I’ve always had a thing for Indian writers. Be it Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy or Khushwant Singh - there’s that ’homely’ feeling in their stories. Obviously it’s because of the common nationality. It is but natural. The way they write is the way an Indian thinks.
I experienced the same feeling when I read Anurag Mathur’s ’The Inscrutable Americans’. First published in 1991, it was a very well received book that earned rave reviews.
The book is about the life of a small town but talented Indian student Gopal, from the point he goes to the U.S.A for a diploma in Chemical Engineering. Gopal is the character every Indian who’s been abroad would identify & sympathise with. The experiences he has are both comical & touching. Told in a very simple language, the author manages to keep the reader hooked on to the book till it ends. The story covers an year of Gopal’s life that he spent studying in this new strange land of America.
The thin novel can be categorised as ’un put down able’, specially because of the funny & real moments in the book. The reader would remain engrossed and excited to know how Gopal, totally clueless about American ways, would manage to live in this dreamworld.
Never been touched by a girl before, how would he react when women fall over him? It’s all very interesting. With a great end, Anurag Mathur manages to impress the readers & get in their good books!