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A review by girish_jadhav
English, August: An Indian Story by Upamanyu Chatterjee
5.0
'The mind is restless, O Krishna'.
It's truly an Indian story! I wish, I read this novel earlier.
An urban IAS graduate is posted in Madna; hottest place in India, dot in a hinterland. As the story progresses, Agastya Sen has no idea why he joined civil service and what is he doing in this oblivious place. Story revolves around his ignorance towards the mundane life in Madna during the training period. His mind is clouded by sex, marijuana and literature. It's a humorous story which will make you laugh with staccato passages.
To quote: 'But someone, sir, I forget who, has said, that everything is maya except the feeling of completion at the ejaculation of semen and since this feeling itself is so transient it show how ephemeral the world is.'
He befriends some people during the short period, such as Shankar, bhatia, sathe, shrivatsav.. and yet remains clueless about his future in Madna. He's never satisfied with the position and always remains restless. And while posted block development officer of jompanna, he tries to come out of ignorance and helps the tribal villagers and keeps himself busy in mundane office work in the hope of finding the direction. But he fails in the attempt and takes a break by going to Calcutta, to meet his father, before starting his journey as a assistant collector.
'But many-branched and endless, Arjuna, are the thoughts of man who lacks determination, he remembered and started laughing again.'
Upamanyu chatterjee, himself from civil service background, gives the exact the picture of an IAS trainee. In parallel with Agastya's life, the author shows the problem faced in remote tribal areas of India. It's the true story of many Indians, who are lost and unable to figure out the future or what to do with life. As an Indian, I can easily connect to it as many does.
It's truly an Indian story! I wish, I read this novel earlier.
An urban IAS graduate is posted in Madna; hottest place in India, dot in a hinterland. As the story progresses, Agastya Sen has no idea why he joined civil service and what is he doing in this oblivious place. Story revolves around his ignorance towards the mundane life in Madna during the training period. His mind is clouded by sex, marijuana and literature. It's a humorous story which will make you laugh with staccato passages.
To quote: 'But someone, sir, I forget who, has said, that everything is maya except the feeling of completion at the ejaculation of semen and since this feeling itself is so transient it show how ephemeral the world is.'
He befriends some people during the short period, such as Shankar, bhatia, sathe, shrivatsav.. and yet remains clueless about his future in Madna. He's never satisfied with the position and always remains restless. And while posted block development officer of jompanna, he tries to come out of ignorance and helps the tribal villagers and keeps himself busy in mundane office work in the hope of finding the direction. But he fails in the attempt and takes a break by going to Calcutta, to meet his father, before starting his journey as a assistant collector.
'But many-branched and endless, Arjuna, are the thoughts of man who lacks determination, he remembered and started laughing again.'
Upamanyu chatterjee, himself from civil service background, gives the exact the picture of an IAS trainee. In parallel with Agastya's life, the author shows the problem faced in remote tribal areas of India. It's the true story of many Indians, who are lost and unable to figure out the future or what to do with life. As an Indian, I can easily connect to it as many does.