Life of Pi - Yann Martel

I remember being very impressed by this tale of survival in which a 16 year old boy, Pi, is stranded on a boat in the middle of the Pacific ocean with a tiger on board!

The slow first half doles out lesson after lesson on animal psychology. Examples of goats and rhinos living together blissfully and rats and snakes cohabiting form a build up to the eventual calamity when Pi trains a Bengal tiger to be his subordinate on his 227 day long journey.

Reading the book a second time makes me realize there is more to it. A tale of survival, yes, but it is also a tale of faith. The reflections of the author on the subject of religion are thought-provoking. Pi is a Hindu, a Muslim and a Christian, all at the same time. The pandits, imams and priests mock him, his family doesn't understand him but he doesn't give up on any of his faiths. All three beliefs come in handy when fighting for his life in the Pacific. He prays to Allah when it is night, says Amen when he finds food and chants his mantras when scared.

"Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.

An adventurous book, there are parts which are unbelievable, but that again is just a test of faith.

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi - William Dalrymple

This is a book about Delhi, not the Delhi we know now - the second largest metropolis in India. This book is about the Lutyen's Delhi, the Mughal Dilli, and the Dilli of a few thousand years. The Delhi which housed the most beautiful architecture of its era. Delhi, which has been the seat of power and the heart of India. And the Delhi which was torn into two in 1984 – the new Punjabi-settled rich Delhi and the old Urdu-speaking poor Dilli.

The city is not new to me. I have visited it on many occasions, both the newer posh areas like Connaught Place and the old city areas like the Red Fort. And of course we have all read about its history in our school text-books - how Aurangzeb overthrew his father and eventually led Delhi to its downfall. But none of those ever left an impression as strong and compelling as William Dalrymple's City of Djinns.

Dalrymple’s account of the capture of Delhi by Aurangzeb, the strained relations between his siblings, Jahanara’s hatred for her elder sister Roshanara leading to her betrayal of her own father - were amongst the most important historical insights this book provided. The author leads us into shattered Mughal palaces, inside the restricted zenana chambers, the caretakers of which were eunuchs. A stark contrast is shown in the position of eunuchs then and now. As against their despised status in society today, earlier they were the courtesans of the kings and rulers.

This was the first travelogue I read and humour was one of the last things I expected. Accompanied by many funny anecdotes, the style is witty and interesting. Wrapped in the writer's (and his wife’s) one year stay in Delhi, Dalrymple takes us through his landlady’s eccentricities, his taxi-driver’s drinking bouts, his meetings with Britishers who chose to stay back in India after 1947, misfit Anglo-Indians, old ladies claiming to be Mughal heiresses, hakims reluctant to part with their trade secrets, exciting scenes of patridge fighting and the heart-wrenching account of 1984 riots. There is a part devoted to Sufism in India, the trance like state attained by dervishes and even a visit to the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.

All this and much more about Delhi's rich heritage, which is chipping away like old paint on many of its forts, is explored in this beautiful travelogue. Dalrymple has ignited in me a desire to visit the Jama Masjid and old city of Dilli once again. To quote a friend: "City of Djinns converts the most staunch haters of Delhi to its new lovers.”