I think the best part about this book, apart from the fact that it is written by Shashi Tharoor, is that it contains everything a good book should contain-love, hate, violence, endearing characters as well as a few losers and a tragedy that moves you deeply. A reader undergoes a huge transition of emotions when (s)he reads this book and when (s)he is finished, the reader finds that(s)he is a different person altogether, quite different from the one who had started reading this book. The characters one comes across in this novel are so real! They are neither good nor bad-they are simply human! They have their own reactions to a particular situation, their own thoughts about morality, power and justice. You hate a few, you like a few and you're simply indifferent towards a few but in the end you have a soft corner and some sympathy for everyone of them.True to the author's extreme consciousness towards the political situations of India, the book talks about incidents that really took place, incidents we ignore as mere tragedies of time caused by ignorance of people. However this little masterpiece makes us see the whole situation in a different light. The Babari Masjid incident is decades old now and just last year the much heated verdict of the judiciary threatened the outbreak of another riot in North India. People all over prayed either for the religions in question or their own safety but no one really thought why this conflict arose. When published in newspaper, it was ignored merely as a piece of news but no one ever thought about so many questions this particular conflict raises the answers to which may solve the problem altogether! This book makes you think, makes you ponder over the issue. I think anyone who reads 'Riot' might be able to understand, forgive and then act accordingly. No, it is not a secularist's sermon and nor is it a love story as the cover claims it to be...it is an eye-opener on politics, religion and relationships.Reading 'Riot' has helped me understand why Indira Gandhi is hated in Punjab even today, why Muslims in India feel the way they do and why certain relations, no matter how much against the social norms are the way they are! However, one might question, when it comes to relationships, that if you find your true soul-mate, then is it necessary that you must have a carnal relationship with them? Can love, strong as it is supposed to be, survive if the relationship isn't physical? If not, then how do most friendships survive? Personally I disagree that only adultery in an extra-marital relationship can make the plot EXTREMELY powerful! In fact, adultery almost spoils the sense of love. Of course I don't mean to be a sermon of morality and I know that such situations do occur in day to day life but then doesn't the whole concept of concentrating entirely on the carnal aspect of love undermine the value of love as a feeling? This thought, more than anything else has made me rate 'Riot' a little less than I actually intended to but all the same, I must admit despite my criticism, that even I cannot have made 'Riot' as incredible as Mr. Tharoor!So, if you're looking for a light read, 'Riot' isn't the book for you! No, it requires time and a thinking cap, some rationality and an open mind. You're required to forgive Priscilla for being exactly like her father, a person she hates for the same mistake that she is herself committing in the name of love. You're required to forgive Lakshman for being such a loser and at the same time grant him the credit for being a great father and you're required to love Gurinder for being so wonderful despite the fact that he needs to rinse his mouth with soap and water. And you're required to admire Shashi Tharoor for being such a wonderful writer and thank your stars that he lives and breathes under the same skies as you do! The language is lucid, the expression is simple but powerful and the content is thought provoking! Your eyes simply slip through the text! Be forewarned! You might have to discontinue it for a while if you need to digest a few things because 'Riot' is first and foremost an accurate description of truth which is bitter and a little unpalatable but once you get into it, it's impossible to stop yourself from being carried away with the flow!
A one line review for this book would be - He could have done so much better!Shashi Tharoor is a seasoned diplomat and is very well-known for his astute observations about India. Especially his for his deep insight into the politics of religion in India and the complex web of cultures, mythology and traditions that make India. So, it is natural to assume that when someone like him, who doesn't hold back while talking about something, picks up his pen to write about something so sensitive and elusive as the nature of a riot, you expect more than the usual.Yet, that is exactly where Tharoor fails to deliver. He paints the same picture that has been painted over the years about the Hindu zealots who demolished the Babri Masjid in an attempt to assert themselves as the superior cult. It was the same loopholes in their theory of the birthplace of Ram, pointed out by many political observers, that Tharoor uses in his book to establish who the bad guys are.But most importantly, despite being named 'Riot', the story has very little to tell you about it. It is not about a people who have suffered, or are still suffering from the effects of one. Not does it tell you why and how exactly, the evil in human beings manifests itself in such a horrific manner. If you will look at the cover of the version that I read, you'll see that the title says "Riot: A Novel". In some places it has been marketed as "Riot: A love story". I think that is more appropriate and less misleading.This is a story that is partly about a sappy love story of an otherwise intelligent IAS officer, who makes some really pathetic mistakes and a foreigner (American) woman, who is wise beyond her years, but still can't understand why an extra-marital affair should have to end badly in India of all places. And partly, it is the usual humdrum story of the way things are in India and the pathetic web of bureaucratic and political decadence that plagues the nation.The back stories are all too familiar - smart young man, becomes IAS officer against his wishes, marries out of compulsion, hates his relatively influential and comfortable position - kind foreigner lady who comes to India to do some good, has a troubled past, has history with India, learns nothing from that history, suffers consequences. The plot is far too predictable and the characters are really flat. Nothing really, that impressed me about this book.In fact, this book is so much pulp fiction that I struggled to find one good original quote from it to put on my blog. This is it - There is not a thing as the wrong place, or the wrong time. We are where we are at the only time we have. Perhaps it's where we're meant to be.And even though I will put this up as my Facebook cover, I don't really agree with the quote. I expected better, Mr Tharoor. I didn't think that you were like the diplomat version of Chetan Bhagat.Twenty-seventh book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge | Read on my blog
What do You think about Riot (2003)?
