Priya Basil

There are five people in my house and as come meal times it is like feeding the 5000. We eat together almost every night, and if I can drag the teenagers away from their phones, we often have conversations about all sorts of things, including politics. It is the hospitality provided over those shared dinners where long term friendships are formed.

Priya Basil has grown up in a family of food fanatics and she probably thinks that it goes way back past her grandmother. She has provided for show more years for her family, ensuring that all those that sit at her table struggle to get up after. This greed-gene flew in the face of her mothers aim to get her and her sister to sit and eat politely, as every time temptation loomed, she abandoned all that she had learnt, just to eat. When it comes to her mothers kadhi though, she still experiences pure greed.

Recipes are the original open source … You only need to successfully make a recipe once to feel it is your own. Make it three more times and suddenly it’s a tradition.

The etymological origins of the word hospitality are from ghosti; the word hostility also shares these same roots and Basil traces the history of food being used as a weapon against populations to starve them or force them to migrate against their will. Sadly, we are in a time where hostility seems to be on the rise and places where people once looked after each other have become places of tension.

Thankfully, this is a book that concentrates about the shared pleasures of good conversation and even better food. It is also a call to say rather than being selfish, sharing mealtimes with friends and neighbours will help people belong in that community. We can play a part in reducing the friction that seems to be growing, by becoming a generous and selfless host. A slender volume, full of wisdom and is very much worth reading. show less

Anil comes from a wealthy and liberal Sikh family; his background seems a world away from Lina’s devout Muslim upbringing, but that doesn’t stop them falling in love.

Although we know from the start of the novel that this love took place some time in the past, the reader is still drawn into the story of their love affair and the obstacles placed in their way by family and friends on both sides. Running alongside Lina & Anil’s story is a second story of another cross-cultural romance, show more and parallels between them provided added depth and interest.

The love story is beautifully told; however, the book is much more than that. The author has messages for us about religion and tolerance, the obligations that the love of family and friends place on us, and the dangers of guns and violence. All set against wonderful landscapes of Kenya and Sudan, and the metropolitan bustle of New York.

I have read and reviewed this novel as part of the Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge show less

This is a wonderful debut novel. I am a fan of Indian family stories. The title of the book is relevant throughout, Ishq and Mushq, meaning Love and Smell. Sarna is the lead character in this novel and it is interesting how her character evolves from the elusive, passionate beautiful young woman that Karman falls in love with to the manipulative, deceitful carping wife and mother she becomes. The reader swings from empathy to annoyance with her dramatic overreactions to family life, but all show more along she has carried tremendous guilt and frustration over secret from her early life. However, how secret is her past and how has the burden of this impacted on future generations.
I thought this was a universal theme. In recent years, my own family has been impacted by long held family secrets, revealed only upon the death of a loved one.
I look forward to reading more of this authors work. show less

An immediate attraction between our 2 lovers plus 2 different cultures and the opposition of family ... you can see the Romeo and Juliet link but this book has a fascinating backdrop of art, politics and human rights that made this an excellent read. As the only child in a very affluent, liberal, Sikh family Anil can sometimes seem arrogant but he is an intriguing mix, often seen by his friends and family as too patient and thoughtful, his passionate love for Lina is never in doubt. Her show more family background is a more humble and more religiously devout Muslim home in Birmingham; the close relationship with her Dad is the main thing that seems to hold her back. Lina loves Anil but her family, her religion and her ‘human rights’ activities all lead to barriers that she finds difficult to surmount. I have slight niggles as some characters didn’t get fleshed out as much as I thought they could have been in a 500 page novel: Merc, Anil’s best friend, seems totally unlikeable and I couldn’t see why they were close and Hans, the human rights activist, seems a little too good to be true but others like Lina’s parents seemed very real to me.
Because of the way the story is told we know that the relationship reaches a point where they separate but how they get to this stage and whether the upcoming reunion might lead to reconciliation proved a real page turner for me as I became more and more involved in their story. Woven between the Anil and Lina story is another tale, told through letters, of another cross-culture romance that had ended and although many might guess at the writer early on the parallels make for added depth.
Some of my favourite elements of the book actually have nothing to do with the central story: the debate on whether African art and culture should embrace the western influences; the discussions by Hans and UN worker Susan on ‘rape as a weapon of war’; plus the whole gun culture issues – “... those who have guns end up killing” is countered by “Ay, and those who don’t have guns end up dying.” This added dimension really lifts this book and the landscapes of New York, Kenya and the Sudan are beautifully brought to life.
I received this through the Transworld Book Challenge and found it a great read. I will definitely look out for more books by Priya Basil as I found her writing style very readable plus the extra dimensions made for a thought-provoking read. show less