Urmilla Deshpande » review

01/26/2011 ~ New Madhouse Review -1

Urmilla Deshpande — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:52:33 +0000

http://thebookloversreview.blogspot.com/2011/01/review-madhouse-true-stories-of-inmates.html

As soon as someone mentions IIT, it conjures respect and awe but also at the same time we imagine a non-interesting, studious and serious life. What many don’t know is the whackiest, weirdest fun is had in the hostels of IIT. The life at IIT Hostel always intrigued me, since I am married to an IITan. Anyone who is married or has dated an IITan would agree that it is almost like a secret brotherhood, the stories and the fun or things that they have done in those years remain strictly between them. It is almost sacred and not for public sharing. One knows a wild time was had, weird nick names shared, whacky things done but it is never discussed with families.

Madhouse: True Stories of the Inmates of Hostel 4, IIT Bombay is a book that will give the reader an insight of what goes around these hostels. It is a compilation of all the ex-students of IIT Bombay who lived in Hostel 4. Starting from their ragging days to their graduation ex students have recalled memorable incidents of their life in hostel. The compilation is specifically of IIT Powai, Hostel 4 passouts but the episodes will give the reader a fair insight into the life at IIT. Happy stories, funny stories, laugh out loud stories the book has it all. Most of the stories though are from the students of 80s.

Reading the book made me realize why these men bond just so much, how friendships are made forever, why such elaborate efforts for a reunion are made whenever even a single friend comes visiting from abroad. The shared experiences, the shared jokes, the shared past every time they meet come alive. Even as an outsider you can’t help but notice the bond of friendship, trust they share.

The book, as one reads it, one can figure out the tremendous effort that would have gone into getting stories from all the ex-students, considering most of them lead busy lives in different corners of the world.

Excellent initiative but honestly a book that would be enjoyed strictly by people who have lived in that hostel.

Sharmila Phadke in Loksatta

Urmilla Deshpande — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:49:26 +0000

clip from Loksatta

http://www.loksatta.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80677:2010-06-25-05-22-38&catid=194:2009-08-14-02-31-30&Itemid=194 गौरीच्या मुलीचं पुस्तक

POL in Marie Claire India december 2009

Urmilla Deshpande — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:46:22 +0000

Marie Claire Dec 2009

family

ties

and write them into major events. Or

take marginally interesting people and

write them into giants and trolls and

goddesses. For example, the people

Ginny has sex with. There have been

men and women that I had crushes

on, that I might have wanted to have

a larger relationship, or just sex with.

And circumstances or their desires did

not allow it – well, Ginny got lucky (or

unlucky) where I did not. My mother

was quite a character and I did draw

upon her for Ginny’s mother. But I

had to distort her in order to make

her larger than life. I wanted to write

fiction about a woman somewhat like

me. After I started writing, she took

on her own character. So when I read

the book after its final edit, she didn’t

resemble me. I’m glad for that. Even if

everyone insists on assuming this is – as

one reviewer put it – “autobiography

masquerading as novel” – it is a novel,

and any resemblance to persons living

or dead is purely inspirational!

Who are your favourite writers?

Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, John

Steinbeck, Italo Calvino, Lawrence

Durrell, Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

– the list keeps growing longer. I have

a weakness for comics, graphic novels

and science fiction.

De spi t e the f raught f ami l y

relationships, the book is actually

about family.

Family is an odd thing. There isn’t

always a mutual desire to be part of it

– we don’t choose our parents, or even

our children. We may love them, but

wouldn’t admit it to ourselves if we

did not. Ginny is unfortunate that she

doesn’t have any models to base her

social morals on, or the size and colour

of her family. But she is fortunate too,

in not having those models. Like a

traveller on an unknown road, she has

to make it up as she goes along.

By Manjula Narayan

The Complaints

Ian Rankin

Hachette India, Rs 595

Ian Rankin’s new hero

Malcolm Fox works for

the Edinburgh Police’s

Professional Standards Unit

aka The Complaints. He’s

a cop who catches crooked cops. If his first

outing is anything to go by, readers will soon

learn to love Fox as much as they do crabby

Scot Inspector Rebus. The author’s even been

hinting that Rebus and Fox might make a joint

appearance some day. Bet you can’t wait!

The New Anthem: The

Continent in Its

Own Words

Edited by Ahmede

Hussain

Tranquebar, Rs 350

Here’s a book that brings

together voices from the

Indian subcontinent. Do stop to read ‘If You

Are Afraid of Heights’ by Raj Kamal Jha, ‘The

Ocean of Mrs Nagai’ by Sharbari Ahmed and

‘Cyclone’ by Khademul Islam. Also in the

fiction anthology are works by Amit Chaudhuri,

Tabish Khair, Padma Viswanathan, Kamila

Shamsie, Mohsin Hamid and Altaf Tyrewala.

new on shelves

Urmilla

Deshpande’s

novel A Pack

of Lies is an

interesting

read

(Tranquebar,

Rs 295)

Don’t Swallow Your

Gum and Other

Medical Myths

Debunked

Dr Aaron Carroll & Dr

Rachel Vreeman

Penguin, Rs 350

‘You use only 10 per cent

of your brain,’ ‘Acupuncture doesn’t really

work,’ ‘Condoms protect you from all STDs’

and ‘Eating at night makes you fat’ are some

beliefs challenged in the book. Though some of

the arguments aren’t entirely convincing, it’s

definitely a witty read.

book stills: manasa madishetty

234 marie claire india december 2009

Urmila Deshpande’s A Pack

of Lies traces the journey of

her protagonist Ginny as she

struggles to make sense of family

and of life in 1980s Mumbai. Here,

the original calendar girl – she was a

leading model – talks about her novel.

How much of the book is drawn

from your life?

Ginny is often assumed to be me

because the book is written in first

person. Yes, I am Ginny and Ginny is

me, but I am also not Ginny, and she

is also not me! There are moments in

my life that I used as starting points

to write Ginny – my relationship with

my mother, or my sisters, for example.

But I did not want to be restricted to

the truth. I wanted to take possibilities,

Marie Claire Dec 2009

Reviews and other strange things…

Urmilla Deshpande — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:40:42 +0000

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262541

http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/10/31/stories/2009103150590300.htm

clips

Urmilla Deshpande — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:01:55 +0000

Asian Age Newspaper Mumbai, Oct 25.

DNA Article

sava — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:32:24 +0000

Write up in the Indian newspaper DNA…

“Beyond the expected“

Note: They got Umi’s mother’s name wrong… It should be Gauri Deshpande, not Shashi Deshpande. Umi is not related to Shashi Deshpande in any way other than as a friend and fellow writer.

Here’s what the paper artcile looks like…

DNA Article: Beyond the expected.

And here’s another image from the newspaper:

Prahlad Kakkar and Umi at the Mumbai Launch

More news and article updates as they occur. Get in touch if you spot anything, we’ll credit you of course.