Looking Ahead: 2010, A Year of Promising Literature

Was just going through the catalogue of a publishing house and realised that there are a lot of books I'd be interesting in reading next year. A quick glance through my own shortlist


1) The Temple-goers by Aatish Taseer: Billed as the Delhi novel, I can't remember the last time a book was awaited with such anticipation. A debut novel, Temple-goers is the story of a young man who returns to Delhi after living abroad for many years. Soon, he is befriended by Aakash, an unpredicatable young man who shows him the dirty underbelly of Delhi. Both get embroiled in a politically sensitive case which exposes the ruthlessness of Delhi society


A few months ago, Aatish read out excerpts from Temple Goers for a select audience in Delhi. I happened to be present at the reading and, along with the others, was mesmerised by what I'd heard. And if that reading was any indication, this book will definitely be flying off bookshelves. 


2)  Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin 'Einstein' Varghese by Sidin Vadukut: Before I proceed any further, let me declare that this is a plug. For ever since I started reading whatay.com, I've been a fan of Sidin's writing. Be it popular culture, travel tales or mostly random observations, Sidin's brand of humour is immensely popular among bloggers and tweeters. But his forte is looking for humour at the workplace. And that's exactly what Dork is about - a hilarious book on office culture and humour. Want to know more? Click on the link and/or wait for excerpts.*


3) May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss by Arnab Ray: What you just read wasn't a typo nor am I drunk-blogging but that is actually the title of the book.  Popular blogger Arnab Ray, also known as Greatbong (of Random Thoughts of A Demented Mind fame) is out with his debut novel; a promising laugh-out-loud, irreverent take on everything that India is (and isn't). C-grade bollywood movies, cricket, education and reality TV shows among many other things


4) Evidence of Suspicion by Amitava Kumar: Writer of the much-acclaimed Husband Of A Fanatic, academician Amitava Kumar critically examines the impact of the war on terror from a philosophical, moral and political perspective. I'm one of the lucky few who've had a chance to look at the text (fleetingly) and I wouldn't like to divulge too many details except to say that it's a gripping, moving and thought provoking tale


5) Homeboy by Husain Naqvi: The story of young, New-York based Pakistani boys in search of their identity and chasing The Great American Dream who embark on a road trip which goes horribly wrong. Another much-anticipated debut by yet another Pakistani author.


6) Karl Aaj Aur Kal by Cyrus Broacha: Television's most popular funny man pens his debut novel which promises to be as hilarious as his spoofs and bakras


7) The Biryani cookbook by Pratibha Karan: Yes, I do read recipe books and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. And I'm eagerly looking forward to this book because my cook can't make a decent biryani to save his life. In fact, his version of the biryani is an absolute insult to the dish. Hence, I'm looking for some much-needed course correction and a few unusual recipes. 


8) The 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron Book' by Jai Arjun Singh(aka Jabberwock): Noted literary and cinema critic, Jai Arjun Singh writes about the iconic movie which pioneered the dark comedy genre in Hindi cinema. Not much is known about the book since Jai's still working on it, but since Jai is a prolific and respected blogger, this book promises to be an interesting read


*Off-late, I've met Sidin a few times and the man has the ability to generate humour every two seconds. Hence, I'd like to forewarn journos who'd be doing author interviews with him - you'll probably spend most of your time laughing and don't be surprised if your giggles drown the conversation on your voice recorders!


That's it for now, folks. Enjoy the year ahead and do lots of reading.


Oh, and in between please leave comments on my blogposts. It'll help improve the quality of writing 


(My review of Aatish's Stranger To History: A Son's Journey Through Islamic Lands is here. Also, an interview with Aatish)

Interview: John Elliott and Bernard Imhasly

Earlier this year, I read an anthology of journalistic writing, Foreign Correspondent: Fifty Years of Reporting in South Asia. Published jointly by Penguin Books India and the Foreign Correspondents Club to celebrate the latter's 50 years of existence and contains the best journalistic accounts by foreign correspondents. Now, in an email interview two of the three editors, John Elliott and Bernard Imhasly, discuss the role of a foreign correspondent and the nature of his/her work


With South Asia being exposed to a variety of new media forms such as blogs, social networking websites and, on a larger scale, the internet, how do you think a foreign correspondent approaches his work in the region?


Bernard (BI): For foreign correspondents, the nature of work in the subcontinent has not changed (yet). The citizen journalist profile has yet to gel, so the approach is still much the same - travel, investigate, meet people, use the traditional media, read, look and listen.

John Elliott (JE): A foreign correspondent approaches his work in the same professional way that he always  has, but the pace of work and consequently the time available to research and analyse stories, has been dramatically reduced by the advent of the internet. This not only affects news agencies but also leading newspapers with websites which require instant stories from correspondents. There is therefore less demand for, and time for, reflective stories and the general quality of reporting is thus at risk. Some newspapers allow (or require) their correspondents to write blogs, which gives a journalist a new way to express his personal views, but again increases the pressure on time.


When a foreign correspondent was posted to South Asia say 30 or 40 years ago, how would he react then and how would he react now?

BI: The environment was different in many ways but in one strikingly so: the fact of time had another quality. Political processes were slower and so was the reaction time. There was more deliberation before filing a story. Now, speed is of the essence; so much so that the story is still developing while the correspondent files it. 