I got a hold of this book after about 11 years of its first publication. Got into a Shashi Tharoor reading spree, the first being "India - Midnight to millennium" and was smitten by his enunciation of the "Idea of India." RIOT is a follow up for me and with a flow of his writing so smooth, I devoured the almost 265 pages in two sittings of about 2 hours each.I give it four stars because it did what a good story should do to a reader - transported me to the setting, I could relate to the characters and it generated a riot of thoughts in me about the many riots that I perceive Mr. Tharoor wanted to showcase through one story-1. The setting- a riot caused by a conflict in the understanding of historical Identity by two religious communities, which had a major impact on the course of history in post independent India.2. A Riot of thought in an individual's mind (who represents the minority population of India exposed to western education and influences, but works as an civil administration position in the Indian heartland where the majority of the population is unlike him) about his perception of being an Indian in a nation as diverse as India.3. A riot in the feelings of two souls, deeply in love, but find it difficult to define and maintain their soul stirring relationship considering their circumstances in life.and4. A riot to understand, accept and reach a stage of solace about life changing decisions made in the past.(Of parents whose decisions affected their children)All of these woven into one story and after reading two of his books,I believe its his attempt to explain the perception of being an Indian through his eyes - the eyes of a truly cosmopolitan, world traveled and an educated Indian with an open mind.
—Sunil Nair
Shashi Tharoor is superhuman wrt how much he knows, how widely, deeply, clearly he thinks and how lucidly he writes. Riot is no exception. It talks about a subject very close to my heart - the Babri Masjid demolition - a subject that still leaves me incredulously angry that an event of such magnitude requiring much preparation was allowed to happen in our country. Unsurprisingly Tharoor, who has spent much of his career in the UN heading refugee groups and peacekeeping operations across the world, would feel the same.Coming to the style of writing, I love the narrative not bound by confines of timeline linearity and the many facets of human emotion/nature captured. One of my thoughts after reading it were that a person just by living an active goal oriented life impacts so many people in so many ways, that it becomes difficult to tell wherefrom the motive to kill them could have come.The other thing I liked was the piece on Hinduism and how the protaginist takes pride in being a Hindu. While the raison d etre of this book is to denounce religious intolerance, and there are monologues and points of view from all concerned including a Hindu fundamentalist, its protagonist is a liberal Hindu and talks about how the Hindu religion gives him the space to be so. This may be debatable and I have no wish to start a debate on it, considering I don't practice or believe in any religion, but I can't help but accept the possibility that being born a Hindu might have made it easier for me to practice my own brand of non-religion.A good little interesting book and for all those who associate Tharoor with the Congress, this book was written way before he entered politics in India and so any notion that this book is politically motivated is simply untrue.Go read.
—Shreya Prakash
The novel explores issues which need to be addressed more seriously than they are right now. It touches upon issues sensitive to both Hindus and Muslims, and Tharoor balances the viewpoints tactfully , and is intelligent not to write as if he is taking side of a particular religion, hats off to him for managing that perfectly.His characters are memorable, although I felt that I never really got attached with Priscilla Hart nor felt the sadness for her parents. The facts about Coke's progress in India are really informative. Facts. That's where I am getting to. I think 'Riot' triumphs in managing both the sides' facts, their history and their arguments, very well. I generally never support any Muslim ideology or dogma, but this novel brought to notice- for me at least- that not all Muslims are "bad Muslims". There are things in there that opened my eyes to a whole new Muslim world; and it really explains perfectly of how both the sides are equally at fault. I was countering (in my mind of course) against the facts about the Muslims and how they were not the only ones at fault as put forward by Mohammed Sarwar, but I really couldn't win, for I understood, I was actually hit by the realization that even Hindus were wrong, not just their age-old nemesis.India is a secular country, and a secular country has every religion, and the members of these religion form that country, no one religion can come to dominate India, that's, I think, secularism, explained best in the novel. Tharoor is really a gem in Indian literature.
—Atharva
