On book reviewing–Mitali Saran

“I have a dream,” writes Mitali Saran in Stet.

“The dream is that one day, we in India will be able to deal in the currency of ideas and opinion without letting our giant mutant egos get in the way. In this la-la land that I inhabit, Shah Rukh Khan would be able to pick Pakistani players for his cricket team and the Shiv Sena could froth at the mouth like a rabid dog but not be able to shut down his upcoming movie (My Name is Khan). A woman’s dress might provoke catcalls or comment, but not molestation or sexual assault. And book reviews would be both written and read professionally — that is to say, as subjective opinion, formed as objectively as possible.”

Read the rest. And if you like, join the discussion on this recent post/ rant of mine on the state of Indian criticism. (To those of you who’re wondering why there’s a time lag on your comments, my apologies. I had to turn on comment moderation recently after a persistent spam attack, and while all comments go through barring spam and outright abusiveness, there’s sometimes a delay if I haven’t been checking my mailbox. Thanks.)