A review of Raakh (1989) by my friend Usman Khawaja

Aamir as Aamir at his adamant best - ashes to ashes.

This dark movie is set in the bizarre twilight zone of the degenerate and venomous world of the Bombay underworld, where there is only one vice that rules - might is right.

It's protagonists search for their own existence in alignment with their ideals for justice and an uneven fairplay and use each other as pawns in a game of violence and corruption.

Aamir is a rebellious scion of a well to do muslim family who in a rash act of rage provokes the gang rape of his Hindu girlfriend by a group of mafia men. The graphic unsentimentality of the act at night in a desolate public spot is chilling.

The relationship breaks up, the girl shuns him and her indifference to any mode of justice drives the youth to extremes, he elopes and lives with social outcasts, where he is helped by a rather shady cop who works outside the parameters of judiciary.

Aamir is totally natural and very effective as the angry, violent and impulsive youth, this is his definitive best act as yet and he needs to go back to his roots as this was his second movie itself, his raw dynamic talent resounds in every scene and the minimalist cinema with expressionist photography enhances his violent deadly role. He is matched by the rather insanely dishonest cop played by Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak as the rape victim who blames him for the incidence in a powerful role. The police are indifferent as there are no witnesses and the victim will not report the crime, although it is acknowledged.

The brilliant young director (Aditya Bhattacharya) has a frustrating setting for a social comment on a grim subject, the perception of acquisition of justice and the means to aquire it, both are unimportant as the net result is more violence and the act leads to anarchy and nihilism. This is a very profoundly effective cinema beautifully shot with minimal dialogues and light, the brooding shadows reflect the title itself which refers to the ashes of the remnants of the living characters in a metaphor as their existence has been reduced to a void which can never be filled.

The finale is bleak and the desperation of the human existence is shown to be damned forever with no hope of redemption, the conclusion is left open to the audience.

This is an anthology of violence, justice and lost youth within the framework of an unjust social hypocrisy where law is invalid and might is right, that might be unreasonable but it could be a universal truth, nevertheless Aditya and Aamir create a dark masterpiece which goes beyond its baroque, brooding beauty with hypnotically lit frames that remind you of the psychological impact and spirituality of the works by Caravaggio and La Tour, an eerie light that explores the human soul and questions its conscience, the answer is inconclusive but still great cinema .

USMAN KHAWAJA

- jbz7879

Narnia !

I scrolled the mouse up and down on the list of my blogs. Should I write about Prince Caspian/Narnia/CS Lewis/Neil Gaiman on my book blog or the movie one! The train of thought and research started from the movie surely.

The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian is 2nd in the series after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie children are feeling miserable away from Narnia. The way they talk about Narnia makes you feel as if they are on some kind of drug, which they are deprived of. Lo and Behold, Susan's magic horn is blown in far away Narnia and the kids are transported back to Cair Paravel. They dont recognise it anymore, and realise after a bit of sleuthing, that time in Narnia has taken a quantum leap. They find Narnia has gone underground and the wicked Talmerines rule it. The silver lining is that they can help restore Narnia to its former glory if they reinstate Prince Caspian to the throne.

Thus begins the battle between the remaining Narnians and Talmerine. After the intervention of Aslan, the battle favours the Narnians and the children can return to London to catch their train to the school.

Some good special effects, a nice story, (and Ben Barnes) manage to keep the movie afloat. Fantasy afficiandoes agree that the movie could be better. It is certainly better than LWW.

We can look forward to the third in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This time around Peter and Susan Pevensie will be missing. Lucy, Edmund and a nasty cousin Eustace Scrubb are the ones who will make it Narnia and join the delicious Prince Caspian on an adventure to the end of the world. Ok, this is the movie part. Now over to www.booksbyrotten.blogspot.com for the book part of it.

Bravery goes Awry

The movie starts nicely, with Rahul Bose bungee jumping. Then cuts to him at a party, uselessly explaining the excitement of the jump to a housewife. Now why was he trying to talk to an auntie at his friend's engagement party. And why does an engagement party have precisely four young people against a horde of older ones?

This goes on throughout the movie, one good scene pitted against another quite useless one.

