Romance in another world

Eunuch Park: Fifteen Stories of Love and Destruction (Penguin, Rs 250) by Palash Krishna Mehrotra offers a glimpse of the fictional lives and minds of those who inhabit the seamy underbelly of society — prostitutes, cross-dressers, murderers and such like. The settings of these stories are equally murky: cramped, rented rooms, parks, hostels and so on. What Mehrotra nobly attempts is to arrive at a candid understanding of his subjects’ desires and deprivations, thereby transforming them into tender, even heroic, creatures. Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite come through in all the stories. While “Dancing with men”, set in sleazy clubs, is a realistic portrayal of lust and loneliness, tales like “Fit of rage”, “Pornography” and “Eunuch Park” disappoint as they appear far too contrived.

Curious companions: Ireland to India by bicycle (Grasswork, Price not mentioned)by Jake Bullough recounts the four-months’-long journey undertaken by the author “to explore the world” on a bicycle. Inspired by the feat of Ireland’s most famous adventurer, Bullough pedalled through 13 countries, including rainy Ireland, Germany, Austria, Romania, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan to reach dusty, parched Delhi. Expectedly, Bullough encounters a myriad people and cultures on the road but very few of his observations are fresh or free of stereotypes. The descriptions of the subcontinent and its people— eunuchs, beggars, cricket matches and the heat — are clichéd, to say the least.

Love stories from the raj (Penguin, Rs 299) edited by Pran Nevile comprises stories which claim to delve on an apparently under-researched aspect of the raj: the amorous affairs of the members of the white community in the middle of the eighteenth century. Included in this collection are the dalliances of William Hickey, a famous Calcutta attorney, Begum Sumroo’s escapades as well as a first-person account of an unnamed woman writer, apart from other contributions. These anecdotes are more than just personal accounts. They also provide valuable insights into the prevailing social structures and fault lines. The stories, which appear as they did in the originals save for some minor changes, also show how love, even then, was tied to commerce.