Jose Sarramago - RIP

Books, Inspirations, Passing On 1 Response »
Jun 222010

A few days ago, I read that Jose Saramago had died.

I first came across Saramago’s works nearly 20 years ago, when I chanced upon a copy of “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”. It was a fascinating and thought provoking book. It was the first time that i read some thing that could be considered ‘blasphemous‘, though it wasn’t the last. Though, at the time I read it, I neither realised the extent of blasphemy nor the price the author had to pay for expressing it.

The Jesus that Saramago wrote about, was deeply human and terribly vulnerable. He wanted the things that everyone else wanted- peace, security, happiness, a partner, and children. However, divine chess between God and the Devil, ensured that he was martyred. Funnily enough, the Devil in the book, comes across as far more sympathetic than God. The God in this book is much more like Indra than like Ram, manipulative rather than beatific.

The next book that I read was Blindness. I reacted to it the same way that I reacted to Lord of the Flies – with a certain kind of nauseated fascination. While theoretically one knows that ‘culture’ and ‘civilization’ are not even skin deep – it is the rapidity and brutality with which it unravels in both stories that disturbed me. It is almost as though morality and conscience are cloaks that we wear, without really internalizing either.

I bought seeing a few years ago, and i have to confess that i still have to read it. Somehow reading Saramago requires a lot of attention and concentration – and the last few years have left me empty of both.

Saramago, has one of the most interesting narrative styles that I have ever read. It is long sentences, with very few full stops. I line is possibly a page:) often sections seem like the inner ramblings of a lead character – but, it is difficult to say, since there are no ” ” marks .

Saramago introduced me an entire range of writers who were writing in Portuguese and Spanish – including Isabella Allende, Marquez, Paz, Llosa – and my life and views are better for that!

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Posted by gargi at 9:57 am Tagged with: , ,

"So Kul" by Sonali Kulkarni

Books, Culture, Desi Pundit, India, Media, Photographs 3 Responses »
Mar 032010

Last evening, SR and I trudged down to Crosswords – Juhu where Sonali Kulkarni’s book “So Kul” was being launched. “So Kul” – an abbreviation of her name is collection of essays from her weekly column in Loksatta.

Sonali in addition to being writer, actor etal is also presenting our show “Art Beat” on popular Marathi & Gujarati Culture in Mumbai on Samay Mumbai, and a genuinely nice person.

sk - goi

(Sonali Kulkarni shooting for Art Beat, production still)

At the book launch were the who’s who of Mumbai’s creative talent – Atul Kulkarni, Swanand Kirkire, Satyendra Dubey, Shiv Subramaniam, and the Management of the Express Group – Shekhar Gupta & Kumar Ketkar.

Nana’s comments have got reported today, but just in the part that makes for snappy headlines. There were a couple of other points that were equally valid – and they possibly didn’t get picked up in the English Language Press because he said it in Marathi (editors, please ensure that your reporters know some local language – it helps in getting a more comprehensive story :)

Referring to violence in civil society in general, and the incident where Kumar Ketkar’s home got vandalized, he said most of us were horrified, wanted to do something, but did nothing. He said that, in retrospect, he felt napunsak (depending on context either neuter or impotent) . He said that then he began speaking up when his conscience was disturbed, and said that it was better to face brickbats (literal as well as words) than to cower like a coward. He said, to the audience’s amusement, that have a shrard on a daily basis would be boring ! Even the crows will be put off.

Kumar Ketkar, quoted Nana saying that he is also a Bihari, a Punjabi, A South Indian, Hindu, Muslim — and in that comprehensiveness. his soul thrives :) (believe me it sounds better in Marathi )

It was a evening full of genuine bonhomie. Sonali’s reading of her piece on multiplexes – from the taking an oversized bag with a bottle of water, and a shawl to the behaviour of cinema goers – had people smiling and gently chuckling away …. so much more enjoyable than canned laughter :)

And Finally – the event was gathered by print and electronic press. Paparazzi has truly arrived. clicks and screams by photographers & cameramen, that drown out the participants conversation. I wonder whether channels appreciate the fact that their crew represents them, and their uninhibited enthusiasm – can be construed as bad manners !