Story :

Javed Khan (Deepak Dobriyal) is an army officer accused of killing his senior officer at point blank range. He has not attempted to escape, nor said anything in self-defence. Major Akash (Javed Jaffery) is the prosecution cousel at the courtmartial of Javed. It is supposed to be an open and shut case, and they cant find a defence lawyer, so Akash arranges for his friend Major Siddhant (Rahul Bose) to step in. As the location is Srinagar, Siddhant treats it as a fun posting and makes plans accordingly. Kaavya Shastri (Minissha Lamba) is posted in Srinagar as the rookie reporter of Dainik Bhaskar. (Oh really ! do national newspapers send a rookie to a place like Srinagar, and that too a woman?) Anyhow, Kaavya pretends to be Siddhant's cousin to gain entry into the forbidden army territory and get some scoops on the Javed Khan story. She shakes up Siddhant and gets him into trouble for talking to reporters.

However, the offshoot of this encounter is that Siddhant gets serious about the business at hand which is bad news for Brig. Rudra Pratap Singh (Kay Kay Menon), who seems to be involved in all this.

Other things

The movie is based on A Few Good Men that starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore. I thought it had been indianised well, bringing in the angle of an army officer disillusioned by the false encounters and muslim haters.

Good Scenes

The Kavya-Sidhant encounter was very well done. He is blabbering away trying to impress a pretty girl, while she is cool and collected, and delivers her punch at the end. I could see the movie again just to watch this scene.

The initial Brigadier-Sidhant scenes were very well handled too. Kay Kay is perfect as ever, as a Brigadier full of grandiloqence, cowing a Major to near silence. Rahul Bose is perfect too, as a man cowed down by a senior officer. During the second encounter - there was a great dialogue built around a single malt whiskey and the word 'nice'. Again, a scene I could watch again.

However !

The climax was just not able to live up to all the buildup. The evidence is too sketchy and not convincing enough, and was not been elobrated enough. A couple of quick scenes, and the movie is over. Deepak Dobriyal is an amazing actor, but he was made to stare fixedly ahead most times. There were stock shots of Rahul Bose walking about the Army area, and sitting in the court room looking around which were repeated. And even a lay person like me could figure out these were stock shots. The movie was so well written in parts, that you feel bad at the portions that did not work, because of shoddy writing. It is like a good promise gone bad. Well, maybe Samar Khan will improve and come up with something better soon.

Performances

This is definately a plus point in this movie. Rahul Bose, Kay Kay, Javed Jaffery, Deepak Dobriyal, Minissha Lamba, and the pretty girl who plays Javed Jaffery's fiance, are all good actors. Rahul Bose is cute too ! He looks good in a uniform. Javed looks a tad old for the role, but acts well. He even gets to dance a bit (too little). Minissha wears lovely salwar kameez and churidars here. I even stole one dress idea from this, a printed salwar with a plain kameez. She was good as the feisty journalist on a ramshackle scooter. Amrita Rao has a small role, which she does ok with.

The cinematography is pleasing. The songs, just a couple, are sweet.
Nothing wrong with seeing the movie, its quite wholesome on the whole.

Waqt

Waqt is one of the most stylish films ever in Bollywood.

These days filmmakers clothe their stars in international fashion brands, have them ride fancy vehicles (from cars to planes to copters) and put them in lavish locations (nothing less than a trillionaire-worthy farmhouse in South Africa). The movies, however, lack substance to match the style and wind up looking hollow.

Way back in 1965 BR Chopra came up with this gem of a movie and spawned a new genre of lost-and-found, love triangle, thrills and chills, which has been re-attempted a number of times during 70s and much of 80s, and became a stock formula. This movie was the motherlode that started it all.

STORY:

Lala Kedarnath (Balraj Sahni) is blessed with a devoted and a beautiful wife, three sons, and a flourishing business. He allows himself to be consumed by pride, and paints a magnificient future for himself and his sons. Right then, the town is swayed by a horrific earthquake that seperates the family. The eldest son is taken to an orphanage, the second son is adopted by a benevolant family, the third, a babe in arms, is left with the mother. Kedarnath is hit on his head and is not able to regroup his family. The eldest son Raja (Raaj Kumar) turns to a life of crime under Chinoy Seth (Rehman). The middle son Ravi, grows up to be a lawyer (Sunil Dutt). The youngest Vijay (Shashi Kapoor) has managed to get a BA degree, but has to work as a driver with Chinoy Seth. Circumstance brings the three brothers together. Raja and Ravi fall for Meena (Sadhna) which brings in an interesting love triangle. Meena loves Ravi and a shadow falls on Raja, who is willing to murder to get his love. But as he creeps inside Ravi's house to kill him, he finds out that Ravi is his own brother, thanks to Ravi's baby picture by his bedside.

