Book: The Red Carpet

Author: Lavanya Sankaran
Publisher:

Whenever there is as much hype about a book as there was about Lavanya Sankaran`s `The Red Carpet`, there is, on the one hand, excessive expectation from the book; and on the other, a sense of `oh no, not another one!` Such hype obviously helps to sell the book, as casual readers pick it up in large numbers, but discerning readers may decide to give such a book a miss. They can`t really be blamed, as many over-hyped books in the recent past have turned out to be disappointing reads.

`The Red Carpet`, thankfully, is not just another marketing phenomenon. This slim volume of eight short stories set in Bangalore is not only a fast and easy read, it is also refreshingly unpretentious. The writer does not have the patronizing approach of an `insider-turned-outsider-looking-in` - her insights are truly those of an insider.

Sankaran is a really good writer. Beautiful prose is something many writers produce seemingly effortlessly, but Sankaran`s talent has a touch of the exceptional. That, and a facile wit, make the book a pleasure to read.

The greatest strength of this book is in the stories themselves, despite the fact that most of them are, in effect, plotless. They are more like vignettes of upper middle - class life in Bangalore. In fact, any educated urbanite, not necessarily Bangalorean, can identify with the characters and their situations. Yet, the reader is riveted - and therein lies Sankaran`s success.

The only false note in the book is in the title story - the driver Raju seems too good to be true. And his horror at seeing his new `may-dum` in skimpy clothes makes one wonder if Raju doesn`t look around him; if he did he would realise that many well-to-do women dress like that. Why should he expect his `may-dum` to be any different? The ending of `Birdie Num Num` (what does it mean, anyway?) is not quite in the same league as the others. There is also a blooper, in locating Unity Building on MG Road - the author must have meant the Public Utility Building.

Though this book would be categorised as `light reading`, some of the author`s insights (e.g. `Two Four Six Eight`) indicate an ability to address deep, serious issues through her fiction. I firmly believe that good writing should serve a nobler cause than mere entertainment, and I hope Sankaran`s next book will do greater justice to her talent.