, but also on the economies of India, Pakistan as well as what would soon become Bangladesh.

While Mountbatten is a constant thread in the narrative, the book makes frequent forays into other, connected happenings. The lifestyles of the Indian royalty makes for fascinating reading. The plot to assassinate Gandhi is described in great detail. The violence between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs is captured in many first-person accounts in graphic depth. There are heart-rending tales of common men and women, like the Sikh, Boota Singh and his Muslim wife, Zenib, who were tragically separated at the time of Partition.

The strength of the book is clearly the narrative that assumes that no story is too small and no detail too trivial to provide a glimpse into the complexity of Indian Independence.

An edited version of this article appeared in the August 2011 Issue of Culturama
Image courtesy Vikas Publishing

Parthiban's Dream

Author – Kalki Krishnamurthy, translated by Nirupama Raghavan

Illustrations - N. Bindhu Malini

MRP – Rs. 165

Kalki Krishnamurthy's Parthiban Kanavu (Parthiban's Dream) is a fictionalised account of a period in Tamizh history dominated by four glorious kingdoms - the Cholas, the Pallavas, the Cheras and the Pandiyas.

When the king of the Cholas, Parthiban lies dying on the battlefield, he seeks the help of a Shivanadiyar (Shiva-worshipping ascetic) in ensuring that his dream of a vast and powerful Chola kingdom is realised by his son, Vikraman.

Years later, when Vikraman sets out to conquer the neighbouring Pallava kingdom, he is betrayed by his uncle, Marappa Bhupathi, and captured by Pallava troops. The Pallava princess, Kuntavi falls in love with him and tries to convince her father, the mighty Chakravarthi Narasimha Varman to be lenient in his sentence for the Chola prince. However, Vikraman is exiled to the Shenbaga Islands.

Two years later, when Vikraman returns to the mainland in disguise, he hears that his mother is missing. He endures a series of near-death experiences, and finally, is nursed back to health by Kuntavi. He finds his mother who tells him that the Shivanadiyar aided her escape from a group of Kapala Bhairavars (Kali-worshipping cult), but was himself captured. With the help of Ponnan, a Chola loyal, Vikraman reaches the Kapala Bhairavar hideout. After a daring rescue helped by Pallava allies, the intrigue surrounding the Shivanadiyar is revealed, thereby setting the stage for the realisation of Parthiban's dream.

Parthiban's Dream was translated from the Tamizh original by 15 year old Nirupama Raghavan. Although targeted at young adults, the story, with its vivid portrayal of Tamizh valour, is captivating to all.

An edited version appeared in Culturama's May 2011 Issue

Jaya - An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata by Veda Vyasa is a sprawling epic that has spawned many an interpretation and philosophical debate. It is centered on the concept of Dharma - interpreted variously as ethic, duty, the path of righteousness and the natural law.

At the heart of the story is the futile rivalry between the Pandavas and their cousins, the Kauravas, that leads to a great war which the Pandavas win. It begins with the recounting of the ancestry of the two warring factions and ends with Yudhishtira, the eldest Pandava ascending to heaven, only to find his arch rival Duryodhana already there.

Devdutt Pattanaik, a renowned name in the field of Indian Mythology, takes on the onus of demystifying the grand epic, delving into its intricate plots and sub-plots. Pattanaik titles his book Jaya - the original name of the epic that we now know as Mahabharata. He narrates the story succinctly and dwells on the fascinating interconnectedness of events and characters, the layers, paradoxes and symbolisms. Pattanaik's enthusiasm is infectious – he includes folklore, interpretations and cross-references in other texts - and his accompanying illustrations are exquisite.

The pivotal chapter on the game of dice, for instance, begins with the envious Duryodhana returning from Yudhishtira's coronation. His uncle, Shakuni devises a plot to overthrow the Pandavas with loaded dice. We see the heady lure of a gamble that dulls Yudhishtira's intellect enough to pawn away his wealth, his kingdom, his brothers and finally, Draupadi, their wife. When Draupadi is publicly disrobed by the Kauravas, Dhritharashtra, the father of the Kauravas intervenes and offers her boons by which she frees her husbands. Sadly, Yudhishtira squanders away this too and the Pandavas are exiled for 13 years. In the footnotes of this chapter, we learn that Draupadi is worshipped in parts of India as a goddess and there are rituals enacted by men representing the Pandavas, seeking her forgiveness.