Just at this time, the story turns into a thriller, with a murder done and Raja accused falsely for it. The last part of the movie is a courtroom drama which bring the guilty to the gallows (presumably) and miraculously brings the family back together. Lala Kedarnath is reunited with his grown sons and wife. The movie ends with a humbler Kedarnath acknowledging his debt to time (Waqt).

STYLE
The movie was stylish through and through. Raja as the criminal, Ravi as the adopted son of a rich man, Renu (Sharmila) as his sister, and Meena (Sadhna) as a barrister's daughter are all rich people and it shows in their lifestyle. Meena's house is a grand bunglow with a vast drawing room that is carpeted from wall to wall. Her boudoir is similarly lavish with a round red bed with gossamer draperies. A staircase sweeps upstairs grandly. This again, became a standard staple in bollywood movies, used as an effective prop in many movies.

The women are laden with glittering diamonds and brooches and buckles. Achla Sachdev looks glorious in the opening scenes with her gotedaar dupatta and heavy jewellery, as befits a well-placed mistress of a rich household. The sarees the women wear when the scene shifts to Mumbai, are all fine organza with embroidery, or silk salwar or churidar with kameez. Sadhna is resplendent in every scene, faultlessly made up and looking gorgeous. Ditto goes for Sharmila Tagore. In the boat song she wears a kameez done up with numerous frills over her tight salwar. Sadhana wore a designer saree in this movie which was quite a trendsetter then. Her trademark, churidars with a kameez, which is such an essential now, was something new then. Sadhna's engagement dress, a fuschia silk churidar is beautiful.

The men are not far behind. Balraj Sahni wers pathani salwars in the initial scenes with zari waistcoats. Raaj Kumar wears natty suits as the gentleman criminal. A younger Sunil Dutt is attired in trousers and trendy shirts, tees and sweaters. Shashi Kapoor is nattily dressed in a spotless chauffeur's uniform, looking handsome as ever.

The cars the men drive are all imported sports cars, in colours like yellow and red. I am not good at spotting the brands but they look impressive. In fact, there is a smart car racing scene between Raja and Ravi, which is pretty good. The wheels move fast and the sequence has been very well picturised.

Songs:

1. Ae meri Zohrajabeen
2. Kal jahan basti thi khushian
3. Kaun aaya ki nigahon me chamak jaag uthi
4. Din hein bahar ke
5. Ham jab simat ke aap ki
6. Mene ek khwab sa dekha hai
7. Chehre pe khushi cha jaati hai
8. Aage bhi jaane na tu

The songs are all melodious, with music by Ravi and lyrics by the great Sahir. The songs are picturised beautifully too. Kaun Aaya was filmed on Sadhana as she waits for Sunil Dutt. However, as she sings, Raaj Kumar comes in and is led into thinking Sadhana cares for him. Mene ik khwab sa dekha hai was a telephone song, and very sensuous too. Aage bhi jaane na tu was a party song, where everything glitters and is uber glamourous.

This album is a must have for people who love old hindi film music, though the heavy voice of Mahendra Kapoor is a spoiler.

SEXY

The cut version of Waqt relayed on Indian Television is a letdown. One needs to see a full version DVD to get a feel of how sexy the movie was. The affair between Sadhana and Sunil Dutt is pretty passionate. Everytime they come together, things get steamy. From the duet where they 'sorta' kiss. The usual trick of showing the couple in a suspicious clinch. The phone song, Mene ik khwab sa dekha hai is practically like phone sex with the couple exchanging what seems like fantasies which are depicted in a dream sequence. One line goes -

aanch dene laga kadmon ke tale barf ka farsh, aaj jaana ki mohabbat me hai garmi kitni; sangemarmar ki tarah sakht badan par tere, aa gayi hai mere choo lene se narmi kitni
-- Woo Hot !

Not to be missed is the extremely sexy scene where Sunil Dutt and Sadhana go swimming. Thereafter they go to the changing rooms, and wrapped in towels exchange sweet talk through the partition. Of course, Sadhana's swimsuit covers more than the minidresses that heroines wear these days. But she is wrapped in a towel in the changing room and things get quite decorously steamy between them.

WIND UP

Jab tumse mohabbat ki hamne,
tab jaake kahin ye raaj khula
marne ka saleeka aate he,
jeene ka sha'ur aa jaata hai.

