Nescience

After a first disappointing read, I set my sights on Midnight's Children , by Salman Rushdie . What can I say? I was rendered speechless by this stunning novel. The characters leapt out of the pages - these are people I know, people I have seen and those I have heard about. Saleem Sinai, the protagonist is one of the midnight's children... Born on the stroke of midnight on 15th of August 1947, his fate is entwined with that of India. He is affected by all the major events of India, and he is, indirectly and directly, responsible for many events that shape the destiny of the country. The novel spans sixty three years, starting with the grandfather of the protagonist and addresses four generations of the family. The intricacy of the novel leaves one spellbound and Rushdie's singular writing style is just...awesome. I will definitely be re-reading this novel in the future, dwelling on the characters and the events. It makes for a wonderful, wonderful read.

I launched off my reading list for this year with What young India wants by Chetan Bhagat . I led me to the conclusion that India, and Chetan Bhagat both have no idea of what they want. Oh no, I am not criticising the book. It was lucid, had easy language but had none of the perspicuity of thought or the depth that other tomes, like The Argumentative Indian (Amartya Sen)  or We, the People ( Nani Palkhivala ) possess. I do not dislike Chetan Bhagat. Indeed I do not. His books have compelling stories that seem to resonate with the youth. Last year, I was enrolled in an introductory program to the UPSC in one of the coaching institutes in Pune. We were asked to discuss our favourite works of literature and to my horror, half the people had a Chetan Bhagat book as their favourite novel. Makes me wonder if the novel, as a genre has become so stilted, stagnant that the young people read only the literature that has the emotional depth of a rainwater puddle. These books are window...