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My Friend Sancho
My first book, My Friend Sancho, was published in May 2009, and went on to become the biggest selling debut novel released that year in India. It is a contemporary love story set in Mumbai, and had earlier been longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008. To learn more about the book, click here.
If you're interested, do join the Facebook group for My Friend Sancho
Click here for more about my publisher, Hachette India.
My posts on India Uncut about My Friend Sancho can be found here.
Recent entries
So it’s about 10.45pm, and we’re headed in a tourist taxi to Siena Village, a resort a few kilometres…
I don’t know why, but I find this kind of funny. And what’s with the quote marks in that…
Jonah Lehrer writes in Wired: Here’s a brain teaser: Your task is to move a single line so that…
So while everyone’s celebrating the arrival of Akhilesh Yadav and how he’s revitalised the Samajwadi Party and UP Politics,…
... is done. The next time India walk out to play a Test match, my favourite sportsman of all…
11 September, 2007
“Her Rosy Cheeks And Her White Gown”
Suddenly I have become a fan of our education system. Consider the following excerpt from an SC Class X Marathi textbook:
My wife bathes twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. At night she changes into clothes that are as white as a swan. This is what she is wearing right now. With her rosy cheeks and her white gown, I can’t help but stare at her for a few moments.
I can imagine kids being given this excerpt in their comprehension exam and being asked, “What happens next?” The Times of India reports that the story it is from, by the noted Marathi writer PB Bhave, has become quite controversial. The report adds:
Another chapter about a snow-white cow who drives the bulls crazy has also not gone down too well with teachers. The chapter goes on to describe how this cow spends half a night wandering about in the fields with a black bull.
Yes, snow-white cows tend to drive bulls crazy. But perhaps children should be allowed to discover that for themselves. Ok, no, I’m just jealous: Not only did I study in a boy’s school, my textbooks weren’t remotely so exciting. Sigh.
(Link via email from Anon.)
Posted by Amit Varma in
