I feel understood!

I was reading "The Mango Season" on the train over the last couple of days, and I loved it. It was so amazingly easy to relate to, and so reflects my own situation. I loved that I could see people from my own family in the characters there, and myself in the heroine - Priya- as her parents set about trying to get her married.

I also finished Friedman's "Hot, Flat and Crowded", sometime ago, while I was travelling back and forth. Some of what he said does make sense. The world is going haywire climate wise. While its possible that humans aren't entirely responsible for this, one way or the other it is going to have consequences for us. My problem is that none of the solutions he has proposed seem feasible. As an economist, I think he really should have provided an argument based more on rationality rather than hopefulness.

Ponniyin Selvan

So... while in India I, at long last, managed to get my hands on the translated 'Ponniyin Selvan' books- bu Kalki... and read through them obsessive compulsively. Somehow, it happens that I've never reall studied Indian history... and CBSE seems to just skim over South Indian history, focussing only on the Mauryas, Guptas, Mughals, and the British role... so most of the Pallavas,Cheras, Cholas etc were completely beyond me.

This one is set in the time of the Cholas, a tale of the coming to power of Rajaraja Chola- born Arulmozhivarman. The story however, actually focusses on Vandiyathevan, a prince whose family has lost their lands, who falls in love with Arulmozhivarman's elder sister, Kundavai.

The villain of the piece is Nandini (haha!)- whether she is the daughter or lover of the Pandya king Veerapandyan, who was killed by the crown prince,Adityakarikalan is not clear- but Adityakarikalan loved her- but because she was believed to be only a servant's daughter, could not move their relationship forward. When he next sees her she is protecting Veerapandyan much to his fury, and before her eyes, he kills him.

In the meantime, the king is sick, the younger son in Sri Lanka, his sister plotting for him to win the Sri Lankan throne and marry her friend. There's a fisherman's daughter Poonkuzhali (who is really my favorite character)- who goes from hero worship to true love. There is the son of the old king who seeks his throne (not entirely without right), and his mother, who has secrets of her own. And still, there are others- the Pazhuvettarayars, who have been chief ministers to the kings for ages, the Prime Minister and his spies- the intrigues at the court are never ending.

It was literally one of those unputdownable things. The story moves rapidly as new people, situations and plots are revealed. I wish I could have read it in Tamil! Next on my agenda is a book of short stories by Kalki.

Thoughts from my vacation- History of the Mughal Empire

I got back some time ago from my India vacation, and just realised that I hadn't blogged on it for a while. I've said it before and I'll say it again... when there is something interesting and bloggable going on I don't have the time, and when there is time, I don't have anything to write about.

Anyway, so India was full of concerts, good food and shopping. Am stunned by the number of shops and restaurants that have opened in Chennai. The place is simply booming. And also hideously expensive. Even if you convert from dollars. Or especially if you convert from dollars.

I read a lot while I was there (naturally). Started off with "Flowers for Algernon". A book that could be described as sad, but not really- if only in that it seems to ... take joy in those moments of discovery and learning, and brings out the value in every life, no matter the intelligence. Or at least that was the lesson I took from it.

Then I sat down with "India since 1526" I read only the rise and fall of the Mughals- always interesting. I was surprised by how much I hadn't learnt (or have forgotten) in History at school. For example, the number of power plays, the contradiction in the characters of each Emperor- Babur who conquered a land that he had no love for. Humayun who lost it all and never really won it again. Akbar- who came to the throne so young. The contradictions that plagued his life- in some ways the problems he faced resonate even now- in trying to forge a bi-partisan consensus (in modern parlance), he very nearly alienated his own people.

Then there was his marriage of Rajput princesses- romanticized in Jodhaa -Akbar- not so much a matter of romance as a political negotitation. His conflict with Rana Pratap- the Rana too proud to accept help, or even show respect for those who had accepted the Mughal Empire- so determined to keep his freedom, that in his pride he alienated those who would have helped him (he refused to meet with those who had married their daughters to Akbar).

Its amazing, the amount of intrigue and treachery that went on in these Mughal courts. Not one Mughal emperor seems to have made it through without his son(s) rebelling against him. Aurangazeb was probably the most famous- actually a younger son, he managed to kill and imprison his father and three brothers as he took the throne. Shockingly, as cruel as Aurangazeb was to the public, he was an absolutely virtuous man in his private life. On the other hand, Shah Jahan- known for his one great love- was actually a dissolute character- before his famous marriage and after his wife's death, he was an utter hedonist.

There were so many great loves it seems, in the Mughal court. The book also talks about Prince Salim (Jahangir's) love for Nur Jahan (who is not Shah Jahan's mother- confusingly- theere are so many wives)... Jahangir himself rebelled against Akbar, and was almost replaced by his son Khusrau- who later rebelled against J. and was killed off by his brother- who became Shah Jahan... thus continuing the line of fratricide and patricide.

Aurangazeb stretched the Mughal Empire as far as it would go. But in his intolerance he lost the trust of the Rajputs- whom the Mughals needed to govern the kingdom.... and shortly after the Mughal Empire slowly declined.

It was such a series of ups and downs - more like a novel than a history book, so full of heroes, and anti-heroes- sometimes both one and the same- their battles, their loves, their achievements- Akbar's strength- apparently enough to subdue wild elephants- Jahangir and Shah Jahan's loves, Aurangazeb's victories- which were also his failures.