Prabeer Basu

After a long long time read a good novel, and luckily it turned out to be a refreshing novel, recommended by my cadre mate. The author is Nilanjan P Choudhary IITK+IIMA. He gave up cushy jobs and now writes and I believe is associated with an NGO. The book is "SONG OF THE GOLDEN SPARROW:A Novel History of Free India" The novel reminded me of Rushdies "Midnight's Children", Gunter Grass's "Tin Drums", and "First Light" by Sunil Gangopadhya. It is superbly written, full of satire, sarcasm, feeling, suspense, excellent language, and an interesting storyline, with use of Indian myths and stories. I couldnt put it down. At the same time it traces the history of India from 1947 to the present times. Like Rushdie and Sunilda, the author creates a fictional story with 'real' characters appearing in the narrative - Modi, Morarji, Indira Gandhi, Satyajit Ray, Aseem Premji et al - beautifully blended into the story. That's why the resemblance I felt to Sunilda and Rushdies books. You can even see a whiff of Tagore's 'Shaapmochon'. Reference of Einstein and Quantum mechanics arise perhaps because of the IIT footprint. I would rate it as one of the best novels I have read (and I have read the best authors of the world for comparison). It surely deserves a literary award, at least a Booker. The author seems to be a sensitive person as his story brings up vexed questions of development without compassion, integrity, character, and most importantly, purpose of life. At one level it is philosophical and can raise disturbing questions in our minds. Rating: 5 star