A New World by Amit Chaudhuri
Published in Hardback (2000)
By MacMillan Publishers Ltd
ISBN 0 330 35105 2
200 pages
Reviewed by Lopa Patel
Rating: 4 flames
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This book is ideal holiday reading. Fairly short - with only 200 pages - it crams a two-month summer break in Calcutta neatly into readable chapters. The main character is Jayogit, a successful economist based in the USA who returns with his son (Bonny) to spend a summer with his aged parents in Calcutta.

What follows is the minutiae of Jayogit's holiday, and believe me, he really doesn't do very much! Amit Chaudhuri has mastered the skilful art of explaining extreme ordinariness in an interesting and readable way. From how many 'luchis' Jayogit eats for breakfast to the 'Dove' soap that he buys in the local market.

The reader gets a wonderful insight into banking, property, servants, the navy and the social 'circles' of India in well-phrased paragraphs. We learn about what it means for Jayogit to be an NRI (Non Resident Indian) and how he has been able to use this to his advantage. We learn about banking Interest rates, the value of things in India and the bureaucracy and administrative nightmare that surrounds the country.

Calcutta is blisteringly hot in this book and the fact that I could feel the heat in rain-swept London says a lot about the author's skill. 'A New world' focuses on Jayogit's failed marriage, the day-to-day concerns of his aged parents the Admiral and Sumitra Chatterjee and sketches tales of their neighbours Dr Sen and Mrs Gupta.

I loved the Hindi phrases that I could just about grasp and the detailed description of the city, its people and their ways. The characters teach us Bengali cooking (albeit most of it is concocted indifferently by Jayogit's mother!) and the religious Bengali ceremonies.

Amit Chaudhuri embodies his characters with human skills and failings. I guarantee that you will relate to nearly all of them in the book. Chaudhuri does not imbue his characters with any particular foresight or talent and he definitely does not sit in judgement. Thus, Jayogit's failed marriage and thoughts about remarriage will leave pondering the question, "What should he do next?" rather than offering solutions of your own.

Interacting with the characters as one would with friends transforms this book from mere words to real life. This book is hot in more ways than one!

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