Counting the tea leaves

TEA & ME: A MEMOIR OF PLANTING LIFE (EastWest, Rs 200) by E.S.J. Davidar is a nostalgic account of the “lives of quiet desperation” led by planters and their families in the tea plantations of south India. Davidar joined the Southern India Tea Estates Company in the Peermade district in 1953 as an assistant superintendent. From then on his life, spent among the rolling green hills with sudden spells of rain and sunshine, is the stuff of which fireside tales are made of. Tackling the fire that burnt down his bungalow, or unruly labour unions, attending parties at the Peermade Planters’ Club, going on shikars or watching clumps of fireflies adorning trees like tiny bulbs, Davidar seems to have had an exceptionally fulfilling life. So much so, that it would be difficult to account for the “desperation” he speaks of. Presumably, it came from the fact of having to live in a secluded world, with evenings at the club providing the only source of entertainment. Davidar’s unassuming style, interweaving history and lore, brings back a bygone era and the “romance of tea”.

DAILY INSPIRATION (Jaico, Rs 195) by Robin Sharma is the latest offering from the “Internationally acclaimed Leadership Guru.” It is hardly surprising that the book-cover includes a quote by Paulo Coelho praising Sharma. For both Coelho and Sharma belong to the group of authors who are eager to sell themselves as modern-day evangelists out to save the world. They assume a tone of pious forbearance as they show the lesser mortals the illumined passage to a better life. In this book, Sharma has an advice for every day of the year. He seems to believe that your degree of fear and trembling at the edge of the abyss differs from day to day. So while the counsel for some of the days are 15-20 lines long, those for a few others are astonishingly short. However, this hardly makes a difference since all the ‘sayings’ are about the hitherto undiscovered beauty of life, and exhortations to love, laugh, and provide “selfless service to others”.

THe DORD, THE DIGLOT, AND AN AVOCADO OR TWO: THE HIDDEN LIVES AND STRANGE ORIGINS OF WORDS (Plume, Rs 225) by Anu Garg is a “collection of some of the…interesting stories behind words.” It is an informative and enjoyable book that can arm you with such formidable words as “accimus”, “petrichor” or “faineant” to impress your friends or assail your adversaries. There is also a useful section that teaches readers to elevate insults to an art form. So next time you are put off by the ingratiating manner of a colleague, you can vent your ire by calling him “oleaginous” and rest safe in the knowledge that he probably has not understood the meaning of the invective.

ALEK: SUDANESE REFUGEE TO INTERNATIONAL SUPERMODEL (Virago, £ 6.99) by Alek Wek is the fascinating story of a girl who achieved a life of dreams after having started her life amidst the nightmare of refugee camps. Alek was born in Wau in southern Sudan. It is ironic that the model who now catwalks in Versace gowns grew up wearing the discarded clothes given off as aid to Third World nations. She never had more than two meals a day at Wau, sometimes having to do with even less. Her life took a turn for the better from the time she managed to flee to London. Alek writes her autobiography with a frankness that endears her to the reader. However, one cannot help discerning in parts of her narrative a voice akin to those of the ladies at international beauty pageants professing their dedication to the cause of ‘peace’.