Some thoughts on the book - 'Behind the beautiful forevers'

After reading some glowing reviews of the book in New York Times three days ago, I felt very eager to read it. Thanks to Flipkart's fantastic delivery system, the book was in my hands yesterday. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. Though the book reported real happenings with real names and facts, I was soon lost into the world of Annawadi, the scavenger kids who considered their work 'more boring than dirty', their inexhaustible enterprise and their ever-present long list of troubles that had to dodged, if possible, or dealt with, if not. The characters of Abdul, Sunil, Asha, Manju, Meena, the one-legged Fatima and the Sahar police officials pack together a narrative of gritty realistic intensity. The events which have been narrated without fuss and exaggeration but not without empathy, call for an incredible sense of insight and courage. That being an American and an outsider to the slum, Katherine Boo has achieved a triumph of a book in 'Behind the beautiful forevers' raised her respect in my mind and with just a few pages into the book, I got completely involved with the characters, having laid to rest any doubts on the quality of research and deep-heartedly appreciating the level of hard work that would've gone behind a book of such genuine portraits and disarming earnestness.

It is evident that the author has taken her time, observing and circling, just like the crows of Annawadi, before putting them down in the book in the elegant Electra typeface. As Dr. Amartya Sen says of the book, it is 'a beautiful account, told through real-life stories, of the sorrows and joys, the anxieties and stamina, in the lives of the precarious and powerless in urban India whom a booming country has failed to absorb and integrate. A brilliant book that simultaneously informs, agitates, angers, inspires, and instigates.'

The story after Fatima's death, written with an unusual economy of words which adds to the sheer effect of the event on the reader's mind, disturbs profoundly and stimulates equally. I couldn't help but pause to not get overwhelmed after the deaths of Kalu, Meena and Fatima. It was not a lavish style or a scholarly dictum that swept the reader but what was mind-boggling was the matter-of-fact tone in which the events were described. As if profound adjectives need not be pronounced to make the event tragic. As if the mere reporting of the facts would suffice. And it did. The author didn't intend to milk our tear ducts or offer solutions to the problems or address to our compassionate side. She has just narrated the facts. The cold, cruel, undisguised facts. Facts that cut right through our hearts. Facts that are a result of a clinical understanding of the whole picture and dissection of the various ground forces that hit the poor. And it has been one hell of a neat dissection!

Definitely do buy it and read... You'd be investing in not just a book but a vision that'd last you the rest of your life.

On enjoying Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'

I have been wanting for sometime to write about the books I read and the films I see. But my own disposition, being that of a very negligent and dilatory blogger, was floating around flirting with various prospective topics. But I just finished reading Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' and I feel such elation at the unision of Mr. Darcy and Ms. Bennet, that I can hardly contain myself from sharing how I feel. The involvement in the plot and the enjoyment of the content has been so much that appreciation of the writer comes as a much later wave of feeling, like a pleasant after-breeze to the immensely drenching first shower of monsoon.

The plot itself is woven with such skill, the characters etched with pleasing sensibility, the narration filled with an abundant supply of compelling wit, generous spraying of subtle humour, garnished with a lady-like charm in its execution and served in a characteristic platter of British restraint, which makes the reading of the novel exceedingly gratifying. This book is definitely to be tasted and savoured, swallowed and held up, chewed and enjoyed to its very essence, wholly digested and permanently cherished. For you won't be able to enjoy it once and not go back to it again and again for procuring further joy.

The book opens wonderfully, the introduction of characters is smooth and their interactions flow with a fluidity that deserves credit. Mr. Darcy and Ms. Bennet meet, move in and out of the story while it revolves around them, excite our minds and supply us with ample reasons for turning the pages of the book with eager anticipation. The etching of Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine is nothing short of excellent. The resigned ridicules Mr. Bennet bestows on his wife combined with his warm affection for Lizzy are wonderfully portrayed. His incredible sense of humour, evident as the book reaches its last few phases, had me in raptures. It earned me many an awkward glance, with everyone around serious with work or study and me laughing heartily at Mr. Bennet's statements often accompanied by a vigorous shaking of my head.

All the major characters blended into the plot so perfectly that I couldn't help but admire Jane Austen's sense and skill and was often left wondering on what prompted her to make the characters as they were and if there is any shade of her at all in any of her characters. Perhaps she resembled Miss Darcy? It'd indeed be terrific if I can just be invisible and watch Jane Austen going through her drafts, reading it to her friends and family, making modifications here and there and hear her speak in an interview of what she thinks would happen to Miss. Darcy or how good will the Bingleys' children be or how deceiving and wicked Wickham is!

The last 100 pages is just gem. It is stellar Jane Austen in her wonderful fluidity. A witty statement, a wonderfully humorous one, a funny lamentation and a romantic suspense tumbles one after another hardly giving the reader time to take in all the beauty at the first reading.

I just finished the book today and felt wonderfully happy. With a disposition that makes happiness spill forth into mirth and chatter, I couldn't help but talk about it. Even after sharing it with my close mates, I'd nevertheless have talked about the book and its author to every unlucky acquaintance who happens to pass before me for the next one week had it not been for the wonderful invention of a blog. Now that I have poured forth my joy in this cosmic blogger void, any fellow who glances upon it perchance or by intention can make all he can of it. If that fellow happens to have read Jane Austen, well, welcome to the 'honourable brotherhood of guys who've read awesome Austen'. If not, then perhaps this post'll tempt you to read Austen and join the brotherhood.

P.S: Though I'd like to think I was calm and composed while writing this entry, I know I'm very much hung over from reading Jane Austen. This post was written without consideration and published without correction, so make what you want of it and comment what you like! Hail spontaneity!