Customer Reviews

Cuckold

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kiran Nagarkar is a wordsmith. Better yet, he is a painter. But then, he is also a non-conformist. To make a long story short - Kiran Nagarkar - one of the most prolific writers from Bombay - has truly evolved and come into his own as a fiction writer beyond compare in 'Cuckold'.

Mira is THE lover-saint, the Indian epitome of Sufism. She is a larger than life persona in India who is spoken of alternately, in hushed, awed and affectionate terms. Never before has anyone paused to ponder - what being married to her might have been like. That is Nagarkar's coup d'etat. To bring to life a character in history who has lived in Mira's shadow, cuckolded by no less than THE All-attractive God Krishna is pure, delightful literary chutzpah.

And yet the true genius of Nagarkar's fiction writing emerges throughout the complex, myriad, sometimes irregular threads of fabric he weaves. He paints a Rajasthan - that today only bards sing and sigh about. He brings to life a politico-social arena that rivals Nietzsche's Machiavelli. He lulls the reader into such a magical world that one laments being brought back to reality.

Today Kiran Nagarkar stands alone in the midst of Indian writers rife with Anglophilic perspectives, eager to please West-fuelled "exoticism". He stands aloof, writing for the pure pleasure of expressing a thought, an ideology, an ism - or not.
I am most thankful for the fact that he writes - period. When he writes as he has in Cuckold - the heart grows fain! May his tribe increase!

I can only echo the words of the other reviewers - this book is a tour de force, and Mr. Nagarkar is truly a prince among Indian writers.
His Prince, Maharaj Kumar of Mewar - a man ahead of his time - is unforgettable.
Set in the early 16th Century, at the dawn of the Mughal era in India, Cuckold is important substantively too. In re-creating and re-imagining events and characters from a watershed period in Indian history, weaving between fact and fiction - the book makes us question the essence of our culture, our values and our philosphy; in short, our inheritance. And through all of it, Mr. Nagarkar stays invisible, cloaked in his Prince's voice.
This sweeping, beautiful book, intimate and panoramic at the same time, is nothing short of a feast - fit for a prince!

Like another reviewer has said, this is one of the finest books written. Nagarkar has crafted a novel of immense beauty and emotionl substance. His portrayal of the prince-heir 'Maharaj Kumar' gives us one of most refreshing and iteresting potagonists in recent book history and the supporting cast is rendered in colorful yet utterly believable hue. The book grabs you from the first with its lucid style and Nagarkar has a firm grasp over the plot at all times. This was a book I wished would never end, but it also ends in the most satisfying way imaginable.
Ravan and Eddie by Nagarkar was an enjoyable read but this is a true masterpiece.

kiran nagarkar is far ahead of all Indian writers. cuckold has no flab inspite of its length. the novel transports you to a bygone era and keeps you there. language, plot, technique - cuckold has it all and how. the character of kausalya stays fresh in the mind.
the sahitya academy award in India is only the beginning, it deserves greater accolades.
my greatest take is the character of the protagonist... we are able to relate to the prince because he comes across as someone we want to be.

chandra mouli
www.storiesfromindia.com

Cuckold is an excellent testimony of Nagarkar's skill in weaving a colourful story around a skeletal historic event. I continously felt like I was a part of the story and was witnessing the same as if peeping behind a door.
For days I felt transported to Kumbhalgarh and Chittorgarh and it was as if I had been there, the colours of Chittorgarh all coming alive in front of my eyes. It is an absolute page turner and is a must for people who are in love with Rajasthan and its splendour.
There is a lot of research that has gone into this book and it is evident in the manner in which he describes the war strategies and the mechanism of gathering intelligence about enemy position etc. of those times.
There is ample attention to detail and one feels as if one has known the characters personally for a long time.
The feeling that one has on completing the book is one of- thirsty for more.
I wish we could have more of such books which talk about the grandeur as well as the history of Rajasthan.

