Bombay Talkie (Old Edition)

I read Bombay Talkie nearly ten years ago when I was just out of college and going to visit India for the first time.. though I am of Indian origin. I found this novel to be dead-on in its portrayal of the young expats living and partying in Delhi. Its also very funny, and as others have reviewed, a very quick and effortless read. Just the thing for a holiday or a plane trip. The ending is surprisingly touching, when the young lead, so eager to get away from her childhood, finally embraces it.

This is a breezy popular novel and great read with many insights into navigating the conflicts of Indian-American identity. An Indian-American returns to India and learns more about her country and herself. The story moves fast and entertainingly, and its affecting sensational content dramatises our understanding of the character's conflicts with superb insight. Such cross-cultural differences as sexual identity and male-female relationships are delineated with acuity and power. A scene of widow-burning, for example, brings home the senseless cruelty of this Indian practise with searing effect. The novel's depiction of upper-class dilemmas -- the worlds it reveals are those of the affluent well-born -- are particularly well-drawn, with appealing and entertaining wit. A must-read.

Ameena Meer shows the hypocrisy of the westernised high class as, although the male characters seem to live a modern life, they still claim traditional values that oppress women.