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Mother Pious Lady: Making Sense of Everyday India
A new India is visibly emerging from within the folds of its many pasts. This new India needs to be seen with new eyes, free from the baggage of yesterdays characterizations. This is exactly what Santosh Desai, one of Indias best-known social commentators, does in this warm, affectionate and deliciously witty look at the changing urban Indian middle class. Writing as an insider, from personal experience, Desai cuts through the chaos and confusion of everyday India both yesterday and today, and suddenly, makes us see things clearly. Holding a mirror to our inner selves, Desai makes us see what drives us, what makes us tick, what makes our hearts beat, and how our mindsets and attitudes are changing, even as the past never quite leaves us. And Desai does so in short masterful essays, written with great humour and sensitivity. A big book about small things that truly matter.
380 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2010
72 people are currently reading
713 people want to read
About the author
Santosh Desai
8 books5 followersSantosh Desai is a columnist with several prominent publications. He writes extensively on media, popular culture, consumer markets and everyday life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
September 26, 2014
The writing is spontaneous, but this spontaneity is a double edged sword. On the one hand the book has charming instances of humor, anecdotal evidence of things so omniscient that we rarely notice them. In particular I loved his essay on the Bollywood Doctor (Inhein Dawa Nahi Dua Ki Zaroorat hain) and the Ode to the Hero Honda (both of which can be available online with a cursory Google search).
The flip-side of said spontaneity is the fact that his observations - while heartwarming and hilarious in moments - are brimming with unwarranted generalisations. Every essay comes with a plethora of unsubstantiated hypotheses, engineered to fit in with the author's romantic idea of what Middle India looks like. His brush paints too broadly, undermining the complexity of circumstance with which a society evolves. He gives no thought to correlation versus causation. His essays are merely vocalised, witty ramblings, lacking in cohesiveness. He writes in cliches, he contradicts his own hypothesis from one essay to the next, but he does it all with a sense of humor and a generous helping of flair.
It is a mildly witty, charming book, but I would warn a reader to not take his deductions too seriously.
March 20, 2015
Edit: 20/3/15
This book was gifted to me by a distant relative during one of our annual visits to India. In India, close relatives usually gift clothes and/or cash, so you could buy thing of your own choice. I don't know if that's peculiar to us or a common practice across cultures.
Anyways, I was intrigued by the title "Mother Pious Lady": turned out it's an innocuous part of a matrimonial advertisement in a newspaper! Yes, we Indians still believe in Arranged Marriage, the kind of thing that many Westerners believe exists only in the novels of Jane Austen!
That & many more cultural, social & religious issues are discussed in an extremely lively, witty, & above all compassionate way. I relived many moments from my childhood while reading chapters like Remembering the Summer Holidays, In Praise of the Unannounced Visit, The Pleasures of Vividh Bharti, etc.
These are things that, sadly, my children won't be able to experience, thanks to a rapidly changing India.
This book has three sections:
Where Do We Come From?
New Adventures In Modernity
Dilemmas Of Change
Each section is then further divided into several chapters, which are then elucidated under several sub-headings. It's an excellent collection of thought-provoking essays & critical commentaries. This book is essentially about the urban middle class of India.
The writer Santosh Desai is a well-known social commentator with his columns appearing in several prominant publications. I'll say that this book is aimed at Indian readership as well as foreigners who are trying to make sense of this chaotic reality called India!
I absolutely love it & try to give it to both distant & close relatives(along with clothes & cash of course!)
Highly recommended!
This book was gifted to me by a distant relative during one of our annual visits to India. In India, close relatives usually gift clothes and/or cash, so you could buy thing of your own choice. I don't know if that's peculiar to us or a common practice across cultures.
Anyways, I was intrigued by the title "Mother Pious Lady": turned out it's an innocuous part of a matrimonial advertisement in a newspaper! Yes, we Indians still believe in Arranged Marriage, the kind of thing that many Westerners believe exists only in the novels of Jane Austen!
That & many more cultural, social & religious issues are discussed in an extremely lively, witty, & above all compassionate way. I relived many moments from my childhood while reading chapters like Remembering the Summer Holidays, In Praise of the Unannounced Visit, The Pleasures of Vividh Bharti, etc.
