Mother Pious Lady - Book Review
There are big books of small
things, small books of big things and big book of big things and small books of
small things. If I were to classify this book into one of these four then I
would probably say it is a big book of small things. But these small things are
those that make up the social fabric of India and in turn what India is all
about. As I had earlier indicated in my review of A Rainbow in the Night, I
like authors who drive their point by first showing out the entire landscape
and then focusing on their object/element of choice. Mr. Desai also uses such a
technique when he goes back to the dark old days to the good old days and then
explains how our current thinking is either markedly different from or heavily
influenzed by those days. However, because it is a big book of small things,
the focus is kind of blurred and the sharpness is quite not what you get out of
a research paper. This is good as well as bad depending on what you expected
out of the book. For me, it was good as I got a wholesome picture and I could
mould each chapter or experience to the management scenarios I encounter, to
explain why customers/co-workers behave/work in a certain way.
The book follows a time-linear
path as it starts from past, then moves on to the present and finishes off with
future. The good thing is that the author has provided majority of pages for the
past, then to present and a few pages for the future. This shows the sound
research and subject knowledge of the author. He analyzes how the past experiences
have affected the present. He also had the maturity to not to blabber some nonsensical
prediction for our future. Rather he explains how we can shape our future and
urges us to use the right lens so that we are not misled by all the brouhaha
around brand India. Another good news is that the book is divided into very
small chapters, each is (kind of) an experience that an average Indian citizen
would have undergone. So these chapters can be read in any order or some of
them can even be skipped if you are not interested. The effect it has on the
overall reading experience depends on how many chapters you skipped rather than
which chapters you skipped as these are experiences which tie to each other
anyway. But I would recommend not to skip the initial chapters as this evoked
strong sense of nostalgia in me. It made me grin from ear to ear and sometimes
even crack up laughing thinking about what I had done in my childhood. Any
guy/gal born in 1980s should try not to skip the early chapters.
The chapters about the Bajaj
scooters and stainless steel utensils made me grin from ear to ear. While the chapters
about the hill stations and vacations made me frown up on him for trivializing
such an important experience in my life. But then again he shifted gears and
had me in splits and nodding in smug appreciation when he trashes the concept
of ‘arranged marriages’. I shall give you just one experience which he had
explained with which I quite couldn’t agree. In one of the chapters he
explained the emergence of small town girls and he argues that the mask or
whatever it is that they make out of their duppattas as a sign of progress or
sign of increasing self confidence. This explanation looked contrived in my
opinion. The book in essence took me on a roller coaster in terms of my
reactions to the chapters.
An interesting observation I made
while reading this book is that how close is our thinking to China's when it
comes to patriotism and portraying our country to outside (read: Western) world.
In smoke and mirrors, Pallavi Iyer mentions that Chinese citizens hated bad
news and avoided it at all cost. In fact, they had built a false Utopia around
them and chose to ignore some of the pressing problems they have in their
country. The media regulation is only part of that plan as media houses play an
important role in upkeeping the utopian image. It is strikingly similar to our
behavior wherein we ignore the presence of slums and feel indignant when a
westerner points it out! Two things emerge -
- The author further strengthens my belief in Ubuntu, philosophy that All Towns are one. We, like the Chinese, want only the good India and good part to be known to us and the world.
- More importantly, he opens our eyes and hence urges us to shut up, accept it, acknowledge it and change it. Rather than ignoring it or whining about it and searching for the emergent India at the top while the emerging India is at the middle
Tackling a big problem, on which everyone has an opinion about and most have an emotional attachment to, even in a big book is tricky. There will be chapters which you have exactly the opposite view than the one that the author has taken. You might opine that the author has made a mountain out of a mole hill in certain other chapters. But the author has presented his view and smartly put into a form where you have the choice to skip the chapter if you want. So I don't really see this as a disadvantage but only a minor hiccup. From my personal experience, I found the boring chapters were in the middle and I could not help but yawn and switch off my reading lights. This was one of the most time consuming books for me. It took me almost three months to finish this book. Mumbai's traffic and commute did not help much either. Another important factor is that you run out of nostalgic moments somewhere in the middle of the book and the boring present starts to take over. These were the pages I found the most difficult to coast through because I am confused where this country is presently headed to while the author definitively tries to pave a path. At least he is clear about what he is talking.
All in all, it’s a great book
especially if you are a sociology student or if you are a traveler in India who
wants to understand why we are like this only or even if you are a resident
Indian who cannot understand your neighbor who is a filter coffee sipping,
Hindu newspaper reading, cricket fanatic who can argue about any topic under
the sun. It’s a great read, go get it!
