[iwanttogoback]

i've just had yet another vegetable curry, using a recipe that i adapt from madhur jaffrey's wonderful 'a taste of india.'

whilst i was eating it occured to me that this is probably my favourite indian book, beating the travel books and novels hands down.

i first came across madhur jaffrey maybe 12-15 years ago when i was going out with an anglo-indian chap who introduced me to indian cooking. so i headed off to the local library and found 'flavours of india', took it home and sat down at the table with a glass of red wine (that may possibly have led to one or two more ) and proceeded to read the whole book.

what i love is not just the recipes, but the arrangement of the recipes by state. each chapter is devoted to one state and is several pages about the state and its history and culinary history and traditions. what i like best is that this is followed by madhur's recollections of visits to these places, the people she met, the places she stayed and, most enticingly, the meals and feasts she remembers. absolute gastronomic heaven (dare i say gastro-porn?)

and all this time later i still dip into the pages for the stories as much as the recipes.

so, what's your favourite indian book? and why?

[Somerset]

My favorite at the moment is To the Elephant Graveyard, by Torquin Hall. Not great literature, and I thought the first couple of chapters presented a rather condescending view of India. Beyond the first couple of chapters, however, the book gives a great description of Assam and its elephants. The author travels with an elephant hunter as they track a rogue elephant from Guwahati through Assam to Kaziranga. Fun and insightful, and the book completely changed my perspective on elephants.

[YETI]

'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie.

Easily the best book I've ever read about India, and one of the best books I've ever read at all.

I can't really list all the things I liked about it but here's a few:

His East-meets-West take on things; fantastic characters: scarily overbearing mothers, crazy aunties who predict the end of the world on an almost daily basis and shikara-wallahs that refuse to wash; a massive heap of spiritual craziness that's presented as something perfectly normal; hilarious sideswipes at Bollywood movies and charlatan gurus (to name but two) and loads of other stuff. It's also got one of the most satisfying endings to a novel that I've come across.

It's up there with 'East Of Eden' and 'One Hundred Years Of Solitude' for me. The sort of book I'd gladly re-read again and again.

More practically, my most read book about India is easily my copy of the 'Rough Guide' which has yet to let me down apart from some poorly-drawn maps. Miles ahead of the 'Lonely Planet', imo.

[Casey]

I am currently reading "The Hungry Tide" by Amitab Ghosh.  I really enjoy his writing style.  I agree, that East of Eden is an amazing book, and I tend not to be too fond of American literature, but Steinbeck is great.

[Leith]

A River Sutra:Gita Mehta. I've just found it in the mess I call a bookshelf it must be the time for a re-read. Beautifly written prose without a word wasted.

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi: William Dalrymple was also found and must be due for a re-read also. Transformed Delhi in my mind from a city I wanted to get out of as quick as possible to one I want to spend time exploring.  

Leith

Edited by Leith, 03 January 2007 - 07:55 AM.

[Leith]

I have just found my copy of Mahatma: A Golden Treasury of Wisdom which I purchased at the Gahndi Museum in Bombay on my first trip to India. A true gem of a book which I have just put in my swim-bag for a summer of insightful reflection down at the local beach.

Leith

[Yashodhara]

