On the shelf

Paddy Indian
By Cauvery Madhavan
Published by Penguin
Price: Rs 250

A most peaceful book 8212; the story of Padhman, a third generation doctor from Madras who goes to Dublin to finish his medical education, more conscious of his Indianness than the Irish are of his foreignness. Nothing ruffles the pages, not the over-protective Amma who calls every week to make sure no Irish woman has dug her claws into her precious son, and if not one of the velais white-skinned then god forbid if it8217;s going to be that Anglo-Indian Ewart girl. Not grandfather8217;s death, not appa8217;s either. The book just streams through all of it 8212; cultures you realise that Ammas or Mams, they8217;re all worried about the claws digging in people, loves, sorrow, loneliness 8212; the current8217;s perfect. Worth a dip. For a great description on how to eat rice and dal slurpy-style, try page 150.