A Prearranged Love - Anusha Vishnampet

'A Prearranged Love' is a breezy, love story based in Hyderabad in this debut novel by Anusha Vishnampet. Now Hyderabad being my home city is a place close to my heart, and I was really glad to note that Anusha set her story in our city where not too many novels are. Wonder why. The other two novels that I read recently are the Eighteenth Parallel by Asokamitran and Hussaini Alam House by Huma Kidwai.

Anyway Anusha takes us go headlong into the story of Rekha and Arjun, two young, twenty somethings, who are set up by their parents (read as mothers) who are good friends themselves. The two, Rekha the firebrand advertising professional with a mind of her own, and Arjun, the handsome (perhaps arrogant) software techie, get into a love-hate relationship that starts with the latter and progresses to the former. From a matchmaking date which goes all wrong to an accidental meeting as professionals - Anusha representing the service provider and Arjun the helpful client - the two go on a roller coaster ride in their short relationship that could end up anywhere given their unpredictable temperaments. The duo keeps going around Hyderabad as they meet one another and I wished Anusha had described a few more places in the city to give the Hyderabadi readers a stronger feel. 'A Prearranged Love' is funny, visual and a nice quick read.

Anusha writes well with an ease that is rare for a debut novelist, and I am sure she will produce many more stories. The characters are well etched out, the conversations are zingy enough and she does not shy away from the odd passionate kissing scene which is a rarity in itself in Indian Writing in English. I felt another thirty pages could have given it more depth really, the characters and the supporting characters, their motives and their challenges. But on the plus side she does not complicate the plot too much and keeps it straightforward which is nice. The scenes are highly visual and stay which is another huge plus for her. The book itself has an attractive cover and is well produced by Jaico which has now ventured into popular fiction.

Seven Years of Highly Defective People - Scott Adams

This is a 256 page book filled with hundreds of Dilbert cartoons. As the cover says it's the Scott Adams Guided Tour of the Evolution of Dilbert. For a cartoon strip Dilbert is not easy because Adams does make you think, and more than once I did go back to read the cartoon and found something that I did not find the first time. I am lucky I did not meet Adams in his years at the workplace else he might have added a character as he did with almost all the other characters he has in the strip (including Asok the Indian).

Dilbert's resentment of cubicles, pointless meetings, management decisions and their justifications, his own reactions to management and those of his colleagues are some of the subjects of the cartoons. Dilbert was probably never meant to be funny as in rolling over the floor types (or maybe there are those types who get these jokes better than I do). But I must say that I enjoyed Dilbert a lot.

What Adams is so good at is in showing corporate world that there are really no clothes there. Most things that he says are funny because they are true and there's no escaping it whether you're in USA or India or wherever. The Dogbert, Ratbert and other animal characters add their own set of opinions and demands.

Good stuff Scott. I don't know if it changed anything but it sure did add humor to the workplace. And the world in general.

Life of Pi - Movie Review

'Life of Pi' was explained in two lines that Pi says. Something to the effect that Richard Parker , the tiger, kept Pi alive through those lost days in the Pacific. The tiger first strikes the fear of death in the young boy thereby keeping him awake, aware and alive as he looks to survive. Then, as he begins to understand the helplessness of the tiger and starts to take care of it, Richard Parker gives him a purpose to live. That responsibility gives Pi a power far higher than thinking of his own life or death. God did make a masterpiece when he made man - it's always easier for us to rise above our own lives when it comes to others - our children, family, subjects, anyone. Wonderful stuff.

'Life of Pi' is told by the protagonist Pi (short for Piscine Molitor, a swimming pool in France, though why anyone would name their first born Ravi and the second born Piscine Molitor beats me). Pi is the second son of a zoo owner in Pondicherry and he grows up developing a deep faith in god, in all gods really. The family decides to move to Canada upon the imposition of emergency in India, animals and all, and boards a Japanese ship. The ship hits a storm and soon Pi finds himself on a small boat with a Bengal tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an Orang Utan. The three animals die, killed by one another, and its Pi and the tiger, and how they survive the 227 day journey across the Pacific. Who survives and how is the story.

I did read Yann Martel's work on the recommendation of my good friend Naresh Raghvan a decade ago almost. It did nothing to me then. I was stupid and younger then. I am stupid and older now so it made some sense. Need to read the book again. I think it's a wonderful tale, told in a stark and brilliant setting. It's either the tiger or you. And when you survive that, you think that the tiger is thinking the same thing. Could it be that we survive the journey, not in spite of one another, but because of one another? Are our worst enemies really our best friends?

