Suketu Mehta - Rebuttal in Wall Street Journal

Bombay Rude? Hard to Digest!
A Rebuttal in the Wall Street Journal By Suketu Mehta

I haven't read Mehta's "Maximum City" yet, but this is an oversight I hope to rectify rather soon. But this is about something else that Suketu wrote, and I enjoyed it enough to mention it here. In today's WSJ, I came across a cleverly constructed rebuttal by Mehta. Here's what happened:
A little while ago Reader's Digest conducted a survey of 35 cities for global courtesy. And unluckily for all those who love Mumbai, the city ended up at the bottom, as the least courteous. In response to that, Suketu, the lover of Bombay, goes on to say why that particular survey is a bogus one (they rated people on opening doors, saying Thanking you, and picking up dropped papers) and then proposes a second one instead, one that Bombay might easily win.

He then ends his rebuttal with an excerpt from his book that RD had itself run.

"If you are late for work in the morning in Bombay, and you reach the station as the train is leaving the platform, you can run up to the packed compartments and find many hands stretching out to grab you on board, unfolding outward from the train like petals. As you run alongside the train, you will be picked up and some tiny space will be made for your feet on the edge of the open doorway. The rest is up to you. You will probably have to hang on to the door frame with your fingertips, being careful not to lean out too far lest you get decapitated by a pole placed too close to the tracks. But consider what has happened. Your fellow passengers, already packed tighter than cattle are legally allowed to be, their shirts already drenched in sweat in the badly ventilated compartment. They know that your boss might yell at you or cut your pay if you miss the train.

And at that moment of contact, they do not know if the hand that is reaching for theirs belongs to a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Brahmin or an Untouchable. Come on board, they say. We'll adjust."

Now that's called opening doors for others.

This is a diabolically clever note to end with when arguing for something, and Suketu uses it to maximum effect. I know I will be reading the book soon.


suketu mehta, maximum city, rudest citymumbai, WSJ, mumbai trains

One Day in September

There is only one sure way to time-travel. Watch documentaries of yore. Just before settling down for the weekend to watch Speilberg's Munich, I brought along this documentary from the library. I knew that after watching Munich I would want to learn more about the real story behind the Israeli Olympic athletes.

I wasn't mistaken. This is definitely one to watch, especially if like most blog readers, you were too young to remember the actual incidents of 1972. Even if you do recall what you read at the time, this documentary covers the story from multiple points of view -- the Israelis, the PLO, some of the relatives of those lost, the US media, and even some the German policefolk invovled in the incident.

When seen through our post-Sep11 paranoic eyes, some of the mistakes of '72 seem astoundingly naive and dumb. But I guess we must remember that the world was indeed a gentler place at the time.

If a historical and 'true' portrayal of the Munich Olympics incident sounds interesting, don't miss this documentary. (This film won the Best Documentary academy award, and Michael Douglas provides some of the commentary.) Your library will most likely have a copy.

Munich 1972,Israeli athletes, PLO, Olympics incident

The Zen Mind -- DVD

A Zen Journey Across Japan

Maybe you've already been to Japan. Or may be you plan to go there some day. Surely, your experience will be different from that of filmmaker Jon Braeley and that's just one reason to view this DVD.

If you are interested or even curious about Zen, then this DVD is a great way to get a peek into the world of Zen, with a very zen-focused tour of Japan thrown in. The DVD has interviews with Zen masters, and also gives the viewer an introduction to the Zen way of life and to meditation.

"But what is satori? Is it something extraordinary? No, ...Satori means you turn into your true self" from The Zen Mind

If you are very familiar with Zen, this documentary may be too basic for you, but it could still serve as great refresher. I've read a few books on Zen in the past, and that fact only helped me enjoy the documentary/film even more.

This movie seems to be difficult to get hold of. I couldn't find it listed in IMDB, and Amazon was out of copies, but if you can get it be sure to view it.

Zen mind, Jon Braeley, Emptymind films, satori, zazen

There and Then: A Book by James Salter

There & Then: The Travel Writings of James Salter
by James Salter

The trouble with most travel books is that they are 'linear' -- We went here, then we did that there, did you know this, something funny happened there (ha ha), what a great trip it was.

But never will Salter write that way. His love of the Old France, skiing, a little bit of Japan they are all there. James Salter writes with a certain muted brilliance, he doesn't give his praise easily. It has to be earned.

If you are already a fan of Salter, get hold of this book. He will take you to parts of the world that we can all go to, but we can't see with his sees. That's why we read his books.

If you haven't read Salter at all (and what's been stopping you?) then get his book 'Solo Faces' first. If fiction is not for you, read his autobiographical 'Burning the Days,' an excellent book about his flying and writing life.

Don't continue to be someone who hasn't read Salter. According to Susan Sontag:

"[Salter] is among the very few North American writers all of whose work I want to read, whose as yet unpublished books I wait for impatiently."

James Salter, There and Then, Travel writing

Story-Wallah - Short Fiction from South Asian Writers

Shyam Selvadurai, Editor

I hadn't heard of or read about this anthology before. But I am very glad that the cover caught my eye. It is a very good collection of short stories from nearly two dozen writers.

The writers that you know well are there (Rushdie, Lahiri, Anita Desai, Rohinton Mistry etc.) but there are sure to be writers that you will discover.

I haven't yet had the opportunity to read a book by Bharati Mukherjee, and her wonderful story "The Management of Grief" has convinced me that I should hurry up. A few other stories that I particularly liked -- Winterscape (Desai), Just Between Indians (Ginu Kimani) and Auld Lang Syne (Sandip Roy). There are many more that I could add to the list.

If you hail from a South Asian country, you are sure to discover writers from your neighboring countries. And if you just happen to like reading stories from other cultures, this one is a nice and easy way into South Asia.

I also found this article about Shyam and the book, by Aparita Bhandari in mybindi.com


Story-wallah, Shyam Selvadurai, south asian fiction