While Pattanaik's Jaya loosely follows the chronology of the original epic, the author invests time in dwelling on significances. There are stories within stories, curses and blessings that change destinies, and repercussions across timelines and beyond lifetimes. In this retelling, Pattanaik chooses to reiterate that the theme of the Mahabharata is conveyed in the character arc of Yudhishtira who first chases Vijaya (victory over others) but finally realises Jaya (mastery over self).

An edited version appeared in Culturama's April 2011 Issue.

Also read an interview with Devdutt Pattanaik here.

The Silent Raga – Ameen Merchant

 It is the 1980s in Sripuram, Tamizh Nadu. When Janaki, talented in playing the Veena, walks away from her overbearing father and maternal aunt, she leaves behind not only a hard-earned, spotless Brahminical reputation but also her beloved younger sister, Mallika.

Ten years later, Janaki, now Janaki Asgar lives in Mumbai. She receives an unsigned but hardly anonymous letter from her maternal aunt informing her of her father's failing mental faculties and Mallika's financial struggles. Janaki writes to Mallika requesting to meet her in Chennai.

Both letters stir strong emotions for the sisters as each sister braces herself to meet the other. It is through their eyes and alternating narratives, that we piece together the story of their childhood.

We meet the mother, dead but still a silent observer in the form of a garlanded portrait. We meet the bank manager father, Venkatakrishnan, a man who is melodramatic even in his silences. He lives life on his terms, but ensures his daughters are brought up traditionally. Then there are Janaki's friends, Kamala and Revathi, who are as different socially as they are in temparament, but unanimous in their love for music and unconditional affection for Janaki.

We also meet Gayatri, the girls' widowed maternal aunt, who exerts authority over the goings-on in the household. Through Janaki's eyes, we come to realise the motives behind Gayatri's visits. Through Mallika's younger eyes, we see Janaki's gradual assertion of independence. When Janaki leaves Sripuram, we also sense Mallika's fear of having her own wings clipped.

When the sisters finally meet ten years later it is not the misgivings of the past that take centre stage, but the strong bond they share despite a difficult childhood in a dysfunctional family.

Silent Raga captures the social intricacies of Tamizh Brahmin life in an Agraharam (traditional living quarters for the Brahmin community serving the local temple) in small-town Tamizh Nadu. It conveys the conservatism, the thrift, the social mores imposed on young girls of marriageable age as well as the paradoxes that are not spoken about.

The vocabulary is authentic, the detailing is intricate and the protagonists are so well nuanced, that this evocative debut novel reads like a translation from the Tamizh language.

Nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2008 in the best first book category.

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's February 2011 Issue)

Johnny Gone Down - Karan Bajaj

Price – Rs. 99

Over twenty years and 324 taut pages, Nick Arya goes from being a young MIT graduate with a promising NASA career in hand, to a player in a game of chance unhesitant to put a gun to his own head.

Nick's journey begins on the day of his graduation when, on a whim, his friend Sameer picks Cambodia as a holiday destination little knowing that the country was at that very moment, being taken over by the Khmer Rouge. Nick helps Sameer escape, but he himself is captured. When he does escape Phnom Penh, it is into a life that reboots itself every few years with a different alias in a new location.

Nick discovers a quiet resilience that becomes invaluable in the years to come as he loses an arm to gangrene, falls in love, becomes a Buddhist monk, becomes an accountant to a drug empire, fathers a child and loses everything many times over.

Nick's character arc is intertwined with those of many others - Dechen the Buddhist monk in Thailand, Lara the supermodel from Brazil, Marco the druglord, Philip North a struggling entrepreneur in Minnesota and Dayaram, his opponent in the game of death in India - and Nick is transformed by these intertwinings even as he radically changes their lives in the brief period he knows them.

At every step, the book challenges the reader's tendency to stereotype people, places and situations, but most of all, the mindset of a Non Resident Indian protagonist. Nick has an all-encompassing world view, yet, he also draws into his life the very events that break and make him over and over again. Nick makes sacrifices but is human enough to acknowledge the regret of having made them. He steadfastly refuses to own anything and is most content owning only the clothes on his person as he charts his rocky destiny through Cambodia, Thailand, Brazil, USA and finally, India. 

An edited version appeared in Culturama's September 2010 Issue

Ice Candy Man / Cracking India - Bapsi Sidhwa

 Bapsi Sidhwa captures the turmoil of the Partition of India through the eyes of little Lenny Sethi belonging to a wealthy Parsi family in Lahore. We first meet her when she is four years old, and grow with her, in the discovery of a world changing rapidly around her.

