Bookless in Baghdad by Shashi Tharoor

Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers by Shashi Tharoor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There are books, and books about books. Bookless in Baghdad is a collection of Tharoor's previously published articles about his own books and the books that made him. What 'Bookless in Baghdad' does beyond being a collection of articles is, it provides a better view of Tharoor's literary canvas. In a few articles in Part one and Part three Tharoor reviews the reviews about his books.

I can imagine Tharoor knocking the pinhead-reviewer in exasperation and clarifying: "Mahabharata's (Its) relevance to today's India is the relevance that today's Indians want to see in it. After all, the epic has, throughout the ages, been the object of adaptation, interpolation, reinterpretation and expurgation by a number of retellers, each seeking to reflect what he saw as relevant to his time (P.22)."It is not hard to miss the seeds for his latest book 'An Era of Darkness' in his various articles, where he makes a case against colonialism for appropriating the cultural definition of its subject peoples (P.25).

There is a thin line between being self adulatory and clarifying one's work for the audience and Tharoor succeeds in pitching his books to the readers. Tharoor's personal favourites Wodehouse and Rushdie receive a graceful tribute in the pages. I feel both authors have influenced Tharoor's work: Tharoor is a past master of the Wodehousian wit. His book The great Indian novel is reminiscent of Rushdie's Satanic Verses for using tropes about religion/mythology as a literary device.

Tharoor affirms that one can be patriotic and secular at the same time. In these times when patriotism is equated with jingoistic nationalism and majoritarian politics, Tharoor's book is an antidote for these tendencies and should be prescribed as a compulsory read in schools and colleges.

In his words:
"India has survived the Aryans, the Mughals, the British; it has taken from each - language, art, food, learning - and grown with all of them. To be an Indian is to be part of an elusive dream all Indians share, a dream that fills our minds with sounds, words and flavours from many sources that we cannot easily identify (P.106)."

And again:

"The suggestion that only a Hindu, and only a certain kind of Hindu, can be an authentic Indian, is an affront to the very premise of Indian nationalism...The only possible idea of India is that of a nation greater than the sum of its parts (P.106)."

The cynic in me feels this book is more like a requiem to the literary genius sacrificed at the altar of sycophantic politics of the Congress party. Why ever would such a well read, sane person want to tread the murky water of politics? Well, for that Tharoor has to definitely write another book, and I certainly look forward to reading it.



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Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: Before We visit the Goddess

Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved reading this book. It had a Gilmore girl-esque aura around it with the plot centering on three generations of women : Sabitri, Bela and Tara. Divakaruni brings out the complicated dynamic between mothers and daughters in heart touching prose. I couldn't help but think to myself, perhaps the moral of the story is about the futility of revenge that Sabitri tries to convey in a letter addressed to her granddaughter Tara.

Sabitri's marriage to an intelligent and self-made Bijan is an elaborate plan to snub Leelamoyi and her spineless, aristocratic son Rajiv. Sabitri's visit to Leelamoyi years later, fails to exorcise the demon of revenge because of Leelamoyi's fading memory. Ironically, at the very moment Sabitri realizes that she actually loves Bijan, a tragedy of errors follows. Bela blurts out to her dad that a man kissed her mom. While Sabitri triumphs over her lower self, Bijan drowns in feelings of jealousy and anger. Sabitri's story is the story of a single woman fighting the oil corporation for her husband's 'accident' and how she takes over Calcutta's palate with her desserts. Sabitri's story reads like a culinary treat at times and I wished I could taste her signature dessert 'Durga Mohan'.

Bela's teenage rebellion against Sabitri extends to an adult life estranged from her mother. Love propels Bela to travel to another continent. However, love soon sours into revenge, as Bela and Sanjay grow apart in their marriage. Here again, it is the man who drowns in the whirlpool of suspicion, revenge and anger while Bela gathers the bits and pieces of her life and comes out triumphant as a reputed chef-author after her divorce from Sanjay.

Despite seemingly conventional external appearances, and outward helplessness and frailty, Sabitri and Bela are strong women who take control of their life. They refuse to be sucked into self pity and failure. Sabitri's friendship with Bipin Bihari Ghatak and Bela's gay friend Kenneth are examples of life at the intersection of two cultures - a bigoted traditional culture that valorizes a 'daughter's honor and duty' over her own happiness and an open minded, prejudice free thinking that emphasizes audacity and strength.

Tara has a giant shift of perspective about her mother and grandmother after she discovers her grandmother's long lost letter from years ago. In an almost epiphanic moment, she realizes that the power to transform meek women into independent women with flourishing careers in the face of tragedy lies within.

"Good daughters are fortunate lamps, brightening the family's name.
Wicked daughters are firebrands, blackening the family's name (P.205)."

Both Sabitri and Bela throughout their life redefine the idea of a 'good daughter'. Achieving something all by oneself without having to depend on anyone gives the utmost satisfaction. This sense of accomplishment cannot be taken away by any one and this is what it means to be a fortunate lamp (P.208): To be self-sufficient and self-effulgent. It is this wisdom from such a life well-lived that Sabitri and Bela pass on to Tara.

I read this novel as a paean to strong and independent women who rise above tragedies and human frailty to outshine the rest of the world. Thank you Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.



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