William Dalrymple and his works

Another author who has managed to hold my attention is William Dalrymple. I have read quite a few of his books. Chief among them being "The Last Mughal", "The White Mughals", "The Age of Kali" and "The City of Djinns"

I believe when it comes to History and travel-related writing no one can beat him. He virtually brings to life the era or the place he is writing about, and demonstrates immense intrepidity when it comes talking to the most unusual people that are generally a part of his book.

In my opinion, Dalrymple is a great fan of the syncretic Indo-Islamic culture that dominated much of Northern India, and met its end in the unfortunate Partition of the sub-continent. The author has spent considerable time in the India and gives an unbiased and objective account of events, which makes it all the more worth-while to read his works

"The City of Djinns" is an ode to the great city of Delhi thru' the ages. Dalrymple literally peels off various layers of the history of the City, while visiting many of the remnants of the various ages that the city has seen. Meeting a range of people from calligraphers to eunuchs to Anglo-Indians to the current descendants of the Mughal dynasty, he traverses the city, while describing the historical significance of some of monuments that are now in a rather sad state of affairs. He analyzes the architecture of the places he visits and puts them in perspective with the social condition of that era. He describes the politics and the debauchery of the Mughal court and the adventures of some of the early Brits, who started feeling more comfortable in their new surroundings than amongst fellow Brits. All in all, he takes the reader on a fascinating journey thru' the streets of Delhi transporting him to the age when those streets dazzled in their glory.

While "The City of Djinns" is about a specific city, in "The Age of Kali", Dalrymple makes the entire sub-continent his stage and writes a travelogue par excellence. Travelling from the north to the south and then to Pakistan and Sri-Lanka, he meets up with people some of us would dread to meet. From Laloo Yadav, the much-tainted, but still much admired former Chief Minister of Bihar and the Rajmata of Gwalior to Bahveri Devi, an unfortunate victim of gang-rape, the array of people he meets is mind-boggling. He talks to folks who witnessed the Sati of Deorala and in his classic unbiased way, juxtaposes the New Age India of the Software engineer with the Bharat of Caste wars and Sati. Just like "The City of Djinns", this one too makes heady reading.

While the "The City of Djinns" and "The Age of Kali" are essentially travelogues, "White Mughals" and "The Last Mughal" are works of history. "White Mughals" is set in the late eighteenth century Hyderabad, where the British Resident in the court of the Nizam, James Kirk patrick, falls in love Khair-un-Nissa, the great niece of the Nizam's Prime Minister and ended up marrying her and fathering two kids, despite the many obstacles, including the fact that she was almost always in Purdah. It is an absorbing tale that leaves you slightly sad in the end, since the story does not quite end on a happy note. But what stands out again, is Dalrymple's love for composite cultures, in this case the inter-mingling of the British and the Islamic culture of Hyderabad.

"The Last Mughal" is an almost day-by-day account of the 1857 mutiny or the first struggle for Indian Independence, whichever way you may want to call it. Dalrymple renews his love-story with Delhi, describing very objectively the happenings around a water-shed event during the British rule of India. He describes how the Last Mughal was a reluctant Emperor on whom the responsibility of leading a war was almost thrust upon by the rebel soldiers, how the residents of Delhi itself wanted to be no party to the war and how the Indian soldiers were so close to victory, but did not force the issue, simply due to lack of intelligence. Its a book you want to finish in one shot. Dalrymple once again brings to life the streets of Delhi during the Mutiny and makes one wonder , "Why don't they teach History like this at school?" In short, extremely compelling reading.

One wishes Dalrymple a long career in writing and wish History were taught like this at our schools.

Amitav Ghosh's works

I have been reading this book called "In an Antique Land" by Amitav Ghosh and am slowly but steadily getting sucked into the book. To be frank it is but expected of Ghosh. I have read quite a few of his works and stand deeply impressed. Be it "The Hungry Tide", "The Sea of Poppies", "The Calcutta Chromosome" or the current book, I am just amazed by his story-telling abilities.

He has covered quite an array of topics, from malaria in "The Calcutta Chromosome" to dolphins in "The Hungry Tide" to Egypt and Egyptology in "In an Antique Land". These topics are so deeply researched that one starts to imagine that Ghosh is an authority on all of them. But what stands out is his ability to weave together at least three different story-lines, sometimes across three different time-lines. His characters are earthly and real and he does not miss a tryst with the mystical in most of his books. His ability to bring to life the history of the place in which the novel is set in, is simply mind-boggling.

I believe he is the recipient of numerous Awards including the Padmashri in 2007 by the Indian Government. His "Sea of Poppies", which was the first book I read written by Ghosh, was short-listed for the Booker Prize for 2008. This prize eventually went to "The White Tiger" by another Indian author Aravind Adiga. In my opiniion and I dont intend to start a controversy here, the choice of the "The White Tiger" over "The Sea of Poppies" was baffling to say the least. While "Sea of Poppies" is a fabulous tale of hope set just before the Opium Wars on a diverse set of characters sailing on a ship to Mauritius, "The White Tiger" is a very dark tale, a realistic tale, but a very dark tale that leaves you slightly shattered at the end of it. But that can be a debating point and I dont intend to start one here.

I look forward to more works by Ghosh and wish I am one day able to write like him.