Books

The Swan Thieves The Betelnut Killers LEILA SETH’S

by Elizabeth Kostova | by Manisha Lakhe | COLOURFUL LESSONS
REVIEWED BY KIRAN MANRAL
The second book from
REVIEWED BY KARISHMA UPADHYAY
The cover describes Manisha
IN CIVICS
NOVEL the author of the com- NOVEL Lakhe’s debut novel as Sopranos
pelling The Historian meets Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron but that’s
The former Chief Justice
shuttles between two parallel plots really a stretch. Chimanbhai Shah, a Gujarati of the Himachal Pradesh High
set in contemporary U.S. and 19th grocer, wants to bump off rival Supriya, a siren, Court demystifies the Preamble
century Paris. At the start we meet who is luring his buyers in Portland, Oregon. for young readers in We, the
Robert Oliver, a famous painter, The Shahs and their two ABCD (American Born
committed to psychiatric care for Confused Desi) kids take
Children of India: The Preamble
attacking a painting at the National inspiration from Bolly- to our Constitution
Portrait gallery in Washington, D.C. wood while plotting to
The psychiatrist, Dr. Marlow, starts kill Supriya—lacing her WHAT PROMPTED THIS BOOK? I’ve been thinking that
tracking people from Robert’s past curry with arsenic and children don’t learn any moral science in school and it would
after he stops talking. The scene hiring a contract killer. be good to teach them the Preamble because you get “I hope it is
then shifts to Paris, where another Buzz is that Quick Gun all the concepts that are important in our Constitution. translated into
artist, impressionist painter Bea- Murugun director Sha- When you learn it young it becomes part of your con- Hindi,” says Leila, 80,
trice de Clerval’s story unfolds. The story lines are connected shank Ghosh is slated sciousness. who believes all kids
should read the book.
by a mystery, the clues of which are hidden in works of art. to make a movie of the YOU MENTIONED YOU’VE HAD HELP FROM (Inset) Grandkids
This literary thriller (of sorts) is let down by the author’s book (Manisha wrote YOUR GRANDKIDS. I have a granddaughter Nandini (far right)
inept handling of the characters. While descriptions verge on this as a screenplay ini- [Nandini, younger son Shantum’s daughter] who was and Anamika (far
left) at the launch.
the repetitive, the story meanders towards an uneasy end leav- tially). Our advice—wait eight when I wrote the book. I told her, ‘I am writing this
ing behind many unanswered questions. for the movie. book so that you become a good citizen’. So she said to
me, ‘What is citizen?’ When I used her as a sounding board I
realised what was simple for me was quite difficult for her.
The book has been formatted in a way that a younger
CATCHING UP WITH. . . child can enjoy the pictures and older kids can look at the

ARNAB RAY
The blogger-turned-author satirises life in the ’90s, from C-grade
Bollywood films to dotcoms, in May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss!
CHALLENGES OF MOVING
FROM BLOG TO BOOK FORMAT?
Principally two. First, blogs have a limit-
ed horizon of relevance—maybe one or
two weeks. A book, however, you want
people to be reading years after you
have written it. So while for blogs, the
spotlight is on personali-
ties and current events, in
books, you want to focus
on “themes” that have a
much larger time window
restricts free speech by predicating
that it “not hurt sentiments”, no wonder
that people don’t want to get into “real”
humour, the kind that draws blood and
makes people think.
BOLLYWOOD IS A FAVE TOPIC.
PICK A ROLE YOU WOULD PLAY?
Without doubt the old-school
villain. White suit, stroking
a tiger... Sure, being a villain
entails taking Nirupa Roy
prisoner and getting beaten
text and information boxes. It’ll appeal to children from six
to 11.
YOU ALSO RAN THE BOOK PAST SCHOOLKIDS? I
took the manuscript to her [Nandini’s] school [Step By Step,
Noida]. I purposely didn’t have her around that time and I sat
with 10 children from Classes 3 to 5 in the library and read it
out to them. And they gave me some ideas... ‘Don’t use this’,
or ‘Say That.’ It was a participatory process. At the [launch] I WHAT DOES YOUR SON AND WRITER VIKRAM SETH
acknowledged those children because they really helped. It THINK OF THE BOOK? Vikram helped edit the book and
was a wonderful experience. the poem [on the last page]. He didn’t like it so he started
improving it and almost changed it.
DID YOU KNOW? I was lucky to have a good editor
TOP RIGHT: RAJWANT RAWAT/PEOPLE; BOOK PIC: KIRTI SURVE PARADE/PEOPLE
The book includes Arnab’s and proofreader in-house.
popular blogs. Describing life in One amusing fact revealed
THERE HAVE BEEN GREAT
the ’90s, he writes, “It wuz da best in the book is how Jawaharlal
of tyms, it wuz da wrst of tyms.” REACTIONS TO THE BOOK.
Nehru, while signing the
Yes, many grown-ups have also
Constitution, didn’t leave any
of Mithunda needs extensive inter- liked it and said, ‘It’s so nice to read
space for the President, Dr.
views. This needs time and travel inside it because it brings to mind how
BOOKS: CHANDRAKANT KUMAR/PEOPLE (3)

Rajendra Prasad. Finally Dr.

of relevance. up, but when you are having India, which, given my full-time job as wonderful our Constitution is.’ At
Prasad had to squeeze in his
THERE AREN’T TOO so much fun what’s a few a research scientist in “high-confidence the launch [in India International
signature at an angle above
MANY INDIANS DAB- punches? engineering of software systems” in Centre, New Delhi] kids enacted the
Nehru’s (right). “I thought it
BLING IN SATIRE. YOU HAD SET OUT TO the suburbs of Washington, D.C., is book. They also made jokes… when
was very interesting and that’s
Considering how easily WRITE A BOOK ON problematic. However, rest assured, the they read out the part about the
why I took a photo,” says Leila, who went to the
people take offence and MITHUNDA. WHAT HAP- book will see light of day. Constitution being the most important book in India,
Parliament House to take a look at the original.
how our legal system PENED? A serious biography —KIRAN MANRAL one of them said, ‘After Harry Potter!’

112 May 21, 2010 PEOPLE PEOPLE May 21, 2010 113