Money and mithai

Namita Devidayal's latest book Aftertaste takes readers into the fascinating world of the Marwari business community, where money is king

It's about food, family, money, mithai and manipulation… Namita Devidayal's second novel, Aftertaste, the deliciously wicked saga of a Baniya family, is very different from her much-acclaimed debut novel “The Music Room”, set in the stately world of Hindustani classical music.

And not everyone is happy about that.

“It's a problem in our country with slotting — either you're a ‘serious writer' writing about classical music, or you're a ‘light writer' in the mould of Chetan Bhagat,” she said at the launch of Aftertaste in Landmark recently. “Now people expect me to write another book on the classical arts, but I just wanted to have fun with this book, and wanted readers to have fun as well.”

Aftertaste takes you into the fascinating world of the Marwari business community, where money is king. “This is a unique world one has no access to, a world where the currency of all emotion and exchange is money,” said Namita, a Mumbai-based journalist. “To me it's as amazing as the world of Indian classical music.”

Full report here Hindu