So much for Indo-American Relations
Read this book The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur. The book has been topping bestseller lists for well over two decades, and has really struck a chord with the readers with its comical and witty depiction of the life of a conservative Indian in the "promised" land.
The story revolves around Gopal who has gone to study Chemical Engineering, in order to boost his hair-oil making business. Along the way, Gopal transforms from a religious, spiritual person to a yankee, who just loves beer and girls. However, his pursuit of girls is in vain for the entire year, since despite his yearning, he is unable to get laid down by any of them. Initially he was hesitant to sleep with anybody in spite of several schemes by his friend Randy [whose name to intrigued him], but later the very diffidence seems to get back to haunt him since he is unable to get the "pleasure". Finally, his thirst is satisfied 30,000 feet above land, in a memorable way.
Anurag Mathur is truly a class raconteur. Apart from the slapstick humour, he also makes subtle comparisons between India and America. The persistence of his grandmother for eating food cooked only by brahmins, and the careless sexuality of American women is truly contrasting. The style is also new, making fun of Indian English and American one alike, and dotted with memorable epigrams. For instance, Gopal asks his friend Randy if red-heads are red all over, and during Christmas, while trying to copy a commercial, on picking up the phone, compulsively chortles, "Herb's Abortion Parlou: You are raping them and we are scraping them"; only to find that it was his Dean on the other side.
The book sure has joined my list of favourites.
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"I have a dream" --- only when i'm sleepin'
The story revolves around Gopal who has gone to study Chemical Engineering, in order to boost his hair-oil making business. Along the way, Gopal transforms from a religious, spiritual person to a yankee, who just loves beer and girls. However, his pursuit of girls is in vain for the entire year, since despite his yearning, he is unable to get laid down by any of them. Initially he was hesitant to sleep with anybody in spite of several schemes by his friend Randy [whose name to intrigued him], but later the very diffidence seems to get back to haunt him since he is unable to get the "pleasure". Finally, his thirst is satisfied 30,000 feet above land, in a memorable way.
Anurag Mathur is truly a class raconteur. Apart from the slapstick humour, he also makes subtle comparisons between India and America. The persistence of his grandmother for eating food cooked only by brahmins, and the careless sexuality of American women is truly contrasting. The style is also new, making fun of Indian English and American one alike, and dotted with memorable epigrams. For instance, Gopal asks his friend Randy if red-heads are red all over, and during Christmas, while trying to copy a commercial, on picking up the phone, compulsively chortles, "Herb's Abortion Parlou: You are raping them and we are scraping them"; only to find that it was his Dean on the other side.
The book sure has joined my list of favourites.
===
"I have a dream" --- only when i'm sleepin'
posted by kpowerinfinity @ 2:28 pm
1 Comments:
At 5:38 pm,
Scube said…
'The Inscrutable Indians'
Well, my comment is not in any way related to the book by Anurag Mathur as i am still to read it.. Well, in any case you don't need a book to tell how inscrutable your own fellow Indians have become.
Yesterday night I had gone for the screening of the movie Border at the IISc campus Gymkhana Theatre. Not many people were around. Should comment: more people had come for the screening of Janasheen, a super-duper HAM of a movie last week. I guess Border didn't have Celina Jaitley in bikinis (or whatever you wish to call her dresses) :D
Anyways, getting back to Border. There were these 2 students, sitting about 5-6 rows ahead of me. Guy and a girl. Anyways, they have started this new ritual of playing the National Anthem (for the uninformed and the uniniated Indians, our National Anthem is 'Jana Gana Mana'), before the movie. An announcement was made 'requesting' everyone to stand up. Well, thankfully for the country, almost everyone of us students, who are to guide her to glory in this new millenium so to say, stood up. Everyone but one guy. The one i mentioned a little earlier. A guard came along and asked him angrily to get up while the Anthem was on. This guy gets up, seemingly very annoyed, very unhappy. And looks around as if ridiculing the 400 others who are standing around as fools. Let me describe his attire. 'Cool' T-shirt, Faded Jeans, cropped up hair. In short the metro-sexual Indian. Well, so much for him. I salute you my man. Thank You for re-affirming my faith that there's still a lot to be done about my country and that her own citizens are not proud of it.
This incident made me wonder about one more thing. Is it correct to play the National Anthem at public gatherings like the movies? I don't suppose most people stand up out of respect. They do more so out of compulsion, out of the fright of embarassing themselves infront of their friends.
There can be two ways of going about things. Either you show utter negligence to your country, or you respect it in whatever small way possible. There's nothing wrong in taking the first path. But what's bad is that these people who take the former path are the first ones to hurl abuses at the system. But when it comes to suggesting a solution or working towards one, they run away from it.
Some other incidences from my brief stay here at Bangalore:
If you want to see how much our country has progressed on the 'Fashion' front, take a ride to MG Road. The road named after Mahatma Gandhi has become a ramp where over-made-up people with equally over-made-up faces show off their latest trends, show the world how modern they are. You can see girls wearing the minimal amount of clothes (that the clothes, whatever remains of them, don't suit their figures most of the times, is a different case), have pierced almost every part of their body, leaving nothing for imagination. People who have never even gone out of their state talk with an accent that can put a real NRI or an 'Umreeca return' to shame.
One day at Planet M, I saw a kid, maybe 4 years old, shopping with his mother. Well, the kid bought stuff worth 1000 bucks. He kept on stuffing any cd that he liked from the stands, while his 'mom' shopped for her own accessories. I know they can afford it, but by giving the child a free hand at such a young age you are ruining him. Don't blame me if he turns out to be a problem child :D
Recently I had gone for the movie Troy with a few friends. The bandi with me asked whether i knew the backgorund of the story. I said i wasn't too sure. And that according to her was a crime. How could i not know what happened some 3000 years ago in some far-away place in Europe? Shame on me !! Well, Anant Pai, the creator of Tinkle Comics had once come to my school. He gave a very inspiring speech about the origin of Tinkle. He said that once in Delhi there was an inter-school quiz. One team, on choosing mythology as their field was asked 10 questions. 5 each in hindu and greek mythology. And whoaa !!! they answered all 5 greek mythology question correctly and the 5 hindu mythology questions wrongly. So much for the Indian education system !! This incident encouraged him to start Tinkle and promote the Indian roots.
Even today, if i go with a camera-man and a mic doing a quiz on MG Road and ask these torch-bearers of Indian modernity the name of the Indian Prime Minister or their State's Chief Minister or India's first President, i doubt if i will get a right answer. Long live MG Road !!
Aah !! and how can i forget my very dear KGPian? There's this Final year CS guy from KGP who is going to Berkeley to 'The United States of Umreeca'. Was reading his profile on Orkut. He still has about 3 months to go before he sets foot on American soil and he proclaims proudly 'Country : United States Of America'. Should say, he seems to have disowned whatever this country has made him. With due respect my dear, 'Thank You' for leaving this country. We are better off without you.
Why am I angry? Am I myself too much of a patriot? Why am i bewhaving too idealistically? Will i die for my country? Maybe not, maybe yes. I don't champion the cause that we should always remain a country of snake-charmers and naked fakirs. But progress can be had within the value culture existent in our country.
As i said Indians are inscrutables.... And hell yeah !! I am one of them
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