No onions nor garlic

And, most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath; and do not doubt but to hear them say it is a sweet comedy.

- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream


How refreshing it is to come across a comedy that’s genuinely, unabashedly funny – one that tries to provide belly-laughs on nearly every page and very often succeeds. Srividya Natarajan’s No Onions Nor Garlic was occupying my time along with a couple of other books. But I’m glad I cose to read it first – it’s a manic, immensely entertaining novel.

There’s much in No Onions No Garlic that draws on the work of comic masters of the past. Especiallly, the romantic confusions evoke P G Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle stories ...

Natarajan pulls it off so well, partly because she isn’t just imitating indiscriminately; her book has a style of its own that fits its setting very well. She has a good balance of the rhythms of speech and behaviour, she pokes fun at sacred cows without being mean-spirited about it .

For me, much of the fun of reading this book came from the sense that the author had a lot of fun writing it. I also appreciate the risks that go into carrying off something like this: good comedy is among the hardest things to do, and always so easy to get wrong. Natarajan goes all the way in the final chapter, with an ending that combines slapstick with a parody of lost-and-found scenes in Indian movies and the introduction of a romantic relationship that Wodehouse would have baulked at. It’s wonderfully ticklish, colourful and melodramatic, not all that different in its effect from the final act of a Shakespeare comedy where all the loose ends are tied up.

The Kite Runner

After reading Khaled Hosseini's second best book, I had my heart set on his debut, The Kite Runner. As tempting as it was, I refused to finish the book in one sitting. I savored it, word by word, line by line, reluctantly turning the pages as the novel was drawing to a close. Have you observed how following a calamity, natural or man made, the media is rife with people stories; stories that provide first hand account of what had happened and what it was like to be caught in that pandemonium. That's exactly how I look at The Kite Runner as well. As a one man's narration of how his life was influenced by the ethnic clashes in Afghanistan, and the twists and turns in the nation's political setup.



Review: Whenever an ambulance or a fire engine passes by when I am on the road, my first reaction is to say a 20 second prayer. A prayer for the well being of the person who has met with the accident, and a prayer to thank God for making me and my family to be at the right place at the right time. That's the kind of reaction that this novel invoked. After reading the book, I felt awful for what the Afghans had/have to go through and wished that things changed for the better, sooner than later. Then I felt thankful for being endowed with the privilege of leading a normal life. As boring as normal can sometimes be, I am more than willing to take it any day.



Rating: Quick read, easy to follow, compelling narration, do yourself a favor by reading this book. I rate this book as outstanding.