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In Times of Siege: A Novel
At 52, Shiv Murthy is a New Delhi professor of history. He leads a mild, unremarkable life until, while his wife is away, things spin out of control. First, the young and passionate daughter of an old friend breaks her leg and moves in with him. Even as he struggles to care for Meena and ignore his increasing attraction to her, a group of religious extremists challenges one of his lessons on medieval India. His instinct is to apologize, but the voice inside his head keeps “Do you imagine an ordinary man cannot be a hero?” The decision he makes will prompt readers to ask themselves the same question.From the Trade Paperback edition.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2003
11 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Githa Hariharan
22 books20 followersHariharan was born in Coimbatore and grew up in Bombay and Manila. She obtained a BA (in English) from Bombay University and a MA (in Communications) from Fairfield University (U.S.A.).
Hariharan first worked in the Public Broadcasting System in New York and then with a publishing firm as an editor in India. She currently works as a freelance editor.
In her personal life, she, along with her husband, won the right to have the children named after her (instead of carrying the father's name); in this famous case argued by Indira Jaising, the Supreme Court agreed that the mother was also a "natural guardian" of the child.Template:AIR 1999, 2. SCC 228
Hariharan first worked in the Public Broadcasting System in New York and then with a publishing firm as an editor in India. She currently works as a freelance editor.
In her personal life, she, along with her husband, won the right to have the children named after her (instead of carrying the father's name); in this famous case argued by Indira Jaising, the Supreme Court agreed that the mother was also a "natural guardian" of the child.Template:AIR 1999, 2. SCC 228
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 10, 2018
Usually, I do not want to give less than three stars even to bad books. Writing books is not an easy thing. And this is true even for books. They demand the same kind of effort, energy, and commitment that great do.
This is one of the most annoying books that I have read in recent times. The plot, situations, even dialogues feel unreal and contrived. Only because someone knows English and can string sentences together should not jump to fiction writing. I am not aware of Hariharan's other writings, but this book does not speak to me at all. It is like an atheist person writing a novel only to recommend atheism.
It seems to me that she has the right kind of ideas about politics, religion and Indian academia, and an easy access to Delhi's elite. She knows what is going on in Delhi, how things unfold and so forth in middle-class households, what scares them, what moves them, and how they negotiate with life in general in ever-changing political scenarios. She uses all this to write a novel. Of course, there are no limitations in literature, one can write about anything. However, the book often feels like journalism. It seems like the writer is not really telling us a story, but she has an agenda, and this agenda takes over the story. I am sure that the writer, instead of writing this novel, could have written academic essays on history, caste, and contemporary culture and politics.
The novel is centered on an upper caste, mild-mannered, liberal university professor of History. He writes about a medieval poet 'Basava' who fought against caste. This angers Hindu fundamentalists including some faculty members who oppose his writing. On a personal front, he goes through an unexpected phase in his life. He feels attracted to a young student while his wife is away for a few weeks. All this creates disharmony in his life.
As I went through the novel, I saw the activist in Hariharan on each page. The only part I liked about the book was the historical component, for instance, when she tells us the story of the reformist poet 'Basava.' I guess I would have much preferred to read an essay on 'Basava' by her than a novel. Even though one can admire her activism and politics, one cannot appreciate these concerns if they siege the story.
This is one of the most annoying books that I have read in recent times. The plot, situations, even dialogues feel unreal and contrived. Only because someone knows English and can string sentences together should not jump to fiction writing. I am not aware of Hariharan's other writings, but this book does not speak to me at all. It is like an atheist person writing a novel only to recommend atheism.
It seems to me that she has the right kind of ideas about politics, religion and Indian academia, and an easy access to Delhi's elite. She knows what is going on in Delhi, how things unfold and so forth in middle-class households, what scares them, what moves them, and how they negotiate with life in general in ever-changing political scenarios. She uses all this to write a novel. Of course, there are no limitations in literature, one can write about anything. However, the book often feels like journalism. It seems like the writer is not really telling us a story, but she has an agenda, and this agenda takes over the story. I am sure that the writer, instead of writing this novel, could have written academic essays on history, caste, and contemporary culture and politics.
The novel is centered on an upper caste, mild-mannered, liberal university professor of History. He writes about a medieval poet 'Basava' who fought against caste. This angers Hindu fundamentalists including some faculty members who oppose his writing. On a personal front, he goes through an unexpected phase in his life. He feels attracted to a young student while his wife is away for a few weeks. All this creates disharmony in his life.
