Krishna
This is an interesting book and this is an interesting author. I had given a wide berth so far to his books, since I heard that in the context of his infamous Satanic Verses and the controversy it stirred, that ‘It is a boring book, but only made famous due to the reaction from the conservative Islamic world’. Finally, I decided to sample this book, and to my surprise and delight, found him to be a very interesting author, at least in this book.
This book itself deals with the lives of three people. Vina Apsara is a part Indian, part American girl who rose to superstardom as a rock and roll diva in her life. She was a part of the band called VTO, whose other pillar is the other person in the trio – Ormus Cama, a Parsi boy who made good in music too, and was the brain and organizational genius behind the band. The third in the trio is an internationally accomplished photographer, also from Bombay, the narrator of the story, Umeed Merchant.
All of them grew up in Bombay – now Mumbai. The story is peopled with really interesting group of characters. The story starts out unbelievably well, being told with verve and humour, but sags a bit in the middle, before once again taking off to that rarified level of sustaining your interest and also capturing your imagination, towards the end of the book.
Take Ormus Cama for example. He is the son of Sir Darius Xerxes Cama, a learned man with a degree from Oxford. (Xerxes? Really?) He is a lawyer in Bombay and when he retires, gets into analysis of Greek and Indian mythology with an equally enthusiastic
British friend, Lord Methwold. His wife Spenta is a lady interested in collectibles, and is a home maker interested in Social Work. The eldest son Cyrus Cama is the most brilliant of all, but when he completes his studies, goes wild and gets into a Serial killing spree, landing himself in jail. His brother Ormus, was a musical genius, who had sworn off music due to a childhood incident. Ormus was a twin, but his twin brother, Gayomart, dies young. Ormus sees Gayomart in dreams, who tells him about music (Western Music, that is) that is as yet unpublished. The last child of the Cama household is Ardiviraf (“Virus”) Cama, who is half witted.
Sir Darius is an Anglophile, who longs for all things England and English.
When Darius’s secret (that his Oxford degree is fake) is known, he loses all esteem and loses his friendship with Sir Methwold. When Darius is killed by being smothered by a pillow (the standard modus operandi of Cyrus in his serial killing days) people suspect him of remote operating the feeble mind of Virus to execute the deed.
Spenta Cama goes to England to marry Sir Methwold, becomes Lady Methwold, (ironically fulfilling Darius Cama’s dream of living in England) and spends the rest of her life there, looking after Virus.
Vina was born to an American mother and the no-good Shetty, an Indian father. The father abandons the family and the mother brings in a parade of men, ignores Vina; the men are cruel to her too. When she rebels, she is sent to a relative in India, Piloo Dhoodhwala (a real and plausible Parsi name, by the way), who also ill treats her. She runs away and seeks refuge in the Merchant house.
Merchants, father and mother of Umeed, grow up to be educated, and are ruined by ill advised investment into Art Deco buildings in Bombay when that has become already out of fashion.
Both Ormus and Umeed love Veena, Ormus winning her heart. When she disappears following a family quarrel, Ormus is devastated.
Later, their lives intertwine, Ormus becoming a great singer, Vina too becoming one, and reunited through a band many years later. Umeed, riding on his popularity of exposing Dudh Piloowala’s swindles, wins international recognition. All of them settle down in New York.
The story ends when all characters except Umeed die, and when Umeed finds a new life and love in the form of Mira, another great singer.
The story is told with humour and poise. The English is excellent, almost poetic at places. But be warned. The man can be very explicit in his sexual descriptions. The accents of Philoo Dhoodhwala are hilarious, as is his description of Yul Singh and his entourage of Singhs (Will Singh, Limo Singh etc)
Also funny is the description of the fake Indian accent blond character.
The story of Ormus and Vina’s enforced fouteen year old celibacy oath is interesting.
The character of Vina is explosive and slightly unconvincing.
The book is a good read, if you can stand some explicit sexual descriptions, and deserves a 7/10
— Krishna