First Impressions
ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH is known for his great series entitled The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Smith through a set of short stories delivers an unusual insight into Africa, its unique culture and the incredible workings of people in that society. Through his books, he also demonstrates his great love and his great understanding of the country. His strengths as a writer lie in his simple story lines, told without too much fuss or frills and his direct approach to the most complex of human problems.
In this new, unusual offering Smith once again proves that he is a master in understanding the subtle ironies that human relationships harbour. Heavenly Date And Other Flirtations is a medley of stories where the unexpected suddenly becomes part of ordinary middle class lives. His characters are often real people who seem to lead tragic-comic lives. Because they are people living in such ordinary circumstances, their actions, intent and thoughts suddenly acquire sinister bent, shocking the reader. A great book by a master storyteller.
Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations, Alexander McCall Smith, Penguin, Rs. 250.
BUREAUCRACY or babucracy? Theirs is a unique world following a richness of tradition that only those who enter and stay on in their hallowed precincts can understand. For every bureaucrat in the Indian system there is an underling. One is often reminded of the curious ways in which the seniority of a bureaucrat is depicted. Take for example the ubiquitous towel that hangs from the back of a bureaucrat's chair. It actually makes a statement — the cleaner the towel, the better his command over the office peons. If he has two, one hanging on his chair's back and the other on the armrest, consider him a senior officer. The richness of babucracy language is something that a quick perusal of office files will prepare you for. Those huge files which pile up on every bureaucrat's desk are an end in themselves. Typed, retyped and redrafted till they reach parliament and even then not without howlers.
Unfortunately for this book, though the anecdotes are well documented by an ex-bureaucrat and there is some degree of honesty in the observations, humour, that essential element to get a take on this peculiar institution, is missing. The book ends up serving a dry and dusted fare — much like Indian bureaucracy itself.
Babudom: Catacombs of Indian Bureaucracy, S. Mohanty, Rupa,
Rs. 295.
NINE short, sparkling stories make up this slim volume. Once again readers will thank the translator for putting in a Herculean effort to convey the nuances of language and content in such a sophisticated manner. Written originally in Oriya by Kishori Charan Das, a Sahitya Akademi award winner, these stories reflect the inner workings of the human mind. Often there is a struggle between guilt and a strange violent emotion that leaves his characters perplexed at their own motives. In "When God is King", he explores strange territories when his characters, through their actions, depict the gap in the reality of their different existences. In "Atonement" the housewife wakes up to one day confront the ghost of her hidden past. "The Jasmine Bud and the Servant Girl " is, in reality, a violent confrontation of emotions, where people pitted against each other play different mind games. There are no clear-cut endings to these stories but then, as the writer says, the truth is always closer to a shade of grey.
Inner Voices, Kishori Charan Das, Penguin, Rs. 200.
JIM CORBETT came to India and fell in love with its people, its forests and more importantly, with its tigers. This omnibus, richly illustrated and produced, puts together all his writings over the years. Most of it is an ode to the people and the country that he finally stayed in. Over the years Corbett became a fierce conservationist. Though his stories do not document the beginnings of that change, they offer a delightful look into a world gone by. A must for any lover of nature and a great collection for children to peruse.
The Oxford India Ilustrated Corbett, OUP, Rs. 595.
SUCHITRA BEHAL
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