Rama Sutra
Being Ram couldn’t be easy. Loathed by feminists, appropriated by politicians, and the only Hindu deity to be worshipped as a king, he remains enigmatic in his complexity. The latest in his series on the Hindu pantheon, Devdutt Pattanaik’s The Book of Ram focuses on Ram in his myriad roles as king, son and husband. He is at once Eka-vachani, the king who never goes back on his word; Eka-bani, an archer who always strikes on target and Eka-patni, who is eternally and absolutely devoted to a single wife. He is maryada purushottam, the upholder of social values. And as the seventh avatar of Vishnu, he establishes order in worldly life. The interplay of the deity’s various conflicting roles and relationships forms the essence of this engaging tome.

Excerpts from an interview with Devdutt Pattanaik:
What makes the book relevant to contemporary life?
The Ramayan celebrates all that is noble in man’s life. Nobility is eternally relevant. We have all tried to be good and righteous sometimes – how can we be good and righteous all the time? Often we get seduced by cynicism, faithlessness, mediocrity...Ramayan helps us get back on track.

How do you see Ram? What’s your personal take on him?
To me, Ram carries the burden of leadership. He is not allowed to be a person – he has to be a king for his people. That demands sacrifices. And he does so stoically making him at once tragic and reverential. He is a model – one we admire but fear to emulate.

Feminists don’t think the world of Ram. How do you see him as a husband?
Every political ideology needs a villain. Often villains are constructed through careful choice of arguments and careful selection of stories. Feminists have done the same with Ram, focusing on his abandonment of Sita. What is overlooked is that here is a husband who was eternally faithful to his wife, who under pressure from his people abandoned his queen but refused to remarry.

Dial D for Derangements
Rajorshi Chakraborti follows his first novel Or the Day Seizes You, short-listed for the Hutch Crossword Book Award 2006, with a meta-fictional mystery. Derangements, tells the story of a writer Raj Chakraborti who vanishes after an English journalist Sharon is murdered. Raj is the last person to see her alive and the first part of the novel tells his side of the story. Related in three narrative voices, that of the author, his ex-wife and a deranged killer, the dream-like storyline unravels layer by layer to eventually connect the dots. Part comic, part macabre this cryptic narrative offers an interesting insight into the workings of the human subconscious.

Extracts from an interview with the author:
How important is subjective reality over objective reality?
The two novels I’ve published so far have both been narrated in first-person, so I guess I do enjoy conveying the subjective realities experienced by my characters. But hopefully, the stories – while suggesting that these partial, often-deluded portraits of reality are all they (and we) can ever have – also make it clear that these versions aren’t to be entirely trusted, no matter how passionately the narrators cling to them. I use the other characters to drill many holes into the narrator’s view of the world, and to see him or her from various outside perspectives.

How do you arrive at your subject?
The most important themes we care about choose us, and refuse to loosen their grip, rather than the other way around. As for the situations, images and events that then make up the plot, I note down everything I find strange, arresting or powerful and then over a period of time, decide which ones have remained interesting, and have somehow blended with my thematic preoccupations most naturally. That process can often be quite magical, as you understand that you notice certain images or details because the themes and ideas you care about were reflected in them, although you didn’t even realise it at the time. Your unconscious responded to them long before your mind consciously sets about organising them into a story.

Zubin Mehta – The Score of My Life
As told to Renate Grafin Matuschka
(Lotus/Roli Books)
Zubin Mehta’s autobiography The Score of My Life, translated from the German by Anu Pande offers an insight into the life of one of India’s most famous exports. From his sheltered upbringing in Mumbai to his student years in Vienna, his love affair with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his marriage to Nancy (told from her perspective) and his eventual move to Munich, this is a must read for anyone remotely interested in the man behind the music. Interspersed with vintage photographs, this book doesn’t promise to be a great work of ‘literature’ but it does tell an inspiring story.

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