Yakshi -- Malayattoor Ramakrishnan

Thank god I had not watched the movie before I read the book. (Although I love the song Swarnachamaram Veesheyethunna Swapnayirunnenkil Njyaan, from the same movie it seems).

Yakshi is a fantastic novel. Multilayered and psychedelic, it explores the human mind – particularly the male mind – in its full flowing despondency.

Though it starts slow and the build-up is not really exciting, by the time you are half way through, Yakshi has caught you by the throat.

It is the story of a young and handsome chemistry college professor – Srinivasan -- who, I a quirk of fate, has his face burnt in a freak accident in the laboratory. Just when his life was about to blossom, it wilts.

His lover, a student of his, promptly ditches him. He turns a recluse and decides to take up his passion seriously – a study of Yakshis.

Just when life seems to have got into the new routine, Ragini – an abnormally beautiful woman – literally walks into his life.

He is first astonished, then relieved to have such a beautiful companion and decides to marry her although her background, whereabouts and history are quite murky and vague. If nothing, this is one way Srinivasan can “give it back” to the world which rejected his horribly ugly face.

But unknown to him, Srinivasan has another shock awaiting him. The lab accident, along with an extremely disturbing experience at a brothel just before meeting Ragini, have wrecked him internally too, and he now incapable of making love.

The well-built and athletic Srinivasan painfully realizes that he has become impotent. But his conscious mind refuses to acknowledge the fact. Instead his mind activates the classic defence mechanisms – projection and denial.

He starts believing Ragini is a Yakshi. He begins hallucinating about non-events. Coincidences start throwing up new meanings that reinforce his fear of Ragini.

Malayattoor paints a powerful picture of male ego, Freudian symbolism and schizophrenic desperation. A wonderful read.

Nakshatrangale Kaaval – P Padmarajan

Pappettan is my favourite Malayalam movie director by all standards. But I was told he was a better writer than a movie maker.

That spoilt the party for me.

This novel – my first Padmarajan work – was such a huge disappointment.

Cliches and boring melodrama mar the otherwise manageable plot. The characters are extremely inconsistent and unreal.

The only saving grace was the unpredictability of the narrative – as often seen in his movies -- and the author’s attempt to show different perspectives to a single event.

Why have Malayalam authors – the very few that I have read – been obsessed with the “over-descriptive” style? Why do they blindly follow Hardy and Lawrence?

The most ridiculous part of this novel – as also a few other Malayalam novels I have read – is the unrealistic English conversations among characters.

Even in this day and age, I doubt whether urban middle class or lower middle class families use English as a conversational tool between family members – or even among friends. There would be even little chance of this happening in the 1970s in a rural set up – even if the characters are well off.

Padmarajan peppers the narrative with statements like “I say you get out!” and “leave me alone” to add that dramatic feel. But they turn out to be damp squibs.

Because there is the least possibility of one using an alien language when one is emotionally charged. When in anger, grief or desperation, most of us instinctively use our mother tongues to express ourselves. Not Pappettan, it looks like.

Anyways, I guess after finishing the two other books of his that I have I will simply stick to his movies.

If you intend to read this novel, forget it. Try out something else.

Riot After Riot -- M J Akbar

There is a point beyond which it is impossible, at least for me, to describe death: you have to leave it as a statistic and be done with it.

Akbar, a veteran journalist, traverses a forbidden landscape of our collective consciousness. An area that we pretend does not exist, but is fertile in that corner of our mind.

Riots -- communal, casteist, ethnic -- seldom raise our eyebrows today. Death is a mere tag-along. Even when massacres, mass murders and virtual ethnic cleansing are given the less-offending epithet of “riot”.

Reading through his pages, it is this escapism of ours that is exposed. And besides the mere documentation of such heart wrenching incidents, I have a feeling that precisely is Akbar’s idea. To strip us of our make-believe world where such heinous crimes happen only in the fringe. “It happens to them, not us”.

Blood curdling incidents of human decimation -- be it in the hinterlands of Bihar or UP, or in the heart of Chandigarh, or in the forgotten suburbs of Meerut, or under the pristine foliage of the Dandakaranya -- have been described, investigated into and the culprits found, by Akbar.

Lost innocence, devastated childhoods, vanishing lifestyles -- these are the recurring leitmotifs of the narration that also uncovers the omnipresent web of lies, politics and rhetoric -- used by individuals and institutions to further their own interests.