These are things that, sadly, my children won't be able to experience, thanks to a rapidly changing India.
This book has three sections:
Where Do We Come From?
New Adventures In Modernity
Dilemmas Of Change
Each section is then further divided into several chapters, which are then elucidated under several sub-headings. It's an excellent collection of thought-provoking essays & critical commentaries. This book is essentially about the urban middle class of India.
The writer Santosh Desai is a well-known social commentator with his columns appearing in several prominant publications. I'll say that this book is aimed at Indian readership as well as foreigners who are trying to make sense of this chaotic reality called India!
I absolutely love it & try to give it to both distant & close relatives(along with clothes & cash of course!)
Highly recommended!
June 23, 2018
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What a fun journey this book has been. Literally takes you back to the India when you were born and makes you travel all the way to the India you're currently living in.
Author has finely picked up minute nuances of middle class India. Our little habbits like stocking up polythine bags, our vacation scenes, changing rural and urban landscapes, changing patterns of conversations, our cinema, our advertisements and what not. The best part is so much of grave topics are picked and talked about with an ease and dash of humour to it. All in all, you will love it.
Author has finely picked up minute nuances of middle class India. Our little habbits like stocking up polythine bags, our vacation scenes, changing rural and urban landscapes, changing patterns of conversations, our cinema, our advertisements and what not. The best part is so much of grave topics are picked and talked about with an ease and dash of humour to it. All in all, you will love it.
May 1, 2021
A funny subtle book that tries to make sense of our past, our present and directionally nudge us towards where we are headed - as a society (India). In collectives lie the stereotypes and in stereotypes lie the unoffensive reflections.
The book lasted me 3 months - daily dose of 1-2 chapters (each 2-3 pages) of some non-serious non-fiction. Or was it non-fiction? Maybe the Indian stereotypes are as fictional, but then you know you are seeing scenes from your house when you were growing up - and realise it is fantastic observations.
The comeuppance of middle class has made the 80s seem like a caricature, the 90s the early symptoms and the 2000s a testimony of a future prophecy. As a parent, I keep reflecting back to when I was a kid vs what my daughter has. This book sort of explains the how.
It stops with 2008 before android phones and social media. Hence it's future predictions seem in the past. But you don't read it for the content, but the tone.
A funny slice of life writing that lightens up and makes sense in equal parts.
PS: Thanks Ini for the wonderful gift!
The book lasted me 3 months - daily dose of 1-2 chapters (each 2-3 pages) of some non-serious non-fiction. Or was it non-fiction? Maybe the Indian stereotypes are as fictional, but then you know you are seeing scenes from your house when you were growing up - and realise it is fantastic observations.
The comeuppance of middle class has made the 80s seem like a caricature, the 90s the early symptoms and the 2000s a testimony of a future prophecy. As a parent, I keep reflecting back to when I was a kid vs what my daughter has. This book sort of explains the how.
It stops with 2008 before android phones and social media. Hence it's future predictions seem in the past. But you don't read it for the content, but the tone.
A funny slice of life writing that lightens up and makes sense in equal parts.
PS: Thanks Ini for the wonderful gift!
August 17, 2010
Many books claim to bring the 'Indian Spirit' together, but most of them have failed miserably by being stereotyped and slightly pretentious. However, Santosh Desai's 'Mother Pious Lady' lives up to what it claims- to make "sense of everyday India". Light, witty, and completely heart-warming, his descriptions of the scooter, our love of 'Antakshari', the Indian 'hero' and the decoding of the slap touch a cord in my heart. He helps us articulate what we already know within our hearts, our 'paisa vasool' spirit, our love of infantile simplicity as a tool to bond, our love for street food(no matter how unhygienic) and the complex, long drawn-out goodbyes. A must read for every Indian who is truly Indian.
December 31, 2024
Mother Pious Lady - Making Sense of Everyday India
Santosh Desai
Rating 2/5 - Did not finish.
I tried reading this book for a month, made some progress and eventually had to give up reading this, after my mind refused to plod through the remainder of the book, owing to some serious disconnection and discontentment with the writing style, the opinions and the choice of the content itself.
