Vultures of Paradise by Atulya Misra

Vultures of Paradise by Atulya Misra
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Peurile pap!
If an IAS officer – an alumnus of Scindia School, Hindu College and TERI, to boot – the crème de la crème, can dish out such drivel, then God save India! Such a dismal book in sharp contrast to the work of other bureaucrats like the erudite Navtej Sarna, the suave Upamanyu Chatterjee, Vikas Swarup etc. The book is the product of someone living in La La Land, given the flat two dimensional characters and an implausible plot. Moreover, the book is littered with glaring factual errors and inexcusable howlers:

1. Diclofenac, responsible for the extinction of vultures, is used as an antipyretic and not as a galactogogue. It is oxytocin that is administered to milch cows and buffaloes by unscrupulous dairy owners to stimulate milk secretion.
2. There is no such thing as ‘radons’ – radon is a radioactive gas.
3. Karnaprayag and Rudraprayag do NOT fall on the way to Gangotri – they are on the banks of Alaknanda on the way to Badrinath and Kedarnath.
4. He has coined a term ‘mango people’ (a literal translation of aam aadmi, something more appropriate as a meme on Twitter) for the hoi polloi.

Rather than peddle such unadulterated twaddle in the name of literature, he should get back to his job of governing – or whatever passes for governing, amidst files and red tape!
Unabridged swill!

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