Not the Perfect Murder: HRF Keating’s Breaking and Entering
This review first appeared in India Today, several years ago. What I didn’t mention in the review, as it didn’t seem relevant, was that I had met Keating a few years earlier. In fact, he had recommended me strongly to a British literary agent who flew down to Mumbai to sign me up, convinced (based [...]
The Ludlum Identity: Obit of a spy-fi master and other odd odds and ends
It’s been a movie-full week. Reason being my son finished his ICSE boards, my daughter recovered from an attack of viral flu, and one of my best friends had a much-needed break between schedules of the film he’s working on (the film’s directed by another mutual friend, John Mathew Mathan of Sarfarosh fame). So the [...]
Telegraph’s Fave: Vertigo vows Kolkata
This week, Vertigo makes it the list of The Top Five Books in The Telegraph (Calcutta). And its run of rave reviews continues countrywide. As well as its on-off appearances on bestseller lists. Interestingly, while it isn’t a nationwide bestseller like the Ramayana novels, it’s selling exceptionally well at certain bookstores in certain cities. What [...]
Bangalore loves Banker: Demons of Chitrakut appears on bestseller lists in the IT city
Don’t know why, but Bangalore seems to love me – or my books, at least. Demons of Chitrakut, barely out in bookstores, has started appearing on Bangalore bestseller lists, according to my publishers. If past experience is any indication, Delhi usually follows soon after. Why Bangalore and Delhi first? And why not Mumbai? Beats me. [...]
So men, what you’re doing nowdays? – random notes on current reading, music, movies.
Currently listening to Incubus, Bombay Rockers (still), Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Oasis, Nine Inch Nails, old Hindi film music, and some classical. Currently reading a lot of history tomes. Just finished The Rise and Fall of the British Empire by James Lawrence (I’d read his Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British [...]
The review that caused a tehelka in Tehelka: Babu Fictions by Tabish Khair
In a career as a journalist, first amateur, then part-time, and for a brief period, full-time, spanning around 25 years, my byline appeared around 1820 times in print. Most of them were for hoity toity publications like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Telegraph, Outlook, India Today, The Week, Rediff.com, etc. About one-third of that total [...]
Drunk and In Search of a Story: Sagarika Ghose’s The Gin Drinkers
This is another oldie – but I won’t claim it’s a goldie! – from my journalistic career. It appeared first in The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, and I recall hearing an anecdote about it subsequently from a Delhi journalist friend. At the launch of the novel in New Delhi, it seems someone, possibly Renuka Chatterjee [...]
Retelling the Ramayana: Author’s Note to the Indian edition
PS: Those of you who have the Penguin India editions of Prince of Ayodhya, Siege of Mithila, and/or Demons of Chitrakut, will find a few minor additions to this essay, especially in the last section “Maazi Naroti”. This revised version appears in Armies of Hanuman, due out in June 2005. As always, I can’t seem [...]
With Prejudice and Without Pride: Susanna Clarke’s Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell
What have I been upto of late? Well, apart from the usual reams of proofs to check and copy-edit corrections to make in my several different editions of various books of the Ramayana, working on my Mahabharata, and putting a few last-minute touches to King of Ayodhya before sending it off for good, I’ve been [...]
A magnificent miniature: Irawati Karve’s Yuganta revisited
Over the years, I’ve read Irawati Karve’s Yuganta more times than I can remember. The copy I now own is at least my third copy – the previous two editions wore out from repeated readings – and I remember buying it at least ten years ago, from Book Point at Ballard Estate, the bookstore owned [...]
V is for Vertigo
Whoever said hype sells? I didn’t. In fact, I actually used to write a weekly column in a Bombay daily called ‘Cut The Hype’. In which I used to yank the dhoti off anyone who aspired to celebdom for even a minute. I still snook a finger at the media and the Page 3 culture [...]
Biting the book-end: Shashi Tharoor’s Bookless in Baghdad
Well, this is my fourth attempt to post to the blog this past week. The previous three attempts seem to have got lost in transition. What were they about? Well, one was about the music I’ve been listening to lately – a lot of Radiohead, The Who, soft rock, classical, my regular mixed bag. Another [...]
Cover stories
Well, my copies of the Penguin India editions of the first three Ramayana books – Prince of Ayodhya, Siege of Mithila, and Demons of Chitrakut – arrived today. Have to say, I like them. They’re handsome, sturdily bound, and the paper is nice and thick, if a bit yellow. The printing could be better, especially [...]
Penguin India’s Author in Focus
Aharrrmph. (Clearing throat softly.) Guess who’s Penguin India’s Author in Focus for the month of March 2005? They even have a picture of me that’s halfway decent. So, head on over to the Penguin Books India website. And join me in figuring out (scratches balding patch on head in bafflement) why on earth they’d go [...]