I realized I wouldn't be learning anything new if I completed, nor would I miss anything if I abstained from reading this - hence letting it go was fairly simple, considering how much less time I have to read.
I did enjoy the first 60 odd pages of the book, it was a collection and connection of various events in the life of a middle class Indian back in the 1970's and 1980's. Not everyone could afford everything back then and how we shared and lived together - its all about that. But apart from the reminiscences of the middle class days - I did not find other writing much intriguing.
The author rings in lot of stereotypes in his writing and opinions. I found some of the content to be frivolous. He collectively includes everyone whilst entertaining his opinions about various things Indian. In other words, he feels pretty confident in saying " What I am saying stands good across the masses and that is how it is in-fact ".
I disliked this grandad kind of treatment where its just one way traffic of opinionating and proceeding. Each topic made me ask myself many questions and I feel there are many a people who might even disagree or reject the thoughts written over here.
Sooner I realized or rather felt, I would be agreeing to the author's opinion (which I do not) if I finished reading this book - hence may be subconsciously my mind refused to proceed on this book. I also felt the need to stick with books of learning or serious literature.
I would not recommend this book - as it is kind of boring and doesn't fit the title chosen for it.
Cheers,
Santosh Desai
Rating 2/5 - Did not finish.
I tried reading this book for a month, made some progress and eventually had to give up reading this, after my mind refused to plod through the remainder of the book, owing to some serious disconnection and discontentment with the writing style, the opinions and the choice of the content itself.
I realized I wouldn't be learning anything new if I completed, nor would I miss anything if I abstained from reading this - hence letting it go was fairly simple, considering how much less time I have to read.
I did enjoy the first 60 odd pages of the book, it was a collection and connection of various events in the life of a middle class Indian back in the 1970's and 1980's. Not everyone could afford everything back then and how we shared and lived together - its all about that. But apart from the reminiscences of the middle class days - I did not find other writing much intriguing.
The author rings in lot of stereotypes in his writing and opinions. I found some of the content to be frivolous. He collectively includes everyone whilst entertaining his opinions about various things Indian. In other words, he feels pretty confident in saying " What I am saying stands good across the masses and that is how it is in-fact ".
I disliked this grandad kind of treatment where its just one way traffic of opinionating and proceeding. Each topic made me ask myself many questions and I feel there are many a people who might even disagree or reject the thoughts written over here.
Sooner I realized or rather felt, I would be agreeing to the author's opinion (which I do not) if I finished reading this book - hence may be subconsciously my mind refused to proceed on this book. I also felt the need to stick with books of learning or serious literature.
I would not recommend this book - as it is kind of boring and doesn't fit the title chosen for it.
Cheers,
April 15, 2020
Desai's essays are exceptional. He has a way of wringing out interesting insights from even the most mundane (think achar, a Bajaj scooter, dhaniya, the nightie you are wearing), and gives a whole new meaning to the way you look at things with his sharp commentary, gentle observations and a very wonderful sense of humour. Equally notable is his unbound affection for the middle class India. I was caught in multiple bouts of nostalgia and loving remembrances, despite having being born a little too late to have actually experienced what Desai misses.
But while each individual essay is a gem, they do not do as well strung together. The newspaper column word-limit works against Desai, and many essays feel just a little shy of drawing their conclusions or coming together perfectly. There are many ideas and themes repeated throughout, that would have been a wonderful signature style for the author when spread over multiple years and columns, but become repetitive in such close proximity. In fact, the reason I am stopping short of giving this a perfect 5-stars is because I keep thinking about the potential of this book, if the author had reworked them into longer, thematic pieces.
Another issue was that this book, through no fault of its own, was published in the year 2010 and records the idiosyncrasies of India up til 2008. Given the changes (ahem) that have happened since, the author's optimistic future has become our good ol' days and several things Have Not Aged Well.
But compared to the sheer joy and brilliance that is Desai's writing, these are merely afterthoughts. Fully recommend this book - this was a Paisa Vasool through and through.
