What do You think about The Red Carpet: Bangalore Stories (2005)?
I almost didn't finish this book. Then I got to the title story, "The Red Carpet." After that, I enjoyed each story, with "Mysore Coffee" being the highlight: a touching, understated look at the legacy of suicide that reveals a surprising way the narrator learns how to cope--by learning how to bring herself out of the passivity that many Indians are culturally taught after viewing an incident in an American McDonald's. What I enjoyed about the latter stories was Sankaran's refusal to cater to Western ideas of what a story about India should be about. These aren't exoticized for the Westerner, instead, are realistic depictions of the changes India has gone through and is continuing to go through, and the confusion that some Indians experience as a result.
—Tara
A few enjoyable stories in the mix, I picked it up because it was centered around Bangalore. Some stories dragged on, but I felt a little left out in a few because when I could identify with the characters she resorted to cliches to narrate their lives. But yes, different strata of communities and living have been visited and that was nice. It gets humorous once in a while and I had my laugh out loud moments... you can get yourself very comfortable in her style of narration, I really liked that. In the end, half the book is worth a read, the other half just makes you want to finish it to get to the next good stuff... I want to try her full novel next and see how she writes beyond short stories.
—Atul Belur
I have just finished reading The Red Carpet, a collection of eight short stories by Lavanya Sankaran. All of them are set in Bangalore.In the first story, Bombay this, Ramu, the hero, has a set of friends, thinks of getting married and settling down. Closed Curtains is about helpful Mr D’Costa, who keeps an eye on his neighbor, Mrs Kapur and helps her in the time of need. Two four six eight is about a young girl, whose maid makes her feel guilty in front of her mother for things that she had not done till she stands up to it one day. The Red Carpet is about the different lives of a young man, Raju, who works as a driver and the rich Mrs Choudhary, his may-dum. Alphabet Soup is about Priyamvada, a girl brought up in America, by her Indian parents, who decides to come to India and find more about India because she wants to be a brown in a brown country. Mysore Coffee is about a young hard working accountant, Sita, who lives with her mother and makes an American friend, Christie, in the course of her work, with whom she shares her life’s secrets. Birdie Num-Num is about 27 year old Tara, who comes back from US to finish her PhD thesis and her mother, wants her to get married. Apple Pie, One by Two is about two friends, Swamy and Murthy, who go to America and come back start their own company.Overall a good book but every story ends abruptly leaving the reader waiting for more.
—Arti
