Wah Vicky Babu!

'The secret of being a bore is to say everything'
- Voltaire

Mr. Voltaire, there is an exception to your saying. Vikram seth has not only done justice to his muse by not limiting his books to 400-500 pages but also to his soul and millions of homosexual people in India by leading a high profile signature campaign which seeks to do away with the draconian Sec 377 of the IPC. The other signatories are Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, lawyer Soli Sorabjee. The section makes homosexualtiy a crime in India. It is terribly difficult for such people to come out and assert their sexuality in a country like India where even mainstream sex is not discussed. Add to it the criminality attatched to it, which is invariably used by the police to make homosexuals feel they are children of lesser God as if the society's hostility is not enough. Surely this section should be annulled and homosexuals be given a new life. I am with Vikram Seth in the campaign. It came as a surprise to me that the reclusive Seth agreed to lead the campaign and come on television and propogate it. For readers who dont know, Seth is a bisexual and has referred to it in his poems. He didnt mind when his mother, Leila seth, former Chief Justice, mentioned fleetingly to his sexual preferences in her biography,' ON BALANCE'.
I have immense respect for Seth because I really enjoy reading his books and hope he wins the Nobel for literature, which he truly deserves. Seth is considered to be the contemporary Pushkin and Tolystoy, a born story teller. His books are not meant for readers wanting to have a fleeting reading experience but for them who seek a true literary journey. ' A Suitable Boy' and 'Two Lives' are not gripping but engaging. It seems he wants to convey a message through his works, though in an understated manner, but not trivially. He can do everything write poetry, paint, play the piano, the flute, sing, read and write languages from Chinese to Tamil. He studied mathematics at undergraduate level and opted for economics at the post graduate level. For Phd in economics he went to China but got fascinated by the chinese language and calligraphy, leaving the Phd half way, he travelled across China and Tibet, result of which was the travelogue,'From heaven lake'. It won the Thomas Cook Travel writing award. But the book which made him a celebrity overnight was the 'wrist spraining' 1349 page novel 'A suitable Boy'. Kushwant Singh writes in his memoirs, 'long last India has produced a writer of international calibre who would win highest laurels for his country.' The novel established him on the international literary circuit and made him the contender for the Nobel prize. He surprised the publishing world by getting highest non fiction advance, 1.3 million pounds, for the memoir of his uncle and aunt, 'TWO LIVES.'

Vikram Seth has said and done everything and is still not a bore. I cant but say, ' wah Vicky babu.'