But while each individual essay is a gem, they do not do as well strung together. The newspaper column word-limit works against Desai, and many essays feel just a little shy of drawing their conclusions or coming together perfectly. There are many ideas and themes repeated throughout, that would have been a wonderful signature style for the author when spread over multiple years and columns, but become repetitive in such close proximity. In fact, the reason I am stopping short of giving this a perfect 5-stars is because I keep thinking about the potential of this book, if the author had reworked them into longer, thematic pieces.
Another issue was that this book, through no fault of its own, was published in the year 2010 and records the idiosyncrasies of India up til 2008. Given the changes (ahem) that have happened since, the author's optimistic future has become our good ol' days and several things Have Not Aged Well.
But compared to the sheer joy and brilliance that is Desai's writing, these are merely afterthoughts. Fully recommend this book - this was a Paisa Vasool through and through.
February 15, 2011
Bought this in Bangalore the last day we were in India this time around. Read over half of it on the flight back. This is a wonderful book of short essays on life in India--adapted from a newspaper column. Some absolutely wonderful pieces on traffic, food, Bollywood, fashion, home life, etc. The first paragraph on traffic: "If the Church is serious about reviving interest in religion, it should sponsor more trips by Westerners to India. For nowhere else is God remembered and prayed to so fervently as it is when they encounter Indian traffic. That India is a hotbed of chaos is part of its charm; most outsiders can smile through the assault carried out on their senses by the overwhelming sights, sounds and smell that surround them. They can grit their teeth and tolerate sundry touts, beggars, holy men and curious onlookers who mill around them with a permanent air of neediness. Where many crumble is in taking a ride through Indian roads. For this is a trip that makes everyone spiritual, at least for a while." I found myself laughing out loud, trying to explain to my German seat mate, just back from Nepal, on his way to the Northwest. Not quite finished But I will.
November 29, 2015
A book that puts up a mirror in front of us to show us how we've been putting up our mirrors to look at ourselves.
Desai is gifted with two rare qualities: an ability to write wonderful, pithy sentences, and a perfect sense of when to stop writing these sentences. This ensures that even when he is talking about clichéd “Indian things”, the reading is worthwhile and never boring. A delight, which can be shared with anyone looking to understand India.
Desai is gifted with two rare qualities: an ability to write wonderful, pithy sentences, and a perfect sense of when to stop writing these sentences. This ensures that even when he is talking about clichéd “Indian things”, the reading is worthwhile and never boring. A delight, which can be shared with anyone looking to understand India.
November 1, 2024
2.75/5
Some books do make you realize what impact time can have on them. Published in 2010 this book does touch around the various idiosyncrasies of quintessential middle class of the country. Though as you read it you realise, it is more in-line with the trajectory of the author's life trail in time. A venn diagram of class and time very specific to those who would lie in the close vicinity of the author's writeup. As I read it in 2024. I realise, it is probably the ones born in 1980-1990 who'd be more atuned to the chronicled journey of the book. I jumped ship by a half a decade or so. Taking nothing away from the humungous effort of identifying the small things which become so uniquely woven into the lives of a class in time of a country. It'll be good ride as you probably would find some bits here and there with those 'aha!' moments. But the books leaves you wanting. Something probably about a revised version for this day and age.
Some books do make you realize what impact time can have on them. Published in 2010 this book does touch around the various idiosyncrasies of quintessential middle class of the country. Though as you read it you realise, it is more in-line with the trajectory of the author's life trail in time. A venn diagram of class and time very specific to those who would lie in the close vicinity of the author's writeup. As I read it in 2024. I realise, it is probably the ones born in 1980-1990 who'd be more atuned to the chronicled journey of the book. I jumped ship by a half a decade or so. Taking nothing away from the humungous effort of identifying the small things which become so uniquely woven into the lives of a class in time of a country. It'll be good ride as you probably would find some bits here and there with those 'aha!' moments. But the books leaves you wanting. Something probably about a revised version for this day and age.
August 21, 2022
Excellent compilation of essays that will take you to the memory of the 80s and the 90s. A must read for the millenials!
