JustBooks Connect - June 2011 newsletter

Over dinner, city-based writerSamhita Arni talks about Out ofPrint (www.outofprintmagazine.

co.in), a new online journal for short sto-ries. She is co-editor along with founderIndira Chandrashekhar and Mumbai-based writer Mira Brunner.

It was started to provide a space forshort fiction "of a different sort", sheexplains. This may sound unclear, evenwhimsical, but nobody questions itbecause we accept the unstated premisethat there are few platforms for short fic-tion, let alone experimental short fiction.

In its third issue now, the journal hasbeen featuring some exciting writers. Thelatest has seven stories including a sci-fidystopic chiller called 'Jenna' by AnitaRoy and 'Birdsong' by Jahnavi Bahruawhich is a teasing glimpse into emotionalviolence. Each issue is themed.

According to the editor's note, this oneis about women but the theme is pleas-antly unobvious. It runs like a subter-ranean murmur through the stories, a

healthy sign of subtlety. Then, Shillong-based poet and writer Janice Pariat runsPyrta (www.pyrtajournal.com) which shestarted in July 2010 for "shallow, selfish rea-sons": she wanted a beautiful online spaceand couldn't find anything that she par-ticularly liked.

Pyrta is easily one of the prettiest mag-azines online. The quirky and elegantdesign is complemented by its content-some really crisp short fiction, poetry andphoto essays. Ease of internet access andcheap hosting options have made it easi-er for writers like Pariat andChandrashekhar to start online journals.

More recognized names in the sphereare Pratilipi (www.pratilipi.in), a bilingualjournal edited by Giriraj Kadoo andRahul Soni, both of whom are writers andtranslators; Muse India (www.museindia.com) which depends on a panel of editorsand features plenty of translated works;and writer Rati Saxena’s Kritya(www.kritya.in).

Increasingly, these are becomingvibrant hubs-not just places where peoplecan read new poetry or fiction but alsosubmit their own work if so enthused.

Most online journals have an open sub-

mission policy and this encourages newand young voices to spill onto theirpages.

Although nascent, online journals willonly grow in importance. For writers ofpoetry or short fiction, there are few otheravenues in India. Publishing is difficultbecause these genres are not consideredsaleable.

Even renowned names have troublegetting past the first print run thanks tolacklustre distribution, stingy shelf spacein bookshops and lack of publicity inmainstream media. Most publishers areunwilling to touch new writers. Onlinejournals rarely provide money but

CONNECTDigital futures: the uncertainty

and hope of online journals Pg 10Quiz

Pg 14JustKids

Pg 15AuthorProfile

Volume 2 Issue 4www.justbooksclc.comblog.justbooksclc.com

June 2011 For limited circulation

A JustBooks Publication

contd on pg 2...

Anindita Sengupta

2 JustBooks Connect - June 2011

From the Editor’sDesk

Avisit to National Gallery ofModern Art on Palace Road,Bangalore, is a must for the

residents as well as the visitors toBangalore. Nestled in a canopy ofgreen; it is housed in a heritage man-sion in the center of the city.

The exhibits, though not in the samescale as NGMA Delhi, are worthynonetheless. Curators have done awonderful job in putting up the dis-plays. There is plenty of outdoor spaceto just sit and relax and for kids to runaround. The cost of entry ticket is Rs.10 for Indians and Rs. 1 for students! Itis a pure steal.

And that is why it is such a pity thatit hardly attracts visitors. Is it becauseNGMA has not marketed and adver-tised itself properly? Or are webecoming apathetic to our art and his-tory? If its former then NGMA has lotsof work to do but if its latter then itsmore worrisome.

Art, in whatever form, organicallygrows when it gets supportive andnourishing environment. In absenceof which, a society loses the growth ofits culture.

Culture, which history will show, isimportant for any civilization's ascentor descent. The same applies to read-ing and writing and other forms ofcreativity.

To have fertile minds write and pro-duce great literary work, requiresgood publishing houses, proper copy-right laws and an open society.

In this edition we have focused onvarious online literary journals thatare run by diligent and passionate cre-ative folks. All they need is our appre-ciation and encouragement than justgive a dekko.

What is needed from a society atmacro level is needed from a family atmicro level. To encourage reading andwriting in our family, especiallyamongst children-we need to read andwrite ourselves, subscribe to variousliterary magazines and become mem-ber of a library.

We hope and believe the growth ofJustBooks libraries across multiplecities is doing its bit of contribution tothe society.

Lastly, do tell us what you think ofthis edition and send us your feedbackat editor@justbooksclc. com.

As usual happy reading

they do offer a venue-and some loyalreaders. In a parched state, this seemslike manna. The good news is that onlinejournals are likely to grow in popularity.Tom Jenks, who is co-editor of NarrativeMagazine (www.narrativemagazine.com),makes a case for them: The question aboutthe place or validity of literature online is anon-question. As early as 1995, the risingpopularity-the sheer call on imagination andinspiration- the internet made it plain thatwriters would have to move online or be mar-ginalized. The futureof the written word isdigital. Traditional,familiar forms willcontinue to exist popu-larly, but the means oftheir delivery to read-ers will evolve remark-ably, with great oppor-tunities for economiesof scale in productionand distribution. Thisis good news amid thegeneral confusion

about the direction of contemporary literarypublishing.Though he is talking about the scenarioin western terms it is relevant to India aswell. With increasing Internet access,cheaper connectivity and a general break-down of biases, more readers are going toget online.

However, a question that emerges inthis context is quality. Cheap virtualspace is prone to substandard writing,especially because anyone can stylethemselves 'editor' of an online literaryspace (Pariat, 2011). Online journals areoften edited by two or three people toensure some amount of quality checkingbut standards do vary. How is a reader totrust one journal over another?

Jenks addresses the question of qualityas one that is linked to larger issues inpublishing, reviewing and reading ingeneral. With the breakdown of canoni-

cal literature and the lack ofcredible reviews, one isuncertain of what constitutes'good writing'. In India, shortfiction and poetry rarely getreviewed in mainstreamnewspapers. Barring a fewefforts like Caravan,Tehelka's annual fiction issueand The Little Magazine runby Antara Dev Sen, no maga-zines publish them. The aver-age reader can get throughentire swathes of time with-out ever encountering thatstrange beast-a short story-orthat even stranger beast, a

poem. Suddenly the reader is faced withone of them in this new breed of onlinejournals. No wonder there is the urge toturn tail and run. It is unfamiliar. Andthere are no signposts, no guidelines onhow to deal with it. It's pretty much acase of diving in at the deep end, trustinginstincts, exercising the (literary) limbs.

It doesn't seem likely that reviews inmainstream media will become more fre-quent. But readers can strengthen theirjudgment in other ways, sometimes sim-ply by reading as much as they can(which is possible online if not offline),sometimes by talking to other readers.This is already happening among a smallsection. They are turning to Facebookpages, book groups and blogs to discusswhat they like and why. This will hope-fully ferment better understanding, anability to read between the lines, anappreciation for craft and nuance.