For me it is also MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie. I read this one right after THE SATANIC VERSES when I was 14 and the fatwa on Rushdie was spoken on Valentine's Day. This book is very special to me because it opened a door into my own Asian culture and heritage for me. I was led into it very easily, Rushdie's fantastic tale spinning and his bombastic descriptions did that, they engulf you and make you feel, smell and taste everything.
When at the beginning of the book Adam Aaziz decided to stop praying for ever after he had just bumped his nose on the frozen Kashmir soil, I knew this story would not be a disappointment. There are countless references to other pieces of great world literature, and the strange and mutilated hero of the story is no exception there. I always liked the idea of the midnight conferences, secret knowledge is a fascinating thought, and the actual midnight's children are as colorful and even dreadful as the Indian gods themselves. India's cultures, traditions, history and mythology are woven into every little part of the story that takes you on a trip through time and place. The characters are altogether wondrous, and when Rushdie mentions film producers, actors and actresses, it is fun to look for analogies in reality. Saleem Sinai's childhood in Malabar Hill as well as his "adventures" as an adult are very colorful, shocking and offer a fresh history lesson, but it is by no means an easy read. Rushdie swings this way and that way and expects some background knowledge about Independence, Partition, Indira Gandhi etc. from his readers. As a reader you are confronted with many emotional ups and downs, outrage, fun, humor, grief, and Rushdie leads you through it with all literary means imaginable. I could go on and on analyzing the Sinai family chronology, but I will stop here. Rushdie has set high standards with this book, to me it is like a cry of longing and maybe nostalgia from a man who looks at his country from a certain distance and nurses his memories.
Dr F mentioned ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, and I feel Rushdie's writing is very close to Marquez and also Grass. Books like these are not written anymore, epic family chronologies with a dense historical background have become an exception. Maybe this kind of sentimentality is outdated.

[YETI]

Yashodhara, on Jan 3 2007, 07:22 PM, said:

to me it is like a cry of longing and maybe nostalgia from a man who looks at his country from a certain distance and nurses his memories.

Great description, Yash. You've really hit the nail on the head there. This 'cry of longing' is shot through most of his work - it's present in 'The Moor's Last Sigh' and is particularly strong in the more modern setting of 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet'.

One aspect of 'Midnight's Children' that surprised me, though, was it's uproarious sense of humour. Rushdie has a keen eye for India's absurdities and doesn't shrink from really taking the piss at times! The bit about the Bollywood movie (GAI-WALLAH!) had me hooting with laughter and the bit about Cyrus the Guru (ABLE TO BEND STEEL GIRDERS WITH HIS TEETH!) cracked me up, too.  

[captmahajan]

Sorry, I have many favourites. Cant stop at one!

Have to leave out Sufi Poetry, urdu couplets and the like, because they are not really 'books'. sad.
Also, am adding some books which are masterpieces in the original Indian language, but worth reading translated, too.


Anyway and all, here goes. You can blame the rum if I miss out some.

- Arthshastra, by Kautilya.  The Indian Machiavelli
-Gitanjali, by Tagore.
-All About H Hatterr , by Desani. Also called, by some, Rushdie's secret Guru. A hilarious book about an Indian seeding wisdom.
-The Mahabharata, any decent version.
-City of Djinns, Dalrymple.
-Tamas, by Bhisma Sahni. A story about India's partition.
-Godaan, by Premchand. About a guy who longs for a cow. (godaan.. literally, gift of a cow). Premchands two other stories, 'Shatranj Ke Khilari' (excellently filmed by Satyajit Ray) and Kafan (shroud) are worth reading, too.
-Midnight's Children, Rushdie.
-My experiments with truth, Gandhi

Edited by captmahajan, 03 January 2007 - 11:44 PM.

[cyberhippie]

Confessions of a Thug
Midnight Runners
Shantaram
Third Class Ticket
No Full stops in India

[Casey]

Anything by R.K. Narayan.

[iwanttogoback]

Quote

Dr F mentioned ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, and I feel Rushdie's writing is very close to Marquez

i studied both 'midnight's children' and 'one hundred years of solitude' in a lit class at uni and both writers are inextricably linked in my mind. and i've just looked at my bookshelves and discovered 'the autumn of the patriarch is missing.'

looks like 'midnight's children' is next on the bedside reading table rotation.

[jyotirmoy]

No one has mentioned Rajkahini by Abanindranath Tagore. Abanidranath was a versatile painter as well. His Rajkahini has early history of Rajasthan written in a fairytale manner, extremely enchanting. In my opinion it is a must read for all interested in Indian history & folklore.