Jan 16, 2008 07:36 PM
3510 Views
The tailors who have
contrasting personalities, the young Parsi who is lost between his
values and the way the world is treating those near and dear to him,
the beggar on wheels who lives without a worry and falls prey to an
accident of circumstances, the Beggarmaster who is, alternately, a
benefactor and a terror to those he controls, Dina Patel, the central
protagonist of the book who tries to continually balance her life, her
fortunes, her finances and her luck, this book has it all. I started
this book with the feeling that Mistry would lead us on a garden path
and/or into the pits; he, however, wrote such a tale, frenzied at some
places and morbidly but effectively slow at others, that I , who
ordinarily reads books at a snail's pace, finished this book within a
fortnight. And what a fortnight it was! He made me smile, laugh, cry
bucketsful of tears, and grimace; he made me sing with joy, scream with
agony, dance with ecstasy and frown with a sense of impending doom as
he led me into the world of ordinary Indians with extraordinary tales
of joy and sorrow, of crimes and redemption, of anger and dismay and
destruction and sorrow.
In
the end, sorrow and a sense of loss pervaded me when I closed the book.
The feelings stayed with me for some more days, and then, Mumbaiite
that I was, I learnt to proceed with my life. From time to time, I
glance at the side-title of the book on my bookcase, and am instantly
transported into his world.
Recommended reading for EVERYONE, but especially for urbanites from India and any other developing nation.
