Shame

When i complete a book, it is days before i can shake off the characters, their idiosyncrasies, their habitat………a curious feeling that trails me everywhere, till I pick up another book and lose my mind between the front and back covers. There was something in the “ Magic Realism ” of Salman Rushdie that kinda seduced me to bed Shame, all over again.

The thing that struck me when i read it for the first time was undoubtedly the turbulent political history of our neighboring country; so full of conspiracies and power packed drama, and especially with our own past so intricately associated with their’s that the interest for each other’s histories is almost mutual. Drama, however much we despise it, does have the uncanny ability to sharpen our perception of the world, gives us some sense and understanding of who we are, makes us actors of a different kind and glorifies each passing day.

In Shame, drama; camouflaged in the realms of fantasy and imagination of Rushdie, adds those special effects, making the “ real ” appear almost metaphorical. It is a novel about Pakistan and the people who ruled Pakistan, largely focusing on the shifting relationship between Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, under the appellation of Iskander Harappa and Raza Hyder. But for a reader, who is no way connected with the sub-continent, the novel will appear to him as a rich treat of fantasia…………with the introductions of a beast, ghost, at times; god as well, and of course the three witches ( so reminiscent of the three witches in Macbeth ), who share the symptoms of pregnancy, and boy, they are mothers of our hero; Omar Khayyam Shakil.

But I wonder what made the writer call Omar the hero of the novel; the action hardly takes place when this squabby being is around, except towards the end, but people seem to die and fall in love when he isn’t around; he’s more like a catalyst or maybe he’s a hero of a different kind!! Ok I wont divulge too many details, in case you are planning to read it, and I totally recommend it.

My Verdict:: Fantasy and imagination will never grow stale and they will occur naturally to writers of a certain temperament, but the fact that their number is fast declining is a matter of much concern. Three cheers to Rushdie. Boy, Indian writers absolutely rock!!

Loved this political satire:

“ How does a dictator fall? There is an old saw which states, with absurd optimism, that it is in the nature of tyrannies to end. One might as well say that it is also in their nature to begin, to continue, to dig themselves in, and, often, to be preserved by greater powers than their own.”

“ Well, well, I mustn’t forget I’m only telling a fairy story. My dictator will be toppled by goblinish, faery means. ‘ Makes it pretty easy for you,’ is the obvious criticism; and I agree, I agree. But add, even if it does sound a little peevish: ‘ You try and get rid of a dictator sometime.’”

( Boy, I can almost see him smirking at his own statement!! )

Now playing:: I breathe again…………Adam Rickitt

The Biryani Writer

We are Indians and we all like our ghar ki daal. But our predilection for mom-made food does not necessarily make us eschew the ocassional biryani. Infact we prefer having biryani most of the times!! Now, Chetan Bhagat enjoys a similar biryani status amidst book lovers, though most of the readers will deny accepting any such theory. These are the people who accuse his books to be way too entertaining, hokey,etc etc. Now, what else is the primary function of a book or are people too scared to get entertained?? Ironically these are the people who also figure among the first buyers of his books!! ' Reading ' first to ' criticise ' first........that sure is a deadly combination!!

At times according to our age, mood, and experience, and at times in the different hours of the same day, we prefer one writer, one book to another. And the best part about Chetan's books is that he saves the reader from the sheer pain of thinking, and the reader does not have to pay the price of losing him/her in another man's mind. Maybe thats the reason why he is so in vogue. However, one might question his writing skills which hardly match international standards, but then he caters to the needs of the domestic readers, the majority of which are not book readers anyway. Its always better to begin with Chetan than opting for say a Nabokov work.

Even the great Narayan was criticised for writing " pedestrian " work, so its not much of a surprise if Chetan generates much of flak; simplicity is never accepted easily anyways. And with the ever increasing inflation, one should be a fool to complain about the price of his books. My cousin ( another love-hate reader ) says there's nothing to learn from his books. Of course his books are not beautiful waters of learning when on plunging you emerge as a scholar. They are like watching a good movie; total paisa vasool. And no harm ever came in getting entertained. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that different people have different ways of telling stories??

This is what my cousin ( Akash ) had to say about Chetan's latest book, The 3 Mistakes of my Life:

Akash: " You know what are the three mistakes of his life?"

1. Studying at the IIT


2. Being an IIM pass out, and the most horrible one


3. Writing a book

We enjoyed a good laugh at this one, but then people will always envy them, who they wanted to be, but could not!!

My verdict on this book: a total entertainer, you wont demand your time back. We like having our biryani remember!!

Now Playing:: Aane wala pal.......................Kishore

The Mayor of Casterbridge

" ......................that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain."

Hardy, probably justifies the pessimism of his novel with that argument, which concludes, ' The Mayor of Casterbridge ', aptly subtitled as, ' A Story of a Man of Character '. It hardly wastes our mind on too many things; for whatever too much expands the mind weakens it................its the story of one man, Henchard, who is almost a natural force, at the mercy of his instincts and emotions, and lacking all objective understanding of the workings of the external world. The book hardly gives a sentimental largeness to the rendering of Henchard's life but on the contrary compels us to believe that, its quite easy to become an angel, but its quite a big task to survive as a mere human and to be guided by our pride, passion, and a kind of reasoning which streams not from the mind but from the heart itself!! Henchard's life is probably a classic epitome of the price one pays to act like a human being under a set of circumstances.............. the course of action projected by the original " selling " of his wife, which is determined in its later stages in the form of Nature, civilization, and human character which seem to be working against each other. And that probably gives it the shape of a genuine tragedy.

The novel is not wholly Henchard's story either. The other characters Farfrae, Elizabeth-Jane, and Lucetta-play significant parts in this battle between man and Nature, man and man, and between man and his own instincts. Henchard who remains a marauder all his life, in the end succumbs to the assault on his emotions by the other characters, and there's hardly a point in the story where any of the characters appear to dwell in the wrong side, except for Henchard while selling his wife. Therefore its probably not possible to rule out the role of circumstances in deciding the course of events.

Henchard's shifting relationship with Elizabeth-Jane, whom he first believes to be his daughter, then learns she is not, then wishes she were and claims that she is, until at last with the dramatic entry of Newson ( her real father ), which leads to Jane's rejection of Henchard and stripping him from all kind of relationship satus. The effect of such a rejection was to disqualify Henchard from humanity itself and he finally dies wretchedly in a hut on Egdon Heath.I dnt think Hardy wanted to convey anything through this fictional representation of his tragic vision of life, except to depict the arrant helplessness of human beings before anything thats " fated "!!

Cant help but conclude by quoting Shaw over here:

"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity."

A highly recommended book, for its language, the beautiful setting of the fictional Casterbridge, the never ending warfare between man and his emotions, and a pure and unadulterated depiction of man as he is!!

Certainly worthy of reading a second time on quiet evenings, especially with Kishore playing in the background.................you wont demand your time back, thats my verdict!!

Now Playing:: Veena ( instrumental ).................Talvin Singh