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HT Picks: The most interesting books of the week
This week’s list of good reads includes a primer on a collection of ancient philosophical treatises, stories of love and loss in a transit flat, and a novella on contemporary India
THE 108 UPANISHADS; AN INTRODUCTION BY ROSHEN DALAL
This book is a thoroughly researched primer on the 108 Upanishads, philosophical treatises that form a part of the Vedas, the revered Hindu texts. The Upanishads contain the most crystallized bits of wisdom gleaned from Hinduism. Roshen Dalal explains the concepts at the core of each Upanishad informatively and lucidly. Moreover, her vast, diverse philosophical and theological readings add priceless scholarly context to this comprehensive and fascinating volume.
BOMBAY BRIDES BY ESTHER DAVID
When Juliet Abraham, who is Jewish, has a runaway marriage with Rahul Abhiram, a Hindu, their families are initially furious but soon relent. They buy the couple an apartment in Shalom India Housing Society, Ahmedabad. However, once the couple leaves for Israel, they rent out the apartment to a series of tenants from the Bene Israel community, for each of whom it becomes the venue of an unfolding love story.
Myra comes to India from America to teach the Torah to Indian Jews. Wooed assiduously by Ezra, she instead escapes into a new life with a Hindu guru. Ruby rekindles an old flame, only to find out too late that men betray. Ilana, a strict and uptight police officer, is forced to meet potential grooms by her parents and realizes that it’s good to let loose sometimes. And Bollywood-crazy Sangita has many adventures in India as she tries to trace her grandmother’s grave. The mischievous Prophet Elijah, benevolently presiding over the small community, occasionally creates havoc but finally makes sure that peace prevails.
Bombay Brides is about home, heritage, rites, rituals and roots. It offers Sahitya Akademi Award-winner Esther David’s evocative observations on what it means to be the last surviving members of a diminishing community, accompanied by her exquisite illustrations.
THE FATE OF BUTTERFLIES BY NAYANTARA SAHGAL
Prabhakar, returning home one evening, comes upon a corpse at a crossroads, naked but for the skullcap on his head. Days later, he listens to Katerina’s stark retelling of a gang rape in a village, as chilling as only the account of a victim can be. And in a macabre sequence, he finds his favourite dhaba no longer serves gular kebabs and rumali roti, while Bonjour, the fine dining restaurant run by a gay couple, had been vandalized by goons.
Casting a long shadow over it all is Mirajkar, the ‘Master Mind’, a brilliant policy maker and political theorist, who is determined to rid the country of all elements alien to its culture – as he, and his partymen, perceive it.
A professor of political science, Prabhakar observes these occurrences with deepening concern. Is the theory he put forth in his book, that it is not the influence of those who preach goodness and compassion that prevails, but the matter-of-factness of cruelty – playing out before him?
In the midst of all this, he meets Katerina, beautiful, half –Russian, wearing the scars of a brutal incident as a badge of honour. Together, they discover that, even in times that are grim, there is joy to be had.
One of our most courageous and eloquent storytellers, Nayantara Sahgal’s superb mastery over language and history make this bold new work a compelling story that is as disturbing as it is beautifully told.
