Ishq And Mushq

by Priya Basil

'Take off your clothes I want to see you' Karam said.Just a few words, spoken like a caress made Sarna start wondering. Where did he learn such new and passionate techniques?

When Sarna Singh leaves the lustrous green hills of Uganda for England, streets of cramped old houses were not what she was expecting. Husband Karam has been seduced by the historical feel of the city of London. Sarna, however, is convinced they have moved to England so he can visit his secret London lady friends. Sarna has a secret of her own, but she is adept at hiding it. She impresses her English teacher with her attempt at a cutglass accent, and copious gifts of delicious food. With two children to educate, money is scarce, and soon, she is devising weekly shoplifting expeditions to the supermarket.

But all the while, Sarna is tormented by a mistake she made as a young woman in India. To stifle unwanted memories, she cooks zealously, sweetening her thoughts with syrup, or suffocating them with the hottest spice she can find. But when she receives an unexpected letter from back home, her assumed equilibrium is shattered to the skies. It carries an ultimatum she cannot ignore ...

Set on an epic backdrop from Partition, the Coronation and Churchill's funeral, to the present day, Priya Basil explores with compassion, the universal complexities of vanity and love. Her sensuous portrayal of the trials and tribulations of the Singh family carries universal truths for all of us.

Genres: Fiction, India, Contemporary, Indian Literature

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Priya grew up in Kenya, returning to the UK to study English Literature at the University of Bristol. She had a career in advertising before becoming a full time writer. In 2010 Priya, and the journalist Matthias Fredrich-Auf der Horst, initiated Authors for Peace. It is intended to be a platform from which writers can actively use literature in different ways to promote peace. The first event by Authors for Peace took place on 21 September 2010, the UN's International Day of Peace. With the support of the International Literature Festival Berlin, Priya hosted a 24hour-live-online-reading by 80 authors from all over the world. The authors read from their work in a gesture of solidarity with those who are oppressed or caught in conflict. Priya lives in London and Berlin.

Reviews

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The only complaint I had about it was that it went off on random tangents from time to time making me lose interest in the plotline, but otherwise it was a really great story with nicely developed, interesting characters and as it covered a specific subject (Sikhs) in both India/Africa and then in England, I found it of particular interest as I knew nothing before now about their culture, so that was cool.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. At times I felt the book was double the length it needed to be to tell the story it wanted to tell! Ultimately satisfied with the ending and book as a whole! Would read again. Bit disbelieving that there are so many negative reviews! A solid first novel, look forward to seeing more from Basil in the future!

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm afraid I've given up on this as it just isn't holding my attention but then I've been so busy lately I've not had time to think about any. I've given it 3 stars as the bit I read seemed well written and I don't think it is right to mark a book down for personal preference.

[Irfan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful story of 3 generations of Punjabis in India, East Africa and UK.

[Giuls · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5 stelline

Avevo questo libro lì da leggere da credo un decennio, ma ogni volta che dicevo “dai che sta volta lo leggo” cambiavo idea dopo pochi secondi. Non so perché, ma non mi ispirava mai abbastanza.
Finalmente ora ho deciso di prenderlo in mano e di leggerlo davvero, anche se comunque ci ho messo quasi 2 mesi ad iniziarlo davvero.

La prima cosa che mi viene da dire è che la mia impressione pre-lettura alla fine non era sbagliata, anzi. Perché nel complesso questo romanzo non mi è piaciuto.
Ho trovato la storia davvero noiosa, di quelle che bisogna proprio sforzarsi per continuare a leggerle senza abbandonare il libro.
Il peggio, però, è rappresentato dai personaggi. Dire che non ne abbia sopportato uno è dir poco. Ho trovato Sarna, la protagonista, estremamente passiva in ogni sua scelta ed in ogni sua azione. Praticamente poteva confondersi con i muri della sua cucina.
Suo marito, Karam, mi è invece stato simpatico più o meno per dieci pagine, dopodichè ho finito la sopportazione nei suoi confronti ed ho iniziato a non sopportarlo più, con la sua arroganza e i suoi modi di fare così menefreghisti nei confronti degli altri. Non so, probabilmente sarà legato ad un fatto culturale indiano, però proprio non sono riuscita a mandarlo giù.

Gli unici aspetti che inizialmente ho apprezzato sono stati quelli legati alle tradizioni e alla cultura indiana ed in particolare alla cucina (di cui io sono ghiotta): li ho trovati molto interessanti e le descrizioni dei piatti estremamente vivide, tant’è che mi hanno fatto venire l’acquolina in bocca. Tutto ciò, però, è successo nella prima parte del romanzo, perché in realtà dopo 200 pagine ero estremamente stufa anche di questi aspetti.

Nel complesso un romanzo con poca verve, in cui gli eventi scorrono lentamente, facendo venire un gran sonno al lettore. Probabilmente sarebbero bastate la metà delle pagine.

[Leah Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a Sikh family spanning the time from the partition of India through to present day. The main characters are Sarna Singh and Karam Singh. It follows their travels from India, to Uganda to their final place to live London.
This was one of those books where I was toying with the idea of giving up on it to the pile of never read. I gave it fifty pages and really could not get into the vibe of this book. However fifty pages was only about three chapters so I gave myself a target of 100 pages and if I still could not get it then I would quit. Well 70 pages in and I was sucked in to the drama of Sarna and Karam.
Sarna as a character as she grew older was so frustratingly annoying, so stubborn in her ways. I guess though that she was so self absorbed that she really felt she was right.
This is so heartbreakingly sad as a tale of a secret that ultimately effected all members of the Singh family.
I was so sad for Nina and of how she passed away through childbirth. However through Nina’s legacy it has brought the Singh family together.
This is a great read and I am so so glad that I did not give up on it.

