Posts Tagged ‘Humour’
Prodigy Of Errors : A Review
Posted December 20, 2013
on:- In: Book Review | Books | Fiction Review
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Title :- Prodigy Of Errors
Author :- Manisha Gupta
Publisher :- Partridge India (Penguin)
Pages :- 240
To tell the readers right at the beginning of this review of ‘Prodigy Of Errors’ that its writer Manisha Gupta is a hugely gifted and talented writer and you will enjoy reading her first work of fiction titled ‘Prodigy Of Errors’ will be akin to serving desert before the main course.
But such is the lucidity of Manisha Gupta’s prose that much as I hate, I’m complled to admit that this novel leaves the reader marvelling at the deft use of language and uncanny word plays that are ready to seduce the reader into the make believe world Manisha Gupta has created so masterfully between the pages of ‘Prodigy Of Errors’.
This novel tells the story of a girl next door Nitya. Nitya herself is the narrator and she is successful in grabbing her reader’s undivided attention in the first few pages only which is a huge achievement for any story-teller. Nitya is not a super woman. She is way below an average woman. Her life is full of goofy misunderaventures told through 28 chapters in a style that evokes both laughter and sadness in equal measure.
We find ourselves laughing at Nitya because the mistakes she committs are so silly. At the same time, we feel a twinge of sadness for this girl next door who somehow finds herself in no man’s land for no fault of hers most of the times. ‘Prodigy Of Errors’ has 240 pages and all these pages are full of funny and cantankerous characters but the heroine is unarguably Nitya whose life interests the reader the most almost at once.
I found this chapter 19 ‘In Exile with Daniel Sir’ the most hilarious. It describes Nitya’s first crush with her music teacher who doesn’t give her second glance and whose yearning for some other woman leaves Nutya hallucinating much to the amazement of the reader.
The strict father, moody husband, cunning roommates at the hostel, prankster friends, loneliness, assassination of a famous political leader followed by a retaliatory communal bloodbath and not to mention an overseas trip are what make ‘Prodigy Of Errors’ such a forceful and racy read. The punch at the end of each and every chapter makes the reader want to finish this novel as fast as possible.
Manisha Gupta comes across as a bold and unique novelist who has the guts to choose this type of subject and story line for her debut novel. Normally, when we are writing our first work of fiction, we tend to portray central characters as having all super natural powers to overcome any tough challenges. But Manisha Gupta surprises her reader by her simple yet in-your-face portrayal of not so larger-than-life Nitya who begins to tug at your heart strings by the time you reach the last page of ‘Prodigy Of Errors’. Do pick up this book. It’s worth going for.
The verdict is ‘Prodigy Of Errors’ is a highly recommended book to read and savour forever.
The railways minister Mr. Pawan Bansal is the latest example of how government is effectively implementing poverty eradication programme. The opposition is asking for his resignation. Why? Because it is alleged that Mr. Bansal’s nephew accepted a bribe for recruiting top official/s in railways. How can we make uncle pay for the alleged sins of his nephew? As such CBI is overburdened with work load. Shouldn’t we spare a thought for hapless CBI before tossing every case of rape, murder and bribery into its overflowing basket?
Government is busy fire fighting on many fronts right from Sarabjit Singh’s ghastly murder in a Pak jail to Chinese intrusion into our territory. Amidst all this ha ha hoopla, where does it have time to sack Mr. Bansal whose life long dream is to eradicate poverty for all his generations to come after him? Let’s assume for a moment that PM cracks his whip and Mr. Bansal finds himself out, where would the suitable replacement for such an able minister come from?
Now almost all the leaders have successfully eradicated poverty for their next generations. Nobody will show willingness to step into his large shoes that will be difficult to fill for obvious reasons. Government is well aware of this challenge that may arise following unceremonious sacking of Mr. Bansal who is a complete family man as far as the Indian tradition is concerned.
People of this country have heard of minister helping their brothers and sons and daughters in their endeavour to eradicate poverty. But Mr. Bansal has gone one step ahead by extending support to his nephew. The last thing such an honourable man deserves is receive a red slip from his masters.
On the contrary, the more accolades we give, the less they will be for such a man of impeccable integrity. Mr. Bansal has done one more remarkable thing for which he has come in for praise from all the leaders cutting across party lines. That is when protesters demanding his resignation outside his residence were baking in the sun, he ordered cold showers on them so that they could brave the blazing sun and continue protest unabated.
Does such a caring man deserve the sack? How thoughtful of him. In fact, here’s a man who should be invited to Wharton to give lecture on how to successfully eradicate poverty in less than a year and ensure enormous wealth for generations to come. Our PM can spot the hidden talent and persist with it in a bid to brazen it out no matter what the opposition demands.
When country is ruled and run by such merchants of coals and 2G spectrum, it is the people of this country who should master the art of brazening it out. Government’s juggernaut ought to continue to roll and nobody should throw spanner. Whoever dares do so will only increase the workload of CBI. PM won’t step down. Ministers implementing poverty eradication programmes won’t call it quits. The status quo will continue till the day of reckoning after a year.