Akbar spares none. The supposedly “decent” V P Singh, the “living Durga” Indira Gandhi, the “secular nationalist mask” A B Vajpayee. He tracks the establishment’s instincts to side with the perpetrators of sickening crimes like burning of innocent Muslim children, raping of pregnant Dalit women and public whipping of tribals.

He disturbs the apparent calm that has set in for us in the mainstream society. He disturbs our complacence. In the hope that that somewhere we would be stirred.

High hopes, I must say!

"Riot After Riot" is a mere blip in the radar of our conscience, Mr Akbar.

India's Struggle for Independence

There is this beautiful song in the old movie "Jagruti" (which was generously ripped off to make the modern day classic "Taare Zameen Par") about juvenile reformation and student life. The move ends with Mohammed Rafi crooning:

"Hum Layen Hain Toofan Se Kashti Nikaal Ke.

Is Desh Ko Rakhna Mere Bacchon Sambhaal Ke."

("We" have tugged this boat out of the cyclone. Please keep this country safe my children!)

Blood, sweat, heat, dust, grit and finally glory.

Contradictions, resentment, rebellion, debates, determination and finally freedom.

That our struggle for independence is a fascinating story of perseverance, will and fortitude is well known. But it was also one of differences, clashing opinions, ideologies and personalities is a lesser known fact.

The greatness of the movement was not that it achieved its goal. Its greatness lies in the fact that it did this despite the variety of... hmmm everything... that existed in the country.

The greatness of the men and women who wasted away their lives for this purpose, I feel, is misplaced. It is not because of the hardships they went through towards attaining independence.

It is the how they forged a unified force towards this, enveloping all streams of thoughts, all kinds of personalities -- with mutual respect.

Of course, this book -- a collection of erudite essays by historians like Bipan Chandra, K N Panikkar and Mridula Mukherjee – is not just an eulogy to the people and the movement itself.

Because, besides describing the events, thought processes and ideologies between 1857 and 1947, the book also throws light on the failures of the leadership and people.

The inability of the top-line leadership – Nehru, Gandhi, Patel, Jinnah etc -- to identify and tackle the socioeconomic roots of communalism in the subcontinent and the emphasis on discussion, the compromise among leaders themselves to tackle the issue is a case in point.

Clearing up some of the misconceptions about individuals and the principles, explaining the idea behind some of the controversial steps, the basic theory underlying the whole independence movement in the post-Gandhi era, the book provides a basic theoretical framework for the whole movement.

Forget about interest in history as such, this book is a must read for anyone with even an iota of interest for how we became what we are today.

Indeed, the book cries out: “We have done our job. It’s your turn to safeguard the country.”

The Difficulty of Being Good -- Gurcharan Das

I had been hearing rave reviews about the book. I had also a lot about Gurcharan Das's previous book -- India Unbound.

So when our resident editor discarded some of the books she received I picked this one up.

Perhaps Das is not the first person to use the plot and ideas of the Mahabharata to express his views. Nevertheless, Das does a decent job of making his book the next step towards a more philosophic understanding of the great Indian epic rather than the mere character based tale.

He uses this plot to tackle -- quite superficially, I felt -- some of the biggest problems human beings face today like the global economic crisis, the Iraq war, the Ambani brothers feud etc.

Eminently readable, The Difficulty of Being Good tries to understand the complexities of the major characters like Bheeshma, Karna, Krishna, Yudhishtira, Duryodhana and others to dissect the subtleties of human nature perpetually dilly-dallying between the good and bad.

Das shows how we all are a mix of good and evil and even this good an evil are very subjective in nature. He also shows how the entire epic, despite the presence of Krishna -- the godhead -- is actually very human in nature. Ultimately, it is about human nature and not about god.

What I didn't like was the fact that while his reading of the epic itself was quite sophisticated, Das oversimplified it when he superimposed the Mahabharata's lessons on to today's world -- very Mani Ratnam-ish I guess.

For instance, referring to the Ambani feud he plainly writes the younger sibling Anil is smitten by a Duryodhana like envy for his more talented elder brother Mukesh!

Also, the way he talks about his own father as someone who was closest to Dharma. While I am not against an autobiographical viewpoint, I think the subject is trivialised when one starts portraying one's own moral infallibility! Come on we all love our parents and think our father is the best. But not at his age. And certainly not enough to be quoted in a book that has pretentions of high thinking.

Nevertheless, overall a worthwhile book.

