The Last Queen

The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a fairy tale fictional account – albeit based on historical facts – of a strong-willed village belle who rises to become the Queen Regent (and not the Queen, mind you) of the remnants of the Sikh empire. This daughter of the royal dog-trainer, besotted by an aged king, strives against palace intrigues, schemes of the wily British, treachery, betrayals and bad decisions on her part to try and protect her son and kingdom. Whether she succeeds or fails makes for gripping reading. I plan to read diplomat/author Navtej Sarna's The Exile: A Novel Based On The Life Of Maharaja Duleep Singh next.

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Baby Bullet - The Enfield 200

 

The Automobile - An Indian Love Affair

Automobile by Gautam Sen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Frankly this is not an Indian love affair with automobiles but more of an account of the hobby of rich aficionados’ collecting vintage cars.
It was the arrival of the Maruti 800 that really started the true love affair of Indians with the automobile – once quality, reasonably priced cars were easily available and the monopoly of “The Small Three” ended. The author goes on interminably in excruciating details about rare European vintage cars – that is his prerogative as it is his passion. For the hoi polloi this ‘love affair’ was cemented with the watered-down Indian version of the SUV.
There should have been a bit about the parsimony of Indians and their obsession with CNG and the phrase Kitna deti hai? Without the spreading network of Expressways (and the inevitable rise in accidents) driving for leisure rather than work has increased.

Finally, there was no mention of the iconic Enfield 200 aka Mini Bullet – the bike that was adorned with a dash of colour after the all-black Bullet, Yezdi and Rajdoot. It was this bike with the registration number DEW 717 that I used during College while courting my future wife!!

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