Better readers will, in turn, affect thequality of journals. The internet may notalways bring you money but through sitestats and comment boxes, it does let youknow how many readers you have. Andmore importantly, what they are think-ing.

Sources: Pariat, J. (2011, April 8). SmallPrint. Forbes India , pp. 119-125.

Smith, J. (n.d.). Testing the E-Credential.Retrieved April 1, 2011, from Green HillsLiterary without free access to the hundreds ofjournals now available on the Internet.

contd from pg 1...


Architecture of WomanhoodA fine line

Meera Godbole Krishnamurthy isan artist and a writer. She stud-ied art and architecture at

Oberlin College and Columbia Universityand received a Masters of Architecturefrom the University of Virginia.

Widely travelled, she has also lived invarious places including France, thePhilippines, and the United States. Herautobiography is in the form of her

engagement with issues of feminism, herlove of architecture and a cosmopolitanoutlook inform this debut novel. Eachchapter begins with a quote from afamous architect which sets the tone andsuggests the theme or core of that partic-ular section.

The take away message of the book isencapsulated in the famous architectLouis Kahn's question: "What do you wantto be, brick?" The question suggests that if

one could discover the essence of anobject, or, in this case a person, then itwould be easy to almost organicallydo the right thing or as Bill Moyersused to say, to follow one's bliss.

In an interview the author explainsthat "Tara is trying to define her truenature, separate from what society orfeminism or her friends tell her." Thisidea of an unchanging 'essence' of selfis in itself deeply problematicbecause it envisions individuals as staticbeings who don't evolve.

However, the discovery of a 'true self'would make it easier for Tara to knowwhether she wants to be a stay at homemother or a working woman. The booksuggests that the two are mutually exclu-sive propositions. Career women, even inthis upper middle class milieu ofAmericans and Non-Resident Indiansend up in fraught relationships or divorce

- even when they can affordday care or doting grand-mothers who displace them-selves to look after theirgrandchildren in an alienland.

The issue of balancingcareer and family: while thetitle Balancing Act is old asthe hills, each new motherfaces it for the first time andrehashes the same tired argu-ments as if they were freshlyminted revelations.

And each time an uncompli-cated and stereotypical notionof feminism is pulled out ofthe hat to bear the brunt ofindividual angst.Krishnamurthy's definition offeminism provides the usualguilt-scented, conciliatorybalm to men: "Feminism neednot be anti-men. Tara's husbandis portrayed in a sympatheticlight. Men too miss out on thefamily because of work." But theauthor does not comment on

the fact that Tara's husband Roshan canafford to be supportive of whatever deci-sion she makes because he does not haveto adjust his life-style in any way. Notonly do Tara and et al heap praise onRoshan for his supportiveness but it iseven suggested that if he is attracted toher best friend it is because she has beenremiss in her wifely duties and neglectedhim! One wonders why he did not offer toput the children to bed when her friend is

visiting for a couple of days so that shecould have a night out? His support andkindness is manifest in his taking thefriend out for an expensive dinner and anevening out returning home late in a sen-suous, heady haze when all the chores aredone and the children tucked in bed.

Tara has to even invent a Yakshi, heralter ego, who dares to raise the issue ofher wanting to go back to work after nineyears of being a stay at home mom. Tara'sresistance to being seen as "just" a motheror a housewife is to make playdoughbricks on which she inscribes words orword pairs such as - womb-nursemaid-housewife, gilt-guilt, mother-smother, orvacuum-void. She leaves these anony-mous signs of protest in random placesand waits for change to happen. Tara isnot looking for systemic change in herhome or in child care policies, nor is shelooking for equality or even equal oppor-tunity for women and men, she believesin the 'biology is destiny' idea of women'sroles in society.

In her view "motherhood seemed to havefallen into a black hole in this modern - or per-haps - post-modern, feminist world view."But she does not offer any ideas abouthow motherhood could be rescued fromthe black hole. In a moment of self-ques-tioning about what she really wants sheacknowledges that, "All I wanted was forthese women to include me in their small talkat dinner parties." If anything this shrunk-en, personal desire to belong in superfi-cial conversations is a severe indictmentof motherhood, education and socializa-tion. Tara who had topped her architec-ture class and then tenaciously stalkedI.M Pei to become part of his team and beinvolved in the construction of theLouvre pyramid has now narrowed herhorizons to want merely to belong and beacknowledged by both career women anda 'kitty party' group.

Stylistically Balancing Act is well writ-ten and definitely readable. It also hassome keen insights but as a defence ofmotherhood it is unconvincing.

Geetanjali Singh Chanda

Balancing Act

Meera Godbole KrishnamurthyZubaan

“Tara has to even invent aYakshi, her alter ego, whodares to raise the issue ofher wanting to go back towork after nine years ofbeing a stay at home mom. “

JustBooks Connect - June 2011 5

True love

In George Orwell's 1984, Big Brotherwatched everyone's every move.In Shteyngart's Super Sad

True Love Story whichcarries a hangover ofOrwell's classic, peopleare more than happy tosurrender their privacy,broadcast their lives andpeek into others. Shteyngart'sbook is a funny yet tellingsatire on our obsession with thesocial media and consumerism.It is set in the near future whenan almost illiterate America isabout to collapse.

The dollar is devalued and peopleuse 'Yuan pegged dollars' and con-stantly find out about each otherthrough their electronic devices.Privacy is absolutely nonexistent andeveryone is obsessed with health.

The book's protagonist Lenny Abramovis unable to generate wealthy clients forhis company Post Human Services whichaims at keeping the super rich (High NetWorth Individuals) immortal. Lenny isincongruous in a world where everyonelives by live streaming their thoughts andhotness quotient. (He is admonished by acolleague on how he has to learn to rateeveryone).

Lenny actually likes books and readsthem, whereas everyone else considersthem smelly. He is a son of Russian immi-grants with the expected immigrant guiltand burden, while Eunice Park, the girlhe falls in love with, is a daughter ofKorean immigrants. He meets her inItaly, where he is unsuccessfully trying tohook rich clients who wish to live foreverand jeopardising his career by drinkingtoo much wine and partying too much.

The book is about the relationshipbetween Lenny and Eunice as they cometogether and move away from each other,expressing themselves thorough their

diaries (Lenny) and their GlobalTeensaccount (Eunice). Their relationshipcomes with complications. Plain andbalding Lenny is head over heels in lovewith Eunice. She, youthful and vibrant,has to convince herself that this olderman is right for her and that his devotionto her should win over his dullness.

She can be cruel often but alsoexhibits surprising snatchesof kindness, likes h o w i n g

Lennyhow to brush

his teeth properly. Butas they start building their rela-

tionship slowly, the world around themfalls apart. Apparats (a device that evalu-ates everyone on their personality andsex appeal) stop working, there are riotsby poor people and China is ready toforeclose on the country. And Lennymuses in one of the best lines of the book:“For me to fall in love with Eunice Park just

as the world fell apart would be a tragedybeyond the Greeks.”

