Preeti Singh read and reviewed Roll of Honour. Then she interviewed Daljit Ami, the translator, and me for her article on the book and the process of translation. I wish more such pieces are written on the efforts of translations between languages worldwide, all books.

Read on …

Tags: Daljit Ami, Gwah de Fanah hon to Pehlan, Preeti Singh, Roll of Honour

Sumana Roy and Manjiri Indurkar remain kind to me on their satire and humour website Antiserious. They published a new piece on something that affects most of us while we take care of the piles and piles of documents in bureaucratic India.

Read on …

Tags: antiserious, bureaucracy, India, policies, satire

When I was asked to review V S Naipaul’s seminal book An Area of Darkness, on the occasion of 50 years of its being banned, I approached the text with a mixture of feelings: respect for the craft of the writer but also a bit of apprehension about how he has talked about India in his articles, books, etc. I made sure I read him closely and question my own assumptions about Naipaul’s India. Unfortunately, he did not give me a chance to vindicate himself. It is sad, but it must be said that through his career Naipaul has played to a western gallery, a stereotype.

‘Thank you for your supercilious attitude, Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul. We could really have done without your writing. Yet, while I was reading the book on a plane, a foreigner in the seat next to mine quickly took down the name of the book and told me she would read it. It is, after all, by a Nobel laureate. ’

Read full review on the book that is freely available now. …

Tags: An Area of Darkness, India, The Hindu, V S Naipaul