(the book So Kul, is available at various bookships, it costs Rs.300 and is in Marathi)

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Posted by gargi at 9:01 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Outliers - a Review

Books, Desi Pundit, Media, Reviews 7 Responses »
Jul 262009

Outliers

Take some data. it could be any data. Add a bit of correlation, stir in a bit of causality, simmer with coincidence and garnish with a leap of faith – package well with a chatty narrative style -and bingo – you have Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, which looks at what makes people successful.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book immensely. I finished it in two days. I found it entertaining and his take on the world, as always, is engaging. But, there was nothing new. Nothing that made you look up from the book and say “oh, wow – why didn’t i think of that’ . Nor is there the kind of insight that there was in “Tipping Point”

But, as always, with his books – i did like the construction of each hypothesis and the way he draws together various, diverse, distinct and seemingly antithetical strands – and builds cohesive and plausible argument.

As I said earlier, Gladwell looks at what makes successful people. And, the answer is Hard Work (10k + hours before success), when you were born, Historical conditions, ethnicity – the Chinese work harder because of their history as paddy growers; Language – kids who learn in their more precise mother tongue do better ; and social class. Definitely not rocket science. Nor piercing insight. But, well written, nonetheless.

Would I recommend this book – yes. it is a lesson in non linear thinking. So long as you don’t expect any great insights – its a good book.

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Posted by gargi at 8:11 pm Tagged with: , ,

Tezuka - Ode to Kirihito

Books, Reviews, graphic novels 1 Response »
Oct 032008

Ode to Kirihito – Osamu Tezuka is one of my favourite graphic novelists. I found his Buddha series incredible, and his Apollo’s Song heartbreakingly beautiful. JD gifted me ‘An Ode to Kirihito a few months ago, but i simply didn’t have the time to start it. A few weekends ago, I took it to Lonavala and finished it at one go. The book, like all his books, is unputdownable (if such a word exists!).

As always, Tezuka looks at the dilema arises when there is a conflict between what you desire and what you believe to be ‘right’. He has explored this in Buddha, Apollo’s song and in in this. He blends Christian motifs and philosophy with very Eastern concepts of honour, family, obidience, and desire for status quo.


ode to kirihito

Ode to Kirihito is about a young ambitious doctor Osanai Kirihito, who is ordered to a remote village, where there is an outbreak of people turning into dog like creatures. His boss believes that this is a result of virus, he believes that there is something else, possibly a different scientific explanation. Kirihito himself contacts the illness. His medical prowess prevents him from degenerating as much as the rest – he is still in control of his mental faculties. However, what happens is that he becomes a shunned, reviled freak. Ode to Kirihito is about the dog/man’s journey to regain his own humanity and stand up for right to his dignity.

Tezuka weaves in the strands of love and lust, sacrifice and avarice, falling from grace & redemption, dignity and vileness – in an engrossing and involving manner. there were parts where the sheer humanity and the compassion of the author made my eyes moist. If you are a fan of the medium, this is definitely a book to check out.

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Posted by gargi at 9:02 am Tagged with: ,

Krishnaa's Konfessions Quick Review

Books, India, Reviews 1 Response »
Aug 122008

After a long time, I picked up a book by an Indian author and managed to finish it. And enjoy it. And, not tear out my hair in frustration at the pace of the story or the meta level philosophical inputs that keep creeping into story lines.
krishnaa

Smita Jain’s debut novel is a good fun romp through the murky pool that is the Television Soap industry. Krishnaa – real name Priya – is a soap writer with a writer’s block . When you have to churn out 4 episodes a week – and everyone and his kitchen sink are doing pretty much the same — there is a definite possibility that a writer’s block will set in. So she sets about turning her neighbour’s telescope into the homes of other neighbour’s and ends up with a mystery that could end up getting her killed.

