THE GODFATHER OF KATHMANDU, JOHN BURDETT

This is the book for you if you do not like action, if you enjoy pages and pages of the protagonist’s introspection, if you enjoy a warped view of the “natives”, if you enjoyed Kipling and Maugham…

In short, The Godfather of Kathmandu is yet another product of a writer who has obviously attended classes of some sort on How to Write Novels, who believes in his 1000 words per day regime.

Charming at first, in a caricaturist way, the novel begins to pall when page after page plods painfully through what looks like a Lobsang Rampa bizarro world.

Initially, the reading conjured shades of an Oxide Pang movie: the greenish hue, the odd shred of horror thrown in…

And here and there, there is, admittedly, something of some small worth: a description of a mall rings quite genuine, for example.

But, mostly, a book to give the miss! Or to a Miss? The Missus? 

AADHUNIK PACKERS AND MOVERS-A DISASTROUS CHOICE

UNFORTUNATE CHOICE OF PACKERS AND MOVERS
We relocated from Gurgaon to Pune in June, 2012. Our son remained in Gurgaon where he was to shift to another flat. After some looking around, we settled on Aadhunik Packers And Movers Pvt. Ltd.

INCONVENIENCING THE CLIENT
We had to set off for Pune earlier than my son was to move and so we were out of the picture when the men from Adhunik came to our Gurgaon rented flat. They came late in the evening when it was not convenient for my son and, at our end, they similarly arrived at an ungodly hour.

CUNNING STRATEGY
My husband was busy with a workshop when they phoned one morning that they were reaching Pune-from then on we were running hither and thither to their phone calls and they finally arrived much after dark. "They" turned out to be a small group of very tired young men huddled in a poorly covered small van-it broke our hearts to watch them haul the heavy packages up the stairs and so we were in no mood to berate them (much)-I did blow my top when they would not unload without a payment but it was dark and all of us were sorely tired and wished to wrap up things-this seems to be the strategy: do the packing and moving after dark when it is not convenient to the client and when no one is likely to create a fuss or do anything about it if damage is found.

DAMAGE FROM WATER/RAIN DURING TRANSIT
As it so transpired we could only move into the flat we have rented in Pune end of August and so we were unable to verify the extent of damage. But we found many cartons sodden with water.

NO CONCERN FOR CLIENT INSTRUCTIONS
Adhunik's men had packed and sent to Pune many articles that had to remain with my son including the TV-which is effectively totalled during transit.

DAMAGED FURNITURE AND TV
It was only end of August that we found that there was more damage than just piles of wet clothes: all the furniture is damaged. The TV is not functioning.

LOST GOODS
As we were embarrassed to ask our son about many items which were missing lest he had decided to keep them, we only discovered how many things were missing when our son visited us this month.
Among the losses: expensive bottles of perfume, a wall hanging from Myanmar, large glass jars...Many kitchen utensils, etc.

UNSCRUPULOUS PACKERS AND MOVERS
I hope this blog entry will save others from falling into the snare of this unscrupulous company.

Draupadi, Polyandry, and a Palace of Illusions

I have never been too greatly disturbed by the moral/ethical issues of Indian Mythology. Perhaps because I was not brought up in a strict framework of religious life or too many rituals. Yet the major Indian epics, regarded by many as Holy Books, contain many examples of hair splitting where ethics are concerned. And, maybe more stridently post-colonialism, we are made aware that, possibly, these tales laid the ground for what we perceive as the degraded condition of Indian women, for one thing and among others. Examples of such mind sets abound and such exercises are greatly applauded.

Mark, for example, we are exhorted, how Rama, one of the foremost icons of Hinduism, treats the woman he loves. And, proceed these spoilsports, what about Draupadi? 


Rama fought a mighty battle to wrench his beloved wife, Sita, from the arms of the captor only to cast her away from him forever on the basis of a poisonous murmur: can a woman remain chaste who has been another's captive for so long? 

And even before this heart wrenching betrayal, she is made to walk through fire to prove her chastity. 

Well, these do not disturb me for two reasons.

Firstly, it is a tale - a grand story of love. The best love stories seldom end well. And this tragic twist fits well into the machinations that go into concocting an ageless legend.

Secondly, Rama, as ruler, has no right to a private life. The demands of the people must come before the desires of his heart. Keeping as consort a woman, whom the public views askance, lowers his credibility as ruler. 

Few truly great people have had exemplary family lives and we lose respect for many in power who use their positions to placate family members.

Now, as for Draupadi, I'm in no way pulled into the issue as the only way it has been presented to me is thus: her having five husbands!

Why is polyandry so distressing to some, to many, in fact, to more than those disturbed by polygamy?

I should think that a woman is a more complex psychological and biological being than a man and that, therefore, it would take at least five partners to meet the many aspects of her personality: one who is a good provider, one who is humorous, one who is sensitive, one who is dashing, and one who is in tune with her spiritual side, for example.

To my father, the tale was a symbolism of the Mind and the Five Senses.

Be that as it may, I look forwards to reviewing how the tale of this Princess with Five Husbands is dealt with in the Palace of Illusions.

I'm doubly drawn to this novel as I have often, even very recently, been enchanted by that marvellous palace of the Pandavas.  

Mighty stories like the Mahabharata are like palaces of illusions. They reflect you. If you have a paucity of mind you will see only so much. If your mind is richer you will see more.