Democrazy

Details of the Book

Publisher : Jaico

ISBN 8184956568 (ISBN13: 9788184956566)

Pages: 244 pages

Paperback

From the book blurb

The mysterious Badi Sarkar wants her son to become the Prime Minister of India. Her reticent son Chhote Sarkar wants to eat ice-cream. Great Leader wants his Orchid party to win the elections. He also wants a wand that works. The horny Baba Neemacharya wants to do the neem-yoga with Girl 45. Impulsive billionaire industrialist Giani Seth wants to beat Chaddha in Candy Crush. Honest Ambika Madam wants to retire in peace. Volatile BB wants to send all corrupt politicians to jail. Babli wants to lose weight.

But what is the PM doing in a cave in the Himalayas?!

Democrazy is a satirical look at the madness and brouhaha in present-day India, where nothing is what it seems to be, power is all-important, and everything people do is to win the race to power.

PS: No politicians were hurt in the writing of this book.

Author

Atulya Mahajan is an Indian author and is the creator of the Indian satire blog amreekandesi.com. Professionally a technologist in an investment bank, Atulya Mahajan went to the US in 2004 to complete his Master's degree. He worked there for five years and then returned to India. He started his blog while studying in the US and used it as a platform to share his experiences of people living in a foreign land. Besides this blog, Mahajan also works with the Crest Edition of The Times of India as a columnist and writes occasional humor.

Characters

The book blurb frees me from the job of describing the characters in the book! All I can say is, that they are close to reality and often reminds us of someone or the other!

What I think

To begin with the name is crazily catchy. When S is replaced by Z, “democracy” becomes “democrazy”, showcasing the craziness around Indian democratic system and politic regime! The title will surely grab any reader’s attention. The sky blue of the book cover subtly refers to India and the interesting cover page adds to the curiosity. Further, the book blurb is concise and at the same time, gives a heads-up on what is inside. The post script – “No politicians were hurt in the writing of this book” – will surely make you laugh and hints on what can be expected!

As promised, the book is a satirical look at Indian democratic/political system. I have to tell you that the book is released at the right time, when the recent political circus is still etched in the memory of millions.

The narrative is simple and gripping. There is not a single dull moment. Each character is well-established and enjoys equal importance. Each chapter begin with tweets and I loved that idea! This makes the book seem more real and relatable.

I should also applaud the author for the creativity that has gone into giving certain names like Buddhiman Buddhiraja aka BB… the news channel in which he works is Bow Wow… The self-proclaimed Godman is Neemacharya and so on!

In short, the book is hopelessly real and makes you uncontrollably laugh. Bravo author, for handling such a controversial yet ever-green topic. Corruption, bribery, political parties and politician who wants their family to take over, sudden boom of news channels, freedom of speech, social networking sites and its impact at an individual and national level is nicely touch based upon. I am also glad that he ventured into a new genre in comparison with his debut book – Amreekandesi - Masters of America!

But...

The plot is predicting and the book’s ending is equally expected. No blame on the author though. The plot is so close to reality that we already know what will happen!

Should you read it?

If you follow politics, yes.

If you don’t follow politics and is restricted to only voting, yes.

If you only make fun of politics, yes.

If you have given up on democracy, yes!

Rating

3.5/5

Thank you

Thanks to the author for directly contacting me and requesting me to review his book. I felt great because I was getting the request from an author who had penned of my favorites – Amreekandesi - Masters of America J