First Impressions
WRITTEN three thousand years ago, as folklore would have us believe, by a sage called Valmiki, the Ramayana is the story of the triumph of good over evil, of humaneness over wretchedness. But for the modern reader, the Ramayana in its original form remains a baffling exercise.
It is with this in mind that Ashok Banker embarks on the story of the Ramayana. He writes with a rare fluidity about the legend of Ayodhya, of its many foibles and fallacies, of the myriad actors and actresses who play a great part in this heroic epic. This he does with a deft twist of imagination, etching out the plots and sub-plots of the story with rare details. As the legend goes Ayodhya has been unconquerable as the capital of warriors and seers. But soon it will fall prey to the marauding demonic forces of evil. The only saviour of this city is Prince Rama but will he survive the terrible forces that seem to conspire against him? Banker weaves in fact and fiction, and even for those who have read the great epic, this is a readable and racier version. For those who have not, Banker has come up with a story that can grip their imagination.
Prince of Ayodhya, Ashok K. Banker, Orbit, £3.75.
ELEVEN pieces of enquiry into his origins and assumptions. V.S. Naipaul has remained an enigma for many. But even for those who don't read him, there is an element of curiosity over his work, his writing and his mastery over the language. He is also known not to suffer fools and tales abound of his rather ungracious statements and comments. To read any of these essays, one has to drop the bias. Here is a man who decides at the age of 11 to become a writer. He doesn't, as he writes, do so easily. In fact it is an uphill task. Not because he doesn't know what to write but because to write he has to belong. This and other similar questions are discussed at length in these essays. For Naipaul, his background and cultural inheritance was both "exceedingly simple and exceedingly complex". And it is through these two extremes that he shaped his books. This is a wonderful collection that brings to life Naipaul's thoughts.
Literary Occasions Essays, V.S. Naipaul, Picador India, Rs 395.
MICHAEL FLOWER is as dizzy as his name suggests. He is 17 and as light hearted and giddy as the teenager next door. But Michael gets caught in an Indian riot and then his story changes. Sheltered by a local doctor during those trying times, he meets three people who are to change his life — for the time being at least. Om Prakash, and Lila, the beautiful but eccentric daughter of a diplomat. And there is the holy woman who gives rise to a series of unpleasant situations when she grants Michael an "audience". There is violence in the air when Michael's devotion to the holy woman displaces her affections for her earlier disciple Hari. There is love and death that follows almost as a matter of routine. For all its attempts at being an unusual modern day story, this garbled tale could have done with some severe editing.
The Thousand Petalled Daisy, Norman Thomas, Maia, £7.99.
MOVING between locales as exotic as a remote area in France, urban metros and rural villages in India, these short stories have the rare quality of a tremendous insight into human nature and language and form. "Beauty" is written with feeling, where one girl is prepared to go the whole hog for her preferred career choice. "Maruti and the Elephant " is a completely contemporary story of life in India's metros. It is also a telling commentary on the values that urban environments impose on their dwellers; "The Cook" is a tender but telling story of a French cook whose life suddenly turns awry as he feels his wife and children are plotting against him and are hell bent on stealing his famous recipes. In this engaging selection of short stories, everyone will find something interesting.
The Elephant and the Maruti, Radhika Jha, Penguin, Rs. 250.
SUCHITRA BEHAL
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