It has happened

There is this chick-lit book I got from the British Library for time-pass:

Love always by Harriet Evans, Harper Collins London, 2011

It is more serious than I had thought at first glance and curiously, the protagonist's father is one Aravind Kapoor, a professor of philosophy! This is the first time I have come across a full-fledged Indian character in a book like this. No, wait! It is the second time. There was an Indian doctor and his daughter in J.K. Rawlings detective story. (Forgotten the name.) 

Indian sidekicks are many, even in films. The raj quartet and Passage to India naturally had Indian characters and Indian authors writing in English are a separate genre in English literature.

The substantial diaspora is getting reflected in literature at last. This is good.
PS: I have finished Love always and feel it was much ado about nothing. In spite of a good beginning, the suspense is not sustained, the plot becomes obscure because of the characters and the novel goes on and on. 

www.amitavghosh.comFlood of fire by Amitav Ghosh
The last book in Ibis trilogy out in May 2015. I have been waiting for long for it. It was out of print almost immediately and finally I have procured a copy. Curiously, now that the book is at hand, I have become loath to take it up. Have skimmed it of course. Why the reluctance? Perhaps I am afraid that it will be over fast and then I will lose the prop of last so many days and months.
With consummate skill, Ghosh is joining the dots in this last volume. Thorough research backs his writing. A superb plot with many twists and turns, his play with languages and words, deft characterization and an astonishing grasp of customs, social mores. An extraordinary achievement.
All I want now is an omnibus volume in paperback to read it once again. 
No, after reading through half of the third volume I revise my opinion. The volume falls flat. I got a feeling that Ghosh has got carried away by his language and is neglecting his characters.

A new project
Commercial life, a book of readings
I am collecting extracts from books on different aspects of commercial life.
Four major areas have been identified thus:
Occupations and activities
Organizations
Types of business and
Social change (initiated by commercial change)
I have located some 30 extracts so far spanning a period of nearly two centuries from 1833 to 2014. My work consists of identifying extracts, preparing them, writing introductory, explanatory notes for each and prepare section-wise introduction
I hope to capture a lot of variety of commercial life and its evolution in this anthology. Hopefully, the anthology will prove to be useful and interesting to students as well as lay readers.
Extracts collected so far relate to:
Occupations and activities: factory workers, menial occupations, financiers and brokers, advertising, board meetings
Organizations: turnaround of State Bank of India, setting up Amazon.com
Types of business: departmental store, realty business
Social change: reflection of office work and women's contribution to it in literature and films, conditions of working class, entrepreneurs versus organization/ company men
I am enjoying myself in this work.
You are welcome to make comments and add your ideas.