Sadhana sings the lines for her beloved, but they apply more to Raaj Kumar in the movie. The hardened criminal falls for the charms of Meena, his pretty neighbour. He yearns for the respectability of normal life, but Chinoy Seth wont let him go. He is suave and debonair in the movie, handsome and personable. He had some memorable lines which he delivered with style. Yeh chaku khelne ki cheez nahi hai, lag jaye to khoon nikal aata hai, and Jinke ghar sheeshe ke bane ho, Chinoy Seth, wo doosron pe pathar nahi maarte. There are no heated or bombastic exchanges between Rehman and Raj Kumar. Though they are partners, there is little love lost between them. Yet their exchanges are delivered in an ultra cool style which is a delight to watch.

Later, Raj Kumar got typed in these kind of crime-by-circumstance, sacrificing roles where he rarely got the girl, and often died in the climax. His trademark became lines begining with 'Jaani' and delivered with a hand rubbing the neck. But here, he is cool and fresh.

Sunil Dutt got a lot of bombastic stuff. First as the hyperactive lover, later as lawyer trying to save his friend. There is this unintentionally funny scene in the end. In the movie, Raj Kumar knows Sunil Dutt is his brother, and he know he is the son of Lala Kedarnath. So when the older couple discover each other at the fag end, Raj Kumar is the one who knows that he is their son too. Sunil Dutt is the only one who has no clue that he has all these relatives around him. But rather than feeling flummoxed and demanding explanations he just jumps into the group sportingly and goes for a family hug.

The overwrought scene at the end nearly mars the proceedings, but that was the demand of the times, the abrupt happy ending.

A classic for sure, this movie.

How Jalaluddin becomes Akbar and gets his girl

Ashutosh Gowrikar begins at the begining, to explain to us WHY Jalauddin marries Jodha. Jalal wants to blend in, not forever spend his life as an outsider bent upon conquering and pillaging India. Then, to bring out the romance between Jodha and Akbar, Ashutosh wanted to delay the consummation of wedding, which means he has to come up with valid reasons for the same. So in come the issues Jodha has with the cross-cultural marriage. I have started thus, because a lot of people have accused JA of being rather long and pointless at times.

Maybe in reality the proceedings between Akbar and Jodha were tad less romantic. Akbar was short and stocky and had an unsightly mole on his face. Jodha’s clothes were possibly not this well co-ordinated. I dont know how fastidious the couple was about physical hygiene. I even read somewhere that Jodha converted to Islam, her children were certainly brought up as Muslims.

But then the whole idea of romance is to throw a beautiful veil over reality so that we are left clutching our breast and sighing as a beautiful royal couple inch closer to each other throughout the movie. There was a happy couple seated next to me in the cinema hall and the girl had her head on the shoulder of guy during the consummation scene (Sigh Sigh).

The movie moves at a slow pace, savouring the twists in the plot, lingering over made up history. In the meantime, there is plenty to admire in the movie, the grand landscapes, the elobrate forts, grand rooms, the wonderful clothes, the breathtaking jewellery. My eyes widened at Aishwarya’s beauty showcased in those gorgeous clothes and jewellery. She quite looks the part of a regal princess, and for a change, does not botch up the acting. Thank god, she had no ’Sunehri’ lines here. Hritik makes a handsome king, he carries off the arrogance, the urdu diction , and the topi quite well. The expressions flit across his face. Here is an actor totally comfortable with what he does. He is completely believable as Jalaluddin Mohammed.

I quite liked the supporting cast, Sonu Sood as the unhappy Surajmal. Ila Arun as Mahamanga, Punam Sinha as the Begam, the hunky villian Nikitin Dheer as Sharifuddin (he rocked in the final hand to hand combat).

Now for my take on the story. A very Hindu Jodha finds herself married to Jalaluddin Mohammed and is sure she is going to be miserable. But she finds at the outset, that her mother-in-law is a warm and a loving person. She makes Jodha feel at home. The nasty king is actually a handsome well mannered creature who (surprise surprise) RESPECTS her. But our skittish girl leads the king to a merry dance before he can get into her royal bed. In fact, his riyaya ( sorry urdu hangover - meaning his janta) accepts him before Jodha does. Thanks to his summary dismissal of the hindu pilgrimage tax, they bestow upon him the title of AKBAR which means GREAT. But he has to vanquish some more enemies before he can live happily ever after. For this we get a wow hand to hand combat scene which could have been right out of WWF. After which Akbar shows the meddling clerics who is the boss, and gets to plug for Hindu-muslim ekta. As history shows Akbar really did care for all religions, I will not say Ashutosh was trying to put in a pop message for highlighting this.

