Book Review #3

The Scarlet Pimpernel: Baroness Emmuska Orczy

This is an adventure novel set in the reign of terror that followed the French Revolution. The novel is based in the year 1792: the year of grace when French aristocrats are being slaughtered at the gullotine in the name of liberté égalité fraternité.

A league of brave englishmen led by an elusive and heroic leader - The Scarlet Pimpernel, travel in disguise to France, plot a series of daring rescues to save their condemned fellow Frenchmen from daily executions. The identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a closely guarded secret and is unknown even to those people whom he rescues. The league, and especially their leader gain legendary status in the elite English society and equal amount of notoriety amongst the French revolutionists.

The book is based around one such rescue plot and is cleverly woven as a cat and mouse chase between the plotters and the French authorities. There is a nice love story which has been interwoven into the fabric of the story without making it seem too obtrusive or distracting. The love story adds to the plot without making it maudlin. The novel is very typically British in terms of the characters and the environs: beautiful women, gallant men, curtsies, bows, formal parties, fashion, high society et. al.

An enjoyable suspense novel although quite predictable at times. Recommended reading.

Black Friday - Hussain Zaidi

A meticulously researched book based on the Bombay serial blasts of 1992. I had not watched the movie, so was not well versed with the plot. The first few pages that described the actual blasts really scared me. Real good work done by the author who collated all the information from thousands of pages of CBI dossiers, courtroom accounts, interviews with real people etc. Since the blasts were a contemporary event during our lifetime, I found this to be an important book with respect to the history of the city. A chilling account of how a set of gangsters (and not terrorists) could mastermind and execute the sinister plot that killed and maimed scores of innocent people.

This is probably the most controversial case in the history of Indian law enforcement, and hence I don't think we can take every plot in the book at face value; but the book does give a pretty decent picture of the overall framework of the planning for the blast, the execution, the investigation, the court verdicts, and some related events like the Sanjay Dutt case, a couple of gang-wars etc. worth a one time read.

Answers to India Quiz

1. Naxalbari in northern West Bengal lent its name to the Naxalite movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalism )

2. Potti Sriramulu's fast led to the creation of Andhra Pradesh: the first state that was created on the basis of linguistic lines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potti_Sriramulu). (One point each for the personality and the state)

3. Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar (1906-1973), popularly known as Guruji, was the second "Sarasanghachalak" of the RSS. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhav_Sadashiv_Golwalkar )

4. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (father of Farooq Abdullah and grandfather of Omar Abdullah) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdullah )

5. Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Menon )

6. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Friday, the 25th November, 1949: Constituent Assembly of India (http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol11p11.htm )

7. Jayprakash (JP) Narayan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayprakash_Narayan )

India Quiz

1. 
   

   X is a small village in West Bengal. In March 1976, X saw the beginning of a series of demonstrations by local peasants against landlords who had evicted tenants and/or hoarded grain. The demonstrations grew more militant, leading to skirmishes with the police, killing of a constable, retaliatory firing on the crowds. Eventually the peasants decided to take to arms, and soon landlords were being beheaded.

   
   

X soon came to enjoy an iconic status among Indian revolutionaries. The village gave its name to the region and, in time, to anyone who would use arms to fight the Indian state on behalf of the oppressed. Thus the place X gave birth to a movement which still plagues the hinterland of several Indian states. Name the movement. Bonus point for guessing the name of X.

2. 
   

   X began his last fast at Chennai in Oct 1952 demanding for a separate state. He died in Dec 1952 which led to a huge uproar amongst his followers. The people went into a wild frenzy destroying public property. The disturbance assumed a major scale and continued for 3-4 days. Finally the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced the creation of a separate state Y.

   
   

The creation of state Y catalyzed the creation of several other Indian states based on linguistic lines. Name the state Y and the person X.

3. 
   

   Identify this man who was the force behind the formation of the organizations that now comprise the "Sangh Parivar", which celebrated 2006-07 as its centenary year.

   
   

This man was the mentor and teacher to generations of extremists who have carried forward his struggle for a Hindu nation. Identify him.

4. 
   

   This man, also known as Sher-e-Kashmir was the leader of the National Conference, Kashmir's largest political party of the time. He is perhaps the most important political figure in the history of modern Jammu & Kashmir. He was jailed in the year 1953 on the charges of corruption and separatism, but was released after 11 years.

   
   

He was later exiled from Kashmir in 1971 for 18 years. Later, after coming to an accord with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he went on to become the Chief Minister of J&K which he held until his death. Identify him.

5. 
   

   This man, an old friend of Nehru, was educated at the London School of Economics, was also the first editor Penguin's prestigious non-fiction imprint, Pelican Books. He served as the Indian High Commissioner at London, a cabinet minister without a portfolio, a representative of India at the UN and at disarmament meetings in Geneva, but most importantly as one of the most controversial Defense Ministers of the country.

   
   

He came under a lot of heat after India's staggering defeat at the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and was forced to resign from office for the country's apparent lack of military preparedness. Identify the man in the picture with Nehru.

6. 
   

   The following is an excerpt of a speech in November 1949 by X. This part of the speech is concerned with the place of popular protest in a democracy:

   
   

“We must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. Under an autocratic regime, there might be some justification for them, but not now, when constitutional methods of redress were available. Satyagraha and the like are nothing but the grammar of anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us”.

Identify the speaker.

7. 
   

   X was, a renowned social worker, dedicated his life to Vinoba Bhave's Sarvodaya movement. He later led the students of Bihar in a popular protest against the misrule and corruption in the government which went on to assume massive proportions in several states.

   
   

He asked Indira Gandhi to resign from the position of PM when she was found to be guilty of violating electoral laws. Instead, Indira clamped down an emergency and X was one of the leaders who was detained as a political prisoner

More Books…

Here are a few words about a couple of books I read in the past several weeks:

Interpreter of Maladies: Jhumpa Lahiri

This a collection of 9 short stories. If there is one connecting emotion between all the stories, then it is nostalgia. Most stories are about Indian Americans who are caught between their native culture that is their own, and the new world they live in. These stories reminded me of the quaint short stores book I studied for my ICSE. All stories have an emotional appeal, and I never thought I would like stories such as these where there is no conceivable end to most, but the quality of story-telling is of the highest order. And oh boy, the descriptions of food in the stories are so good that you are moved to the point of hunger.

Animal Farm: George Orwell

Another one of those overhyped acclaimed literary classics.Was ranked 31 in the TIME magazine's list of 100 best novels since 1923. Was okay.......one time read maybe for the sake of it.......or maybe I was not able to truly appreciate the depth of satire in the book. Said to resemble the Russian revolution and thereafter the rise of Stalin......this book is based on how the animals in a farm overthrow their owner and take over the farm.

The Namesake: Jhumpa Lahiri

I was really put of by Indian authors till I came across Lahiri. I really love the style of her writing. This is her first complete novel which is based on the life of an Indian born and brought up in the US. The story is based on events in Calcutta, Boston and New York, revolving around the lives of people caught between two different cultures.

Even though there is no proper ending to the story (which is somewhat a characteristic of most of her work till now), the book is an entertaining read till the very last page. Her narrative style is pure brilliance, and once again, her knowledge of the culinary arts is astounding. The descriptions of food are so amazing that I do not recommend you to read this on an empty stomach :)

All in all, a good work of fiction. Recommended reading, if only for the sake of a stellar demonstration of creative writing.