Of Straight Faces and the Silk Route

I believe BNH is a man who reserves his warm smile for a select few. Maybe this impression is unfounded or self-serving. Unfounded because I have not taken the trouble to empirically gather data that corroborates this belief. Self-serving because I count myself among the select few. What I am driving at is that BNH can keep his face straighter than most others can keep their own mugs.

So it was with a straight face that he asked me the other day if I had read any Shashi Deshpande. My reply was not very enthusiastic. And then we moved on to other authors and books, and tomato omelette and sabudana vada. Since we discuss books often I did not even think again about this exchange. Little did I know that this question was thrown in a carefully careless way. Little did I suspect that a more formidable power had engineered my interview that day, and that BNH was but a willing accomplice in a benevolent conspiracy.

All was revealed at the right time. On January 23, the aforementioned formidable power, whose name may only be initialled here as SVR, presented me with a Crossword plastic bag containing "China - A History" by John Keay. The bag did not contain any Shashi Deshpandes. It could not have. I had told BNH I was lukewarm to that author's writing. And he had told SVR. Who is his better half and my English tutor, proofreader and lexicon. And she had done the needful in her infinite wisdom. Thinking back, I recollect dimly that BNH did give me a subtle hint of what to expect as he instructed the waiter at Emgee's, "Cheeni kum! Cheeni kum!".

Anyway, I now have what promises to be an engaging read about a fascinating country. I have not read many books on China. In fact, I have not read any except Paul Theroux's "Riding The Iron Rooster". Ever since I took out a subscription to The Economist a few months ago, I have read with great interest articles on China that appear in that magazine. I'm sure Keay's book will give me the backdrop against which I may better appreciate the current events in that country.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I saw this movie last weekend without a clue of its recent release or the wide acclaim it has received so far. 

Starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, it is the story of a man who is born old and 'youngs' as the years go by, aging in reverse to die a baby. It is a kind of Forrest Gump as time-traveller. Though the story may appear outlandish, especially in the last half-hour of the movie, it is definitely worth seeing. 

Benjamin Button received nominations for Best Picture (Drama) and a few other categories in the recent Golden Globe Awards. It lost the Best Picture award to Slumdog Millionaire. Nor did any of the other nominations yield an award. You can visit http://www.benjaminbutton.com/ to learn more about the movie. 

The movie is said to be based loosely on a Scott Fitzgerald story of the same name. You can read the story for free at http://feedbooks.com/book/3431. If you prefer reading it piecemeal, one chapter at a time (of eleven chapters), you can do that at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/Fitzgerald/jazz/benjamin/benjamin1.htm.

 

   

Pakistan civil society joint statement

Monday's (5th Jan) edition of The Hindu carried the text of a joint statement by a cross section of Pakistan's civil society groups and individuals. The statement gives us an insider's perspective of the dangers facing that beleagured country.  

For now you can read the statement here: http://www.hindu.com/nic/joint_statement_pakistan.html   

Post 26/11, news channels launched online fora for Indians to suggest what could be done to fight terror. But apart from such scattered individual views, I'm not aware if a similarly cohesive and coherent public statement was issued by an influential section of moderate Indians during the days following the Mumbai terror attacks. If you've read any, please let me know.