April 19, 2024
2.75 stars
From keeping new china for special occasions to finding multiple uses for newspapers over just their reading pleasure, the Indian middle class families are explored deeply by the author.
While the beginning was amazing, for me, the book fell flat towards the end, but that could be very well because it is a 14-year-old book (2010 was 14 years ago?!) and that can be seen from the articles
While there were things I agreed with and things I definitely did not, this book was worth a read!
From keeping new china for special occasions to finding multiple uses for newspapers over just their reading pleasure, the Indian middle class families are explored deeply by the author.
While the beginning was amazing, for me, the book fell flat towards the end, but that could be very well because it is a 14-year-old book (2010 was 14 years ago?!) and that can be seen from the articles
While there were things I agreed with and things I definitely did not, this book was worth a read!
April 15, 2012
Desai is a exceedingly comical writer whose assortment of columns collected in this book are at once highly entertaining and enlightening. I found his insights into India and Indian culture through his middle-class lens to be a useful way to explore current issues affecting India today. While much of this book is probably best understood by Indians living in India, I think there is a great deal one can learn from Desai's observations. He covers a wide variety of topics always in melodic metaphors: soap operas, cricket, corruption, food, marriage and family life, and the business world. Consider how he describes the role of the pickle: "The pickle exists to transform the dullness of other items on the plate with its own concentrated brilliance. It is stuffed with taste; and delivers more sensory thrills per square inch than almost any other food item. A little bit of it that one delicately bites into with the front of one's teeth is usually sufficient to make the taste buds squeal with delight. The pickle is the item number in the food platter that heightens the taste notes into a crescendo of pleasure" (112). Alternately, the way he poses questions about the way Indians react to India's advancement: "...we pine for Oscar recognition for our films, we cheer when an Indian company takes over a multinational, we root for Indian professionals to take over the reins of large multinational companies, we celebrate our IITs and IIMs which turn out world-class professionals, and we exult when we see more and more Indians appearing on the list of the world's richest people. In sort, as is natural perhaps anywhere in the world, we look towards the top when we think of good news about India. But are these really the best indices of progress we are making as a country? After all, Indians dong well abroad has nothing really to do with India, except in a symbolic and emotional way" (376). These are responses and questions that many countries around the world would do well to consider.
There are some aspects of his critique that I don't like: his use of modernism seems to be distorted; his notion of past and present as if in a perpetual dichotomy is also a bit troubling. At the same time, his analysis of the problems of language, for example the way in which Indian writers in English are glorified while writers in local languages lie in relative obscurity, is dead on. But he seems to skirt around the way in which internalized colonialism is related to this and various other phenomena he explores. Nevertheless, Desai's book is an enjoyable and thought provoking read.
There are some aspects of his critique that I don't like: his use of modernism seems to be distorted; his notion of past and present as if in a perpetual dichotomy is also a bit troubling. At the same time, his analysis of the problems of language, for example the way in which Indian writers in English are glorified while writers in local languages lie in relative obscurity, is dead on. But he seems to skirt around the way in which internalized colonialism is related to this and various other phenomena he explores. Nevertheless, Desai's book is an enjoyable and thought provoking read.
October 29, 2014
This book is an eminently breezy read, filled with short essays that first appeared in Santosh Desai's The Times of India column, City City Bang Bang.
The subjects of the essays vary widely and wildly from saas-bahu serials to terrorism to antakshari to economics. Desai writes from the distinct perspective of one raised with middle class values and one who understands and has lived through the classic middle class refrain of "Thoda hai, thode ki zaroorat hai. Zindagi phir bhi yahaan khoobsurat hai." which is refreshing to read. His voice is articulate and urbane as he writes of small town India's bright eyed aspirations just as his heart is clearly nostalgic about the not so distant past as he waxes eloquent over the humble Bajaj scooter.
I think this book will strike a chord with people who, like me, are of a certain age and upbringing, its focus being a particular slice of life seen through a relatively narrow window of time.
It certainly resonated with me. Desai starts with rosy nostalgia, sprinkles the middle with liberal sarcasm and ends on a note of abiding hope.
I strongly recommend you read this book if you know the feeling of being equal parts charmed and frustrated by this swarming mass of contradictions that is India.
