No Onions Nor Garlic - Review

I read the review by Jai Arjun and was tempted to read the book. To be honest, I was sceptical in the initial pages thinking that the book would be too "Tamil" for my liking even though I have lived in Madras for four years and it is my mother tongue. But after the first chapter, the book you don't feel it.

The book shows the travails of a PhD student Sundar who also happens to be a Tam Bram. His mother tries to inculcate the ideal Tam Bram behavior in him but his father (who is a former Naxalite and a trade union leader) is completely opposed to Poonal (the sacred thread) and the associated Brahmin superiority.

During a play organized by his PhD guide Prof Ram who is the founder of TamBramAss (Tamil Brahmin Association), he falls in love with a Dalit girl Jiva. What follows is the side splitting comic interplay of caste, arranged marriage, love in the time of Mandal and college politics. Sundar is torn between his heart and the responsibilities as the leader of TamBramAss protesting against the unveiling of an Ambedkar Statue in the college.

Especially funny is the meeting of the parents of the Sundar and his would be which is likened to a football match with scores and all. The travel to a Jiva's village with his future bride and brother-in-law (Chunky) where Chunky gets drunk on half a pot of toddy and has to answer the call of nature during a village play. Sex is shown in typical Bollywood style - two birds meeting each other and the screen blurring. And the end is a satirical take on the typical Indian movie.

Rating - 8/10 - I would highly recommend it - especially if you have lived even one or two years of your youth in Chennai.