Both Lenny and Eunice are burdenedby their parents' expectations. Eunicegets regular mails in broken English fromher Korean mother, urging her to meet anice Korean boy. Her mother's letters(Sometimes life is suck, she writes in oneof them) are a superb device used by theauthor to convey the immigrant'sdreams, hopes, aspirations and the sor-row of seeing some of those vanish intothin air.

Shteyngart's satire is at once bitingand frighteningly accurate.

Everyone judges everyone. Everyonerates everyone. Streets have creditpoles that display everyone's rating.The author's version of the future isfunny but it is also extremely pos-sible given the way things aregoing. More than anything, thisis a biting satire on social net-working that will have youlaughing at many instances.People rarely meet eachother face to face. It's also asatire on consumerism, asshopping is everyone'sfavourite activity.

But where the bookreally wins is in thelove story and in theauthor's treatment of

his protagonists. Eunicefascinates Lenny. Not just for the

constant concern she displays for hermother and sister but also for her com-modity loving self, a reflection of the soci-ety they are living in. Much of the book isbased on the online communicationbetween Lenny and Eunice as well asbetween Eunice and her best friend,mother and sister, revealing a lot moreabout them than a different format wouldhave.

Shteyngart is a compassionate author,lending his characters a dignity not oftenseen in many satirical novels. He is alsomourning the loss of a world where mat-ters that were meant to remain privateremained so. The only trouble that somereaders could have with the book is thatit involves too many things (immigrantangst, social networking overdose, etc)and ends up being a bit complicated andmuch less fun to read in the long run.Despite that, this is a book that remainspoetic at heart and a good read.

Reshmi Chakraborty

Super Sad True Love Story

Gary ShteyngartRandom House

When love meets a tragic future...

“For me to fall in lovewith Eunice Park justas the world fell apartwould be a tragedybeyond the Greeks.”

If you think that love at first sight hap-pens only with people, think again!For books can beguile you and make

you fall in love with them as much as peo-ple do.

For many book lovers, the sight of abook with its carefully designed cover,the alluring blurb inviting him or her toexplore more with the tantalizing prom-ise of something special that awaits thereader inside the book, is by itself equiva-lent to falling in love at first sight.

Connoisseurs claim that to appreciateclassical music, we need to go through aprocess of initiation and involvementwhich invariably means that one needs amentor or a guide to understand thenuances of the art.

However, rest assured, reading doesnot need anyone other than you to getstarted and in my opinion, reading booksis as much as an art as attending concertsand plays except that the former is a soli-tary activity pursued in an unspokencompany with its writer.

It is also said that reading is a habit thatgives one as much pleasure —if notmore—than, say, physical pursuits andhobbies. One need not be bespectacledand freckled to enjoy books. Readingbooks is for everyone irrespective of age,gender, occupation or social standing.

The old aphorisms of intellectuallyendowed book readers stands turned onits head with the era of mass produced

paperbacks and easy avail-ability of books. Like thebonds that one forms withpeople, one can also buildenduring bonds with bookswhich can start early orlate.

Of course, with the elec-tronic age where attentionspans are in the order ofseconds rather than min-utes or hours, book readingis one activity whichdemands some patienceand involvement.

Believe me when I saythat it is worth the timeand the effort and themunificent rewards (someintangible and some tangi-ble) that one gets fromreading books and forminglifelong association is byitself compensation.

My involvement withbooks began with paperbacks of

thrillers and mysteries which were adelight for my then young mind with allthe promise of adventure and romance infaraway lands adding to the allure andthrill of reading. Gradually, I began toread fiction that was "serious" whichmeant that I was picking up BookerWinning authors and reading them.

This does not mean that I have given upthe paperbacks altogether as even now Ipick up the latest by Fredrick Forsyth forthe sheer pleasure of reliving vacations ofmy school days that were spent dreaming

of intrigue and action; thehallmark of many myster-ies and thrillers.

With my initiation intoprose and literary fiction, Ibegan to appreciate life inits fullest and the multilay-ered nature of reality thatthese authors sketched outin all their hues.

As I entered college andstarted working, I turnedto nonfiction by readingbooks about economic poli-cies, foreign affairs andanything that was availablein the nearest bookshop orlibrary.

I can say that the habit ofreading books prepared mefor my subsequentprogress in life by broaden-ing my horizons and incul-

cating in me a worldview that kept me ingood stead.

The best gift that one can give to othersis to inculcate in them the book readinghabit. It is not necessarily the case thatone needs to read literature or tomes onforeign policy.

The point that I am making is that anybook is a work of art and hence one canstart at any age and in any genre and fin-ish the book with a feeling of fulfilmentand satisfaction.

On a comparative note, the avenues forindulging in this habit are more thesedays with so many bookshops, librariesand even electronic versions availablethat were earlier the exclusive preserve ofthose with access.

This easy access is why one sees somany people picking up books, not onlyto adorn their shelves, but also to indulgein the book reading habit.

Iwould like to say that reading books islike sipping old wine. The experience

leaves you wanting for more and it growson you with the passage of time.

Personally, I have built a bond withbooks that transcends place and time andI hope that I continue in the same vein.The passion for the written word is asenchanting as the passion for sport orother pastimes.

Like with all passions, reading bookscan be a lifelong affair and the love at firstsight that often happens with book loverscan turn into an abiding relationship thatwithstands the changes of time.


Booked for lifeRam Mohan Susarla

Musings

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichei's criticallyacclaimed first novel Half of a YellowSun is fiction firmly rooted in history,

drawing its story from the Nigerian Civil War(or Nigerian-Biafran War) of 1967.

This is a fierce and sensitive delve into the his-torical and social impulses of the war and a starkportrayal of its destructions.

Adichei has been likened to Chinua Achebeand Half of a Yellow Sun is certainly deserving of huge praise.It is emotionally warm and visually haunting, an act of remem-brance and an act of love. It is what they call an 'important'novel. It is also a terrific read.

Half of a Yellow SunChimamanda Ngozi AdicheiKnopf

Anindita Sengupta

Bitter ChocolatePinki ViraniPenguin

April is observed as Child Sexual AbuseAwareness month in some countriessuch as the United States and India.

Hence, it is a welcome coincidence that onechose to read Bitter Chocolate, a well known,hard hitting book on the painful subject ofchild sexual abuse, last month.

A survivor of this malady, the author PinkiVirani, a journalist and activist provides a moving and disturb-ing account of the gory acts that are committed against unsus-pecting kids.

Although the acclaimed book is ten years old, it is worthreading especially by parents and caregivers of kids of any age,gender and of course, income group.

Pushpa Achanta

Makers of Modern IndiaRamachandra GuhaPenguin

India, says Guha, is "the most interesting coun-try in the world". He adds that his comment isthat of an "an impartial historian", (if ever

such a creature existed!) While he describesIndia as an "unnatural nation" elsewhere, in thebook he gives reasons of why he finds the coun-try interesting.