The subjects of the essays vary widely and wildly from saas-bahu serials to terrorism to antakshari to economics. Desai writes from the distinct perspective of one raised with middle class values and one who understands and has lived through the classic middle class refrain of "Thoda hai, thode ki zaroorat hai. Zindagi phir bhi yahaan khoobsurat hai." which is refreshing to read. His voice is articulate and urbane as he writes of small town India's bright eyed aspirations just as his heart is clearly nostalgic about the not so distant past as he waxes eloquent over the humble Bajaj scooter.
I think this book will strike a chord with people who, like me, are of a certain age and upbringing, its focus being a particular slice of life seen through a relatively narrow window of time.
It certainly resonated with me. Desai starts with rosy nostalgia, sprinkles the middle with liberal sarcasm and ends on a note of abiding hope.
I strongly recommend you read this book if you know the feeling of being equal parts charmed and frustrated by this swarming mass of contradictions that is India.
May 20, 2022
It seems somewhat incredulous to me that I took a few weeks to finish this book. This is mostly because I almost dreaded the prospect of finishing this book. I would dip into it infrequently to complete a chapter and then switch to other books I had in hand. I am a big fan of Santosh's Desai's writing - it is exquisite! He writes on everyday sights and events with fluid narrative style and beautiful use of metaphors. But where I think he is outstanding is in his ability to analyse the seemingly mundane and routine experiences of life in India and to read its deeper meaning and purpose. I would so often be left wondering "indeed this is so true...how did I not see it". That for me is intelligent writing. I am marking this book for re-read.
Read
June 12, 2011Its a collection of essays. Its my favorite at a book shop. I pick it up, read an essay, get thrilled and keep it back. Its a very beautiful portrayal of everyday India. The author extracts things from your memory, which you yourself would have long forgotten - that's where the fun is - the bajaj scooter, mother pious lady, the family doctor, everything is delightful.
Love it
Love it
December 17, 2020
This is a book every Indian should read to get a better sense of where the fit in the modern social hierarchy. A lot of the essays are anecdotal , but they do have a strong popular resonance. The writing in itself is very beautiful and the play on language is commendable. I found myself highlighting several parts of the text because there were just too many insightful well composed lines.
November 15, 2019
To understand society, its cultural ethos and its various dynamic strands, Santosh Desai makes the reader look at all those common and day today events, behavior patterns and even a sporadic trends that we generally don’t notice at all taking them to be too commonplace and hardly concealing any reflection on the social structure of the society. He says: My effort in this book has been to examine Middle class from within….What follows is an analysis of changing India as seen through its daily life….It is what we do without conscious and deliberate thought; it when we behave naturally ad with reflex that we give away who we really are. Santosh Desai does this job brilliantly. Indian society, especially the middle class, its reflex actions and reactions are understood in the light of everyday happenings. Just take the first chapter: The Dhania Factor. The middle class wife in her routine purchase of vegetables never treats her purchase complete without asking and getting a wad of dhania with it. It gives her the gratifying feeling of paisa vasool.
The Power of Street Food makes an amusing reading. The street food we love and it is not loved for its wholesomeness but for the satisfaction of tongue. It is often greasy, spicy, and unhygienic and we love it….The street is not going anywhere anytime soon. Burp (what a funny way to end the piece!)
Scooting to Freedom. Scooty with no gear has made a huge change in the lives of young girls of small town. It has provided them freedom and mobility and thus a power to navigate in life. On a two-wheeler they are a blur of individuality; the male gaze cannot pin them down.
Every piece is revealing and the reader sees himself in them.
The book needs to be kept at your bedside. Just pick it and open at random, any page and see you explained in everyday things. The beauty of the book is that it does not need to be read at one go or in linear manner. Read one piece from any page and the pleasure is hardly lost in rereading the same article.
The Power of Street Food makes an amusing reading. The street food we love and it is not loved for its wholesomeness but for the satisfaction of tongue. It is often greasy, spicy, and unhygienic and we love it….The street is not going anywhere anytime soon. Burp (what a funny way to end the piece!)
