The Householder by Amitabha Bagchi

Last time when I read him, some 4 years ago, it was his straight forwardness about expressing his stories in a very Indian-ized  manner, that I had particularly. Quite similar has been a case here too. Then, with Above Average, I was growing up in College and now with The Householder I am growing up with a Job (so to say) and in both the times I have related with his views, connotations and musings owing to two different periods. 

A story about a Middle Class
 Indian family
under the 5th Pay Commission

Here in The Householder (a perfect title) a story of man who works as an assistant to an IAS officer, him being a Govt official too, imbibed within which are another three stories about the members of his family, juggling and changing in between each other in this contemplative narrative. The limits to which a person's restraints and desires can be stretched and tested under the constraints of values and family liabilities can be heartfelt here. It will resonate with anyone who has worked/lived under the ambit of Govt culture, in particular. The way it juggles in between the past, present and among the different characters will keep the reader engaged in the fast paced presentation. 

However, the endings for the characters of Kamaljeet and Praveen could have slightly better. Praveen, who throughout the book was shown to be in need of guidance, support and a better job was, in the end simply overlooked for his grave if not heinous acts by the family. Similarly with Pinky being so emotionally carried away by the pursuance of Kamaljeet simply dint do the justice with her last act. Or perhaps, Bagchi wanted to focus more on Naresh. 

Above all, a book worth spending 8-10 hours on. 

Rating: 6.5/10

The Apprentice by Arun Joshi

I only came to know about Arun Joshi with this piece which appeared in The Hindu. I am glad I did.  The Tribune has aptly reviewed the book with these lines, 

“The Apprentice ceases to be a book. It becomes life and worst of all, the reader’s own secret life of illusions.”  Towards the end, I realized how true it was. 

An epitome in India realism.

The book presents a young man’s (Ratan Rathore) yearning  for a job and the friction a job hunt generates with his friends in the backdrop of a city he is new to. Only when he gets the job, the book assumes its true existentialist nature with Ratan beginning to understand the repercussions of his actions and reflecting on every of his thoughts as he gets carried away in the professional advancement. The novel has flow and yet it stops after every couple of pages and makes us think about Ratan's moves. The book highlights the issue of corruption in the power studded central bureaucratic government functioning of Delhi in the early years of Independence. The issue raised during 50s is as relevant as in today’s times when every govt. official can be seen with the eyes of suspicion towards his work ethics.

I don’t underline in Novels but very soon I was bound to do it. Almost halfway through, I found myself underlining at a rate I would only do in a Non Fiction. Such was the over lap of its Genre.

Arun Joshi, though has won Sahitya Academy Award is almost unknown to the reading community of the present generation. I couldn’t believe that it was not available on Flipkart and many other Online platforms. Joshi’s decision to stick to Orient Paperbacks(an Indian publishing house) over emerging foreign houses like Harper Collins/Penguin might have been a legible reason for the slow erosion of his novels from the bookshops.  Though the novel and the author needs a far greater recognition by the present generation. Its interesting to know that he held an MBA from MIT. 

Notable Excerpts:

1. In Winter’s you can tell the time by the intensity of fog. (Someone from North will understand this better).

2. It was not patriotism but money, she said, that brought respect and bought security. Money made friends. Money succeeded where all else failed. There were laws, but money was law unto itself.

3. It is our humiliations and not conquests, my friends that dominate our memories. 

4. Your modesty encourages one to be brash.

5. Because a faker soon forgets who he really is. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Buy here.  

Land of Seven Rivers

The case presented here, is rare among the books on India. It asks, how has geography of Indian Sub-Continent shaped the planning and outcome of events and thus written down the history. It then goes on to relate various human attempts to alter the geography, chronologically. This symbiosis of academic inference makes a very convincing read. The author has quoted several people as references and has at times gone all the way to criticize even noted authors like William Darlymple, Sir John Strachey etc. It presents a nationalistic case to re-consider our History, not based on what the historical records of Englishmen but one by ourselves, trying hard to highlight the mismatch between British studies and the Indian texts of earlier times.

An argument, which can be arguably attributed as a British propaganda during the 17/18^th centuries and which I particularly liked was, “Historically, since Indians have not considered themselves as a nation, they have not cared for their History (and freedom)”. This has been excellent refuted in the book. However, unfortunately, the ancient Indian texts have been prominently religious in nature and have little to tell about the societal and national perceptions of that time. So a logical attempt to look for smaller clues mentioned in those texts have been made to draw historical conclusions. Eg. Kishkindha Jungles, Maharashtra where Rama met Hanuman and Jamvant is still there and thickly populated with monkeys. The book is indeed a mammoth attempt, catering to the unique blend of two subjects and the time frame it exhibits. Though at more than one instances I felt the lack of depth and factual clarity but somehow the flow has superseded the pause.  Another notable feature of the book was its detailed emphasis on fauna (lions, tigers, elephants etc), drawing conclusions on their lineage and correlating their scattered presence across the world.  I do know that flora and fauna are part of the subject of Geography but the extent of discussion was very insightful.