Haider Ali (the writer) tries not to use too many esoteric urdu or hindi words, and confound the modern viewer. I liked the music, it was very apt. As the marriage immediately benefits the pilgrims to Ajmer Sharif, it is appropriate that the wedding was serenaded by Khwaja Mere Khwaja. It seems that the people who were put off by the song have not heard of the spinning dervesh and the sufi qwaali during which the devout would often get up and dance. Azeemoshan Shehenshah was a magnificent presentation. Kehne ko jash baharan and Inn Lamhon ke daaman are also well presented and very romantic.

The length of the movie did not bother me, I was totally engrossed. I loved the historical references
(faulty at times), I loved the grand spread and I loved the romance. Maybe the younger generation was a bit put off by these factors, but not me.

Only thing that mystified me was the thanks offered up to Shatrughan Sinha in the credits. Why? For letting his beautiful wife act in the movie?

My Best Friend's Wedding - 1997

The first time I saw My Best Friend's Wedding, I did not appreciate it at all. I was in a bad mood maybe and was horrified at the successful career woman Julianne running after an obvious MCP Michael and his doormat-in-the-making girlfriend Kimmy. I have some recollection of writing something on it, kind of an early blog, along the lines of - 'Please Julianne, do not demean yourself.'

I have mellowed now, a movie is a movie. It is one of those eternal timepass movies, the equivalent of a good Mills and Boon, where you can suspend your better judgment and just be swept away in beautiful visuals, good acting, and marvelous songs. It seems to actually get better with each viewing.

The story is about a couple of out-of-touch best friends Michael and Julianne who had a torrid affair once. Michael and Julianne have teetered deliciously on the edge of friendship and love ever since. Julianne is a successful food critic based in New York and Michael is a sports journalist based in Chicago.

One day Michael calls up Julianne and announces that he is getting married and wants Julianne to see him through that.

 "It's amazing the clarity that comes with psychotic jealousy. "

Says George Downs Julianne's Editor and her current best friend when Julianne suddenly realizes that SHE wants Michael and runs off to Chicago to break up her best friends wedding.

The movie looks like a wedding planner's dream come true. The bride's side is always dressed in some pleasing shade of pastel, some variant of the color pink, blue, orange or floral. Julianne, the sensible career woman is dressed in browns and grays. The father of the bride owns a sports channel and is stinking rich. This allows the film to have several lavish sets. Kimmy (Cameron Diaz) looks ravishing with her blue eyes and babydoll clothes and hair. Julianne (Julia Roberts) looks amazing with her big hair that curls all over the place, a wonderful shade of warm brown, and with her equally warm brown eyes. Michael looks like a boy next door that girls always flip for, not forbiddingly handsome, but very likable. And don't even get me started on Rupert Everett. He looks very, very handsome.

Kimmy (Cameron Diaz) is the girl who has knocked the socks off Michael. Young, soft, yielding Kimmy seems totally romantic and impulsive. She believes that if you love someone you say it right then, and out loud.

Michael (Dermot Mulroney) is the wholesome middle-class guy who lives by his sweat. He works hard as a sports journalist and loves his job. He enjoys it despite the long hours, erratic schedules and a lousy pay. He always thought Julianne was his kind of a woman until he meets Kimmy.

Julianne (Julia Roberts) is the total career woman, the New Woman who does not think she lags behind men in any aspect. She is able to handle her career quite well, thank you. She can knock back drinks and not resort to any feminine wiles to woo men. She is a tomboy grown into a gorgeous woman in a sort of a denial of her charms. She is a commitment phobic and does not have any relationship that lasts a couple of weeks.

George (Rupert Everett) is Julianne's editor and her current best friend. He has this quizzical expression when dealing with Julianne because she surprises him constantly. He is smart, urbane, well entrenched in the art circles of New York yet is grounded enough to be able to see things as they really are. He is willing to stand by his best friend, Julianne forever and not pass a judgment on her. At the same time, he can give her hard-headed advice too, as a true friend should. What I love best is the way he drops everything at hand to be with his best friend in times of need. He looks divine, gorgeous, yummy.. somebody stop me.....