In his choice of nineteen individuals, whom heregards as the Makers of Modern India, he has limited his questto the last two hundred years. One of the reasons given by himis that India today is shaped primarily by the plebeians of therecent past. Guha is obviously seeing the country through hismodern 'historian's' monocle.

Dr. Rajeshwari Ghose

Leadership@InfosysEdited by Matt BarneyPenguin

Leadership@Infosys is a collection ofarticles written by leaders at Infosys.The articles describe the values and

strategies adopted by successful leaders inIndia's second biggest software company.

The book gives insight on change leader-ship, adversity leadership, transitional leader-ship, operational leadership, networking

leadership, content leadership as well as entrepreneurial lead-ership. Thought leaders present the challenges in each, alongwith success stories of how each challenge was tackled bythem. The book inspires leaders to build the leverage on lead-ership as their competitive advantage.

Manjula Sundharam

The Tell-Tale Brain- Unlocking the Mystery ofHuman NatureV.S. Ramachandran Random House

The author summarizes the humanpredicament thus: Science tells us we aremerely beasts, but we don't feel like that.

We feel like angels trapped inside the bodies ofbeasts. Is our science missing the boat becauseof its blinkers of Darwinian evolution? Is ourbrain the secret behind the much faster culturalevolution powering human evolution? How dowe answer these lofty questions even while try-

ing to understand and help the unfortunates amongst us: peoplewith autism, synesthesia, phantom limbs and other syndromesof mental abnormality? How can we research our brain usinganother brain? Don't we need something superior?

Dr. Rajagopalan

Curfewed NightBasharat PeerRandom House

Basharat Peer takes us through Kashmirof the 1980s and 1990s. He was only ateenager when the separatist movement

began in 1989. In Curfewed Night, one doesn't expect to

find answers to the Kashmir problem, and itoffers none either.

The book is not just important because it isone of the few detailed accounts of Kashmir inEnglish in the last ten years, but also because

it is written with immense sensitivity and courage - it blamesno one, and yet reveals the fault-lines of the valley unflinching-ly.

Deepika Arwind


For detailed reviews check out justbooksclc.com

Hi, I am a book. Iam made to giveyou knowledge

and most of you read mefor entertainment also.You can make me yourbest friend. As someonehas very truly said, "Whenyou turn the last page of agood book, you feel as if youhave lost a true friend."

I was born at 'Egmont's'about a year ago. Whilebeing written, I came toknow that the writer was'Enid Blyton' and myname was 'St. Clare's'.

I felt very proud to havesaved a tree as my pageswere made of bagasse, nottrees.

So, in a way, I made myplanet a little greener.When I went from the printing press tothe book shop, I soon started gettingbored sitting on a shelf, waiting forsomeone to buy me. Soon a customerpurchased me and many of my friendsas he was a library owner.

After some time I was sitting in hislibrary, 'JustBooks' on the shelf named'Children's Books - Pre-teens Section'. Imet many of my brothers and sistershere.

I even made some new friends andhad fun. Then, a nice girl came in andhad a look at the shelf. She noticed meand took me home. She read me andtreated me well. I was happy with herhospitality, but was soon back to myshelf in the library.

After that I visited a lot of young kidswho read me and seemed to have fun.

All the kids enjoyed reading me, espe-cially girls because my story is about aboarding school for young girls inLondon. It is about the O'Sullivan twins,Patricia and Isabel who are new to St.Clare's School. I show the ups anddowns of the adventurous and some-times troublesome life at a boardingschool. My story teaches children to liveindependently on their own.

After reading me, one girl said, "Mom,even I want to go and live at St. Clare's"!

So, any one of you who hasn't read me,come to 'JustBooks' and take me home.

I was having a nice time till one day, anaughty boy took me home and while

reading tore some of my body parts andeven my binding. He also spilled hotmilk on my cover which was quitepainful and made me look ugly too! Thelibrarian got angry and cancelled hismembership.

So, my short journey of life ended in arecycle bin. I am now hoping to be recy-cled and reused soon. Next time, Iwould like to be more colourful andread by more friendly and well-man-nered kids.


The Autobiography of a book

Malleswaram has always been indire need of a good library. Butnot anymore as JustBooks has

arrived. Yes, there are many otherlibraries nearby; however these librariesstock up only Mills and Boons, comics,movie DVDs and the likes. JustBooksprovides us with a refreshing changefrom these run-of-the-mill libraries.

Books of all genres are available here.You may be looking for the latest JefferyArcher, a Rick Riordan, a Wimpy Kid ora J.Krishnamurthy. Whatever the bookmay be, chances are you'll find them atJustBooks. If you don't, you can requesta transfer from one of its branches. Neat,organized and systematic, it's a pleasureto visit the library everyday and agreater pleasure to see the kids insistingon going there.

We make use of technology to returnor issue books, to search for books byour favourite writer and even for locat-ing the shelf where we can find the bookwe want to borrow! There's more toJustBooks, activities like painting anddrawing are held for children. Friendlyand helpful staff members complete thepicture. Finally, a library in the truesense of the word!

Thank you, JustBooks for providing alibrary that we, the book lovers, inMalleswaram had been waiting for.

Swathi Belur, Malleswaram

Reader’sVoice

Vanyaa Kansal

Vanyaa, is studying in Class VI inArmy Public School, Pune. Her fatheris a Naval Officer, and they recentlyshifted from Visakhapatnam to Pune,where she became a JustBooks' mem-ber. She is 10 years old and apartfrom reading, her hobbies are craft-work, drawing, playing games andmany more.

Reader’s contribution

A Fistful of Rice: My UnexpectedQuest to End Poverty ThroughProfitability

Vikram AkulaHarvard Press

Here's a fascinating and inspira-tional story, says Ramesh Prabhu.

If you want to do well by doing good,then take a leaf out of Vikram Akula'sbook.

Akula, whose parents emigrated to theUS in 1970 when he was two years old,worked in remote Indian villages as anidealistic graduate student before goingon in 1998 to found SKS Microfinance,which provides small loans and otherfinancial services to poor people in India.He tells his fascinating and inspirationalstory in A Fistful of Rice, published lastyear.

A Fistful of Rice is fascinating becausein compelling language it introduces thelay reader to a subject that most wouldnot have much interest in: developmentwork. And it is inspirational becauseAkula shows how well-meaning - anddriven - people can transform for the bet-ter the lives of those less fortunate thanthey are.

Akula says he knew as a teenager, afterhaving made several visits to Hyderabad,his hometown, that this is what he want-ed to do. He writes in A Fistful of Rice:

"When I enrolled at Tufts University atseventeen, I began thinking in earnest abouthow to help India's poor. I devoured the worksof the great philosophers, searching for clueson how to live my life and make a difference inthe lives of others."

