Sirish Rao

No Kings! Readathon
June 14, 2025

I'm reviewing books about Kings today. How did it turn out for the Kings and the wannabe Kings in classic literature?

An ancient classic. Oedipus, in a fit of rage he kills a man and marries his widow, inheriting the murdered man's kingdom. But one day, Oedipus learns the truth of what he's done. He has murdered his father and married his mother. His mother/wife kills herself and in despair, he takes two pins from her dress and blinds himself. With the help of show more his daughter Antigone, the remainder of his life he roams as an degenerate exile.

"No man should be considered fortunate until he is dead."

Oedipus thought he could trick the fates. But found out that HE is the problem.

Like all wicked kings and wannabe kings--then and now--it just doesn't turn out too nice for them, not in literature, not in history. show less

This is a gem of a book, published in 2004 in association with the Museum of London. Bhajju Shyam is an artist from the Gond tribal community in central India who was invited to London to paint a mural in an Indian restaurant. It was his first time out of India (first time on a plane) and he records his impressions of London in paintings which combine images of his native Gond culture and modern British culture. His first-person commentary on his paintings is also precious.

For example, he show more pictures airplanes as a huge bird of prey that swallows up the humans "who line up to be let inside like insects outside a termite hill". The next image of the plane is of an elephant leaping into the sky -- and it's labeled "the miracle of flight".

Other headings are "There is Another World Below Us" (the Underground), "The Comfort of the Familiar" (the red number 30 bus is like a dog to him, a faithful and loyal friend who helps him get between work and "home"), "Everything Happens in Restaurants" (because the English don't tend to invite people into their homes), "Pubs Set English People Free" (hilarious observation that English people are like bats -- they wear black and they come alive at night (in pubs!)), A Cow in a Gallery (his impressions of Damien Hirst's cut-up cow in the Tate), etc. The book ends with him going back to his village and becoming a storyteller, a bard. show less

A beautifully re-designed edition of a book published 10 years ago by Bhajju Shyam, a celebrated artist from the Gond tribe in central India who traveled to London. He spent two months in the city, and it was the first time he encountered a western metropolis. This chronicle of his journey is a fascinating, unique visual travelogue that features folkloric paintings representative of his culture. Although a picture book, this is not one likely to appeal to most children.

Bhajju Shyam – a brilliant artist from the Gond tribe in central India – was commissioned to paint the walls of an Indian restaurant in London, and spent two months in the city. The book that emerged from the journey is a visual travelogue of his first encounter with a western metropolis. With radical innocence and great sophistication, Bhajju brings the signs of the Gond forest to bear on the city, turning London into an exotic jungle..