As I went through the novel, I saw the activist in Hariharan on each page. The only part I liked about the book was the historical component, for instance, when she tells us the story of the reformist poet 'Basava.' I guess I would have much preferred to read an essay on 'Basava' by her than a novel. Even though one can admire her activism and politics, one cannot appreciate these concerns if they siege the story.
August 24, 2015
The hell was this? If it weren't for the fact that this book was given to me by a guy whom I like as part of a spontaneous book exchange in an indie bookstore that we went to, I would never have picked this up, let alone read it. In fact, the only reason I lasted for as long as I did - about halfway through before I started skimming, and even skimming couldn't reduce the pain of reading this - was because I really like the guy who gave me this book.
Alas, I can hardly say the same about the novel itself. I think that, as a general rule, a writer has to commit to either writing a novel or a political commentary. Political/social commentary masquerading as a novel, when placed in the hands of an average writer, simply does not work. Add to that the completely gratuitous, unnecessary and unbelievable dramaz~ of a middle-aged professor crushing on a young university student for no reason other than the writer did it for (have I mentioned this?) the drama~ and the end result is an unbelievably plodding, annoying and boring book. If the main character had been properly fleshed out, this novel could have been interesting. As it stands, the main character feels like a mouthpiece for the writer's larger aim of writing about religious fundamentalism and its associated calls for book banning. While I sympathise with her cause, I don't sympathise with the people that have paid good money for this novel. It is neither well-written nor interesting. It says a lot about a book when one starts skimming for the sake of getting to the end, and then realising that even skimming is too much effort. In fact, one gives absolutely zero fucks about how the story ends because...what story? Who cares? Zzz.
Alas, I can hardly say the same about the novel itself. I think that, as a general rule, a writer has to commit to either writing a novel or a political commentary. Political/social commentary masquerading as a novel, when placed in the hands of an average writer, simply does not work. Add to that the completely gratuitous, unnecessary and unbelievable dramaz~ of a middle-aged professor crushing on a young university student for no reason other than the writer did it for (have I mentioned this?) the drama~ and the end result is an unbelievably plodding, annoying and boring book. If the main character had been properly fleshed out, this novel could have been interesting. As it stands, the main character feels like a mouthpiece for the writer's larger aim of writing about religious fundamentalism and its associated calls for book banning. While I sympathise with her cause, I don't sympathise with the people that have paid good money for this novel. It is neither well-written nor interesting. It says a lot about a book when one starts skimming for the sake of getting to the end, and then realising that even skimming is too much effort. In fact, one gives absolutely zero fucks about how the story ends because...what story? Who cares? Zzz.
May 6, 2011
This is a book about dualities, embodied symbolically in the confluence of two rivers. Where two rivers meet they flow alongside each other but retain their separate identities, even though they coexist within the same riverbanks. After the passage of time and distance, after much mixing at the border they share, after each current struggles against the other, they merge, becoming a single unified stream. There are many dualities: fundamentalism/tolerance, age/youth, conservative/liberal, yin/yang, propriety/freedom, right/wrong, life/death, dark/light... this book is a collection of opposites, two branches of the same river, each seeking to overwhelm the other until they merge downstream. There are no absolutes, only interpretations, and its what you bring to the table that colors your judgement.
I found this book subtle, the plot engaging and unpredictable, the characters believable and ending spot-on (especially when seen as a parallel of the story of Basava, a metaphor for modern India). It was especially enlightening to observe the rise of the "fundoos" in this book in comparison to the congealing of the Tea Party in the USA. I was left wondering if the US has more to learn about democracy from India than the other way around.
I found this book subtle, the plot engaging and unpredictable, the characters believable and ending spot-on (especially when seen as a parallel of the story of Basava, a metaphor for modern India). It was especially enlightening to observe the rise of the "fundoos" in this book in comparison to the congealing of the Tea Party in the USA. I was left wondering if the US has more to learn about democracy from India than the other way around.
August 13, 2010
Who could describe with dignity and eroticism a relationship between a middle-aged man and a twenty-year-old woman (who broke her leg)? This aunty of power! Another thing that warms my heart is that the professor-protagonist writes a lesson about a medieval South Indian mystic-activist, whose verses and ideas pepper the narrative.