And after he graduated, Akula says, hewas excited to get out into the world andtest his theories. He writes:

"At long last, it was time to go to India andstart working with the poor! The only problemwas, I had no idea what I might do there, orwho would hire a fresh-faced college graduatelike me. And in those pre-Internet days, thesequestions were far more difficult to answer."

But Akula did not let this "problem"deter him:

"I went to the women's center on campus,knowing that groups working specificallywith women were more progressive. I beganflipping through magazines in hopes of find-ing a nonprofit located in drought-proneTelangana, the impoverished region of mybirth. Because I spoke rudimentary Teluguand had family there, I figured that would bethe best place to start. Unfortunately, thereweren't as many options there as in cities likeDelhi, Mumbai, or Kolkata, but eventually Itracked down the contact information for afew nonprofits. I sent off a raft of letters andwaited."

"Only one organization, the DeccanDevelopment Society [DDS], responded. Andeven their letter was decidedly lukewarm. Thedirector, a man named Biksham Gujja, basi-cally said, 'Okay, if you come here we'll meetwith you, but we're not promising anything.'"

But this was good enough for Akula:"Relieved to have gotten a reply, and deter-

mined to convince Biksham to hire me, I

bought a one-way plane ticket to Hyderabadand packed a single gym bag with clothes. Iwanted to travel like Mahatma Gandhi - nounnecessary attachments, no excess of materi-al goods."

And so Akula comes to India, beginsworking with the poor as a volunteer, ishired by DDS, learns what it means towork in development, and finally, after atwo-week training session in Bangladeshwith Grameen, founded by the pioneer ofmicrofinance, Muhammad Yunus, startshis own organization, SKS, for SwayamKrishi Sangam, "a Sanskrit phrase meaning'self-work society', or more loosely, 'self-help-society'."

In later chapters, Akula, who wasnamed by Time magazine in 2006 as oneof the world's 100 most influential people,describes in moving detail the challengeshe and his inexperienced team face. LaterSKS, which unlike most NGOs is a for-profit organization (read the book tounderstand the reasons for this), movedbeyond giving microloans. "We're alsoable to offer our members social, educational,and health benefits," writes Akula.

Vikram Akula's tale proves that initia-tive, enterprise, and enthusiasm alignedwith a desire to help underprivilegedpeople can help to combat poverty. It alsoproves that you can do well by doinggood.

Ramesh Prabhu is the professor ofjournalism at Commits, a media col-lege in Bangalore. Before turning toteaching in 2003, he worked as a jour-nalist for more than 20 years inMumbai, Dubai, and Bangalore.


Do good, do well

Ramesh Prabhu

Reader’s contribution

1. This literary journal is pub-lished from Bangalore:CaravanReading HourNarrative

2. Which of these is not an ezine?Biblio PratilipiOut of Print

3. The famous publisher RaviDayal started this literary maga-zine:GrantaAtlantic MonthlyCivil Lines

4. Name the editor of The Little Magazine:Anjum HasanAshis NandyAntara Dev Sen

5. Name the literary journal of Sahitya Akademi:Indian LiteratureSamkalin Bhartiya SahityaAll of the above.

You can find any number of books on the World Cup buthere's a book on the IPL story.

Abhishek Dubey of IBN 7 has compiled meticulously andchronologically the shenanigans of the IPL GoverningCouncil and its high-flying commissioner Lalit Modi, run-

ning through events in a dramatic fashion in his book, The IPLStory-Cricket, Glamour And Big Money.The IPL Story docu-ments how one jour-nalist, AbhishekDubey from IBN7,tracked the contro-versy from the verybeginning. He uses interviews,the results of inves-tigative research,intriguing back-ground informationon key players, andsneak peeks into theworkings of sportsjournalism to providean exciting account ofone of cricket's his-toric moments. Thoughtful quotes bystalwarts in journal-ism and the cricket-ing fraternity addinsight and usefulpointers towards thedirection cricket, and the IPL in particular, is likely to take in theyears to come. All you cricket lovers, watch our shelves for this book.


JUSTBOOKSJUSTBOOKSTOP 5TOP 5

NNEWEW AARRIVALSRRIVALS1. The Wandering Falcon by JamilAhmad2. Nemesis by Philip Roth3. Daughters:A Story Of FiveGenerations by Bharati Ray4. The Bed Of Procrustes byNassim Nicholas Taleb5. Mafia Queens OfMumbai:Stories Of WomenFrom The Ganglands byS.Hussain Zaidi

RRECOMMENDEDECOMMENDED1. Another Gulmohar Tree byAamer Hussein2. What Really Happened byBanaphool 3. The Ballad Of The SadCafe by Carson Mcculler4. Entrepreneur Journeys bySramana Mitra5. India Calling by AnandGiridharadas

RRENTALSENTALS1. Only Time Will Tell by JefferyArcher2. And Thereby Hangs A Tale byJeffery Archer3. 2 States: The Story Of MyMarriage by Chetan Bhagat4. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Reading Hour, Biblio, Civil Lines, Antara Dev Sen, All of the above.

BBeett tt iinngg oonn BBaatt tt iinngg

From JustBooks blog - http://blog.justbooksclc.com


It’s Fab

You stop to admire and can't helpbut think- ‘lovely kurta! Will lookfabulous over that pair of jeans?

And more often than not discover the"Fabindia" label on it.

Ethnic prints yet contemporary, finetextures, vibrant colours, smart styles,affordable prices-all under one roofcalled 'Fabindia', one of the most popularstores in urban India. But that's really thetip of the iceberg.

Discover what really sets Fabindiaapart by following its journey since 1960in The Fabric Of Our Lives - The StoryOf Fabindia, written to commemorateFabindia's 50th year anniversary in 2010and follows the fascinating life of itsfounder, John Bissell.

There is no doubt about Fabindia's suc-cess: merchandise sold in 120 stores inIndia and worldwide, fiftieth year,turnover of about Rs. 350 crores andabout 40,000 artisans involved in produc-tion. John's son William Bissell says of thebook "If you are looking for management the-ories you won't find them here. What you willfind instead is a human-scale story and that Ibelieve is why we are who we are", and right-ly so.

John Bissell arrived in India in 1958 asadvisor to the Cottage Industries on aFord Foundation grant. His role was tofacilitate and administer a programme ofdeveloping products for export, whichincluded field trips all over India, identi-fying artisans, weavers and craftsmenwhose products were interesting enoughto be redesigned for export. John learneda lot about India and the handloomindustry from this experience. New ideasneeded to be financially supportedbeyond the design stage, and sampleshad to turn into consistent and firmorders to be economically viable.Weavers were too poor to take such riskson their own and the Indian government

was already stretched dealing with multi-ple problems to take on more of a stake inthis sector.

Additionally, the market had to bedeveloped aggressively for retail withinIndia and for export. Disillusioned by themoral character of so many in the govern-ment offices, John figured that the solu-tion was to start something on his own.With an initial investment of about 13,000USD partly from his savings and theremainder from friends and family, Johnstarted Fabindia in 1960 and was elated

when his first two orders for Rs 1500 andRs 500 were executed. Fabindia was notthe only exciting event in this period; hisromance with Bim Nanda, followed bytheir marriage added another interestingdimension to John's stay in India.

