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This week at Fabmall.com

The Constant Gardner

John le Carre Coronet,
Rs. 175

Great reading. The plot is taut, the story chilling, the narration seamless. John le Carre is back in form with this one. Those who've read The Naive and Sentimental Lover may find themselves reminded of it here in The Constant Gardner. Something about the love angle.

For us Indian readers, the events in this tale of pharmaceutical tyranny in poor Africa — which, like all the poor nations of the world, are the guinea pigs in medical research — will resound very clearly. The way the larger events are tied into the small human turmoils and upheavals creates a scale for this tale, making it close to the bone, the heart.

Buy yourself a copy, read it, then watch the film if you haven't already. Or watch it again.

Ayodhya
6 December 1992
P.V. Narasimha Rao,
Penguin, Rs.395

When the Babri Masjid was attacked in December 1992, Narasimha Rao was the PM. Rao's not imposing President's rule on Uttar Pradesh is something that continues to be a matter for discussion. In this posthumously published book, Rao goes into a comprehensive account of the demolition and what led to it, while at the same time attempting to explain his Government's actions.

Much water has flown under that bridge since then, but it's not difficult to spot the ripples of the demolition in those waters. As far as the secular fabric of India is concerned, the persisting tear between the two main players (Hindu and Muslim) was firmly foreground with the Babri Masjid demolition, and neither electoral nor identity politics in India has been the same since then. Narasimha Rao's take on the whole thing is interesting reading, if not particularly absorbing.

God's Little Soldier
Kiran Nagarkar
HarperCollins, Rs. 595

Kiran Nagarkar's fascination with the idea of God, the idea of relating to God runs through his work, at its best, most delicate in The Cuckold.

God's Little Soldier is the story of Zia, who believes that he is destined to save the world and dons the garbs of several faiths in the process. The ways that this impassioned extremist treads are in contrast with those of his moderate brother, Amanat, who holds on to a sense of balance in the face of the same betrayals and sacrifices that faith demands.

God's Little Soldier is a little heavy, a discreet scissor would have done it a lot of good, and made the reading less tiring. This is a constant problem with Nagarkar's writing, it tends to say much more than it actually needs to. Despite all of that, it is good reading.

Reverse Sweep

Gautam Bhimani
Rupa& co, Rs. 295

Cricket fans will know Bhimani Jr. from ESPN. He's the guy who's to "reporting what Billy Bowden is to umpiring. They entertain us, they make us laugh and they remind us that cricket is just a game."

Reverse Sweep is a collection of cricket anecdotes in Bhimani's typical dashing, swashbuckling style, with complementing pictures. Interesting and funny, a nice change from the reverential attitude that most cricket writing comes with.

As Bhimani puts it: "The lighter moments to cricket mean so much more: that I am real, I am ordinary, I am the layman, I am the man on the street... And what I do is also cricket... I look at it as my responsibility to get cricket and its lighter baggage to the living room."

Kala Krishnan Ramesh

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