(Interestingly the writer of the book Yann Martel was accused of plagiarism from a novella 'Max and the Cats' written by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar - a story of a Jewish-American who shares a boat with a jaguar. However I'd like to think that stories probably go beyond their setting and that Martel, who later agreed to being inspired by a review of the novella, built his story on a different premise.)

Ang Lee is a master. To take such a complex tale and show it so powerfully on screen, to entertain throughout without a single moment that stretches your involvement, to show it so wonderfully and get the message across must be very satisfying to him. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I have a feeling that the movie and its idea will stay with me longer than I think it might. It does endorse a view I am pretty convinced about now - life gets boring if there is no challenge and it takes on a higher plane if there is purpose.

There were moments when Anjali got scared with all the growling and shouting and the imminent sense of danger but full credit to the movie that the five year old got back to watching the movie after those few moments. And this one is even better, she says that her favorite character in the movie was Richard Parker. I think she may have some more to share - might be a good idea to interview her on this. It's a classic this movie, a visual treat, and deserves all the praise and recognition it got.

Thought For The day - What More Can I Do?

It popped up while I was talking to a bunch of young employees the other day. One of them brought up the all-important question - what is the company doing for me? Why am I not getting paid more? Why should I work harder?

My experience teaches me that it never works that way. If you are not getting whatever you want, it is plain that you do not deserve it yet. The question to ask in such a situation is this - What more can I do to get what I want? There is no doubt that there is still some work left to be done because if you deserve it, nothing in the world will stop you from getting it.

Instead of complaining about not getting what you want, look for what else you can do. Add value to yourself. Prepare yourself, and you will get what you deserve.

What's In It For Me?
Most times we are more concerned with the regressive question - What is in it for me? This question stops all growth instantly, increases resentment and makes one a bad influence on the team. It affects not just the individual performance but team performance as well. It is a sure path to slide down and get into a situation you don't wan to get into.

What More Can I Do?
Instead, shift your thoughts and answer this question - What more can I do?

You will grow. You will be an asset wherever you go.

The Tragic Story Of The Malnourished Newspapers

I was shocked by what I saw today. The Sunday newspaper was badly malnourished. It looked so bad that it looks sure to die. How could it have deteriorated so rapidly despite being under my gaze daily?

But the government and society in general must take into account this observation of mine and act instantly before the poor newspapers die and become extinct. I remember a time when the daily newspapers were healthy, bonny, full of beans, innocence and good stuff to share with all of us. They had lots to share, good stories, great content, came with a certain moral uprightness about them and passed on what they saw in an unbiased fashion. We read stuff about politics, sports, local news, movies, art, books, culture, people, travel, cooking, humour and could not get enough of them. There were middles, slice of life stuff. Newspapers could keep people occupied for half a day. And one newspaper could do that because it had enough content to tell, share. People improved their vocabulary by reading the newspaper, many improved their knowledge and prepared for exams and several men kept out of their wives paths by reading every word, end to end. But those were times when newspapers were healthy.

Over time the newspapers must have been afflicted by some mysterious disease. Perhaps it started when they began to believe that they could shape people's views. Thy began to see themselves as creators who could create whatever they could. And destroy what they could. Once they bought into this belief, they forgot about good content, about good news, and started to publish stuff that would create or destroy. It was not healthy diet anymore. It was not about the reader anymore, it was now about the person who'd be affected by the news - one who could be created or destroyed by the newspaper. The disease grew slowly and was largely undetected. The newspapers hid the sickness behind dramatic news, glitzy ads and lots of commercial pamphlets.

The first signs for me was when the newspapers were done within 5 minutes for me as against the earlier half an hour. The content shrunk. The second thing was that most of the news not of any real use to me nor well written. The last straw was when I began to think that perhaps life is not so bad without a newspaper anyway. I knew the rot had set in but had never imagined it would be so bad. Now the paper that comes in in every morning is emaciated, ribs sticking out of its back and not a good thing to start the day with. The first page and the last page are practically the same. Its shocking that we cannot seem to give a healthy diet to our newspapers.

It's probably too late. Only the most drastic measures may work now. The newspaper is dying a slow and painful death. Can someone give it good, healthy nourishment? Can we create news that will interest the newspaper so it can become healthy again?

Midnight's Children - Movie Review

As I watched 'Midnight's Children' I was surprised that I was able to recount names, sequences and even lines form the book that I read more than a decade ago. Much credit to Salman Rushdie for writing so well. But my memory stopped at a stage when Saleem Sinai starts meeting his extraordinarily talented midnight children, maybe a third into the story. It was then that I blanked out totally. I vaguely remembered Shiva and Parvati the witch, and all else was a blur.

