About a book
I recently read this book by a British-born Indian author, Meera Syal. I have to admit at this juncture, that I have never read any books by any Indian author, born Indian or born abroad, except for a book by Khushwant Singh, "The Train To Pakistan". That book was bought out of curiousity to see what an Indian author would write in a presumably foreign language, English. I was impressed by that book, which was based on the Indo-Pakistan border split in 1947. The book gave the impression that Indians and Pakistanis didn't like what their respective governments were doing. The Hindus and Muslims living together in a small border town eventually had to undergo a painful separation. The book was quite real.
Now, to come back to Meera Syal's "Life isn't all ha ha hee hee". I picked it up at random from the library so I had absolutely no idea what to expect out of a book written by an Indian; the being-born-british didn't really get to me in the beginning. Her name was Indian, and thats all I looked at before picking it up. It so happens my choice for reading wasn't a bad one. The book is about three punjabi women living in London, from which I am inclined to think there is a higher population of punjabi people there compared to any other Indian community. In the same lines, I think Halifax has a majority of a south-indian population, in general, as I was able to find a dosa place downtown quite easily.
Back to the book. Its about this three women, as I mentioned earlier. All three of them are different, awfully different, but together as friends. All of them are in their mid-30s, that stage of life where even if you are married, life is insecure for a while. If you lose whatever is holding you as one piece, you lose everything - your life, your marriage, your kids, your friends, your everything. Something like this happens to each one of them - think trust and betrayal... these two words should cover most of what happens between friends I guess. And there are the men, the men of each of their lives, the men who stayed, the men who cheated, the men who made a passing difference...
As I read the book, I marvelled at the way the author brought about the "male" part of Indian men; the usual "I-am-the-man-of-the-house-you-should-bow-down-to-me" attitude of Indian men, elevated mostly by the attitude of the women in the house; the "wife-should-be-at-home-and-reproduce-sons-and-keep-house" dream of Indian men; the "I-always-need-to-have-another-woman-apart-from-the-wife-for-everything-else" thoughts of Indian men. Though I had always known that 70% of Indian men adhere to these strict rules, reading about how they go about it was fascinating. Come to think of it, I think I should say that the men in India are not this bad... Its the ones abroad, the ones who left India to live as Indians elsewhere, that do such things.
I have always noticed that second-generation Indians living abroad, who have no chance of going back to the country they claim to be from, live in an indian time-zone that is twenty or thirty years behind. They would get the shock of their lives if they ever visit India... India has changed in a lot of ways. Yes, there are some places where people still stick to cultures and traditions and fear them, but elsewhere, people are changing to a new dimension, where the same cultures and traditions don't bother them anymore.
Though this blog never shaped up the way I wanted it to in the first place, I am still posting it coz my thoughts sort-of flowed off and I didn't want to waste them. If interested, this book is a good read... the author has a lovely sense of humor with which every word in the book comes to life. "Tussi great ho" Meera Syal. And yes, this book is surely a reality check, but mingles with comedy so much that you would laugh your heads off, thinking about the India in London and the India in India.
Now, to come back to Meera Syal's "Life isn't all ha ha hee hee". I picked it up at random from the library so I had absolutely no idea what to expect out of a book written by an Indian; the being-born-british didn't really get to me in the beginning. Her name was Indian, and thats all I looked at before picking it up. It so happens my choice for reading wasn't a bad one. The book is about three punjabi women living in London, from which I am inclined to think there is a higher population of punjabi people there compared to any other Indian community. In the same lines, I think Halifax has a majority of a south-indian population, in general, as I was able to find a dosa place downtown quite easily.
Back to the book. Its about this three women, as I mentioned earlier. All three of them are different, awfully different, but together as friends. All of them are in their mid-30s, that stage of life where even if you are married, life is insecure for a while. If you lose whatever is holding you as one piece, you lose everything - your life, your marriage, your kids, your friends, your everything. Something like this happens to each one of them - think trust and betrayal... these two words should cover most of what happens between friends I guess. And there are the men, the men of each of their lives, the men who stayed, the men who cheated, the men who made a passing difference...
As I read the book, I marvelled at the way the author brought about the "male" part of Indian men; the usual "I-am-the-man-of-the-house-you-should-bow-down-to-me" attitude of Indian men, elevated mostly by the attitude of the women in the house; the "wife-should-be-at-home-and-reproduce-sons-and-keep-house" dream of Indian men; the "I-always-need-to-have-another-woman-apart-from-the-wife-for-everything-else" thoughts of Indian men. Though I had always known that 70% of Indian men adhere to these strict rules, reading about how they go about it was fascinating. Come to think of it, I think I should say that the men in India are not this bad... Its the ones abroad, the ones who left India to live as Indians elsewhere, that do such things.
I have always noticed that second-generation Indians living abroad, who have no chance of going back to the country they claim to be from, live in an indian time-zone that is twenty or thirty years behind. They would get the shock of their lives if they ever visit India... India has changed in a lot of ways. Yes, there are some places where people still stick to cultures and traditions and fear them, but elsewhere, people are changing to a new dimension, where the same cultures and traditions don't bother them anymore.
Though this blog never shaped up the way I wanted it to in the first place, I am still posting it coz my thoughts sort-of flowed off and I didn't want to waste them. If interested, this book is a good read... the author has a lovely sense of humor with which every word in the book comes to life. "Tussi great ho" Meera Syal. And yes, this book is surely a reality check, but mingles with comedy so much that you would laugh your heads off, thinking about the India in London and the India in India.
posted by Grace at 5:18 PM
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