The Hindu reviews Sarnath Banerjee’s book Corridor, billed as “the first graphic novel of India.” Look terrific.
Corridor meanders through the lives of a bunch of confused urban youngsters – Digital Dutta, the north Kolkata man torn between Karl Marx and H1-B Visa; Brighu, a compulsive collector and a contemporary version of Ibn Batuta; Shintu, newly married and searching for the ultimate aphrodisiac; and D.V.D. Murthy, a malodorous forensic expert with a penchant for Keats. They are all visitors to the second-hand bookstore of Jehangir Rangoonwalla in a corridor in Connaught Place. Rangoonwalla tells one of his phirang, vipasana-learning customers that he received enlightenment (“that it all comes down to chewing your food well”) in an elevator in Nariman Point. Past all seekings, he has reached a state where he considers his bookshop the centre of the universe, from where he doles out not only books, but also tea and wisdom in generous doses.
(Thanks, Avi!)