The movie is a visual treat but. The story took off well from Dal lake and the first half moves rapidly, and you wonder at Rushdie's clever plot. The story of a boy whose life is bound to that of India's, both born at the same time and both having the same hopes and expectations pinned upon them. How Saleem Sinai falls from his exalted position, finds out that his life was not really his, and goes back to make peace with a life that is salvaged from whatever is left completes a rather uninteresting part of the story. Once the cleverness ran out, it got boring. Actually once the children grew up, it got boring really. The older Saleem Sinai, Parvati, Shiva - none of them had the energy nor the conviction about them for me to expect anything interesting from them. What the midnight children were up to with their extraordinary powers that cannot save them, why Saleem Sinai does much of what he does with his life did not draw me in. It went by superficially until a lame and abrupt end. Silence.

The story could have worked as a commentary on India's reality up to the time of Emergency and after. Or it could have worked as a story of the extraordinary children. But it does neither. It's rather comic in its treatment which might not have been the right tone for the issues that are portrayed. Disappointing to me. Rushdie's novel was extraordinary for his brilliant writing style and I'd think it would be most difficult to bring his flavour, an overriding component of the book, into the movie. It would have been safer to choose a lesser road, so the story is told at least.

But movie apart what was a first to me was this. For the first fifteen or twenty minutes of the show there were just the three of us, Koni, Ranjan and I, watching the movie - on the first day's first show. The hall filled up to about 50% capacity later on. But watching a show just for us - a bit like Amitabh booking the entire show in Sharaabi - only we did not. Everyone came late. Why would they? I wonder.

Talk by John Zubrzycki

I was keen to hear author John Zubrzycki speak because I loved reading his debut book 'The Last Nizam'. That book taught me much about a Hyderabad that I never knew about (and sadly, never cared to know). It is quite possible that several people residing in the city for all these years are unaware of the history of the city too. Apart from academic writing, I found little that could present this part interestingly. 'The Last Nizam' filled that void for me and brilliantly. I had to go and hear this talk at the Maulana Azad Urdu University yesterday, the 1st of February 2013.

So once again I found myself heading to the Maulana Azad Urdu University within the span of a fortnight - the last time I'd been here was for the Hyderabad Literary Fetsival two weeks ago. This time I had Amar with me and I hoped to spot Jayesh Ranjan (who was the one who told me about this event). When we walked in at 1130, the scheduled time for the program to begin, there was hardly anybody in the compact auditorium of the Main Library, save the author and a few others. Soon the audience filled up and after an introduction and welcome address the author spoke, despite a bad throat, about the book and some of his findings and observations in the process. He captured the essence of the book very well and for the non-history reader, a good capsule of Hyderabad's history.

There was not much time for questions and interactions (thankfully) but there was enough time for certain pointed questions and suggetsions about what the author should have mentioned or written about and how. There seemed  to be an air of 'you did okay, but you could have done better'. Or perhaps its just me. I cannot take this cultural superiority business for too long.  I do not subscribe to it especially if it is not demonstrated with good grace and humility.

What struck me rather odd was that I found none who expressed gratitude to the author for writing this wonderful book (and his next) based on Hyderabad. For an Australian to do that and write about Hyderabad is in itself a great achievement and one that is commendable, especially since we do not seem to have the talent here ourselves. And if that talent is there, it is certainly not getting the big stage. John has put it all on the big stage and has done justice to it as well. As he said in his own words '..tried to present both viewpoints as honestly as I could'. Having read his book I think he did that and never succumbed to the lure of trying to make of dramatic or controversial. Seen in this light, I expected a word of praise, a good word, a thank you to someone who does not belong to this land, from the culture bearers of Hyderabad. Culture to me is what we show in our word, thought and deed, and not merely in recounting history.

Fortunately I have no cultural baggage and have no qualms in accepting that I am a philistine. I mobbed John like a totally possessed fan and got his autograph on Harsha's ancient, dog eared copy (which I had the good sense to pick up before I came over). I also handed John a copy of the book review I'd done on 'The Last Nizam' on this blog, which also serves as my main reference when I need to brush up on my history of the Nizams and Hyderabad.

It was a bonus meeting Huma Kidwai, Jayesh Ranjan, Irshad Ali and Asif of A.A. Hussain. I did not know that John had released his second book 'The Mysterious Mr. Jacob' (on the man who tried to sell the 'Jacob's diamond to the sixth Nizam Mahboob Ali Khan) at the Jaipur Literary Festival. I do wish that each time an author is invited to speak one of the book stores is intimated so the books can be sold at the venue. It makes immense sense. Asif of A.A. Husain told me he would have done the job if someone had told him. Just shows how involved publishers and distributors are in the sales process.

I enjoyed the talk and the experience. I loved the fact that i got him to autograph (it's an interesting one). And I do look forward to reading about the Mysterious Mr. Jacob.