When White Tigers go postal

I recently finished reading Aravind Adiga's novel The White Tiger.  I'm not aiming to do a review here, just share my thoughts about what I took away from reading it.

I should note at the outset that because I have an Indian background - and as such I'm guessing wasn't part of the target audience for Adiga's work.  Just a hunch, but this book will be more of an eye opener from those who haven't been exposed to the wide spectrum of Indian society and culture.

Having said this I found it tremendously engaging.  I read it virtually in a single sitting (or more accurately in various locations on a trip home from Berlin).  I'm surprised this book won the Man Booker price last year; the story was well told - but the writing lacked something.   (Maybe its just me - the effect on me might have been exacerbated by it being written mostly in the first person)

Anyway - it was a good read, and back on topic, my main take away was a reminder of how predisposed Indians are to class segregation. (Actually class and caste - and sadly holds true when Indians emigrate). 

In particular, there are those in the Indian upper classes, who look down on others, and treat them harshly. (This sort of thing is not unique to Indians, but the ensuing behaviour is more prevalent in Indians, I think.)  I've seen it, even at times been on the receiving end of such treatment - and the story in the book is an example of how it popularly manifests itself in Indian society even today - the servant / "master" relationship.

Will it ever change?  When my family lived in India we had servants - to help with the day to day chores.  I can always remember my parents and grandparents treating them with respect.  Sure, they were there to do a job - but they were always treated well and looked after.  I'm very proud of my family for behaving in this way - it would have been all to easy to follow the example set by those around them.

Moorish View

A story in the Independent today reminded me of my visit to The Alhambra last summer. Unfortunately not all publicity is good publicity - a ticketing scandal has prompted the story - but it made me reflect on a couple of great days in and around Grenada.

Prior to arriving in Grenada, we had spent time in Seville and Cordoba. Seville was great, but predictable, and Cordoba had not much going for it apart from The Mesquita.

Grenada was different - it had such a diverse architecture, no more obvious than in The Alhambra. At this point I’ll confess I haven’t always been taken with Islamic architecture. Nothing against it, just not my taste, The Taj Mahal being the obvious exception.

The Taj is an inspiring sight. You feel captivated by it - wanting to sit and stare at its unique beauty.

And in many respects The Alhambra complex was the same. So I’m quite saddened to hear that a (large) group of people on the inside have been fleecing it for years - but I’m sure a monument that has stood the test of all this time will survive to see much more.

We spent a few hours there, walking through the many perfectly manicured gardens and ornate palace rooms. It was a great day. Afterward we took the minibus through the back streets to an area the guide book promised would give great views over the town and the site.

Unfortunately we got a bit disoriented in the Jewish quarter (remember, I said diverse :-) at night, and when we finally found the lookout it was dark. Still, there was a great atmosphere around - and we stayed a while - but I imagined given the orientation it would be a great place to see the sun set.

So the next day, we made a special effort to go up to the same hilltop in time - and we weren’t disappointed. It was a great sunset - as the story quotes Bill Clinton - “the world's most beautiful sunset”. I won’t disagree.

Maximum City maxed-out

The siege in The Maximum City is over. Like everyone I’ve been following the media reports and reading op-eds and my reaction is well - sigh.

Here we go again. When I was younger incidents like this seem foreign, difficult to comprehend, but usually once the noise dies down - I felt a sense of optimism.

Now that I am older and have seen the same scenario unfold over and over again, I realise that I feel more blind hope than optimism.

Its the same old story.  The moderates between the warring factions try and diplomatically resolve their differences.  The extremists who want to push everyone further apart - insert themselves into the conflict in the only way they know how.  This sets the peace process back a few years - until pattern repeats itself.  The net effect is well, not much changes.

In 1992 my family and I found ourselves in the midst of riots in Bombay. The city was in lock-down, curfews were enforced past sunset and anyone who was out on the streets afterward had a better than average chance of being shot at.

It was all a bit surreal for me at the time, even when one afternoon my mother and I got accidentally caught up in the violence. No more than 50 metres from the entrance to our family's apartment compound in Bombay was a kind of small suburban shopping mall. Hence we thought that under the circumstances it wasn’t much of a risk venturing out that far in broad daylight to shop for some essentials.

We were wrong. On our way back we had to take cover from an angry mob who were driving by the area throwing rocks and anything else they could find at passers by. We were fairly lucky to not get hurt, but I can’t imagine what it was like for those caught up in the violence in the last few days as they took shelter.  They had effectively found themselves in a war-zone.

Many of them didn’t survive, and my thoughts are with them and their families. In ‘92 the script which was being followed was the all too familiar Hindus v Muslims.

Thousands died that year from senseless violence - instigated mindlessly from both sides. Both sides tried to out do each other on the scale of violence until the climactic bombs which brought the financial centre to a standstill were detonated.

This time the script is a bit different. And one of the differences is that judging by the reactions - this is being seen as an attack on all of Bombay.

Its not just the Maharashtrians (moderate or right-wing) and Muslims who are speaking about the terror and injustice - its everyone.

And as Anil Dharker points out - that’s because historically Bombay doesn’t belong to any one sub-culture or denomination. It is the ultimate melting pot.

Its a great city, full of great people. I’m reminded of that great quote about London by Samuel Johnson which applies equally to Bombay - "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.“

Everyone is talking about Bombay's "Spirit".  I hope that it prevails.

The Musings of Woody

What makes a good holiday read? A book that doesn’t make you think too much. Last year before going on holiday I picked up a collection of stories by Woody Allen. The Insanity Defense brought together a best of, dating back to some of his earlier work - and after reading it, I wanted more.

But not because every story was hilarious. I would say only about one out every four stories I found funny, and the rest were just a window into a very imaginative and at times strange mind. I don’t know why I like his sense of humour. Some of the stories had me in tears, which is surprising because I haven’t always been a fan of his movies.

In his movies Allen usually plays the neurotic lead, and whilst this was funny the first couple of times, I eventually tired of it. His writings however are much more imaginative.

His latest book is Mere Anarchy, and yet again I found myself laughing out loud.

I really can’t find a better way to describe the style of writing than the book’s blurb:

        Surreal, absurd, rich in verbal play, bitingly satirical and just plain daft...

Give it a try, here’s an excerpt and a few of my favourites from the book:

• Tandoori Ransom
• Calisthenics, Poison Ivy, Final Cut

Podroll: What I'm listening to at the moment

Being the weekend, I listened to some interesting podcasts, here are a few recommendations:

• The first episode of BBC 4's The Bottom Line with Evan Davis  had an interesting discussion with business leaders about the effect of debt/equity issues in financing businesses in the current credit crunch.  Yes, I did say interesting :-) Actually its quite a diverse discussion, including a good layman's description of leveraging gone wrong for those who want the crisis described in words rather than scary numbers like 700 Billion.  Some highlights:
• A Hedge fund manager who has been short selling bank shares for the last 5-6 years
• Good analogy of the economy on an artificial stimulant (10"40')
• Fair Trade - Unsurpisingly the Hedge Fund Mgr couldn't come to grips with the concept - very funny.
• CNET's Insider Secrets revealed a good KVM like software solution called Synergy
• NPR's Science Friday discusses a potential breakthrough in diabetes research.  Essentially scientists have found that the BCG vaccine might work against the body's auto-immune bad T cells which eventually cause Type 1 Diabetes
• Travel with Rick Steves speaks to satirist David Sedaris on life in Paris.