Fun, contemporary, desi and without any metaphysical angst or mumbo jumbo — Krishnaa’s Konfessions is a fun read… do try and pick it up…

I am hoping to see more from this author….

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Posted by gargi at 3:20 pm Tagged with: , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste

Books, Caste, India, Politics, Society 3 Responses »
Mar 052008

I am currently re readingDr.Babasaheb Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste - It is a thin little well thumbed, book – actually a speech that is published in a book form. It

This is a book that every Indian ought to read…I read this almost a lifetime ago as part of what ever i was doing at that time. Read it fast, converted into data, precised it and forgot about it. This time around, I am going to savour it… and while doing so am going to post excerpts

As i read through it – some 20 years after I first read it – i keep nodding my head in agreement. Smiling at the humour. chuckling, when things don't seem too much different now than they were almost 70 years ago (two opposing factions. One threatened to burn the other's pandal if they held a political rally)…cringing when things don't seem too much more different now than when they were then (discrimination). And of course his wry comments…

The path of social reform like the path to heaven at any rate in India, is strewn with many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics. The critics fall into two distinct classes. One class consists of political reformers and the other of the socialists.

I can't seem to find any copies in bookshops. But, it is online here and here 

It gives an insight into what ailed us, and what continues to ail us … caste …and more importantly deep rooted programming on caste lines. 

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Posted by gargi at 10:54 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Shakespeare - The World As Stage

Books, Media, Reviews No Responses »
Feb 242008

…..Not so much a concise book, as a slightly largish magazine feature. It has the wry observation, and the witty descriptions that is Bill Bryson's trademark .. but it isn't an involving read. And much like nicely written features for In flight magazines – there isn't too much to object to, at the same time there isn't too much that you retain. 

I don't know too much more about Shakespeare now, than I knew earlier. But, what little there is , is told nicely. It is more a nice brisk travelogue through the lives & times of William Shakespeare than a biography. 

I much preferred A Short History of Almost Everything or a I'm a Stranger Here Myself . It isn't that I didn't like the book — it is just that i have no memories of anything that I read :)  

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Posted by gargi at 4:08 pm

Review - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Books 4 Responses »
Jun 152007

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I approached the book with some trepidation. I am not particularly fond of authors from the sub continent who write in English. I often find their narrative overtly lyrical, pretentiously mystical, and deliberately desi. But, so many people had told me so many good things about the novel that I succumbed. After purchasing the book, it lay on my table for three weeks, pristine in its cellophane wrapper. Running out of stuff to read, i opened it two days ago – and the book enthralled me from the first line.

I liked the sense of minimalism in writing. No unnecessary adjectives or adverbs. No takeoffs into the mystical / philosophical nature of eastern life. And no justifications for anything. It is a narrative that is shorn of pretense. The story is a monologue between the main protagonist Changez and an unseen American. And the monologue is an explanation of why a 20 something, ambitious, and brilliant young man from Princeton – who is expected to reach the top of his profession in the US – packs up and goes back home to be a teacher at the university.

Changez is very much a product of today. Someone who is very comfortable in his skin. Who neither makes apologies for his country, nor is his ‘culture’ in your face. He could be any of the friends that we have in the west, who are cosmopolitan – who feel equally comfortable in both worlds. And then disaster strikes. 9/11 happens.And Changez – like many we know – is appalled at his momentary sense of joy and satisfaction when the towers come down. And, this proves to be the turning point in his life.
At the time of 9/11, I was working at Zee at that time and we were at Chintamani Plaza. The first floor was full of television sets. And I was walking out for a meeting. I was stopped by this bunch of collegues huddled around a TV watching the footage of the planes ploughing into the WTC. At that time someone said – they bombed it, they have guts – we will never be able to do something like that. Even in a place like India, in a modern, cosmopolitan, broadcast environment, there was this satisfaction that the towers came down. “now they know how we feel” was a common response one heard. And, Mohsin Ahmed‘s articulation of the satisfaction that Changez feels while enjoying a drink in a hotel room in Manila is an echo of similar sentiments in Mumbai.

