Different Authors - My Opinion

I am currently reading a book on The Penguin Books of Indian Railway Stories, edited by Ruskin Bond. It is a collection of stories based on Indian Railways written by different authors over time periods. I have just read few stories but have liked them all. Some of the stories in these books are written by foreign authors, some by Indian authors & some stories had anonymous writers.

Here I take liberties to write certain direct names with whom I had the conversations described in the following paragraphs. I take the liberty because the conversations were plain without any controversies & I am not telling anything negative about the people I have had these conversations & these conversations are now going to be a part of this post, visible for everyone to read. 

One of my juniors who is a resident doctor in our department, Dr. Ravi, gave me a novel written by a new writer, Durjoy Datta. I had never heard of him until I read his book (the book's name I have conveniently forgotten) given by Ravi. I mean, I never read the whole book, I just left it half way. It was because I could not digest most of the facts written in the book. I would also like to forget the author completely. Though Ravi likes his books & debates that times have changed. Young India have views related to Durjoy's books. But I choose to differ. Emotions are pure. Even sex. It's people like the author above who make it appear sensational, cheap & thrilling.

Ya, I know, I know. The readers must be thinking that I am giving undue publicity to the author mentioned above even though I am giving him & his work a big miss. But what to do, the book which I left reading half way, had, what I can say certain unkempt emotions. I don't think any type of emotions in any person would have such a vague way of expressing themselves.

Now someone would say, "What is the harm on writing on different relationships, love, affairs, sex? It forms part of our daily lives."

Yes, true. There is no harm on writing on different relationships, love, affairs, sex. But it's the way these topics are handled & expressed.

Indian public (men, women, adolescent children & teenagers alike) have a unique thinking & the way they take & express these above mentioned 4 topics. Most of them are pretty much obsessed with them. Certain writers express them in their unique style.

Mr. Khuswant Singh wrote books with most of them having sex as their core. Not that they were bad but different books had different reviews. Mano Majra (Train to Pakistan) was the best. It portrayed relationships between Sikhs & Muslims, in sync with the time. It also projected a love affair between a Sikh boy & a Muslim girl. A beautiful story & the best work by him. But his book on Delhi consisted everything vulgar. By putting sex in history he made history interesting but made sex utterly boring.

But then there is a hell lot of a difference between the writings of Mr. Khushwant Singh & Durjoy Datta (whose name, again I say, that I would like to conveniently forget. Hence I would call him Mr. Forget Him Writer.). Mr. Khushwant Singh's novel at least has a taste of literary value which is absent from Mr. Forget Him Writer's book. Different relationships, love, affairs, sex etc appear real to the readers but not so with Mr. Forget Him Writer's book.

I have even read Chetan Bhagat. I have heard different reviews about him but over the time have come to form a positive opinion about him. When I read his book Two States - The Story of My Marriage, Chetan Bhagat had already become a brand name & an example setter for many. This was around some 3 years back. Teenagers liked him because they could relate to such stories. I used to travel by train to my work place in those days. Teenagers, undergraduates & newly married have liked his stories. Young teen-aged girls would constantly hunt for new Chetan Bhagat books. I had seen a middle aged lady sitting in ladies first class compartment of the Mumbai local train & relishing Chetan Bhagat's 'Two States....' But then there are people who keep finding faults in his language. They find it low in literary value. I differ here. I had a conversation with one of my juniors who is also a resident doctor in my department, Dr Swapna. Swapna says that Chetan Bhagat books lack literary value & should not be promoted. But I say, not all people read books of high literary value. Many read for enjoyment, entertainment, good story. Also books high on literary value are sometimes difficult to read & comprehend as most foreign authors books are. Chetan Bhagat books are light & entertaining.

Then there are Indian authors like Arvind Adiga, who write quiet raw things. Though he has good writing style, I feel, that his books project the negative India to the entire world.

I have read certain foreign authors like George Orwell's Burmese Days, Animal Farm etc & Roald Dahl's Matilda. I had to read it slowly to understand meanings of certain words or sentences. This was not the case with Indian authors.

I felt the same while I was reading 'The Penguin Books of Indian Railway Stories'. I read a story Loyalty by Jim Corbett. I had to read carefully, word by word to understand the clearance of goods through Mokameh Ghat. But when I read Barin Bhowmik's Ailment by Satyajit Ray, the sentences just flowed easily. This must, probably be, because I am an Indian & as a person never cared to polish my English language.   

The above opinion is on limited authors known & read by me. Its my opinion on my post.