Bishwanath Ghosh

When the likes of S.Muthiah and Narasaiah exists, it requires a lot of guts to embark on the mission of chronicling Madras. But Bishwanath succeeds in his breezy, almost-bloggish style of writing about Chennai and its people. It has a simple narrative style and interacts with lot of popular people but whose personal side I wasn't aware of (Muthiah). Inclusion of Narayana Reddy, Saroja Devi was a surprise. Sometimes the awe at brahminical things (Carnatic music, kolam, tradition with transformation, blah blah) is irritating but if you get past that, its fun. I definitely recommend this book.… (más)

This is a nice book, and is an easy read in many ways. When I say that it is an easy read, I mean that Bishwanath Ghosh’s writing has a nice flow to it.

The book is a result of his desire to explore his adopted city of Chennai (earlier called Madras), and starts with the establishment of the Fort St George by the British during the reign of Aurangzeb. He ends with a short history of sorts, of the street where he lives.

The characters he meets, and the anecdotes, are interesting.

For all that, I feel that there is something missing in the book. I feel that he has captured the anecdotes, but somehow missed the spirit, or soul, of the city.… (más)

This is the 'tale', or adventures, or experiences of Bishwanath Ghosh, a Bengali who grew up in Kanpur, and how he discovered (in a sense) Calcutta.

He has a keen journalist's eye for detail but does manage to bring in a fair amount of insight and humour into his writing.

I have lived in Calcutta for a few years, and do relate to much of what he writes and says. His adventures, of course, go much beyond what I experienced! Especially the stuff with the various Bengali women, of whom he seems to be quite fond.

The structure, from spring to winter, is very good. However, the addition of the second spring adventure did spoil the book somewhat for me. I felt it was one season too many, and an indulgence that could have been dispensed with.

Read the book. It's good.… (más)