Since it was just a decade after inde-pendence, the political scene in India

was not very clear and probably more onthe volatile side; besides, there were otherconstraints that made everything chal-lenging - communication system, travel,bureaucracy and red tape that is uniqueto India. Rules and restrictions meantvarying consequences to Fabindia, whichwas registered in the US as well.

While Fabindia proved itself to be aclass apart to its customers through therange of good quality merchandise, whatreally set it apart internally was its phi-losophy. John made it a rule not to greaseany palms in the government channel,this was unheard of in export-related cir-

cles. Open and transparent account booksfor buyers and suppliers, however small,was another trait that made John a verydifferent kind of retailer.

At the workplace, although thesalaries were conservative, the staff

had a wonderful time under their charis-matic yet thoughtful leader. The advancemoney always arrived before the orderfrom Fabindia since the craftsmen had noaccess to credit to buy their yarn and dye,so that had to be taken care of before theycould deliver the product.

Weavers were typically paid50% more than the prevailingmarket rate, although John stillfelt that it was meagre and"nothing to be proud of".Monsoon Bissell, John's daugh-ter says about her father's val-ues "You don't just exist, youhave to be involved. And you live alife where you are making thingsbetter.” For example, RitenMazumdar, one of Fabindia'smain designers back in the 80'swas paid royalty on every pieceof merchandise and every yardof fabric carrying his design,with a higher percentage ofroyalty paid on export orderssince they were sold at a betterrate.

With John's passing in 1998,his son William took over thereins of Fabindia, adding newmerchandise like furniture,

organic foods and soaps and increasingthe number of outlets all over India. Whathad started out mainly as an export busi-ness was now booming with the domesticretail business.

The book collates facts from over athousand letters that were the major cor-respondence between John and his par-ents over a period of about 40 years, aswell as official correspondence and inter-views. While Radhika Singh might haveerred on the side of providing elaborateand at time seemingly unnecessarydetail, it is nevertheless an interestingcase study, given that Fabindia with itsrather unique (which might be a big no-no in business schools probably) businessphilosophy concocted by a foreigner, hasmanaged to be around for fifty yearsdespite difficult times. Not only has itbeen around, but it has grown into abrand name that clearly stands out.

Ready to go shopping at Fabindia?

Aradhana Janga

The Fabric Of Our Lives - TheStory Of Fabindia

Radhika SinghPenguin

Weaving into Fab India

Select, Higginbothams, Landmarkare obviously among the famousIndian book stores. Some of the

other well known book shops likeCrossword and Odyssey were openedonly a little over a decade ago but havebranches in most Indian metros. Andthere are ones like Strand which is atleast half a century old and has becomea part of the history of Mumbai andBengaluru, the two cities where it hasoutlets.

So what distinguishes some of thesebooks shops from the rest? And what doreaders want in them apart from books?The range of subjects and the easy avail-ability of books are often two factors thatcontribute to a book shop's popularity.Stores like the Bookshop at SpencerPlaza (in Chennai) and the erstwhilePremier Bookshop (off Church Street incentral Bengaluru) are renowned forsome rare titles that they stocked.Further, their respective proprietors Mr.Seetharam and Mr. Shanbag's knowledgeand love of books, enhanced their fame.

Mere enquiry about a specific title wassufficient for them to inform the reader ifthe store had it or if the book was out ofprint. Further, one could count on theowners to procure specific books thatone needed, irrespective of its genre andreputation. Both the gentlemen wouldnote the contact details of the reader andinform the person when the book wasobtained without compelling her or himto purchase it.

People may dismiss them as beingbusinesslike but bigger booksellers suchas Crossword simply do not bother toextend such service. Actually, its staffcan barely understand the name of theauthor or a book and are hardly familiarwith titles that their shop has. In con-trast, sales assistants at Hyderabad'sWalden Book Store and Landmark inChennai know the titles available withthem and are fairly helpful to readers.

In order to attract buyers, many bookshops display bestsellers and recentarrivals prominently.

While most book stores stack their vol-umes according to topic, PremierBookshop was famous for not doing this.However, regular visitors to this particu-lar store like me learnt how to find andretrieve the required titles without drop-ping or disturbing the rest of the books,browsers or buyers.

Used Book Stores

Mention dealers in second handbooks and the iconic Select

Bookshop situated off Bengaluru'sBrigade road springs to mind. Thenthere are others like Bookworm locatedon Brigade road. Not to mention therecycled booksellers on the pavements ofPark Street in Kolkatta, R. K. Puram inNew Delhi or Luz Church Road inChennai.

The vendors can quickly gauge thepreferences of a buyer and even recom-mend other titles. Of course, they maynot have read the books like Mr. Murthyof Select.

The main reasons that bibliophilesthrong used book stores is that they arehighly likely to have out of print titles.Additionally, some of them have antiquebooks with leather jackets and goldembossing. And all these for a bargainprice!

Blossom Book House on Bengaluru's

Church Street has new and unusedtomes on its ground floor and secondhand ones on its upper floors.

Associated Activities

Higginbothams, Sapna Book House,Gangarams Book Bureau which are

among the traditional and oldest bookstores also sell vernacular and technicalreference books. Higginbothams andSapna Book House are also into publish-ing books. Strand Book Stall sends itssubscribers a print newsletter regularly.Likewise, Akshara Book Store inHyderabad's Banjara Hills also mailsdetails of new arrivals to its patrons.

Most book stores participate in annualbook fairs. Some of them organize bar-gain sales of their books at their usualsite or elsewhere. Many of the spaciousbook stores like Landmark, RelianceTimeout and Crossword also hold therelease of new books and interactionswith the authors. And some of them con-duct regular reading clubs for children.Crossword has instituted awards forwriters and translators.

The layout and ambience of a RelianceTimeout with its coffee shop, air condi-tioning and escalators make it and otherssuch as Odyssey seem grand. However,book lovers and collectors like yourstruly prefer the natural and inviting set-ting of an English Edition on Bengaluru'sChurch Street and Danai Book Shop onMumbai's Linking Road.


Storehouses Of Books And Much More...

Pushpa Achanta

As we see it

Pushpa Achanta reminisces aboutthe book stores that were treasurehouses of books and the startingpoint of many conversations.


In Focus

Meet Mrs. Bhanumathi Ganesh, theproud franchise owner of JustBooksNerul, Navi Mumbai. She has beenrunning this franchise for the last oneyear. Let us find out how she handlesher family, library and her researchinterests.

Tell us a little bit about yourself andyour family.I am an MBA graduate who has ven-tured into entrepreneurship after gain-ing seven years of corporate experience.My husband has an HR role in an ITcompany. My daughter has just com-pleted her tenth standard.

