Slice of Indian Life

Beautiful and loving tribute to India and the varied cultural population living there. This is a book about a group of friends. It's the story of their lives from the time they attend college. Each one comes from a different cultural group, but they are united with their love of food and cricket, the national sport. It has a folksy, 1950, naiveté quality to the writing. The characters are innocent, young, eager to learn about new lifestyles, yet proud and respectful of their own. When India is rent by a civil war, each is affected in some way, much like our own civil war. Neighbors fight neighbors, and what was once a peaceful and loving community, now becomes fragmented, their differences dividing rather than unifying them. While the writing was clearly translated from another language, and small explanations interrupted the flow of the narrative, I didn't mind. It read a bit like a documentary to me. I enjoyed this book, and learned that while India may have been divided geographically, it's soul remained whole. Like it was stated in the book, "You can take the Indian out of India, but you can't take the India out of the Indian."

Happy Reading!
Carole P. Roman