Comments on: English, August

By: brownfrown

brownfrown — Sun, 07 May 2006 17:00:37 +0000

Back at the parents’ house. The last thing I did before I went to bed last night was rummage through my old bookshelf looking for English, August. There it was, nestled between a copy of The Restraunt at the End of the Universe and um, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret. I read about three pages before I passed out from exhaustion – I must have completely missed all the pot references the first time ’round. I guess I just wasn’t ready to appreciate the beauty of hotboxing in a car in Dealhi at the age of twelve. I’m going laze around revelling in my end of semester bliss and read this novel today.

By: Ms FinkNottle

Ms FinkNottle — Sun, 07 May 2006 02:12:08 +0000

Ah well I remember those good old days…newly minted and oh-so-cute-so-we-forgave-him-a-lot (oh come on, we TOO were just 17!) new English Prof Upamanyu Chatt teaching us Dickens back in ’82. He’d sit down at his chair with this faintly bored abstracted air (one that never left him right through class), set “David Copperfield” down on the table and then (we all — half-exasperated, half amused — knew this would be the next step after he took ‘attendanc’ ) THERE…his round cheek would be pressed upwards as he rested his face on his hand, elbow on table and began to read out assorted passages from the book… It was only later we learned UC only took on his ‘teaching’ job while studying for his civil services…that explained a lot !

By: chick pea

chick pea — Sat, 06 May 2006 04:24:07 +0000

this is too coincidental… we were just talking about this book over dinner tonight..and my friends who had read it ages ago, were raving about it… can’t wait to read it after my boards…all fun reading will await until that hell is over…and before i forget, welcome to the SM croony corner

By: Abhijeet

Abhijeet — Fri, 05 May 2006 11:52:57 +0000

I first read this book when I spent a year living in ramshackle housing (similar to Agastya’s) in a hole of a suburb called Vikhroli in Mumbai. Instant connect & identification followed. The book has been on top of my fav’s list for over 5 years now. Rahul Bose’s portrayal as the urban-western-Indian youth Agastya only enhanced the connect. I’ll be eternally grateful to August as I discovered both Marcus Aurelius & a whole new interpretation of the Gita through his perception. “The mind is restless Krishna….” haunting words those…

By: Sid

Sid — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:40:14 +0000

In my opinion, it is the narrowest possible world-view of a Stephanian.

By: Dakhni

Dakhni — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:06:38 +0000

rss gulla That was HILARIOUS!

By: wondering

wondering — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:59:59 +0000

my fave from the book/movie was

Local biggie: "so are you into physical activities agastya?"

AS: "Yes - I climbed the mount everest"

Local biggie: "Oh good! Then you can join our badminton club"

By: Whose God is it anyways?

Whose God is it anyways? — Thu, 04 May 2006 19:25:54 +0000

thanks for the link to the chatterjee interview. very entertaining. especially liked it when he said the movie was good but not as good as the book and that when it comes to writers on book tours he’s a martyr, secretly liking it. matter-of-fact and to the point combined with a little humble hesitancy – very charming.

By: siddhartha m

siddhartha m — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:52:55 +0000

I feel so nostalgic - a bowl of pot, a mofussil town in the heartland, some whiskey - does one need anything else in life.

hari, you also just used one of my favorite words!

By: Hari

Hari — Thu, 04 May 2006 17:44:58 +0000

OMG – this is possibly my favorite book ever. I feel so nostalgic – a bowl of pot, a mofussil town in the heartland, some whiskey – does one need anything else in life.

Can’t wait till Dev Benegal’s wonderful film is released here.