I would like to call it a good book. Normally its not the kind of books I would pick up to read. And if you are the kind who read only those books that add something to your life, then this is not for you. But it’s a good read by all means. This is easy entertainment, full of fantasy and imagination, total paisa vasool. I first heard about it in my book club where a member was quite fascinated by the BBC serialisation of the book. She could not wait for the next episode she said. What I find really remarkable about the author is the way in which he talks about all the wrong things (!!!) and gets away with it Scot free. He does such a smart and smooth job of it. (No wonder, Swaroop is a diplomat by profession!) The soul of the book is as Indian as it can get, (though quiz shows are quite an international phenomenon.) you can actually smell India in this book. And yet he talks about everything that is a taboo in India – homosexuality, incest, child abuse, forced prostitution – you name it. (And of course religion – how can we miss that?
The name of our hero is Ram Mohammed Thomas to begin with. Can it get more filmi than this?) You come across all these seemingly heavy words and once you are done with the book you suddenly realise its all past and there is nothing nagging you. You feel free. I find it a great feeling, of course I am a lover of happy endings, but the real challenge is to let all these characters find their own way in life and finding a place for themselves in the big bad world. In their own way they deal with these so called nagging issues and move on with life. That’s the crux of being an Indian; commoners who actually live the fact-is-stranger-than-fiction life. I remember reading books like The kite runner or Inheritance of loss. Those kind of books stay with you. There is this distinct disturbing feeling in your gut once you finish them, you cant come out of it, they hit you right where you live. You keep coming back to the characters over and over again.
I love those kind of books. But Q&A is of a complete different genre. There should be more such books coming from the contemporary Indian authors. Any day now I am expecting the book to be made into a high profile bollywood flick. It has all the ingredients for a super hit underdog classic. In short – its easy reading, its fantastic - as fantastic, as colourful, as self contradictory as India itself.