Waifs, moms and murderers

Anila’s Journey (Walker India, Rs 285) by Mary Finn reads like a cosy Victorian novel. Its wilful protagonist is a slip of a girl who would rather be a draughtsman than an ayah. Set in 18th-century Bengal, the novel recreates the ambience of the days of the Empire, with its women smelling of English Lavender, shops in Bowbazaar selling “coffees and syrups and preserved fruits and flower waters all the way from Europe”, missionaries with snuff stains, and flocks of birds that have not yet been named. Brought up by the non-conformist English family of the Hickeys, young Miss Anila Tandy cherishes the memory of her Irish father, who was a clerk and a painter, and her storytelling mother, who was a native. When her guardian, Miss Hickey, leaves Calcutta for Madras, Anila has to fend for herself. She joins the bumbling but kindly scholar, Edward Walker, of the Asiatic Society, on his expedition up the Hooghly to “record avian life in Bengal”. The waif’s eye view of the world evokes the novels of Dickens and the Brontës, while the setting brings back the best of Kipling. The first-person narrative, which can seem confusing at first, begins to make sense as one becomes familiar with the signposts inside Anila’s pert little mind.

The Reluctant Detective (Westland, Rs 195) by Kiran Manral is about “how a housewife became a murder investigator between being a school-gate mom and her ladies lunches”. Manral desperately tries to be funny. She seems to firmly believe that the use of such words as “chaddi buddy”, the frequent use of “bathroom”, or of sentences like “I wantu see you pud it on” or “Whachyure wearing now?” can induce fits of laughter. If anything, these sentences, mouthed by the five-year-old son of the ‘housewife detective’, Kanan Mehra, aka Kay, indicates that the child, poor thing, should stop reading his parents’ SMSs and start going to school. As to the glorious mother, the less said the better. She cannot decide which role fits her better — that of Bridget Jones, of sexy bhabi-next-door, or of Nancy Drew. She tries on each of these garbs to torture the reader, who is left fervently wishing that the murderer in the story had chosen her as his victim.

How to Feed Your Child (and Enjoy it)! (Niyogi, Rs 395) by Tabindra J. Burney presents “fun recipes for young moms”. Although the recipes on offer may arguably help create a few delectable dishes, it is unclear what merits the adjective, “fun”. Scattered sketches — like those of a moustachioed teddy bear or of a pouting fish — and names like “Mmm Meatballs” or “Sweet Potato Sunshine Soup” hardly make the recipes easy, if that is what is intended by “fun”. And one also wonders why “young moms” alone can find Burney’s culinary wisdom useful. Surely, dishes like green chicken or grilled fish kebabs that the book presents can be cooked by moms and non-moms, young and old alike? For the most part, Burney rehashes well-known recipes and tries to present them in an attractive format. The smart packaging may appeal to a few buyers, but they will be disappointed with the content.

The Criminals of Kailash (Puffin, Rs 99) by Satyajit Ray is part of the series of Feluda mysteries made into comics. The script is by Subhadra Sen Gupta while the art is by Tapas Guha. Sen Gupta and Guha have done a fairly good job of translating the novels into comics while keeping the original sense intact. Purists, of course, will argue that the spirit of the originals cannot be recreated, especially if Topshe says, “Wow! This is cool!” or Feluda munches on chips (where did the dalmoot go?). If these minor anomalies can be overlooked, one may say this is a work well done.