Saturday, May 5, 2007

Q & A – Trappings of a Potboiler

Continuing my quest for Indian writing in English, I picked up Q & A by Vikas Swarup. Vikas is an Indian diplomat; this is his debut novel.

Q & A is about an orphan, Ram Mohammad Thomas, and his escapades in big bad cities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Agra as he fights for survival! Ram takes you through the labyrinth of squalor in Dharavi slums to the orphanages and mafia in Mumbai, to the red-light areas in Agra while encountering (and tricking) fate in every corner.

Q & A is about Ram’s rags-to-riches story with his reversal of destiny when he participates in the quiz show, Who wants to be a Billionaire? The 13 questions, which are put to the 18-year old waiter with no schooling, and whose answers lay in his deepest darkest past forms the crux of the story.

It has all the trappings of a Bollywood movie (and no wonder that it is being made into a movie) because it has love, betrayal, deceit, and glamour.

An ideal read when you are traveling in a train and are bored out of your wits!

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