Saraswati Park

Author – Anjali Joseph. Lived in India and England, shortlisted by Hindu for best Indian writing in 2010. She has a mixed feeling about herself, that of Indian roots and longing to write about India, but still feels very British when in Paris.

The novel, caught my attention because it was shortlisted by Hindu. My brother had shared his Crossword coupons worth 1500/- and that was good enough to buy me a lot of books which were on my mind. But it was after quite a bit of searching I found the books.

Those of you in Bangalore, who have been to the Crossword store, would find it a better than the Landmark, in Forum. However, the Crossword store at Shoppers Stop on Bannerghetta Road, has been a disappointment most of the times. Lack of choice and disinterested staff and loads of billing errors. I picked up like 5-6 books from the Crossword store at the Bangalore International Airport. The staff was quite helpful, took down the names of the books from me and got all of them from the shelves.

Saraswati Park is the second novel I am reading in succession which has a story based on the lives of people in Bombay. It also the second book which was nominated for the Hindu Literary Awards. There are occasional streaks of genius and creativity in the book. But it lacks the punch somewhere. It does not live up to the mystery and climax it builds up to. Some of the characters are unfinished. So from a character sketch point of view; I was not satisfied with anyone. But the description of events, city, emotions and the details daily activities were quite captivating. The ability to do so much, think so much, feel so much, accomplish so much from the bounds of limited spaces in crowded Mumbai, is simply amazing. But somewhere Bombay is still unexplored, it will continue to be. Else reading of Bombay will not be charming. Each one with his view.

The best chapter, in the book, the second last one. Especially the one where Ashish is taking the flight to California.