What were you doing before joiningJustBooks as a franchise owner?I was, and continue to be, a ResearchAnalyst preparing project reports andnewsletters across industries. Prior tothat, I was in the centralised treasuryteam of a diversified group managingforeign exchange risk exposure.

What has been your experience in han-dling other professional activities alongwith taking care of the franchise? Handling the library gives a lot of inter-mittent time. I utilise this time to researchand write for my project reports. As Imostly work solo, the library gives me anopportunity to meet people from variousfields. Interacting with them has filled theneed of meeting people and having intel-lectual discussions. JustBooks, Nerul hasa wonderful membership comprising ofdoctors, teachers and people with zest forlife.

Why and how did this franchise optionhappen?My husband travels on work toBangalore often, and his love for bookstook him to JustBooks, Whitefield. Hedescribed the library with respect to thevast book collection and the technology.It was my dream to open a library. So instead of trying to reinvent the wheel,I expressed my interest to my husband oncollaborating with Mr. Sundar Rajan toopen a similar library in Mumbai. Wemet Mr. Sundar Rajan in Bangalore and

visited other outlets to have a look andfeel of the operations, then decided to goahead and become a part of the JustBooksclc family.

How has been the customer response toJustBooks as a concept & your library, inparticular?The customers are fascinated by the tech-

nology aspect and by the vast number ofbooks, the expansive collection and theneatly jacketed new books. The fact thatwe are able to cater to their recommenda-tions and source the latest bestsellershave impressed them. The absence of"penalty on late return" concept is a relieffor all members. Many members haveparticularly remarked on the librarybeing bright and colourful, and that theylove to come to the library.

What do you think will be a great addi-tion in terms of value to your existingmembers?I want to give the members more in termsof activities that would encourage inter-action with each other. This, as I see it,would encourage knowledge-sharing,promote intellectual discussions and cre-ate a synergy for the library. In fact, in thepast few weeks, we have held story ses-sions and competitions, and workshopson cartooning and story writing. Theresponse from children and parents hasbeen tremendous.

How much of your time do you spend at

the JustBooks outlet personally? Howrewarding is the experience of interact-ing with your members?I spend a few hours at the library almostevery day. Interacting with members hasbeen a great pleasure. There are execu-tives, students, homemakers and enthusi-astic individuals across all age groupswho are full of ideas for the activities I

could conduct. The children reward me with the joyon their faces when they see thebooks and the dilemma they face inchoosing the books. The elder mem-bers bless me for the future of myventure. Many others thank me forproviding this facility. Overall theexperience has been very gratifying.

What is your advice to book loverswho would like to turn entrepre-neurs through JustBooks? Many book lovers dream aboutopening a library. JustBooks is asuperb platform that gives a jump-start to opening a library. ThroughJustBooks, one can render communi-ty service by offering a wide range ofbooks across various topics andcatering to all age groups. I think thesuccess of JustBooks in quickly

becoming a national chain is proof thatpassion is the essential ingredient forenterprise, profit is a by product.

We then talked to one of JustBooks'members from Nerul and this is what hehad to say:"Thank you very much, indeed, for beingthe kind of library you are. The readingexperience that Nerul branch has provid-ed to me, over the last six months or so,has been absolutely outstanding. Amongthe private, for-profit libraries that Ihave seen or, rather, 'experienced', yoursis the best. What is more, your library beats evensome of the large non-profit libraries runby large organizations such as theBritish Council. Till recently, I was a member of theBritish Library in Mumbai. In the last sixmonths, the books that JustBooks, Nerulhas made available to me have been, col-lectively, far superior - in terms of qual-ity, variety and vintage - to the ones thatthe British Library did in my eight yearswith them. "—Ravindra Joshi

Ravi Kumar

The JustBooks family

Everyone at some point intheir lives must have won-dered what the world will

look like in the future. Truly so,the future is one of the things leftwhich incites intense interest andmystique in people. Over the thou-sands of years of human existence,people have made predictions aboutthe near future. But no one, not eventhe most convincing soothsayer orastrologer has successfully predictedwhat is in store in the deep future.However, some of the predictions areinteresting, mostly due to their cred-itability.

This story is built around one of suchpredictions - most of the book's eventshappen in 2040 AD in Pune. The storyis told from the viewpoint of two chil-dren - Aditya and Tara, the son anddaughter of the greatest biologist of alltime, Sivan Basu, who mysteriously van-ished long ago and is marked down tobe a terrorist by the police.

The major events in the story beginwhen Tara meets two strange kids,Francis and Ria, who hail from a myste-rious city in the far north, known as

Nurth. Their mother, Mandira seems tobe a very wealthy lady, leading animportant multinational genetic compa-ny engaged in negotiations with thegovernment.

Tara, even though she doesn't likeMandira, gets along well with Francisand Ria. Aditya, Tara's elder brother ison a totally different path doing com-plex genetic experiments with hisfriends and working

towardsunearthing a strange racket, involving

genetically altered animals.However, things are dramatically

altered when Shivan Basu, Aditya andTara's father returns. More and increas-ingly troubling questions arise —whoreally is the mysterious Mandira andwhat are her real motives? Why is thenight sky dark? And last but not least —

what exactly is the beast with nine bil-lion feet?

The book was written and publishedin late 2009. Anil Menon, the author hasbeen writing short stories for quite awhile now. This is his first novel.

The story is a change from the otherfuture novels which are mostly based inthe western towns or in outer space.Basing the story in Pune is in itself amasterstroke as it enables many Indiansto connect with the story. Several famil-iar items from the present are alsoincluded, like cell phones and autoswith some alternations, making themmore advanced. This enables a reader tounderstand the technological advan-tages made in the story, which results inenjoying the plot more.

One of the drawbacks of this book isthe unwarranted declarations. Some crit-ical facts in the plot are given outinstantly, without any proper build-upthat would otherwise have made for amore exciting climax.

Overall this is a good read, the tempogrows at a suitable pace throughout thenovel. Interesting bits of futuristic stuffis given out, helping to arouse children'sinterest in the novel, adults will also bedrawn in due to its unique perspectiveof the future. The innovative chapter-titles add spice to the novel by giving asense of mystique and increasing curios-ity in the readers, unlike ordinary titles,which give out the plot before it actuallyhappens.

Finally, the ending of the novelappears to suggest that there is more tocome and will go a long way in promot-ing interest in any other book of thesame series, if Anil Menon ever decidesto write in the future.

Just Kids14 JustBooks Connect - June 2011

The Beast With Nine BillionFeet

Anil MenonZubaan BooksAge group: 13-17 yrsPages: 259

JustBooks Picks for Young ReadersEating The Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

Flower by Sandhya Rao

Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr.Seuss

Eecha Poocha by Kala Sashikumar

Set In Stone by Linda Newberry

Storm Thief by Chris Woodin

Mr. Oliver's Diary by Ruskin Bond

A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master

Where The Sidewalk Ends by ShelSilverstein

Jayanthi Harsha

Famously reclusive, vehemently veg-etarian, exile and eccentric: J.M.Coetzee is easily one of

the most interesting writersanywhere. The fact that inhis long and distinguishedcareer, he has been author,academic, novelist, literarycritic and translator, haswon the Booker Prize twiceand the Nobel Prize in 2003,also makes him one of themost successful.

