During the late 80's , my mother was just settling into her new home in a tiny bank staff quaters in Lokanwala Mumbai. Around the same time Naipaul lands in the city on the eve of Ambedkar's birth anniversay. In then Bombay (now ofcourse Mumbai, don't want to upset the MNS) he explores the politics of the Shiv Sena . the underworld, the ghettos and the Dallal street businessmen with sobriety rarely seen among contemporary opinion leaders. Down south he gives the reader in depth insights on Dravidian politics, the Periyar 'rationalist' movement and (much to my delight) a birds eye view of yesteryear Madras (now Chennai, again no offence) . In another chapter titled ' The end of time' ,Naipaul narrates the story of a Shia Muslim man from a Lucknowi royal family, his enthusiasm for a moderate Islamic state of Pakistan and the subsequent dissapointment. My favorite chapter is ' Women's era' ,about the popular women's periodical targeted at middle class women.Naipaul painstakingly gathers opinions from different women from various walks of life. This is especially juicy now considering the sticky situation he finds himself in now.
Naipaul's writing seems incredibly slick and charming. There is something distinctly unpretentious about it without a trace of the stereotypical patronizing western observations usually dished out. He is critical yet compassionate in his observations with a steady supply of wit. In 'Shadow of Guru' and 'A house on the lake' he explores the militant movements in Punjab and Kashmir. When he finds a picture of the Golden temple hanging in the reception of Kashmiri man's lobby he senses a ideological comradery between the two separatist movements while a contemporary left wing leaning critic would point to a symbol of unity and defiance against the common enemy ( i'm only guessing after enduring numerous editorials of our day and age).
At several points in the book i wondered how Naipaul would have written about the current situation and i guess not much has changed but many other issues have come to light and conflicts have multiplied. But one thing's for sure if he writes another one i'd queue up for it. facebook page says "LIKE" !