Kin State Intervention In Ethnic Conflicts--Sumit Ganguly

I have always wondered why when it comes to foreign affairs, even otherwise eloquent and knowledgeable India-based writers tend to bring out drab, boring compilations of newspaper clippings rather than give some incisive observations and insights.

Be it C Raja Mohan or J N Dixit. Their books--whatever little I have read--are simply an experts chronicling of past events and nothing more than that.

This is in striking contrast to Indians settled abroad, like Fareed Zakaria or Parag Khanna, who could be easily some of the best writers on geopolitical matters in the world. Perhaps I have missed to many of India-based writers books on the subject.

I picked up Sumit Ganguly's book looking to change my perception. But I failed. While the book comprehensively covers the geopolitical issues of South Asia, with their history and present status, that's about it. No insights, no analysis, no learned speculation.

Conclusion: Boring, but damn helpful for reference.

Post American World--Fareed Zakaria

I picked up 'The Post American World' after thoroughly enjoying Zakaria's "Future of freedom" some years back.

Although, the author manages to keep the same liveliness of "Future Freedom", replete with anecdotes, statistics and intelligent deductions, the book does not live up to the standard of the author's seminal first offering.

In fact, some of Zakaria's deductions--like about America's credit-worthiness--fall flat right at the word go, as the recent financial bust there seems to have proven.

If you are looking for US-baiting verbiage in PAW, you would surprise those who know Zakaria and his inclinations well. The book speaks about the rise of others in a -dominated world, rather than the fall of the behemoth itself.

However, the greatest srength of Zakaria--his research that he simplifies (sometimes oversimplifies, I've felt) for his readers--still remains a huge point of attraction. Yet, I thought "The Second World" by Parag Khanna is a much better pick on issues related to geopolitical affairs in the post-US domination world.

Peace And Its Discontents--Edward Said

I have struggled to read Edward Said before. His "Orientalism" was completely Greek and Latin to me when I read it the first time in college. I had to read it again some years later to make some sense of it. I intend to read it again shortly.

So, with the same sense of dread I picked up this book two years back. Also because it was a cheap bargain on Mumbai’s streets—Rs 50 for a copy!

To my surprise, Said was completely different this time. A chance one-one-one conversation (if you can call it one ) with a fellow Orkutter prompted me to revisit the book recently. Although this time I didn’t read the entire book but only parts of it.

Said, in a clear-cut manner, rips apart the conventional wisdom with regards to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. In an absolutely unambiguous way he exposes the hypocrisy and malevolent agenda of Israel, evidently backed by big brother, and the hoax called Oslo Peace Accord between the rabid rightwinger Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian revolutionary-turned-thug.

Besides, Said also throws light on the attitudinal difference of the US-led West, which thinks Israel is “us” and Palestine is “them”.

A must read for anyone interested in the middle-eastern crisis.

Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco

After a long time, I thought I will try fiction again and followed up on suggestions in Kerala Community. So when someone asked me what books I wanted as gifts, I named Foucault's Pendulum as one of them.

So there I began, from under the Pendulum , and travelled through millennia of conspiracies, along with the three main characters...

The story, intricately woven with a rich tapestry of history, theological theories, metaphysical speculation and pages and pages of mumbo-jumbo, is told in agonising details through one of the three protagonists. Close to 90% of the book builds a complicated consipracy theory, which, like my Orkut friends had mentioned before, pales the much more popular "Da Vinci Code" in expanse and details.

However, just when you think the book is merely a much more complicated and intellectual version of the Dan Brown quickie and feel let down, Eco draws an anti-climax. And that too such a one that it elicits a sense of ridiculousness mixed with irony and surprise from the reader.

Essentially, this offering from the Milan-based semiotics expert is one that pulls the rug from underneath the feet of those who love to weave conspiracy theories--particularly those of occult and metaphysical stripes.

However, while the anti-climax is the highpoint (after a really drab monologue, I felt), it also carries the biggest failing of the book. While poo-poohing the seekers of non-existant occult meanings in everything--right from Kissan jam bottles, Kingfisher desktop calendars and Nescafe coffee vending machines to tectonic shifts and historical paradigms--Eco goes to the other extreme of whitewashing every speculation as mindless chatter and every doubter as a diabolical deviant who will face the wrath of the REAL power -- whatever that is...

Anyways, the book to failed to rekindle the fire for fiction reading in me . however, Im not gonna give up... Moby Dick... here I come...