Savouring the ordinary

As anyone interested in books and reading would know, the past decade and a half has seen a plethora of books by young Indian authors writing in English. And if they're not writing about the mind-numbing details of what goes on in that peculiarly twenty-first century phenomenon; the call centre, they're writing about the Great Indian Family with all its hierarchies, idiosyncrasies and traditions. With a few exceptions, these families are almost exclusively north Indian - and by that I mean Punjabi, confined to the socio-geographical space of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. Namita Devidayal's Aftertaste is no exception.

Set in the Bombay of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Aftertaste focuses on the Todarmal family - Daddyji, the family patriarch, Mummyji, the matriarch who reigns supreme and runs the family, ordering her children and husband's lives around like pawns on a chessboard and their children - Rajan Papa, the eldest, forced to grow up early and shoulder familial and business responsibilities, Suman, spoilt, eternally discontented, beautiful and greedy, Saroj, dark, shy and a bundle of insecurities and finally Sunny, the youngest, who never quite grew up. The family fortunes are centred on the thriving sweet shop they own in Kalbadevi, Bimmo di Barfi (later shortened to the more modern 'Bimz' by Sunny) - named after Mummyji as a tribute to her position in the family as well as the fact that without her brainwave and enterprise, the shop would never have seen the light of day.

Full report here Businessworld