The classical and the correct

Sachin: 500 things you don’t know about the master blaster by Suvam Pal

Harper Collins. Pages: xiii+145. Price: Rs. 175/-

Sachin Tendulkar is the epitome of correctness, both on and off field. His conventional, almost copybook batting style plus his skill, stamina and determination have taken him to the heights never before scaled by any other cricketer in the world. Adjectives like “great”, “master blaster” etc fail to give a comprehensive picture of this man from Mumbai who has done India proud. He is courage personified – recall his persistent reiteration placing India above Mumbai, contradicting the Shiv Sena supremo’s parochial exhortations to the contrary. 

This book has come up with a riveting quiz on different aspects of Tendulkar’s personal and professional life. However, through strategically placed brief paragraphs the book also provides us with glimpses of Sachin’s multifaceted life – as cricketer, family man, friend and philanthropist, among other things. The language is lucid. The contents are well researched.

The kabab maker and the consultant by Arun Sikka

Rupa. Pages: ix+188. Price: Rs. 150/-

The twelve stories in this collection envelop one’s senses and transport one to a world one thought had long vanished, thanks to the new assembly-line concoctions that have gripped the publishing industry as some sort of mania for dense narrative style that comes up with allegedly creative metaphors, loads of sex, violence and crime, not to forget dollops of sleaze and invectives, put together to manufacture set-piece storylines that leave you wondering about the message.

This book’s characters look so real, and their worlds so familiar, that you get immersed in the action without realizing it. Whether it is Satish’s simple dreams in ‘Derailed’, Sunita’s encounter with Kumar and Munni in ‘A new moon’, or the resolution of caste prejudice of an upper-caste maid in ‘Three women in the kitchen’ the tales are incredibly credible as is the corrupt and artful babu in ‘Oh, to sing the songs I like’ and ‘The savior’. Although my favourite is ‘A holy war’ many readers will find the ‘Ambush!!’ entertaining. In fact there are quite a few with philosophical slant that leave one wondering at the ways of destiny.

Blossom showers by Giselle Mehta

Frog Books. Pages: 440. Price: Rs. 395/-

The novel’s title conjures up images from Karnataka’s Coorg, Chikmagalur and Hassan districts where eco-friendly shade grown coffee is produced. Rainfall during March is considered good for the crop as it facilitates healthy blossoms that result in quality beans – hence the name “blossom showers”. The story is set in an early twentieth century fictional town, Manjooran, (probably today’s Mangalore); its narrative travels to Coorg and Goa too. The characters are Catholic Christians who have descended from Gaud Saraswat Brahmins on the West Coast. Its protagonist Rex Edward is born in a rich landlord family but, since his father dies before his birth, he is gypped out of his share in the property by his scheming paternal uncle. His maternal uncle too ill-treats him. Fortune takes a turn for the better when Rex goes to work for an Englishman estate owner in Coorg.

This is one of those novels that have been written in the long-forgotten classical style. The story meanders leisurely through the pages like a rowing boat on a placid river. This is as it should be, considering the period in which it is set. Excellent characterization adds to its readability quotient. However, the passage where Herbert Balmforth narrates the story of coffee’s discovery and its subsequent spread to the rest of the world may not be every reader’s cup of coffee but adds to the novel’s atmospherics. Peopled with romantics and cads, trusting and tricksters, heroes and villains, this novel is certainly worth a leisurely read.