Night in Delhi - Ranbir Sidhu

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

This is the first novel I've read by Ranbir Sidhu, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I was expecting something a bit more campy, but that was proved false. 

I don't remember what the main character's name is, as it's written in first person, but this novel is about the protagonist, his on-again, off-again, maybe pimp boyfried, and their piece of crap roommate. They go through a few vignets that feature a Delhi with alternate sexual realities. 

I very much enjoyed this novel for a few reasons. I'm pretty open about Delhi being one of the worst places in India to be (and of all the places I've been in my life), and the author has done an absolutely brilliant job of describing the fuck all, dirty attitude that Delhi fosters. The characters were well done and not complex - another noticeable trait one can pick up in Delhi (yes, yes, other places too, don't come for me Delhiites, it's a preference). Some people don't have depth or redeeming characteristics; they're just pieces of shit. Some people have talents and depth that even their families and lovers don't know about. 

What I found especially touching was the simplicity and acceptance of different varieties of love. Temporary loves, long term longing loves, unrequitted loves, the main character manages to cover a lot of bases without judgement.

In a country to fetishizes the traditional hetero normative journey of dating the opposite sex and getting married to have kids, this was a refreshing, normalizing read about letting people love who they want, when and how they want, without shoving it in the reader's face or being preachy about it. Very well done. I'd love to read more from Ranbir Sidhu if the quality is like this.

~Becky~

Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets - Saif Mahmood

NonFiction

Verdict: Read It (4/5)

Overview:

I picked this up from Bookworm. It is the first work I have read by Saif Mahmood

I have a horrific fascination with Delhi. It's a complex city with an intricate history of amazing and terrible things. Poets are one of the geat things to come out of the city. I especially enjoy reading about Urdu poetry, though it continues to escape my comprehension if not appreciation. 

Saif Mahmood goes on a tour of Delhi and some of her most famous poets. It's a history and cultural lesson neatly wrapped up.

What I Enjoyed:

Saif Mahmood has a gift for bringing to life poets. His insight into them as people and in their time context is excellent for understanding where the poetry they wrote came from. Each section is digestible and while related, it is not necessary to read any other section to understand; you can come and go as you'd like.

What I Disliked:

I wanted more information! To be fair, it's a good-sized book and more information would have been overkill.

Summary:

This is a good read if you're feeling indulgent or romantic. Urdu poetry could bring romance even out of the dead. Understanding the poets and city that produced it helps you appreciate the poetry even more. Read it!

 

~Becky~

Delhi: A Soliloquy - M. Mukundan

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

Delhi is a novel that I pickup up for a few reasons. The cover art is very nice, which always gets me. I also do not like Delhi as a city. It's one of the few places I've ever felt unsafe, even when accompanied by my partner. It's a reputation the city has earned with good reason. Yet people live breathe and move through their lives there because that's where they live for a multitude of reasons.

M. Mukundan brings us through the live on a Malayali man named Sahadevan. He has come fresh off the train to try to "Make his way" in the big city and earn for his family. He is supported by other Malayalis who live in Delhi and have chosen to make it their home. The author doesn't focus too much on Sahadevan in the beginning; he brings the audience into a wider focus of everything going on around him. As with many lives, Sahadevan has people fade in and out of his everyday life due to a variety of reasons. We see this happen through the novel, as well as his own personality changes as he ages. In general he is a responsible soul (though one is clear he would rather not be) and this care extends to anyone he comes across. He simply feels obliged to help. As a result, his own life goes on the back burner until he is too old to change some of his choices, such as his own marriage. 

Mukundan does a wonderful job of capturing the small things about being from Kerala in a northern city without beating it to death nor suggesting the audience wouldn't understand any of it thus overexplaining. He simply points out that a South Indian moving to a northern city and making a living as an outsider can be difficult. Which it definitely is, but people do and life moves on. 

Mukundan has also set his story in a time that was tumultuous for India, not to mention Delhi. . Some of the characters that he has brilliantly woven into the story as side characters help illustrate some of the horrific things that have happened. The story opens with accounts of 2 wars and how it affects the mentality of the citizens His friend's son gets forced sterilized in a Sanjay Gandhi sterilization camp initiative. One Sikh landlord and his wife and elder daughter are murdered when the reprisals came for Indira Gandhi's murder happened. The mindset just never seems to improve - Delhi is a city with a grinding, brutal past. Yet people move on and survive.

It's a dark novel to read, but history is history. As I knew before I started, this novel has just reinforced what I thought of Delhi before. I don't particularly ever want to even visit there again. I can't imagine living there.

Read it!

~Becky~

Delhi Noir - Omair Ahmad et Al

Fiction

Short Stories

As I mentioned, I have been very into short stories as of late. I have to be honest, the introduction to this collection sold me before I even started on the stories. The stories did not disappoint either. 

These stories feature the grittiness of life in Delhi. After visiting a few times, Delhi is not a place I'd ever want to visit again, for many of the reasons that come to the forefront of these stories. They are not happy ones, nor ones that give you any hope for humanity. Yet people move along with their lives because that's just how Delhi is. 

The authors and stories chosen gel very well together and do an excellent job of portraying the city in a realistic way that is often missing from the sanitized, glamorous life that the rich and famous live. 

How I Became a Farmer's Wife - Yashodhara Lal

Non-Fiction
Verdict: Read it

This was another interesting one. I can't remember why I chose to rent it, but I was definitely interested.

The story is about a couple who have kids and a happy life but the husband has dreams of being a farmer. So he quits his job, finds a partner, and does just that. Obviously this isn't an easy task for him, not to mention the family supporting him.

The author is honest about the difficulties they face, sometimes hilariously frustrating as India is prone to be. The incident with the babas taking over the farm had me laughing in delight.

It was a little heavy on the spiritual angle for my taste. I really didn't need to know what she talked about with her yoga instructor, but hey, i guess that was how she coped.

The ending also didn't wrap up neatly. Her husband decided that even with the steep learning curve and some moderate sucess, that the first attempt had failed. But that didn't stop him from deciding to evolve his technique, find cheaper land, and try again.

It was refreshing to see people going after something they were passionate about.

Read it.

Becky