John Maxwell Coetzeewas born in 1940 in CapeTown, South Africa, in anAfrikaner family descendedfrom Dutch settlers. Hegrew up in Cape Town andmodern-day Western Capeand attended St Joseph'sCollege in Rondebosch. Hewent on to studyMathematics and English atthe University of CapeTown. In 1962, he moved tothe United Kingdom wherehe worked as a computerprogrammer.

A year later, he obtained aMaster of Arts degree fromthe University of CapeTown for a dissertation on the novels ofFord Madox Ford. He also marriedPhilippa Jubber (1939-1991) the sameyear. They had two children and werelater divorced in 1980.

Coetzee went on to do a PhD in lin-guistics in 1969 from the University ofTexas on the Fulbright Program andbegan teaching at the State University ofNew York at Buffalo. On being refusedpermanent residency in the US, Coetzeereturned to South Africa in 1971 andtaught at University of Cape Town formore than twenty years.

This was when he started his firstnovel Dusklands (1974). His next novel,In the Heart of the Country (1977), wonSouth Africa's then principal literaryaward, the CNA Prize, and was pub-lished in Britain and the USA. Waitingfor the Barbarians (1980) received atten-tion as well but the dark and movingLife & Times of Michael K (1983) wonBritain's Booker Prize and sealed his rep-utation. This was followed by Foe (1986),Age of Iron (1990), The Master of

Petersburg (1994), and the acclaimedDisgrace (1999), which again won theBooker Prize.

Coetzee also wrote fictionalized mem-oirs about his childhood and youthcalled Boyhood (1997), Youth (2002) andthe latest one Summertime (2009). The

Lives of Animals (1999), a fictionalizedlecture which was later absorbed intoElizabeth Costello (2003). Besides writ-ing collections of essays, Coetzee hasalso translated Dutch and Afrikaanswriting into English.

In 2002, he retired and relocated toAdelaide, Australia, later becoming anAustralian citizen. He is an honorary fel-low at the University of Adelaide andlives with his partner, academic DorothyDriver.

His Writing

Aproduct of Apartheid South Africa,Coetzee is deeply pre-occupied with

humanist and ethical dilemmas and hisbooks reflect this. Unlike other SouthAfrican writers, however, Coetzee haslargely eschewed the realistic mode ofwriting. He uses imaginary or surrealworlds to talk about his political con-cerns and his novels often work at thelevel of allegory where the main storystands in for a larger subject. For exam-ple, in Disgrace which is about a father

and daughter living in Eastern Cape isostensibly the story of a family but itmakes significant statements about thenature of colonial power. ElizabethCostello deals with questions of literarycelebrity and values through the lens ofone aging female writer. As a linguist

and scholar of structuralism, Coetzeeis also deeply interested in wordplay,the patterns of words, narrative dis-course. This finds its way into mostof his books and combined with thelarger social contexts tends to makefor great complexity.

Despite this, Coetzee's novels usu-ally have a strong historical

basis. His books often deal withracism. In Life & Times of MichaelK, the hero, a coloured gardener isinterned in a labour camp duringcivil war, where he refuses to eat orspeak. The medical officer in chargeof him, says Michael K is 'an allegory .. . of how scandalously, how outrageouslya meaning can take up residence in a sys-tem without becoming a term in it'. Thisis a strong statement on how lack ofintegration within a system can beboth 'scandalous' and 'outrageous',something not to be desired.

In Foe, which is his retelling ofRobinson Crusoe, Coetzee usedFriday to signify the 'other' andmakes him mute, a potent symbol ofthe voicelessness of the colonized.Coetzee's concerns about selfhoodextend beyond humans. In The Lives

of Animals, he tackles the thorny issueof animal rights of which he is a firmsupporter.

Coetzee's books often blur the bound-aries of genre. Memoirs read like novels.Novels seem like essays. His fictional-ized memoir Youth reads like a coming-of-age story set in troubled times. InDiary of a Bad Year, the story is accom-panied by bits from essays that the pro-tagonist-a writer-is working on.

Coetzee's writing is full of intellectualrigour and unsparing honesty. For exam-ple in Summertime he reveals that heidentifies more with the Afrikanerminority in Cape Town than with thelarger South African nation. Suchuncomfortable truths make his bookschallenging and have on occasion led tofierce debate and controversy. But it isalso this quality that makes them morelayered, more revealing of the humancondition, and ultimately, more reward-ing.

Sources: Wikipedia


J.M. COETZEEAnindita Sengupta

Come vacation time andmothers are anxiousabout getting their

children away from the tele-vision and computer games.Several anxious motherscame to me requesting me tostart something for children.They were brimming withideas: book clubs, workshops,et al.

I thought about their ideasand zeroed on: StorySessions, but wondered if Icould be a good storyteller.My daughter was more confi-dent than I was about myability to do it well.

So I decided to give it a try.It took some time to decideon the age group. If they aretoo small, they will get rest-less. If they are slightly older,they would know all the sto-ries.

After agonizing over it alot, I decided on the agegroup of 5-9 years. A noticewas put up in the branch just

over a week before the ses-sion date and response wasoverwhelming. The noticehad to be removed two daysafter I put it up to stop fur-ther registrations.

I decided on telling Indianstories because that's whereour roots are and they have

more moral values attachedto them.

I covered animal stories(such as The Tiger-eater),which kids love to listen, sto-ries of great Indian leaders —such as Shivaji andLokmanya Tilak— and les-sons we can learn from them.The sessions also includedstories that highlightedproverbs; United we stand,divided we fall. Tales of witsfrom Birbal, Tenali Ramanand Gopal were enjoyed byall. I tried to weave differentstories and each session hadaround 8-10 stories.

After the first session, therewere requests for more. Bythat time I had gained confi-dence for conducting theStory Sessions.

So the second session wasscheduled for the following

week. Further requests led toa third session. And now onehour was not enough thoughthe younger ones would get alittle restless. The parentslurked downstairs and lis-tened to my stories. After thesession, they congratulatedme on holding the children'sattention for so long, sayingthat their children wouldnever stay put for an hour atone place. After three suchsessions, I capped it with astory telling competition fortwo age groups of 5 to 7 and8 to 9 years.


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In the world of the legendsJustBooks Events

Bhanumathi Ganesh ownsthe Nerul branch ofJustBooks clc. She hasalso had a 6-year corpo-rate life with EssarGroup.She likes reading a varietyof books as she viewbooks as windows toknowledge. For her, JustBooks clc isan avenue through whichshe wants to spread theknowledge .

Bhanumathi Ganesh

JustBooks Connect - June 2011 newsletter

Education

Transcript of JustBooks Connect - June 2011 newsletter