Lenny is a precocious child, indulged by everyone because of her polio. She is enamoured by the many suitors who woo Shanta, her ayah or nanny who accompanies her to the park - from the Masseur to the Butcher, the ZooKeeper to the cook and the gardener, but particularly with the poetry-spouting Ice Candy Man. The group meets under the guise of exchanging news, while actually each one is attracted to the lovely Shanta. The Ice Candy Man flirts incessantly with Shanta, but she herself, is drawn to the Masseur.

When Lahore is declared part of Pakistan, there is a spate of migrations, conversions and much violence in the name of religion. The Ice Candy Man, sees a train full of Muslim passengers hacked to death by Sikhs, and in that instant, turns from poet to instigator. In one terrible night, Lenny witnesses the carnage that was Partition from the Ice Candy Man's rooftop even as he revels in the mindless violence. One day, the masseur's hacked body is found, stuffed in a gunny sack.

When marauders descend on the Sethi household looking for Hindus in hiding, Lenny is deceived by the Ice Candy Man into uttering the truth, thereby forever changing the destiny of the Ayah. Through it all, it is Lenny's godmother, Roda, who becomes her bulwark. When the missing Ayah is found to be in the red light area of Lahore, it is the Godmother who rights the wrong caused by Lenny's truth.

Bapsi Sidhwa wonderfully captures Lenny's voice, with its raw frankness, stirring sensitivity and mourning of lost innocence. 

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's August 2010 Issue) 

And Thereby Hangs a Tale – Jeffrey Archer

If a blind test was to be conducted by hiding the asterisks in this collection, it would be difficult to guess which of these fifteen short stories are based on real incidents. However, when one reaches the all-important twist that Archer is renowned for, the overriding thought is, 'So what?'

A loss adjuster solves a crime by studying womens' footwear. An archives clerk attempts to live up to the glory of his forefathers using a clause. A man of modest means steals the diamond ring his beloved has set her heart on. It takes many years and a war for a golfer to finally be accepted as member of an elite golf club.

A deal with the devil ends - if there is such a thing – in a predictable twist. A poignant love story ends up being a socialite romance that suffers from too much detail - perhaps because it is set in India?

One would be more forgiving if this was the work of a lesser writer. But this is Archer, the consummate story teller who has five short story collections to his credit, not to mention fifteen novels. Perhaps these were stories that didn't make it to a previous collection - the less intricate, less riveting and on the whole, a little behind the times. 

(An edited version was published in Inbox 1305's June 2010 Issue.)

Eating India – Exploring a Nation's Cuisine by Chitrita Banerji

 A few years ago, on a wintry morning in Boston, Chitrita Banerji received a wedding invitation from India that opened the floodgates of remembered taste. Banerji set out to discover Indian cuisine beyond the generic.

Banerji, being a non-resident Indian food writer, is ably poised between cultural affinity and physical distance with regard to India. This enables her to look beyond recipes, at nuances in the history and folklore surrounding Indian cuisine.

After a momentous visit back to Kolkata, the city of her childhood, Banerji comes across itinerant labourers eating greasy Chinese noodles instead of Khichuri, the traditional pottageon Sher Shah Suri's famed Grand Trunk Road. In Benares, she meets a self-appointed guide who leads her through the street food of a city that thrives on the business of death. At the langar (communal refectory) in Amritsar's Golden Temple, where the rich and poor are bonded by piety, Banerji partakes of a humble meal that includes machine-made chapathis. She travels to relish delicacies from the three seats of Muslim-style cooking in India and also studies the lesser-known cuisine of indigenous tribals. There are also some engrossing chapters that delve into the culinary histories of communities like the Anglo Indians, the Parsis, the East Indians of Bombay and the Jews of Cochin.

This book is part-memoir, part-travelogue exploring the cultural synthesis that is Indian cuisine. However, it is also personal history at its best - Banerji derives as much pleasure in reliving flavour as in discovering it.

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's June 2010 Issue.)

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik

“I have a fascination for liminal beings - creatures who stand on the threshold. Like Ganesha (half elephant - half human). Or Narasimha (the man-lion incarnation of Vishnu). Or Janus (two heads facing two directions). Or the shape-shifting Budh/Mercury. ” says Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik.

Dr. Pattanaik himself stands at the cusp of many simultaneous existences. He is a medical doctor by qualification, a mythologist by choice and Chief Belief Officer by designation, aligning beliefs within Future Group. That is, when he isn't writing one more book, speaking at one more convention or rendering one more illustration.