Kiran is a very engaging story teller, and funny too. The book is set in the city of Chittor where Mirabai is married to the eldest son, Maharaja Kumar. The novel is written through the eyes of the Maharaja. It is all about love -love for power (the throne), love for the father ( masked in duty), love for mira (wife who loves another), love for Kausalaya (mother, woman, friend, mentor, confidante, lover & a healer), spiritual love (that is also sensuous-Mira for Krishna), love that is helpless yet is source of strength, forbidden love. Throughout the book there is no questioning of this love that shows itself up in also many different forms. Love exists as the core fabric of the book and its existence in such abundance is not a surprise-it just seems the right ( the only way) to be. - yet amidst all this there is an aloneness and pain that exist subtly - if only one is able to catch it darting across the many pages of this book . The book is also reflective of the contemporary realities-strategies, leadership, battles, lust, bribery, betrayal, art of retreat, sexual pleasures, spiritual abandonment-it is a rainbow of time that links the past to the present.

Nagarkar's language is as savory and spicy as a delicious platter of chicken tikka masala. His words and images linger and meander through the mind of the reader taking on an organic form. The setting itself may be dated, but the story is accessible to the contemporary reader. Nagarkar renders the allegory with a twist and uses modern idioms to bridge the gap of time to transport the reader into the sensous world of 16th century India. Beautifully crafted and with unbridled allure, this novel is a must-read for the 21st century.

This is probably the finest book I have read. "Cuckold" by Kiran Nagarkar is a fabulous blend of history and fiction. Set in India in the 16 th Century on the eve of the Mughal dynasty, it is a sweeping novel that paints across the broad canvas that is India. Governance, statesmanship, intrigues, religion, arts, music, guerilla warfare, romance, mysticism - nothing seems to have been left out of this epic novel. 'Cuckold' in this novel is Maharaja Bhojraj, the eldest son of Maharana Sangha , the ruler of Mewar in what is now Rajasthan. Married to a Rajput princess who is a devotee of Lord Krishna and later turns into a saint, Bhojraj is torn by jealousy; for he sees Krishna as a competitor to his wife's affections. Governance and warfare tear him away from his wife who he at once loves and hates with blinding passion. History has little to say about the book's protagonist, but Nagarkar with consummate artistry infuses him with intelligence, sensitivity and ingenuity,and in progressive thought, a man far ahead of his times. The 'Saint'in question is actually Mirabai, whose devotional songs pervade all of Indian cultural and religious fabric. Nagarkar's women characters are especially well wrought and gain a life and immediacy of their own, that the distance of history and geography cannot dispell. So here is a chunk of history, but such as is not available in history books.

A fictionalised biography of Maharaj Kumar of whom little is known except that he was the son of the famous Rana Sangha of Mewar and the husband of Meerabai(hence the title).

Nagarkar has carried out a lot of research into Rajput history of those times and he sets his story against the backdrop of real events.

Although Nagarkar says "I was writing a novel, not history. I was willing to invent geography and climate, start revolts and epidemics, improvise anecdotes and economic conditions and fiddle with dates. As luck would have it I didnt get a chance to play around too much except in the case of the main protagonist, about whom we know nothing, but the fact that he was born, married and died"

The period during which Meerabai lived was momentuous. Rana Sangha her Father-in-law had united the in-fighting Rajputs for the first time, Babur was showing interest in conquering Hindoostan, Rana Sangha's kingdom was surrounded by the hostile Lodi Dynasty in Delhi, Muzaffar Shah II in Gujarat and Sultan Mahmud Khalji II of Malwa.

Nagarkar has used known incidents and woven them into his tale. His hero Maharaj Kumar is a brave warrior and a forward thinker who plans many grand and innovative schemes like a water and sewage system for the fort, a brilliant tactician who prefers to watch his enemy in action and then plan an attack as opposed to the straight on confrontation preferred by Rajputs of those times, who ultimately becomes a victim of his circumstances.

The book is a wonderful introduction to Rajput history and culture which can reinvigorate interest, in someone who has been inured to Indian history by lacklustre textbooks.

Politics, scheming, spies, romance, affairs, eunuchs, concubines, cheating wives, dancing queens - this novel contains them all. Nagarkar is a wonderful story teller on the lines of the bards of yore. Each characters development is well etched out and their actions become completely believable.

Its a wonder Bollywood has not yet seized on this book. It would be a far more gripping story than Jodhaa Akbar.

Nagarkar's language is as savory and spicy as a delicious platter of chicken tikka masala. His words and images linger and meander through the mind of the reader taking on an organic form. The setting itself may be dated, but the story is far from inaccessible to the contemporary reader. Nagarkar renders the allegory with a twist and uses modern idioms to bridge the gap of time to transport the reader into the sensous world of 16th century India. Beautifully crafted and with unbridled allure, this novel is a must-read for the 21st century.