[Annatrailibri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho opinioni molto contrastanti su questo libro.
Da un lato la storia è carina, a tratti interessante: fa il suo intrattenendo.
Però lo fa in modo sbagliato secondo me. La narrazione è lenta, piena di dettagli superflui e priva di colpi di scena che tengano il lettore attaccato al libro.
I personaggi sono quasi tutti irritanti, anche se ammetto che dopo 500 pagine non posso che essermi affezionata ad ognuno.
Però boh, penso che la stessa storia avrebbe potuto essere benissimo raccontata nella metà delle pagine.

[Asha KRISHNA · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written story of an ambitious Indian family as they seek their fortunes in different countries while tackling a past of their own.

For a complete review please click on the link below:

https://onerightword.blogspot.com/201...

[Zara Rahman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up after seeing the author speak at event here in Berlin. Her speech was spellbinding, and the book didn't disappoint – full of detail and emotion, if a little unbelievable at times. I read this in just a couple of sittings, it grabbed my full attention.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Эту книгу я купила просто потому, что больше ничего интересного не попалось на глаза. Лучше бы я ничего не покупала. Сразу скажу, что книга просто никакая.

Индийская семья с маленькими детишками переезжают из Намибии в Лондон. Наверное, это меня и зацепило. Ну, знаете, люблю читать взгляды иммигрантов на жизнь в новой стране. Тем более, Англия мне теперь близка. Но это совсем не то, что я ожидала. Наверное, я думала, что «Имбирь и мускат» - это индийская версия «Есть. Молиться. Любить». Жаль, что я ошиблась.

Эта индийская семья, о которой идет речь, — это не семья вовсе. Это склочная группка людей, у каждого здесь своя тайна, никто ничем не делится с другим. Тут практически все герои показаны с отрицательной стороны. Такое чувство, что во всей семье нет ни одного хорошего качества! Жена вечно пилит мужа, муж скрывает многое от жены, и автор еще утверждает, что они друг друга любят. Ну, так покажите хотя бы грамм любви!

Сын и дочь не уважают родителей, обманывают их. Снохи ненавидят друг друга и каждая сплетничает о своей сопернице. В общем, скопище злых людей, которые, такое чувство, что радоваться совсем не умеют!

А книга-то должна была быть легкой и инересной, что-то типа индийского чик-лита. Не получилось. Совсем. Даже хэппи-энда не получилось. Но в индийских писателях я все же пока не разочаровалась и когда-нибудь почитаю что-нибудь еще, но точно не авторства Прийи Базил.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Review:
I counted this book for AFRICA: Kenya for the 666 for 2015 - An Around the World Reading Challenge .
This story spans London, England (United Kingdom), Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda) and India, so a great choice for this challenge! The author herself grew up in Kenya too.
This is a story of 3 generations of Punjabis, the Singh family, who are Indian and move from Nairobi (Kenya) to Kampala (Uganda) and then on to London, England. Its a story of fitting in, the struggle for head of the family, the fall out from not following tradition and the struggle to keep it all together.
I had a love hate relationship with Sarna, which I think was the point.
A good solid debut novel. I'd certainly read more from this author.

[Ranju · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journey spans from partition to Africa to England, enjoyable, although sometimes laboured a point too much, occasionally made me wonder why irrelevant tangents were explored, but came clear at the end. Would recommend, if only to show why some first generation Indians have the values and thoughts they do, and how the next generation have changed.

[Rowizyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro agrodolce, che ti fa venire voglia di ordinare tutto il takeaway indiano sul menu, ma che racconta anche una storia familiare intrecciata e complessa con amori, piccole vendette, segreti, tentativi di dimenticare e profumi incredibili.
Letto in un lampo, ottima evasione dal lavoro e dai lunghi viaggi in treno!

[Naheed Hassan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Priya Basil's first book and clearly a labor of love. The labor however, is very evident. The book tries to do and be many things, and while the author clearly has a marvellous command over the English language, her prose fails to draw one into the story. Readable, but not a great or very good read.

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tough read. Fairly joyless. Felt a little bit like Kate Chopin, only Indian. Interesting commentary on traditional familial roles, esp. the mother worship in Inidan culture. A good read if you really enjoy books about the Indian culture - lots on food, which I loved!

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because it said on the back that a lot of food was involved. It was a disappointment. The book itself was a bit tedious: it would have been more interesting if it's volume was half of what it is now. I finished it though: that's the reason it still got 2 stars.

[Sameera Kamulkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get stuck with any book that is set across a span of time. And so it was with this one. i enjoyed the glimpse into the life of Indians in Africa who moved to Britain. The whole British Punjabi diaspora. But that was it. Not more than that.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It´s Priya´s Basil´s first book.It spans Partition from India, elixabthe 11´s Coronation and Chruchill´s funeral to the present day. It´s a passinate and moving family drama but a little too long.

[Jane Lord-Hodgkiss]

Enjoyable and well written but too similar to all the other Birtish-Asian books around at the moment

[Dhana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds me of what my parents went through when they came to England as East African Asians......nice story....

[Greg Basil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. Funny and dramatic. Very Indian!!

[Malivai · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice view on the habits and rituals of the sikh in India and the UK.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but frustrating.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazng book with a lot learnings and family saga.