Comments on: No Magic Carpet, this

By: Karthik

Karthik — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 11:25:07 +0000

Yamini, where did that come from? I never said that’s the only India, just said that is probably a big chunk of India. So I mention it and suddenly I become a foreign tourist, eh? (Although, the my dad as a snake charmer imagery was pretty funny: I wonder how my mom would’ve reacted if he had brought a couple of snakes home every night.)

And no, I was not trying to question the milieu Lavanya chose for her book either – you pick the environment you are most comfortable with.

I just thought the book wasn’t all that good. If you enjoyed it, good for you.

By: Yamini

Yamini — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 14:04:07 +0000

Yes,some people don’t earn enought o buy one sari a year. That’s the only India that those foriegn tourist(so ur dad’s a snake charmer) types know about. Lavanya captures the pulse of Bangalore very well, I think; the conflict between modernity and tradition. In today’s world the question of identity is very vague and in Sankaran’s book i could see a bit of the bangalore girl in me.

By: tilo

tilo — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 18:13:50 +0000

Karthik – checkout the Hindu review of the book. very harsh!

By: tilo

tilo — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 19:27:11 +0000

Never been to that bookstore. Nah I have no alternative perspective. it is worth reading.

By: Karthik

Karthik — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 15:20:53 +0000

Glad you liked it. Maybe you should write an alternate perspective review

Indian English writing seems to be on a roll now – Odyssey in Adyar has almost as many books in its “Indian Writing” section as it does in “Fiction.”

By: tilo

tilo — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:48:09 +0000

Read the book – loved it. Some stories more than others. Got all psenti and called my mom after reading about the aaraku nine-yards sari.

Did not feel guilty or anything because like the young May-dum people have changed. I don’t think they are so blind (like our parent’s generation) to what is going on around them who did not know and did not care about others.

Of course that is still with the realm of mai-baap I know but it is maybe one step away from social change.

Thanks for writing about it.

By: Karthik

Karthik — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 16:48:19 +0000

Maitri – I feel confused too – my wife and I make a decent amount of money these days to be able to spend well, but (not to be corny) I cringe when I come out of a fancy restaurant and look at the guy that drove us there: “Wonder if he knows how much we spent.” It is going to take a while for us to get used to flaunting wealth without feeling guilty about it.

Free market economics says that wealth will eventually start trickling down, so I guess we should keep spending a lot and hope the gap will grow narrower …

Thanks for stopping by…

By: Maitri

Maitri — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:47:23 +0000

“People that regularly spend more on a single meal than most of the people in the country make per month; Diesel wearing, Coach toting, Ray Ban peering folks walking around in the same city as people who cannot afford a saree a year”

I’ve noticed this phenom in a lot of countries, including the USA, and I’ve discovered it in history with each book I read that was written before our time. Not to say that Indians are philosophically above all others, but one would think (or, at the least, I do) that we are a more tempered lot and are less materialistic than the average western bear. Even as my parents made money in the Gulf, their biggest concern was not to let it go to our heads. Now, parents don’t seem to care any more. When did the “humility disconnect” happen?

A part of me argues the opposite as well: Why can’t India host a super-rich population that has every luxury available to the western world? It’s about time we were recognized as such.

The problem really is the corruption and Indian political system. People getting richer in India is not so rosy when the gap between them and the poor grows as well.

By: Karthik

Karthik — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 08:13:31 +0000

Actually, I found the skirt bit quite funny. Perhaps the context of the book might help – the girl was portrayed as one of those slightly loony, leftie types that roam college campuses – smart, yet unaware of the ways of the real world.

And to be honest, I was taken aback by the things some of the people in the book do – I went through the same life cycle – engineering – US Masters – Work here, but things seems to have changed a lot!

By: tilo

tilo — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 15:43:05 +0000

Heard about this person somewhere before.
I think she has been published in the Atlantic Monthly.
Extremely interesting the milieu she writes about> I am a stranger to it myself having left 10 years ago.

The ’skirt’ bit is really annoying ………
No one in today’s world is as ignorant as all that…….