Scooting to Freedom. Scooty with no gear has made a huge change in the lives of young girls of small town. It has provided them freedom and mobility and thus a power to navigate in life. On a two-wheeler they are a blur of individuality; the male gaze cannot pin them down.
Every piece is revealing and the reader sees himself in them.
The book needs to be kept at your bedside. Just pick it and open at random, any page and see you explained in everyday things. The beauty of the book is that it does not need to be read at one go or in linear manner. Read one piece from any page and the pleasure is hardly lost in rereading the same article.
August 6, 2020
2.5 stars.
I have quite a few issues with this book.
1. The first part cashed in on the middle class India nostalgia of the 1990s - just nice to read nothing totally earth shattering
2. There are far too many generalisations that the author makes which don’t hold good
3. There is a sense of making this book appeal only to the upper middle class urban India, which is ironic because the author actually makes claims of India not being represented by its villages as such (we try to hide them!)
This was a gift and I liked maybe 3-4 essays/chapters in total out of ~120 essays/chapters. I can see why this book may appeal to the occasional reader though.
I have quite a few issues with this book.
1. The first part cashed in on the middle class India nostalgia of the 1990s - just nice to read nothing totally earth shattering
2. There are far too many generalisations that the author makes which don’t hold good
3. There is a sense of making this book appeal only to the upper middle class urban India, which is ironic because the author actually makes claims of India not being represented by its villages as such (we try to hide them!)
This was a gift and I liked maybe 3-4 essays/chapters in total out of ~120 essays/chapters. I can see why this book may appeal to the occasional reader though.
November 4, 2020
Nice book to understand and make sense of idiosyncrasies, challenges and aspiration of India's emerging middle class amid chaos of multicultural developing India democracy. The book is full of evocative metaphors and expressive images of the past that is sure to make you chuckle and feel nostalgic. Good thing is the book is written as collation of essays grouped together under common theme which makes it easier to read.
March 24, 2025
Desai has some thoughtful and at times fun and playful musings about India and the change it is undergoing. Its not meant to be highly academic or scientific, so as long as you don't expect this, it should be a quick and interesting read. The quality of the essays certainly vary. In general he is better at deconstructing and analysing the past. When he starts to prognosticate or opine too judgementally about the present lor potential future, things can go off the rails a little.
August 31, 2019
This is as comprehensive as it gets about the Indian middle class. Wonderfully portrays most of its imperfections as a peculiar badge of honour and maintains a fine balance between our glorious past and glorified future we all seek. Took me back to my childhood only to contrast it immediately with the current youth. Absolutely loved it!
February 12, 2021
Bite-size meanderings of a wise uncle.
I like the way Santosh Desai has objectively written about different topics which are so common in India. It was dragging sometimes, but the informal writing was easy to navigate through.
I like the way Santosh Desai has objectively written about different topics which are so common in India. It was dragging sometimes, but the informal writing was easy to navigate through.
May 5, 2021
A wonderful read with amazing insight. It's often hard to define the idea of being "Indian". It is hard to find a common narrative when there are 1.3 billion people, 29 states and 100+ languages. This book is able to show us something uniquely Indian and yet somehow universal.
September 10, 2023
A very cute encapsulation of everything that goes into making an Indian, Indian. There's something special about those middle class virtues most of our parents and us grew up with. Gift your parents this book, they will love it :)
April 15, 2024
Hit or miss - some essays are exceptional and revealing, some trite and laboured. Regardless I enjoyed reading this while travelling in India, seeing some of the culture he describes with my own eyes and understanding where it possibly stems from.
September 14, 2017
Must read for all marketing students and working professional. This book will surely help us to understand the change in the society at every stage in last 50 years.
December 8, 2018
3.5 stars
There were most things I could relate with, a few I couldn't.
But all the articles did make me think about India and Indians – then, now and tomorrow.
There were most things I could relate with, a few I couldn't.
But all the articles did make me think about India and Indians – then, now and tomorrow.
January 18, 2020
Even more relevant now about ten years later
April 22, 2020
This book is a journal of what middle-class India is like. Humour blended with statistics and anecdotes. Must read for advertising and marketing professionals!
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