Gyan Prakash. Mumbai Fables

Gyan Prakash. Mumbai Fables, Harper Collins publisher India, Noida, India, 2011 (Pages 396, paperback)

Rating: 8/10

Anyone who loves or ever has loved Bombay/Mumbai will enjoy this book immensely. I did. 

While doing research on something else, I stumbled on this book in the net. Google Books offer an extensive preview of the book. Without leaving my computer screen, I must have read more than fifty pages. Captivated by the book, and disappointed that Google had not made the entire book available, I immediately ordered it online. 

On one hand, Mumbai Fables offers Bombay’s history from the Portuguese times till today, but the book is structured differently than a history book. It chooses certain defining highlights in Bombay’s history and devotes a chapter to each. You have chapters on the Gothic Parade in the south of Bombay, the Nanawati case and Blitz’s role in influencing the outcome, city’s shifting dominance from communists to Shiv Sena, and the planning and frustrations of building a twin city. All of them provide insights into the respective times. 

The book is extremely well written. The author is the professor of history at Princeton University. The language of the book is that of an outsider (not Indian English), but Gyan Prakash has worked with passion of an insider when researching and writing the book.

Did you know that Sir Jamshedji Jejeebhoy (whose name graces a school of art, a hospital and a flyover) was the king of the opium trade? That Bombay was a kind of ghetto city with Europeans living to the south of Churchgate and mill workers cramped in the Girangaon tenements? In fact the distribution of different languages and religions that existed 100 years ago (as mentioned in the book) still holds true: Parsis:Colaba,Taddeo, Dadar; Maharashtrian middle class: Girgaon, Thakurdwar, Shivaji Park; Gujratis, Jains: Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar, Ghatkopar, Borivli; Muslims: Mohammad Ali Road, Bhendi Bazaar, Abdul Rehman street; south Indians: Matunga. We are all deeply connected to our roots. 

The story of Maharashtra’s chief minister clandestinely selling the Marine Drive land to a gang of builders: Dr Maker, Jolly group, Mittals, Tulsiani, Dalamal, Somani, and Raheja bring alive the skyscrapers on Nariman point. The plots were sold without tenders and without an auction. The court passed strictures and the chief minister resigned. Is this what would happen with current scams like 2G? History seems to repeat itself. 

If a fault must be found with the book, I would point to the chapter ‘Avenger on the Street’. It is devoted to Doga, Bombay’s fictitious superhero. I must admit I had not read those comics, not even heard about them. A long chapter with colour reproduction of the comics talking about Doga as seriously as if he were a historical figure seems out of place for an otherwise excellent book.

Verdict: Bombay residents and Bombay lovers must read this. If you wish to read the book without paying, read the hundred or so pages here. I am sure, like me, you will be tempted to order the book online after that.

काळे व.पु., पार्टनर

काळे व.पु., पार्टनर, मेहता पब्लिशिंग  हाऊस, पुणे, १९७६. (पृष्ठसंख्या १५६)

गुण: ८.५/१०

व.पु.काळे ह्यांच्या खूप कथा वाचल्या होत्या, ऐकल्या होत्या. ही पहिलीच कादंबरी. ते कथाकथन करणारे म्हणून कादंबरीकडून काही अपेक्षा नव्हत्या. पण तिने थक्क केले. आत्तापर्यंत वाचलेल्या वपुंच्या पुस्तकांत हे त्यांचे मला सर्वात आवडलेले पुस्तक. ही नुसती कादंबरी नाही, त्यात पदोपदी तत्वद्यान आहे, संसारी आणि असंसारी माणसाचे बोलके अनुभव आहेत, काव्य आहे, नाट्यपूर्ण संवाद आहेत, लिहून ठेवण्यासारखी वाक्ये आहेत: (१) पोरगी म्हणजे झुळूक. अंगावरून जाते. अमाप सुख देऊन जाते. पण धरून ठेवता येत नाही. (२) आपल्याला हवा तेव्हा तिसरा माणूस न जाने म्हणजे नरक. (३) लक्षात ठेव दोस्त, तुला मी हवा आहे म्हणून मला तू हवा आहेस.

(4) As you write more and more personal, it becomes more and more universal.

