I never thought that a story can be told in such a leisurely fashion, with nothing particular plot in mind, just narrating the day to day incidence of someone at some job at some remote place in some country. Especially if the country is India, the job is that of an IAS and the person is none other than Upamanyu Chatterjee. His 'English, August' is one of the most relaxed narratives I have ever read. It does not rush through a plot to tell or some moral message to convey or some high voltage drama destined to be scripted in an upcoming Bollywood movie. Its just about daily life of an IAS officer in a remote town in central India. The story should be a reflection of Chatterjee's own life as an IAS.
'English, August' revolves round the main protagonist Agastya Sen (August), who is in this town of Central India to get his IAS training as a BDO in an Indian summer. The author tells us about the experience of a bachelor like Agastya in a god forsaken town of Madna and relentlessly judged by the married bosses and their wives. Overall its a nice time pass story to be read, specially by people like me who are in their 20s and still have not "settled down".
I am also looking forward to read the sequel to this, "The mammaries of the welfare state".
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