Book Review: Meanwhile, Upriver

By -
Book: Meanwhile, Upriver
Image Courtesy: Penguin Books

Author: Chatura Rao

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 206

ISBN: 9780143101543

At the heart of it, "Meanwhile, Upriver" by Chatura Rao is a simple book. It is a simple tale of two outsiders who swim against the current of the Ganga. The author Chatura Rao is a familiar name among children's fiction, so this is her first attempt at writing for adults. Temporally, the book is set in the bylanes and ghats of Varanasi. 

The story unfolds through Yamini Trivedi, a Maths teacher who is 38 and single who finds love when she meets Duncan Thewlis, a part-time dance instructor and a foreigner. Duncan is also a part-time writer who is in the city to write a book about the Ganges and the city itself. Running parallel to her story is that of 11 year old Shiva, who is believed to have been washed up against his foster father, Sadhu Bhyomkesh, an ambitious and charismatic sadhu. He lives in an ashram in Dashwaswamedh Ghat and passes his day in the hope that he can find his mother some day.

On the face of it, the book has a very simplistic feel with a child-like appeal to it. The stories of Yamini and Shiva are dealt in alternating chapters which eventually crisscross when their lives meet and merge into one story. The synopsis of the book says it is due to two outsiders who are outcasts and struggle to find answers and the courage to swim upriver against the stream. 

The book has its moments as it describes the rival religious factions, bigotry and power mongering among the sadhus. There are vivid descriptions of the narrow lanes in Varanasi, the ashrams, the sanyasis, ghats and exuberant preparations for the annual Ramlila. In entirety, it is a poignant tale of love and politics as Ms. Rao's voice sounds very fresh.  
Location: Munjal Nagar, Chedda Nagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400089, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: Mrityunjaya

By -
Image
Mrityunjaya: Book: Mrityunjaya Author: Shivaji Sawant Pages: 628 ISBN:  7421-0105 It is often said that the books of our childhood offer a vivid door to our own pasts, and not necessarily for the stories we read there, but for the memories of where we were and who we were when we were reading them; to remember a book is to remember the child who read that book. The timelessness of the epic is witnessed as we continue to name our children after various characters in the Mahabharata. The brave feats of the epic’s warriors still continue to shape our dreams and inspire our films. The Marathi novel "Mrityunjaya" is a classic novel written by Shivaji Sawant on the life of Karna, the greatest tragic hero in Indian history. Despite being dedicated to the life and times of the benign hero, it highlights significant characters from the Mahabharata and also a socio-political frame of the time. To begin with, Karna is the eldest son of the Pandava queen Kunti and Surya, t
Read more

Book Review: Mahabharata

By -
Image
Publisher: Penguin Author: R.K. Narayan Pages: 208 ISBN: 9780141185002  The Mahabharata is some 3500 years old and is the longest epic poem in existence. As one of the founding epics of Indian culture, it is also a highly dramatic and enthralling story. Growing from an oral tradition of ballads based on historic events in India, the Mahabharata was passed down and extended through the centuries, thus becoming the longest poem ever written. One of the many narratives about the Mahabharata is by R.K. Narayan. His version provides a superb rendition in an abbreviated and elegant retelling of the greatest epic.  The Mahabharata is Hinduism's great epic story. It may be the oldest written story in the world, and certainly the longest . It tells the tale of kings and queens, gods and demons. It goes off on tangents lasting hundreds of pages, yet always comes back to the one main story, the story of the Kauravas and the Pandavas, the two great warrior clans, and the men and wo
Read more

Hawa Mahal: A Natural Cooling System

By -
Image
The Hawa Mahal A strong wind blows, stops at the closed windows in mock surprise. It then rushes through the tiny orifices, quietly rising through the narrow spiral staircases and stopping at the other side. The cylindrical balconies now appear stacked upon one another, like a set of different-sized flutes when tied together. From the chaotic crossroads at Badi Choupad in Jaipur, the road slopes down as it goes past the Old Legislative Assembly and Town Hall and the Hawa Mahal appears on the left, in a self-repeating fractal pattern spanning five floors in a series of smaller pyramids.  The Hawa Mahal in its fundamental design resembles a honeycomb structure. It has also been equated as a symbolic representation of Lord Krishna’s crown. The Hawa Mahal was designed by architect Lal Chand Ustad for Maharaj Sawai Pratap Singh.  The original function of the building was to allow women watch processions on the streets below, through the intricate jharokhas, without a threat to the
Read more