Saturday, November 3, 2007

English August - An Indian Story (Part II)

So I have read a bit more into this book. (this is a follow up post, if you wish to read the first one, click here).

Agastya is now setling down in the town of Madna..although still a bit out of place. His dad is the governer of Bengal...so he had never seen hardship. He had a material life in Delhi where he went to college..and stayed with his paternal uncle.

Some interesting facts about him:

- His parents had an inter-relegion marriage, his mother was christian. Hence his uncle in Delhi doesnt like his father. This is making Agastya famous in Madna.. esp.officials and clerks at the colectorate think of him as cool that he has mixed heritage. The collector himself actually calls him 'English Babu' owing to his habits and interests.

- His dad is a very subtle person, always putting facts in front of him, and letting him decide whats best for him. E.g. when Agastya conveys that he is not liking his stay and training in Madna a bit and is thinking of quitting (because he likes writing, and a family friend has a small newspaper published out of Delhi he wants to join), his dad writes to him and advises to stay put..and that every change takes some time to blend in. His uncle from Delhi (Pultu Kaka) actually gets mad at him..saying how stupid he is to even think of deserting an IAS position!! Agastya finally meets the publisher family friend in Delhi when he goes there for Diwali break...the friend surprisingly ends up advising him not to quit IAS position. Agastya also re-analyzes his life if he joins here: meagre salary, an average car, Delhi traffic, rising petrol prices, etc. He is considering continuing in Madna now!

- He loves to smoke pot..on his break, he gets plenty of opportunites with his ol college buddies. In the car, in a parking lot, at their place, on Durga Puja eve, you name it - they crenched evey place in their smoke in that break!

- One of his friends, Drubo, is a financial consultant with CitiBank. Drubo went to Yale business school. But now he is considering quitting his well paid job, and attempting for IAS exams. He says the life is phoney at work..everyone just imitating Americans, when the real work is actually done in the US. What a contrast!!

Ok folks..thats the update for now. Will keep adding to it, later........

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