November 10, 2013
Just a brilliant, moving story. I love the way Githa Hariharan portrays relationships between two characters. The relationship between Meena and Shiv is striking, as if it were a close-up camera shot. The choices of characters who form the central relationship are also unusual in intriguing ways. Although there are other characters who interact with these main figures, the novel revolves almost entirely around this middle-aged professor and a young college student. And it's not entirely the sort of relationship one would expect. I also love the way that Shiv is haunted by his father, in ways that remind me of Hariharan's novel The Ghost of Vasu Master. What is also quite fascinating is the struggle that consumes Shiv in the plot. The central figure of the Vijayanagara empire, Basava, is the man who Shiv devotes his life to teaching and researching. But there are ideologues outside the university who don't like the way Shiv teaches his subject and so wreak havoc on him and his institution. The conflict is quite compelling as are the discussions about how one writes and teaches history.
March 22, 2009
Centers on academic freedom and Hindu nationalism; the main character Shiv is flawed and very real. His midlife obsession with the young woman who comes to stay with him while recovering from a broken leg was a little tedious and obvious, and the fading of the central conflict, while undoubtedly realistic, felt anticlimactic. Worth reading; just a bit disappointing. Favorite quote: one of the nationalists sniping at the liberals for defending "Taslima Rushdie" (mixing Taslima Nasrin with Salman Rushdie), thus demonstrating the actual knowledge and attention most book-banners bring to their protests.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2016
Amazing how a book about Hindu fundamentalism and anti-pluralism reads like it's taking place in the US.
May 5, 2021
Three stars for unique or, I would like to say, strange words of English language. I did find it sometimes boring and hard to understand. If English is not your native language then you may face difficulty while reading it.
In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
____________________________________________________
Speak up! Before it is too late. And stand up against gender disparities and fundamentalism.
In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
____________________________________________________
Speak up! Before it is too late. And stand up against gender disparities and fundamentalism.
April 20, 2024
This is well-written and boring novel about modern India. Mercifully short - soo our professor of history picks up his friend's university aged daughter who has broken her knee. Bringing her home,while his wife and daughter are away is a trope of which I am now incredibly BORED. Backed with the rabid Hinduism of modern India which is deep into cancel culture and re-writing history to change the perspective against any other, our professor finds his independent voice through the interaction with this young, energetic university student who is an eager proponent of protest. O to be young. But not in this book. Our prof has a comfortable boring life and there is little to recommend this short and uninspired chronicle of middle India. Yaawn.
April 1, 2019
Set in New Delhi, India, in the year 2000, the main protagonist Shiv Murthy, a history teacher at an open university finds himself sucked into a vortex of love,lust and a changing socio political reality fuelled by a breed of distorted ultra-nationalism.The book focusses on the interplay between personal relations and complex socio- political forces and the quest for balance.' In Times of Siege' by Githa Hariharan ,is a book which in my opinion has all the ingredients that constitutes a gripping movie - a kaleidoscope of human emotions and a meaningful social message to the boot.
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February 6, 2022N-O-T-H-I-N-G--F-I-T-S--B-U-T--I-S--C-O-N-T-R-I-V-E-D--T-O--B-Y--T-H-E--M-E-R-E--K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E--O-F--E-N-G-L-I-S-H.
Sentences seem to be forced to fit in when they actually don't and are scattered. Plot, situations, everything seems to be forged and forced into. Passages wherein characters share their opinions on certain events seem to have been copied from the internet and nothing about this book will enlighten you or move something in you if you seek that from a book.
PLEASE DO NOT READ IT!
Sentences seem to be forced to fit in when they actually don't and are scattered. Plot, situations, everything seems to be forged and forced into. Passages wherein characters share their opinions on certain events seem to have been copied from the internet and nothing about this book will enlighten you or move something in you if you seek that from a book.
PLEASE DO NOT READ IT!
July 24, 2025
Shiv, a history professor at the New Delhi university is charged with take care of a college student, Meena until her broken leg mends. At the same time, a group of Hindu extremists challenge a historical lesson he's written on Basava. Can Meena and her political friends save meek Shiv from the onslaught of the media, the university heads, and the extremists' violent stance?
Although this book was written more than twenty years ago, events mirror what is still happening in India today under the BJP and Modi's rule.
Although this book was written more than twenty years ago, events mirror what is still happening in India today under the BJP and Modi's rule.
January 21, 2020
The central theme of the story is good but author fails to have a meaningful hold to the story, it didn't connect and the ending looks half baked.
Currently reading
February 4, 2009Very interesting I am about half way through I think it may get a lot better hopefully.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews