A laconic interview of Shobhaa De`’ in ‘The Hindu’ intrigued me to go for this book. As I located it on one of the shelf’s of the book store, the first impression was rather dubious. Writer’s photograph on the cover page and a pink colored back edge, the book appeared to me more like an erotica. I still wonder, “what is the writer doing on the cover page of a book that’s about superstar India”? Perhaps she wants to convince the reader of the fact that 60 is new 40. (Only if you use something like wrinkle lift or age miracle creams !!).
As expected (after a deceiving image of the cover-page) the book talks about India. I won’t say it is boring but it is a bit disappointing. The book completely lacks argumentativeness, humor and precise analysis.(The back cover review raised my expectations. “… De’ reasons, nevertheless, that the nation has earned superstar status, and with humorous argumentativeness…….”) The chapters are just a collection of thoughts raised in fraternal talks, with baseless non-arguments vacillating back and forth in no man’s land. And Shobhaa De` doesn’t hesitate to refer to her glamorous status, every alternate page. When I was once in china….., or once when I was dining in Taj….., once when my children asked me for a credit cards as birthday present……. blah blah blah.
The book obviously talks about a lot of topics, and most of the topics are relevant in contemporary India. Indian youth, call center culture, its image in the world, Indian women: past and present, India and china, IT revolution, sex taboo, poverty and billionaires, religion, habits etc. Each topic would have made an interesting weekly newspaper article but assembling and extending them into a book makes it boring and exhausting and the reader doubts if its another manoeuvre to make money.
She talks about the obvious things, the things that are known to every Indian (or at least every person who is qualified enough to read a book like this). It takes ample amount of skills to talk about the multi cultured nation like India. Just presenting it in an upfront manner serves no purpose. A precise analysis would have been better, which the author failed to present. I would not hesitate to mention Amartya Sen’s “The argumentative Indian” at this point. The comparison is apt as both the books talk about the contemporary India. Leaving aside the historical part of Sen’s book, the book deals with more or less the same topics, but in a more sensible manner. The arguments are stimulating and leaves reader with something to think about. De`, she has just presented some topics in a way which clearly shows the lack of effort and research behind this book. Rather a parochial view of the horizon as seen from the edifice of her elevated status.
Perhaps she must have been planning to write something else, may be a personal memoir, titled ” Superstar De’ from incredible to unstoppable” but that would not have generated so much money. So she decided to bluff the readers by projecting a totally different image of the book, the book about India as it enters into 60 years of its independence. And while writing she articulately slipped the images of her incredible status(as depicted in the book). The purpose was fulfilled. In their constant endeavor to look for India, readers found more and more De` in the book.
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