Three Most Scandalous Books read by Me : The Alchemy Of Desire by Tarun J Tejpal

The Alchemy of Desire  [ http://writetothepoint.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-name-tarun-tejpal-is-associated.html#] is

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The third and last book in my list of the three scandalous books which I have read.
On the front of it this book seemed to me pretty ordinary with the story revolving around a young married couple who truly love each other and how a chance finding of a trunk load of personal diaries  belonging to an English lady living in India prior to our independence, changes their lives forever.
But when you start reading the book you are taken by surprise by the explicit sexual content of the story. This was exactly my reaction on reading  such graphic scenes by an Indian author and that too from someone like Mr.Tejpal ( I am sure I must be sounding like a prude, but this was my first and honest reaction to the book!). I have definitely read books worse than this but this book was a bit of a shock for me as the sexual content made me a tad bit uncomfortable and I was not able to sync it with the story.
I have written a post about this book earlier and in it I have praised the story and Mr.Tejpal's way of writing. I have been and am still pretty impressed by the topics chosen by him and the way he has moulded his stories be It the Alchemy of Desire or The Valley of Masks to keep the reader engrossed in the story. He is undoubtedly a master storyteller but I was not comfortable with the way sex was used in the story. It seemed kind of forcefully added to the story and not being a part of the story.
I was once discussing this book with a cousin of mine and I told  him that even though I have read many scandalous books of many genres since I was a teenager but this book had the ability to stun me even now, when I thought I was mature enough to read any sexual content without it affecting me.
Overall it is an interesting read if one can get over the sexual content and enjoy the story of a young couple who though are financially very weak but are very happy to be with each other.

BOOK REVIEW : The Valley Of Masks by Tarun J Tejpal

 

"What we anticipate seldom occurs, what we least expected generally happens" - famous words spoken by British politician and author, Benjamin Disraeli.

"So true", is how we will all respond to hearing this quotation. Rarely do we find people or rather find ourselves in a situation when things have actually gone the way we wanted them to be. And I, for one can vouch for this profound quote cent percent. Be it a major event like a marriage or a minor event like looking forward to a quiet afternoon with my beloved books, it is always the opposite of what I had in mind.

My equation with Mr. Tejpal will definitely fall in this category. When my cousin Ankur, another keen book lover, recommended Tarun Tejpal's books I was curious to find out how this journalist would bring together a book. The Alchemy Of Desire surpassed all my expectations in terms of writing, plot, characters, detail, and a pretty good dose of scandalizing content. I was really impressed by him and wanted to read his other books too. But it was during this time that news surfaced of him, taking advantage of his position and sexually harassing a young journalist working in his firm, who was moreover, a friend of his daughter. I was in a moral dilemma as to whether I should ever read any more of his books. I will be lying if I said I was not tempted as I really enjoyed reading his first book. This time too Ankur came to my moral rescue. He told me not to think too deep and gifted me 'The Valley Of Masks'.  

To say that I was not expecting anything great form this book would be a major omission of fact by me. I was so excited in getting this book that I started it immediately promising myself that instead of hurrying through the pages to finish the book, I will read it slowly enjoying the beauty of the words and use my imagination to visualize the scenes as they unfold. But I should have known myself better and realized that though I am always in a hurry to start a new book, I am way too eager to finish it fast, in order to find out how it all ends in the author's mind.

But keeping my promise to myself I started reading the book at a leisurely pace and waiting for the actual story to begin as I kept finishing the pages. By the time I finished the first 100 pages, I was totally taken aback in disappointment as it was nothing to what I expected and felt cheated out. I was frustrated and I began to skip elaborate descriptions of locations, certain long monologues as I just wanted to finish it off. By the time I finished 2/3rd of the book I was certain that this one has been a true case of over expectation on my side. But here again I was in for a surprise- the last 1/3rd portion of the story completely shook me up from a state of semi-consciousness and made me sit alert. I had to finish it entirely in one go as I just could not keep it down. The last section salvaged the book and brought it back into my spectrum of interest and I was totally in sync with the character's thought process, his plan of actions, and could now totally correlate the story from the beginning till the end. And for this, I think Mr. Tejpal has once again made a place as an author worth reading in my limited intellect and understanding.