9/11 brings down more than the towers. It crumbles Changez’s life. His girlfriend – who is emotionally damaged – recedes further into depression. Changez finds himself isolated from his professional ‘bretheren’ and his well constructed life begins to unravel until an encounter with an old man who loves books.

‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist‘ is not a book that glorifies fundamentalism. Nor is it one that calls for violence. There is no good or bad. There just is. Even when Changez makes a seemingly anti-American statement it is tinged with a sense of embarrassment that we all feel when we behave badly.
Read the book – it is definitely worth a buy.

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Posted by gargi at 9:07 am Tagged with:

Caste as Woman - Review

Books 3 Responses »
Dec 172006

Finished reading Vrinda Nabar‘s excellent "Caste as Woman".

Caste as Woman

It looks at women in India not from the point of western feminist theories, but more in terms of looking at India’s own unique socio-cultural systems, which essentially serve to keep the woman as an uncomplaining victim to many ills. As she puts it:

"… in India, the discrimination against them (women) would be by and large three – fold: Sex based (Stri Jati), caste based (jati) and class based. To be caste as woman in India is to live out this triple layered existence."

Starting with a look at our women and their women – a broad literature review of western feminism and Indian sociological thought regarding women (Nabar does not believe that Indian feminism as such exists) the book moves onto look at the various staus that women occupy- from the girl child to the widow,to the roles that she plays – daughter, wife, mother – in modern society.

In the week that the UNICEF report has shown the extent of murder of girls, Nabar’s statement on the girl child is telling:

Discrimination between the sexes in India begins at birth, or even before it. It starts before the child is born, in the mother’s womb. None of the conventional blessings showered on a pregnant woman mentions daughters. ……exhort her to have atleast one son, prefrebly the first born. No well wisher, it would seem, would admit to wanting anything else.

On the great Indian Marriage – Nabar is equally caustic. Her little ballad had me in splits.

View Point ( A modern Indian Ballad)

Bring out the silver & polish the brass,
Brush off the cobwebs, and clean all the glass
Unlock the pantry, lay out the food
Keep away grandma, her manners are crude.

We’ve got a daughter we are willing to sell
He is the bargain, the profit as well;
He’s coming to see for himself, so he said
How she and our money would look in his bed

Our daughter’s a graduate, he’s no cause to moan
She’s a well brought up girl with no mind of her own
She speaks English well, has a fair pretty face
And is Five foot four inches by Lord Bhagwan’s grace

Of course she’ll be happy, I’ll tell you that flat
She’ll have her own home, produce brat after brat,
Forget all her youth, as she spins out her life
In waddling behind him, a good Indian wife.

And she’ll long to have sons; they’re boons from above
Take it from me that they’re proof of God’s love
And when all her daugthers are suitably grown,
She’ll marry them off as we’ve done our own

The book is surprisingly a lightish read. Neither too academic nor too soap boxy. In fact I think that Nabar approaches quite a few issues with almost a bizzare sense of the ridiculous. And if you read some of the strictures about women, the only response is laughter. If you took it seriously it would be far too depressing.

Definitely worth a read.

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Posted by gargi at 9:06 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Books No Responses »
Dec 282005

A few months ago one of dad’s friend’s gifted him this book, which has been gathering oodles of dust on the book shelf.

Yesterday, finding nothing light to read – I picked it out of the bookshelf, dusted it, and tried to read it.

Tried is the key word here. I managed 3 whole chapters before I gave up. Part spiritual mumbo jumbo, part management gobbledegook it is a scary read. The prose is turgid, the characterisation worse and the self help out of Yoda‘s school of gurudom.

The monk should have pledged his ferrari and taken writing lessons. Seriously!

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Posted by gargi at 10:51 pm Tagged with:
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