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.