I, for once, cannot talk about the storyline as it would mean spoiling the suspense and the surreal feeling you experience on reading this book. All I can say that as the name suggests, the story is about a civilization based high above the mountains in a valley where the way of living is just the complete opposite to the way we humans live in our society. We build our lives centering on success, both in the material as well as spiritual form, surrounded by extreme emotions of love, anger, hate, jealousy, possessiveness, pride, selfishness, lies, truth, betrayal and insecurity. But the people living in that valley were governed by just one truth and it was the profound truth of the first sound, the first being, the first particle of our universe, Aum. 

Tejpal has to be given credit for highlighting the degrading and deeply negative aspects of us, the civilized 21st-century society who are so blinded by power, that knowingly or unknowingly we have embroiled ourselves in the vicious circle of money, power, politics and general apathy towards our fellow beings. But the author firmly believes that in spite of all that is wrong in this world, there are a few who are guided by their conscience and the greater truth to fight injustice, to fight corruption, to fight oppression. And there are those people who are more virtuous than any priest or god-man because they understand that it is stupidity to imagine that the world will ever be fixed. They have the wisdom to understand that this life with all its impurities has to be endured and the biggest secret that helps them to enter the perfect moment amidst all their worries and problems is MUSIC.  

I totally agree with Mr. Tejpal here and salute the common man who continues to move ahead in life with his head held high, a heart full of dreams and optimism for a better, brighter future, facing all the hardships head-on. 

BOOK REVIEW : The Alchemy of Desire by Tarun Tejpal

The name Tarun Tejpal is associated with lots of things - be it the sting operations on the key members of the political party BJP when they were in power, his close associations with the Congress party or the latest sexual abuse charge on him by his employee who is not only his daughter's age but also a close friend of his daughter.
What came as a surprise to me is that this man is an author and a good one too. He has written three books till date. The Alchemy of Desire is his first book.
I was halfway through this book when I got to know about the sexual abuse charge on him. This deplorable behaviour of his put a very ugly blot on my impression of this extremely talented author and I was almost tempted to throw away the book. But the avid reader in me would not let me do so. I did finish the book but the initial joy and the continous delight in finding a great read was missing and it was more of a job than pleasure. I blame Mr. Tejpal for taking away my joy.
The Alchemy of Desire is a story about a young man and the love of his life, his wife Fiza, whom he calls Fizz. They are madly in love with each other and the deep intensity of their mutual desire keeps the relationship alive inspite of the small skirmishes and disagreements. They are not rich in the monetory sence but they are extremely rich when it comes to love, passion and desire. He is a journalist by profession but in heart, he is an author, who is trying to write something special. Their life is running through its smooth course till they suddenly become owners of a bungalow in the foothills of Himalaya. It is here that they come across a trunk full of diaries while renovating the house, which changes the very equation of their relationship. The diaries belonged to an English lady who was the original owner of this house. The protagonist gets totally involved in deciphering the diaries and as a result he starts distancing himself away from Fizz. His life changes completely as his obsession with the diaries increase. The story ends with the protagonist understanding himself better and also as to what matters most in his life. The story ends on a positive note.
Tejpal as an author has immense talent. He is in love with all his characters,  be they be small or central. The way he gives them physical, emotional, mental, psychological traits is commendable. He brings all the characters to life by his beautiful narrative. It is a sheer delight to read.  He writes about the different eras with such detail and thought that it brings every scene alive in the reader's mind. I did find the book a tad too descriptive in certain places but overall it's worth a read.
The only thing which stops this book from being the perfect one is Tarun Tejpal himself and am very disillusioned by this whole goa episode.