First Impressions
INDIA means many things to many people. There is no one way to describe this country. Suketu Mehta's "Mumbai" is a soul-stirring piece on the city of his childhood dreams. Mehta's rediscovery years later leads one into the chaos that Bomaby (Mumbai) has now become. The fastest growing, most populated city becomes for Mehta also the city where hope lives amongst despair and where people are bound by an invisible code of conduct. "What Bengali Widows Cannot Eat" familiarises you with the extreme degradation that a widow from Bengal experiences. The rituals, the power play and the denial of even the tiniest of life's comforts and pleasures evoke a sense of impotent outrage. Pankaj Mishra's "Jihadis" leaves you with an uneasy calm almost like before a storm. His description of the ambivalence he feels towards them makes you wonder if their cause is just. Viramma's "Pariah" is a stunning story of India's caste-ridden society. "The Tutor" by Nell Freudenberger is written in a more modernistic setting where two people experiment with their emotions. This is a part of India that doesn't find in the tourist brochures. A well edited anthology with some interesting writing.
The Granta Book of India, Granta Books, Rs. 295.
IN the glut of Anglophile writing, there are a few that make the grade. There is an inevitable sense of foreboding and personal betrayal that seem to overshadow any story told in this genre. The titles are dead giveaways. And so it is with The Black Englishman. There are many who suddenly discover a connection to this country, which they view with a mixture of trepidation and affection. Both counterbalancing any real feelings of belonging.
Isabel, the white heroine of the book, sets sail for India with her husband Neville. But on the journey realises that she has made an error. Even as she copes with the pressures of the duties required of an army wife, she finds herself irresistibly drawn towards a young doctor in the camp. Samresh, or Sam for short, is everything that her husband is not and Isabel embarks upon her affair with him. There are secret meetings, trysts and then finally both are convinced that destiny means for them to be together. The usual trials and tribulations follow before it ends on a happier note.
A Black Englishman, Carolyn Slaughter, Faber and Faber, price not stated.
POST-WAR England: Shambled lives waiting to be picked up again. As Billy walks back into his village, the last person he expects to see are the Germans. Then he remembers that they are here as POWs. Back in his uncle and aunt's house, where he had spent his growing years, he notices that the land has gone to seed, dirty and unkempt. Things have changed — that he can see, but it is his aunt's disability that he is unprepared for. Billy finds himself drawn back into wanting a relationship with Annie. But here too there is a change. Annie is now a mother. As Billy stumbles through his emotions, he sees around him discontent and anger brought upon by the war. The Polish immigrants, who are never quite accepted into the English society stay in the village making themselves useful as farmhands. When Billy hires out two of them to help with the homestead, little does he realise how much his life and theirs is about to change. Homeland focuses on the story of immigrants after the war, especially the Polish and the misconceptions that were initially raised against them.
Homeland, Clare Francis, Macmillan, price not stated.
TRUTH will set you free. Or, will it? There are many ways to tell the truth and even more ways to write it. By the very act of writing what is closest to one, one has already set oneself free of the burden of that "secret" part. There are memories of joy, memories of sorrow, there are moments of bittersweet poignancy in some relationships that have been harboured in the deep recesses of one's heart or mind. Thus as Nick Hornby writes about how he finally learnt to drive so that he could take his autistic son out, it provides the essence of freedom that he was looking for. Similarly Sophie Dahl's piece on her first crush takes you to her teen-aged days. Andrea Ashworth's trip across the desert also talks about being free. Zoë Heller's "My Father's Girlfriends" is a deft account of her relationship with her father and the women in his life. Don't let the title of this book put you off. Once you flip the pages you will want more.
Truth or Dare?, edited by Justine Picardie, Picador; price not stated.
SUCHITRA BEHAL
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