The Hindu Business Line : Regal narration

Ambarish Satwik, a Delhi-based surgeon, begins Perineum ( www.penguinbooksindia.com) on a matter-of-fact note: “On December 15, 1742, Bobby Clive, formally trained in bookkeeping and penmanship, entered the service of the Honourable Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies, as a clerk and was selected to serve at Fort St. George (Madras), the headquarters of British commerce on the Coromandel Coast.” Immediately thereafter is an extract from the medical record book of Dr John Rae, the Fort’s civil surgeon…about a perilous operation that Bobby had to undergo!

Chapter 2 moves fourteen years ahead, to 1756. “The siege of Calcutta. Cossimbazaar had been captured by the Nawab’s forces. The assault on Fort William was mounted by Siraj-ud-Daula’s army of 50,000 men…”
The book wraps up with M.A. Jinnah’s death on September 11, 1948 in Ziarat, ‘located 133 km east of Quetta at an altitude of 8,400 feet… on the brow of an old and large juniper forest’.
But don’t miss the penultimate chapter, which is about a special meeting in 1946 on the framing of a constitution. “‘Gram and almonds for you Mr Gandhi,’ announced Crookshank, and a liveried servant placed two bowls on the breakfast table. ‘And goat’s milk, sir.’ ‘Well thank you. Did I tell you about my adventures with unfired food? …’”
Regal narration that can regale you with surgical details.

D. MURALI
http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

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