I love reading. I always have, and used to read extensively in high school. Unfortunately I got so caught up in college life this last year, it took me almost all year to finish just one book.
Fortunately, I picked up reading again in summer. In the past, I always picked mysteries and suspense thrillers. I remember reading almost every Agatha Christie in the library. I then began picking up books by Mary Higgins Clark and other mystery writers.
Then there was a phase where I would fish through The Washington Post every week and read the books listed in its top 10 bestseller list. I read The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks), Life Of Pi (Yann Martel), Deception Point (Dan Brown), The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom), The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Mark Haddon), and so on. I continue to do so. I still look at the bestsellers for titles that are of interest to me, but lately, I have noticed a new trend in the type of books I have been reading. I have, more and more, been reading books about India.
In the last year, I have read The Interpreter Of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahiri), Shalimar The Clown (Salman Rushdie), Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie), The Old Man And His God (Sudha Murthy), and A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry). I continue to choose books by Indian authors or of an Indian theme.
Which is not to say I have liked all these books. Personally, I am not a fan of Rushdie; I had a hard time getting through both books and had to force myself to finish them. I wasn't too crazy about The Interpreter Of Maladies either. However, what I liked about these books is, in all these literary works, the authors were in some way or another able to beautifully capture a certain soul and spirit of India.
It is a pattern I see among all the above mentioned literary works. Most of the books are about the struggles of people of India -- about corruption, poverty, economic inequality, the caste system, injustice towards women, etc -- and most are tragic in nature; somewhere however, among all the misfortunes, the authors are able to reveal the enduring spirit of the people, of good people struggling against all odds.
Rushdie does so in Shalimar The Clown; I absolutely disliked the book, but admire him for the parallel he draws between a young boy who is ravaged by love and the paradise of Kashmir.
And that is what I love about these books. India is a beautiful, captivating country, but it is like a dirty window. One has to look beyond the dirt to see the light. That is what I am able to find in these books.
I recently read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is an absolutely incredible book, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. It is extremely sad and almost painful to read at times, but is compelling because it may be the story of many Afghan women.
It is not just a tragedy; it is also a story of hope and resilience. Hosseini too is able to capture the spirit of those struggling in a cruel times and circumstances.
I realise now that I pick up these books because, although they are fictional, they may very well be the stories of real people. Reading about India makes me see and understand the story of the people there, of things I can never experience but make India what it is.
Among all the books I have read, my favourite is A Fine Balance; not only is it my favourite India-themed book, it is possibly my favourite book ever. It actually made me tear up, and I thought about it for days after reading it, and still do.
Mistry brings together separate stories of different people, from different classes, backgrounds, and castes, until they are all intertwined with one another, just like the people of India. He forces the reader to think about the suffering, from the point of view of those who are suffering themselves and those who are watching, and questions which is worse.
It is an extremely compelling and heart-wrenching book. I sometimes wonder why I like it so much, considering it is so sad and tragic. I realise now that I like it because it is the story of the people of India.
Despite the harsh circumstances they live in, they fight and survive. It is a story of the soul and spirit of India, something I think so many authors, like all the ones I have mentioned, and readers, like me, are constantly searching for.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh
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