पार्टनर, ज्याला नाव नाही, जो कसा दिसतो, काय पोशाख करतो ह्याचे कुठे वर्णन नाही ती व्यक्तिरेखा मनाला भिडते - प्रामाणिकपणामुळे आणि तत्त्वज्ञानामुळे. श्रीच्या कुटुंबातली माणसे - त्याची आई, मोठा भाऊ अरविंद, वाहिनी ह्यांचे वागणे, बोलणे कमालीने साकारलेले. त्याच्यातून त्यांच्या मनात आणि डोक्यात काय चाललेय हे वाचकाला दिसते.

दोष काढायचाच तर पार्टनर कादंबरीचा शेवट मला फार रुचला नाही. तशा शेवटची आवश्यकता नव्हती. पण जास्त कशाला सांगू, तुम्ही वाचा आणि स्वतःच ठरवा.

तात्पर्य: विकत घ्या, वाचनालयातून घ्या, पण घ्या आणि वाचा. तुमचा संसार चांगला चालू असेल तर आणि चांगला चालू नसेल तर, तुम्हाला ही कादंबरी चांगलीच भावेल.

Mohammadi, Kamin. The Cypress Tree

Mohammadi, Kamin. The Cypress Tree, Bloomsbury, London, 2011 (Pages 288, paperback)

Rating: 1/10

I have always enjoyed Iranian films. The newspapers create one image of Iran, and the Iranian films create another. When my book club suggested we read a book written by an Iranian woman, I looked forward to it. To truly enjoy a book (or a film for that matter), I like to know as little as possible. I don’t read the back cover, don’t read the reviews. Let the novel unfold itself to me through its pages.

In this case, after the first few pages I realised what I was reading was not a novel but an autobiography. Or rather a family tree book. In India, we have family tree books which draw the generational pyramid maps, and then below them is a factual biography of each member of that tree – the name, where and when born, education, married to whom and so on. It’s an exceedingly interesting book – for those who belong to that family.

This is the case with Kamin Mohammadi’s the Cypress Tree. The book has no real plot or drama. The language is mediocre. It is painful to drag your way through lots of data filled with dozens of unpronounceable names.

It is disappointing to learn the author moved to England at the age of nine. How can a person safely ensconced in an English home express true Iranian sentiments? Granted the author has a family back in Iran, and that she visits them from time to time, it is still a perspective of an outsider. As Ms Mohammadi candidly admits, she was loath to visit Iran during crisis times to ensure her relatives in Iran did not find themselves in trouble as a result of her visits.

I expected a lot more ‘insider’ information, or views on the Ahmadinejad regime. I couldn’t find anything not in Wikipedia. Ms Mohammadi is reportedly a co-author of Lonely Planet on Iran. She could have even adopted the Lonely planet format to make this book more readable. The only reason why Bloomsbury could have opted to publish this book is to exploit the curiosity about Iran generated by the geopolitical world of today.

The person who recommended this book had met Ms Mohammadi at the Jaipur festival in January this year. She found her an extremely charming woman, and the talk convinced her that the Cypress Tree is interesting. The only conclusion I can draw is: never judge a book by its author!

Verdict: Hard to read, ordinary language, no drama. To learn about Iran watch Iranian films.

Bhagat, Chetan. Revolution 2020

Bhagat, Chetan. Revolution 2020, Rupa publications, New Delhi, 2011 (Pages 296, paperback)

Rating: 4.5/10

This was the first Chetan Bhagat book I read. The Rs 95 price tag in the past was part of the reason to put me off his books. (This book is priced at Rs 140, now that Mr Bhagat is famous, pricing no longer needed as the marketing mix.)

Overtly, the book is about the rotten education system in India. But more space is devoted for a love triangle with one girl and two boys. The book is full of wit, and the male narrator’s struggle with the female psychology is poignant, though clichéd. It’s a formula book waiting to be picked up by a Bollywood production house.

Not surprisingly, like most Bollywood films, the book loses its plot near the end. The characters start behaving out of characters. Idealism wins over reason. The last thirty pages, the utterly unconvincing part of the book wipe out all the good work done until then. It is as if Mr Bhagat, apart from writing the script, has also taken over the function of the censor board. Why wait for the censor board to say good must win, and evil must lose? Sorry Mr Bhagat, but in novels (and in life) evil is often on top. 

Verdict: High on readability, recommended to carry on long-haul flights. Spending Rs 140 on the book is cheaper than watching the film with popcorn and cokes.