A review by chaitanyasethi
English, August: An Indian Story by Upamanyu Chatterjee

4.0

Anchorlessness - that was to be one of his chaotic concerns in that uncertain year, battling a sense of waste was to be another. Other fodder too, in the farrago of his mind, self-pity in an uncongenial clime, the incertitude of his reactions to Madna, his job, and his inability to relate to it- other abstractions too, his niche in the world, his future, the elusive mocking nature of happiness, the possibility of its attainment.

English, August is the coming-of-age story of Agastya Sen, a truly globalized Indian man. Agastya(also August or English or Ogu) is a 24-year old guy who's born to a Bengali father and Goan mother, who's lived his life in Delhi and Calcutta, and who, in many ways, is more American than Indian. Agastya finds himself posted to a sleepy little town called Madna, as part of his IAS training, and now he is questioning his career, his ambition, and his future. Deeply unsettled, Agastya has no clue in what direction he wants his life to go, and the book explores his experiences of the following couple of months.

I found this book a fun and introspective read. It was almost the 'Wake Up Sid' equivalent of Indian novels. I found it extremely relatable. Agastya, as the mish-mash of cultures, is a well-written protagonist, whose circumstances first amuse you, but then you empathize. Born to a life of comfort and privilege, he lacks the ambition of his father and uncle. His life in Madna, as a bureaucrat to-be is his mirror into his future. Agastya's restlessness and dislocation is only amplified by the characters he is surrounded by - Shankar-the alcoholic engineer who's given up on his career, Srivastava - the uptight, forever-scowling, prick Collector, Bhatia - his college acquaintance who has also landed in Madna, and Sathe - the local satirist and cartoonist.

At times you feel for Agastya, who is so bored of his life in Madna, that he resorts to petty lying - things like fabricating his backstory - to keep himself entertained. Work is dull, slow, and uninspiring. His life is a blur of marijuana, masturbation, and musings of Marcus Aurelius(and later, the Gita). He's constantly shown to be lost in his thoughts, he loses interest in conversations halfway, and he is forever struggling to find ways to avoid being alone - because he cannot face the thoughts and questions that his mind poses to him.

It was really refreshing to have read such a story, written by an Indian author, featuring an Indian character, set in India. Worth the time.