India's latest gift to literary world Enter new man with new plans Dare to do it the Delhi way!

India's latest gift to literary world

Allan Sealy lives in dis tant Drummondgani the location of the Everest Hotel. He lives without a television, buys no newspapers and possesses a phone that mostly remains dead. However, Allan Sealy has become India's latest gift to the literary world with his new novel, The Everest Hotel. The book was released on Saturday at the British Council in New Delhi and it has already been summoned for the 1998 Booker Prize.

The novel is set against the town of Drummondgani against a backdrop of social and political unrest. The novel starts in summer goes through the seasons and ends in summer. Sealy's earlier books 'Trotter-Nama' and 'Hero' failed to get much attention. The respected Indian Author Kushwant Singh is all praise for Sealy's work. He says "Sealy has a gift for words and a gift for story telling. Whatever he writes makes for compulsive reading."

Allan Sealy has been a teacher, a departmental store helper, packed shoes in a shoe factory, strummed the guitar at Delhi's 'Cellar', a regular venue for Jam sessions in the good old days. All these after he had completed a doctorate on the Caribbean writer Wilson Haris. He now lives in semi-retirement with his New Zealand born wife Cushals and his adopted daughter.

Like the Princess of Prose, Arundhati Roy, who let the world discover Kottayam, Sealy let the world discover Drummondgani a back water town. He says that it is the world he loves and that life goes on in the backwaters too as it is in the city and the desert. He believes that the job of the writer is to make it real and the closer you are to it it gets more real. In 'The Everest Hotel' he has tried to match the seasons with the mood. Since rain in traditional Hindi poetry symbolizes love and passion his hero and heroine meet during the rains on the roof top with kites flying around.

Romantic with kites, rains and backwaters, will Sealy climb to the top of Mountain Everest? Only time and the Hotel Everest will tell.

Enter new man with new plans

The New Delhi Munici pal Council has a new Chairman, B.P. Mishra. As all new people he has plans in cloud nine. To set up an international food bazaar in the heart of the city, open a flower centre and opening multi-purpose kiosks where people can have access to e-mail and internet facilities which will enable Delhites to pay taxes electronically. .

He has promised to make Delhi the most modern city in the world. In my opinion Mr. Mishra has got his priorities wrong and mixed up. He cannot hide all the garbage, dirt and whatnot behind the flower shops. Because most areas in Delhi stink.

Shanties are all over and the sanitary and hygienic conditions are ignored. Jawaharlal Nehru University is one of the most beautiful places in New Delhi. But as I step out to the street I come across hell on earth.

Mishra is in cloud nine but the renowned media person Malvika Singh has a dream. "Wide avenues, clean air, hot dry summer evenings infused with the fragrance of Jasmine is the only capital in the world that is broken down".

Stop Over: An Italian Cafe owner in Delhi alleged that Sri Lankans are fighting because our food is too spicy. However, I managed to silence him when I questioned, "what about the Italian Mafia who have ants in their pants?

Dare to do it the Delhi way!

The other side of DeIhi has interesting suggestions for women. But I am yet to see someone who has had the courage to follow them. Hope our women will take it on. Here we go: * Stick a sunflower in your navel, especially if you are cavorting by the pool side in a black bikini. An interesting belly dance it would make.*The Lilly has a metaphoric tragic twist to it. Carry one in your hand to signal the end of a relationship. *Go ethnic with a vengeance. Go natural for a lark. Replace the bindi with a tiny daisy. (I suggest that we go further and play Adam and Eve. No fig leaves). *Land bare-foot at the next party. Make sure your gypsy skirt is not too long. *Chuck that nose ring out. See how you can get a tiny daisy to stay in its place instead. Beware of hidden insects. *Do away with perfume one evening. Slip into plunging neckline. Stick a yellow rose right in the middle. Make sure that stem has no thorns .* A couple of wood roses in the right places to overcome the embarrassment of wearing a totally see-through blouse.

More Plus  *  Where Lankan drama begins

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