Customer Reviews

The Red Carpet: Bangalore Stories

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an Indian who was raised in india and spent time in bangalore and now lives in the US, this book was a walk down memory lane for me. The characters and events portrayed were so real and the issues dealt with are so current...the clash of cultures, the bizarre blend of western lifestyles and indian society, the clash of new money and old values, the depiction of iyer brahmins etc....

I made a recent visit to Bangalore and read this book after my return and I was shocked at how closely these stories mirrored the lives and choices of many of my contemporaries back "home".

some of the writing was a little cliched and verbose but overall I enjoyed it so much that i re-read some of the stories. I honestly felt homesick when I read her stories.

Highly recommended!

So much has been written about the destructive effect of US popular culture on foreign lands that it's refreshing to see these witty portraits of people who have openly embraced the west - despite the conflict it brings. The modern young things written about in this book are from Bangalore, that globalization zeitgeist into which so many US jobs have reportedly dissappeared. In transforming itself from a sleepy and traditional Indian bastion into a high-speed western replica, the city - and its people - test their families and each other in their attempts to balance what they love most about the two cultures. For Americans who aren't really aware of the effect even the most innocuous American "pop culture" can have on the world outside - "The Red Carpet" is worthwhile reading.

It is a clash of new and old in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley. The moderh Indians, the ABCD's (American Born, Confused Desai) and the Old Guard are captured with love, wit and a sharp pen. The characters are well drawn and make you wish that you could reach out and speak with them.

I sat down with this book and did not move until I finished. More please.

Nothing overtly dramatic happens in this collection of eight short stories from first-time author Lavanya Sankaran, and that's pretty much the point. What we're presented with in this impressive work is an enjoyable, interesting selection of slice-of-life tales that speak to the dichotomy of life in Bangalore. Ancient traditions and Indian staples like the hard-to-dissuade matchmaker mother are mashed hard up against such newly evolving traditions and practices as Business Process Outsourcing ('BPO'), PhD dissertations at East Coast universities, Excel spreadsheets, IPOs, MBAs, the advent of the American Born Confused Desi ('ABCDs'), Western-style feminism and the bi-continental software business. The result is a fascinating look at Bangalore today through the eyes of someone who has lived both sides of this day-to-day encounter of new vs. old.

Lavanya Sankaran has added another B to Jhumpa Lhiri's Boston & bengal from "Interpreter of Maladies". Bangalore comes alive in all its vivid contradictions: its relaxed outlook, its manic urgency; its cosmopolitan lifestyle, its small town mentality; how it is full of bpo high flyers, and yet is a pensioners paradise.

Bangalore is a city in transformation, in limbo. Caught somewhere in between, unable to shake off its heritage yet eagerly embracing high-tech. Lavanya Sankaran, like so many people of her generation are caught in this limbo. in the in-between, in the nowhere and everywhere. it is an exciting time to be a young indian, mroe so in bangalore.

Lavanya Sankaran's short stories captures the multitude that inhabit this icnredible city. Through the eyes of low-skilled workers, retired neighbours, homely engineers, flashy marketers Lavanya turns the gaze on Bangalore. And her observations are profound and enjoyable. With smartly sculpted characters she brings insight into the crazy lives of the people who live in this city, caught in a time of much change.

This is a glorious debut. A must-read for anybody interested in the human condition. More so, for people who have ever tried to deconstruct Modern India or Bangalore. Or its people.

A friend from India gave me this book to read. She had purchased it on her last trip home. I read it quite quickly and thoroughly enjoyed each story. I really don't know much about the real India, today's India and the book is fascinating. You get wonderful insights into this culture, the juxtaposition of old and new, traditional and modern, and not only that, the writing is beautiful. Highly recommended!

Full disclosure - I'm a friend of the author's family. Still, I'd give this collection a 5-star rating even if I had no personal link to the writer. Wise, witty, and beautifully told, these stories make India - and in particular, Bangalore - come alive. No sappy endings here. Sankaran has just enough attitude to make her characters warm yet edgy and real. IMO, a writer to watch.

The stories are a nice variety that together paint a picture of Bangalore society and social interactions, especially between those native in India and those who have left or returned to India and how the western ideas and customs they bring back affect those who never left India. I can see how someone who used to live in India, or whose parents lived in India could relate to the situations the main characters find themselves in.

There are some stories involving sex, drugs, and suicide that might turn off some readers, but nothing really graphic.

What a surprise! I chose this book hoping to find something that would help me better understand the other half of my IT team that resides in Bangalore. I got much more than I had hoped for. In addition to providing insight into Bangalore life I found a series of stories that had me laughing out loud at one moment and moved to tears in the next. If your intrest is in short stories, not just Bangalore or India, you might enjoy "The Hotel Eden" by Ron Carlson.

This book is a fantastic read! A glimpse into a modern, changing India by a writer with a keen Austen-esque eye for social manners and mores. The characters are drawn with great delicacy and intimacy, the writing is witty and controlled, yet compassionate - I found myself tearing up at times. Outstanding!