Indians have for once been aggressive and have played the conquest game, under Cholas was new to me. Personally, I will definitely look forward to any further work by Sanjeev Sanyal but for this I will have 7/10 as the rating. His staunch and apprehensive style, despite he being a non-academic is praiseworthy (in fact, personally, inspirational).

Rating : 6.5/10

Author : Sanjeev Sanyal
Buy : Here 

Excerpts: 

“The first thing which should be clear from the outset is that there are no ‘pure’ races. With the possible exception of some tiny isolated groups, the vast majority of Indian tribes, caste and communities are a mixture of many genetic streams.” 

On Delhi(70s), “Soon the city had to deal with yet another influx- that of civil servants and public sector employees needed to run the centrally planned, socialist economy. The PWD went into overdrive and created whole new government colonies.”

On Chandigarh, “Much of its apparent cleanliness comes from simply having left no space for the poor within its city limits. It remains a sterile and heavily subsidized city of tax consuming bureaucrats that encourages neither entrepreneurship nor tax generating jobs despite being the capital of two prosperous states.”

Thoughts on my Reading Habits and this Blog

If there is one activity which I have really tried to be good at, its reading. Building diversity in what I read, building my reading speed and comprehensibility, envying someone who has read a book which I wanted to read before me(a good trait I must emphasize), scribbling smileys, caricatures and thoughts in the books, sometimes laying my hands (upon experimenting) at stuff(books) which I accidentally bought (I consider myself a book-spendthrift, often buying books which remain stacked for years before being read). 
                  I must mention that my reading journey effectively started with a Ruskin Bond's book, Collection of Short Stories for Children, (gifted by my elder brother). Bond's ability to focus on living creatures, nature and his writings on mountains (a backdrop in sync with my hometown and growing up days) always made me feel that he wrote for me and I built a special relation with his books. I still read them, once in a while and it helps me revisit my old school days and the places mentioned in his books, which I had imagined through words, during those days. Even till this day I would prefer a Ruskin Bond's work over a Rowling or Dahl or Tolkien or Blyton or Dickens.
                    Having grown up in a small town, I never really saw the culture of public libraries and instead started believing in the idea of buying books (which continues till date), considering it vital to own a book which one has read. My buying patterns would've been different had I been a member of Narmad Library, Delhi Public Library and American Embassy Library(which I am now) in younger days. This belief is nevertheless good but then it has an other side too. Books are heavy and require a calm, stable surrounding and pest control. Book maintenance is a big thing and you never know what and when life may throw at you. More on this, sometime later.

Reading books should not be under or
over-rated. Its a mind -exercise which
should better be done regularly. :|

Thoughts on E Books:
(no Text Books here) 

Den Xiaoping (modern China's architect and a national hero) remarked, "It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white till it catches mice". I think it doesn't matter if all you care about is finishing a book and then waiting to judge whether its good or bad, un-put-down-able or a waste. But I usually like to revisit a book and read a few selected portions (usually underlined ones) or for reference. This particularly happens in Non Fiction ones. E-Books aren't great for a retrospectively habituated reader. Having a tablet/ipad is a plus but on Laptops/Computers, E-Books are simply too lame to lay hands on (lay hands on?). It wont be wrong to call them dull, uninspiring and having no odour. Though I must say that, the E-Books culture (especially with the onset of hand held devices) is an evolving phenomenon and a complete disbelief towards them is one sort of prediction. I don't believe in predictions based on my personal prejudices unless backed by a superior logic. A serious handicap in reading ebooks is managing and allocating time. In hard books we can put a book mark and go to sleep or a walk, keeping in mind how much we have read and how much time it'll take to finish off the rest of the portion. This exercise on ebooks, they being a new platform will take some years to perfect, till then meeting our reading targets will always have some lags and leads.    

Here, at Shelf and the Bean Bag, I will attempt to share my personal reviews and key takeaways from the books I am able to read or are on my reading-list. I hope this would add a few titles to your reading list and provide meaningful insights on the discussed areas. The genre would usually consist of India, Indian Fiction,European/American Fiction, New Age Indian Fiction, Business, Strategy, Public Policy, Foreign Policy, Management, Economics, Science, Philosophy, History, Autobiographies, and also some titles which readers usually don't know or care much about as and when I'll arrive at them. 

Thanks, 

Neeraj Pandey

(Personal Page)