“I had a general understanding of mythology like anybody else but this emerged organically over time, post my medicine. I wasn't sure I wanted to practise medicine. I was getting into a day-job in the pharma industry that I didn't quite enjoy. Mythology became my comfort zone and it led to this wonderful world that I entered.”says Dr. Pattanaik.

Dr. Pattanaik is the author of over ten books on Hindu mythology with subjects ranging from Shiva to Hanuman to Vishnu to Devi. He has created a handbook of Hindu mythology called 'Myth=Mithya' and more recently, 'Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art' and 'The Book of Ram'. His book, 'The Pregnant King' is fiction written in the style of mythology. The books usually also contain his illustrations – graceful pen and ink renderings that capture the essence of accompanying myths.

Surprisingly there is no book as yet on Krishna, by far one of the most adored of Hindu gods. Dr. Pattanaik says, “Krishna is a major part of all my books, particularly on Vishnu. But a book purely on Krishna is one I want to write desperately. It was to be published but somehow did not happen. It has always run into trouble. I am very superstitious – maybe I have not understood it correctly. At the right time, it will happen.”

Dr. Pattanaik believes that Krishna Charitra (The Krishna Ethos) requires a certain level of maturity. “People like the little baby Krishna but Krishna Charitra is right from Krishna's birth to death. It is difficult also because there are different pockets of knowledge. For example, North India is not aware that in South India, Radha is not worshipped. Until you point it out, South Indian devotees actually don't realise that there's no sign of Radha in their temple.”

Speaking about mythology as the subjective truth of a people, Dr. Pattanaik says, “Mythology is what you think about yourself and your understanding of life. This subjective truth is communicated from generation to generation through stories, symbols and rituals. So when I read the Ramayan and Mahabharat, I get access to the soul of India, to the subjective truth of our ancestors. If I want to study American culture, I have to study the mythology of America - American stories, symbols and rituals - that contain the subjective truth of America. Like 'All humans are born equal', 'If you work hard, you will be successful', 'The American Dream' and the Statue of Liberty.”

As an example of ritual, Dr. Pattanaik talks about the worship of Ganesha. “Imagine every year you bring a clay idol to your house and worship it. After 10 days, you dissolve it in water. Imagine doing this every year, year after year, generation after generation. Why don't you buy a plastic idol or a permanent statue? Why the ritual involving 'avahan' (getting the idol home) and 'visarjan' (getting rid of it)?What are you telling the child? That nothing is permanent. But it is subliminally communicated from ancestors to the next generation. It seeps into your subconscious and you don't even realize it.”

Dr. Pattanaik laments that over time, people have given so much importance to stories that the thought behind the stories are forgotten. “We also get edited versions of stories and authors put in their own thoughts and feelings. So you don't realise the subjective truth that is being communicated.” he says.

On the subject of similarities and differences between mythologies, Dr. Pattanaik says that similarities reveal that we're human ultimately, but dissimilarities will show what is culturally different. “So, the commonalities try to explain life and make sense of life and the differences are about how they approach it. For example, Western stories are obsessed with the Hero Myth. Greek mythology has stories of people who do some extraordinary action even when opposed by the gods. Biblical mythology constantly shows stories of people who surrender to the will of God. Whereas the dominant theme in Indian mythology, particularly Hindu mythology is the futility of trying to control your life, to step back and reflect on it. Each mythology is trying to explain life.”

Dr. Pattanaik explains about the common themes that run across cultures. “There are stories of death and resurrection (resurrection as different from rebirth) that are a recurring phenomenon in most parts of the world, like the stories of Adonis, Kamadeva, Ishtar and Dumuzi. The story of a great apocalyptic climax is common. But in India, after the climax, life starts again, which is not there in the western traditions. The great saviour who will save you from problems is always there. There is the mother goddess - fertile, loving and charming - all over the world. Across the world, the feminine form is seen in a more emotional way while the masculine form is seen in a more aggressive way. Everybody has gods and demons, everybody has heroes and villains.”

Among the myths he has studied and written about, and the liminal beings he is fascinated by, Dr. Pattanaik is particularly drawn to the centaur. “I like the idea of the teacher who is alone, students come to him and he teaches them. Then they move on and discover themselves. But the centaur stands atop a hill, a threshold god. He is animal as well as human. He is wise as well as wild. He is a loner but at the same time, he teaches people to be developers of society.”

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's April 2010 Issue. Pic courtesy Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik)


Also read a review of Devdutt Pattanaik's Jaya - An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharat here.