The film has a lovely soundtrack. 'Wishing and Hoping' the title track performed by Ani Defranco is really sweet. The topping on the cake is obviously Diane King covered 'Say a little prayer for you' which is practically the theme song of the film. There are other nice songs in the movie, but I like these the best.

There are some wonderful sequences in the movie, which are heartbreakingly poignant. When Michael tells Jules, "Kimmy says if you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise the moment just...passes you by". Jules has this bittersweet look on her face because she knows that the moment has passed her by. Then there is the difficult confession towards the end when Julianne knows she has to come clean and confess to the dirty tricks she has been playing to get Michael.  After that, the feisty catfight scene in the ladies washroom when the docile Kimmy springs her claws and goes publicly for the scheming Julianne.

But the scene I can watch many times over without tiring is the lunch scene where George joins Julianne as her newly declared fiance. Kimmy's mother leans over and asks George how he met Julianne. Julianne says, "Oh, he is my editor". But our flamboyant George is on a romantic roll and this is too bland for him. He launches into a hilarious over the top purple prose like description of their first meeting closing with all the guests at the lunch happily joining in as he sings 'In the morning when I wake up, before I put on me make-up, I say a little prayer for you'.

For me, the movie stands out for the lovely performances by the leading quartet of Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, the incomparable Julia Roberts and my favorite Rupert Everett. He starts the movie with Julia Roberts and rightfully closes it too, dancing with her to cheer her up. The movie would surely not have been the same without him.

A rose is a rose

Anyone who reads books has heard about The Namesake, written by Jhumpa Lahiri. It won the Pulitzer prize and was on the bestseller list too, the blurbs tell us. Mira Nair even made a successful movie on the book.

A friend of mine who read the book raved about it, and lent it to me. Luckily I had some free time on my hands at the time and read through the book almost at a stretch.

The book started a little jerkily, just before the arrival of Gogol in the world. Ashima Ganguly, displaced from Calcutta to USA, is yearning for taste of home in her pregnancy and has made a bit of chivda (or whatever the bengali's call it). She suddenly feels the labour pains coming on and is rushed to the hospital. She gives birth to a baby boy. Ashima and her husband Ashoke cannot even think of abandoning the conventions of their culture. Back home, the baby would have been named lovingly by some elder in the family. In fact, the name is on the way, posted by way of a letter. The baby's formal name is put on the hold, and the child is given a pet name, Gogol. Through a series of circumstances, Gogol never acquires a formal name.

The story, of course, is about how easily Ashima and Ashoke balance their Bengali and American way of life, and how hard it is for Gogol/Nikhil to do that. His attitude towards his name reflects his attitude towards the Bengali way of life and also towards the American way of life. He goes through his life, picking up american girlfriends, and an indian wife. How he finally makes peace with himself when he says at one time "Actually there is no such thing as a perfect name".

As we live, we learn more about ourselves (atleast some of us do). And it is these lessons that are the most valuable.

However, the standout point of the books is not so much the theme, good as it is. The standout point is the style and language. NEVER PRETENTIOUS. So much so, that the first couple of chapters almost sounded humdrum to me. Then the effect kicked in. The author was skillfully picking up sounds inside the heads of various characters and relaying them to us. She knew exactly how much to tell us about the character and at what time. Some facts are held up to whet our curiosity, and when we learn about them, it makes shivers run through us.

I was blown away because the story is so ordinary, and is so well told that it seems extraordinary.

I have always loved the short stories of Nikolai Gogol. He was a favorite of Ashoke Ganguly as well. He was once in a train accident when he was a young man in India, and reading a book by Gogol at the time. This accident and his surivival is his most life-altering moment, and is inextricably linked to Gogol. When time comes for him to name his firstborn, he thinks of Gogol. His son does not share his sentiments fully and hates Gogol the writer. At the end of the book, when he is at peace with himself, he picks up a book by Gogol, gifted to him by his father, and starts reading it.

Our names are the legacies bestowed upon us by our parents. Ram Khilawan may get a fancy schooling later and try to mask his downmarket name by calling it RK, or Ram K Prasad. Not being named flamboyantly like Amitabh Bachchan, poor Jatin Khanna calls himself Rajesh Khanna. Ava wrestles with her unusual name and bears the jibes of her classmates and some insensitive elders. What kind of a name is Ava? ask the philistines who never heard (in those times) of Ava Gardner.

But alas, I do not have the writing style of Jhumpa Lahiri and cannot write a book about my ordinary life and make it linger in the minds of readers like the fragrance of fresh jasmine.