Sleeping on Jupiter – comments

Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I do not often read books such as this  But guess the title’s uniqueness was what caught my attention in the first place (apologies for the narrow mindedness, but I am fussy about what I read, this not necessarily based on visibility-driven literary auras). Anyway hardly spoilers below, so read on …

The author’s acumen to trigger powerful visuals through her descriptions is omnipresent throughout the novel.Also, the overall undercurrent of cracking down on hypocrisies in Indian society is my favorite element in this work. Being an iconoclast myself, loved it. Certainly not for the orthodox folks

Not recommended for the weak-tummied folks either. Some depictions of violence are ..well.. rather violent . There are elements where I felt like I was watching a Rob Zombie movie, only a tad less crude and with a bit more panache, but targeting an equivalent degree of gore (or is that the author successfully triggering worst case imaginations in me ?!?! Well !!)

The most striking thing is the specific focus on child and women abuse. The blood boils at this episodes. Period. Nothing more to say. There are times when my latent schizoprenia (hadn’t known I had that side till I read this book, kudos to the author for triggering such a degree of visualization in the minds of a reader !) drove me to reach out for the antagonist Godman’s throat and rip his inhuman life out of his scumbag of an existence! (Shall refrain from saying anything else to avoid spoilers)

The ending is a tad disappointing though. Felt that it could have been much better in is terms of creating something witty or unexpected.

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India vs China = Tortoise vs Hare ? – Is the fable an allusion or a force-fit ?

Superpower?: The Amazing Race Between China’s Hare and India’s Tortoise by Raghav Bahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book takes off in a diplomatic way. I found this very tactical if there is a neutral reviewer reading it 🙂

But in a ghostly running-background of the race between the hare and the tortoise (allusions here are taken to “Little Prince” levels), the author goes onto surgically lay down the argument for the Indian economy. To sustain the diplomacy in spirit, there are instances of substantially repetitive disclaimers that the likelihood still remains of China re-defining the eco text books

All in all , a delightful read. Besides the obviously apparent economics and GDP-growth based theories, there is a 360 degree analysis taking into account histories of the nations, the socio-eco-political decision making over the years, etc.

My only disappointment (probably due to my own cynicism/ insecurity regarding the flawless hope that the author creates for the Indian economy) is that the theories after a few chapters look nitpicky. In a few episodes in between, there is this overwhelming feeling that the author is pitting the need to be objective against a patriotic bias. Thus, this sentiment leading to the odd splurge of examples which have been cherry-picked to show the Indian economy can win the race. But again, thankfully this observed act is definitely not overdone and even the tiny stardust I might be noticing is perhaps , again just me playing the devil’s advocate.

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