Prophetic title,indeed. Review on Keep off the Grass - Karan Bajaj

For the uninitiated the word "grass" in the title doesn't refer to the type that grows on the lawns and is devoured by the cows.It is something that is grown illegally and is devoured by people who are supposedly searching for some clarity in their lives while being lost in the cloud of smoke it generates.

It took me more than a month to complete a booker winner from Anita Desai and after that painstakingly labourious exercise of dragging myself to the last page and being relieved more than anything else, I was desperately searching for something to read which would not only be light and entertaining but also which would resurrect my love for stories which, quite frankly had taken a bit of a beating.This is when I stumbled upon "Keep off the Grass" by yet another first timer Karan Bajaj.

It is highly unlikely that most of you wouldn't have come across the term ABCD(American Born Confused Desi).Well, this story is about one such confused creature, who leaves behind a highly desirable life comprising of a hotshot, obscenely paying investment bank job, a Newyork studio apartment, daily visits to exotic restaurants and all the tangible and intangible perks of the high life and to the utter shock and amazement of his parents and friends decides to come to India.No, he isn't the next monk who sells his Ferrari and purifies himself in the Himalayan territories and neither is he trying to be one of the many back packers that America exports to the whole world.He, who had graduated from Yale has come to join the IIM Bangalore for a 2 year course in Management and more importantly he thinks he has had enough of the Sushi-eating, phoney talking high life of Newyork and hopes to get his true bearings in the chaos that is India(guts, madness or plain stupidity?).

Right from the time he boards the flight, his co passenger being an Indian techie, he is greeted with astonishment in every circle he enters.As he starts his life at the IIM and gets to know his classmates his education in Indianness begins in full throttle.He spends a lot of time with his immediate neighbours, one an IIT grad who is genuinely disgusted at the rat-race and  never misses an opportunity to voice his frustration in his own articulate ways and is always either eager to or involved in devouring the grass, and the other one an ex-army officer who has served in the Kargil war and seen death from dangerously close quarters.Quite a trio, isn't it?As the grind of the tough life at IIM gradually gets to all of them, the roller coaster of a journey triggers off where the ABCD learns the art of how to procure Ganja from the most obscure places, spends a fortnight meditating(forced of course) and the moment it ends going seamlessly back to his old ways, lands in prison albeit for a small period, goes hard selling in Benaras and numerous such events.

This book is not much different from the scores of the other IIT-IIM related stories donning the book shelves except that the author is very earnest in his story telling and the characters, although a bit typical seem very real. It is a fantastic read when one is not looking for anything heavy(Arundhati Roy and Gabriel Marquez are always there to oblige) and a real fun way to spend a boring journey or a lazy weekend.The absolute best part of the book, for me was the last sentence and you will realize that only when your read the entire piece.

An Afterthought-

God made Grass, Man made Alcohol.Who do you trust?

(Read it on a T-Shirt, somewhere)