JE: I was first posted here 25 years ago when the country and region were different in many ways, though the negative aspects which colour many people's views remain the same - the appalling poverty, dismal airports, awful roads and tiresome bureaucracy. That of course is offset by the huge potential for success, which a newcomer can see more quickly now than 25 years ago though it was of course evident then. 


During the 26/11 attacks, the BBC was severely criticised for using the term 'militants' instead of 'terrorists'. Is there still some sort of bias against the region in the Western media?


BI: Biases across societies and continents are inevitable. They have lessened with globalisation, but have become more insiduous also because now they are more hidden behind this global facade. What is important (and what has improved) is the awareness about them. 


But it is also important to differentiate between biases and points of view. It is legitimate to look at a society eg. India from the point of view of, say, a European and this is especially so in India where there are many indigenous points of view for everything anyway. So it is okay to report from where one stands - and say so.  A bias is a principled prejudice unwilling to be corrected by reality. And that is obviously wrong.


JE: This is not a bias - those who regard it as such are surely paranoid. Along with other parts of the media, the BBC is, I believe, attempting to avoid indiscriminately labeling people and group with tags - though I would agree that 'terrorists' would have been correct on the Mumbai attacks. But, to illustrate the problem, in the 1980s when I was reporting Punjab for the FT (Financial Times),  should Khalistan 'militants'  have been called extremists (as I sometimes did), or 'zealots' as another FT colleague wrote, or 'terrorists' as they might be called now?

This anthology contains a lot of pieces on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. What is it about this family that it towers over all others in South Asia? Is it because they gave India three Prime Ministers or is there something more?

BI: Simple: They have dominated the politics of India and therefore pretty much of the subcontinent so naturally the media, and that includes the foreign media, reflects this reality.

JE: The number of pieces on the dynasty accurately reflects the role they have played down the years.

Which are your favourite piece(s) from the lot that got left out of the book?  Any specific reason as to why they couldn't make it in the end?

BI: We left out many good pieces and it is difficult to rate them. I missed a piece on Bhutan by Simon Denyer, one by John Elliott on modern Indian art; there should have been a piece on the Maldives, women,  more on the many diversities of India - from languages to food to street culture to religious expressions.  But given the parameters, I think we covered a lot of ground.

JE: I agree with Bernard's list including his kind mention of my modern Indian art article and would add that it is a pity we have not got a couple of pieces on other politicians around Nehru in the early years. If we were going to press now, we would need one on the emergence of Rahul Gandhi as a serious politician. The paperback edition (now published) has added articles on Sri Lanka, the Mumbai attacks, and Pakistan, as well as a report from 1984 on Indira Gandhi's assassination. But note that in our introduction we said that, while we tried to get a broad spread of history into the book, we selected good reporting and writing even if that meant that subjects or events were not covered. 

In his 1990 piece about the BJP, James Clad writes towards the end that "the BJP is a coming power in India, a beneficiary of vacuum at the centre of Indian politics". 19 years later, do you think a similar/different vacuum still exists in North Indian politics?

BI: That is a wide field - too wide to be answered in this space. Certainly, the vacuum of 20 years ago has been filled to a large extent, though the BJP has not really grown into a modern right-wing party but has remained stuck in the tradition v/s modernity discourse. In that sense, there is still a vacuum to be filled by a modern party that challenges the Congress on its own ground.

JE: There is a vacuum in that there is no major party representing the poor and emerging lower castes. The parties that have grown into space left by the decline of the Congress Party are run by mostly self-serving, highly corrupt politicians with littler interest in the welfare of those who elect them. It is, however, beginning to look as if the Congress is beginning to emerge as a significant player again.

Another striking feature of this anthology is that there isn't a single piece on cricket: a sport which has a huge fan following in this region. Why? Was it a conscious decision?

BI: No, certainly not a conscious erasure but deplorable nonetheless. Our editorial approach was largely directed by what came in in terms of contributions. When there were significant gaps, we tried to plug them by looking for pieces ourselves. In the case of cricket, this wasn't possible or maybe we just didn't look hard enough.

JE: No, not a consicous decision. Add to the list of gaps above!

The year 2001 was, in many ways, a tumultuous one for South Asia - the Gujarat earthquake happened, the war on terror started as a consequence of 9/11, a Royal massacre in Nepal, an attack on the Indian Parliament....As a foreign correspondent, how did it feel to be in South Asia back then?

BI: A bit overwhelming, to be frank. The Delhi posting was always exciting and never lacked action. But in 2001, there was a surfeit of it. It was difficult to keep up especially for the (many) one-man-bureaux in town. To give an example, when the Indian Parliament was attacked, I was in Pakistan - in Quetta!

JE: Apart from the Royal massacre in Nepal which was (hopefully!) a one-off,  the other events reflect the range of stories that crowd in, year after year, in South Asia, with the Parliament attack adding emphasis on terrorism. 

Lastly, do narrate the one incident which you will always remember being a foreign correspondent in South Asia.

BI: One of many that comes to mind immediately: the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, being confronted by a bandana-clad man who put his face close to mine, and hissed: "Get out of here you bloody Muslim!"

JE: Maggie (Margaret) Thatcher said the Dalai Lama should not speak publicly when he was in the UK in the late 1980's ('88 I think) so most of the British media - including me from the FT - rushed to Dharamsala to interview him. He thus got much more publicity than he would if Thatcher had not tried to gag him just as he has recently because the Chinese said he shouldn't go to Arunachal Pradesh.