Since the Jaipur post is taking a little longer than I expected, it seems like a good time to share my thoughts on two very different books on India that I recently finished reading. One is In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India by former journalist Edward Luce. The other is Where the Rain is Born: Writings about Kerala, a collection edited by author Anita Nair. The differences between the two are significant in a number of ways.

Luce’s book is an attempt to describe how India has risen from its colonial heritage to its emerging position as a global superpower. The book’s subject is national in scale and ambitious in scope. In stark contrast, Where the Rain is Born is limited to much more artistic writings about life and culture in the southwestern state of Kerala. Both are revealing, both are at least slightly depressing, but I feel like Nair’s collection is (unsurprisingly) more effective at communicating the subtleties of India culture.

Luce’s book is one long complaint about Indian politics and society, though I don’t mean to suggest that this takes away from the usefulness of the book. It provides a detailed context of how India got to where it is. Unfortunately, this means categorically listing all the ways in which India has failed to live up to some of its rhetoric. One of Luce’s main complaints is the tendency of Indian philosophy (political and otherwise) to favor powerful language over powerful actions. Hence, promising programs that are sold as helping the poor end up being more effective at lining the pockets of officials up and down the bureaucracy. Rural development programs become little more than tools for patronage. Luce carefully goes through each failure of the Indian state and clearly explains how and why they happened. My first time reading it, I gave up because it was making me less excited about visiting India, and I think it also flavored our first experience in Delhi. After a few weeks I decided to pick it up again and finally finished it. It didn’t get less depressing, but the time I’ve spent here and the book on Kerala were thankfully strong enough to counter Luce’s negativity.

Kerala is the state that covers the southwestern edge of India and wraps around the tip. It is known for having the highest literacy rate in the country and residents aren’t shy to brag about it. It is also famous for being Christian and Communist. Clearly, a complicated place. The writings in Where the Rain is Born range from poems about losing one’s mother to reminiscence about a rural childhood. It includes excerpts from authors like Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy (who grew up near where we boarded our houseboat). The pieces are written in both English and the local language of Malayali, with the latter being translated.

The pieces chosen by Nair capture exactly what Luce is missing. Kerala is unique among Indian states, to be sure, but it’s less about the experiences of the included authors and more about the emotional aspect of life in India. It is full of contradictions, like an urban mother capable of hosting cocktail parties in Mumbai who becomes a full-fledged housewife whenever she and her family visit the village home. There are stories about boys in love who get drunk in banana stands, stories about how the influence of caste has changed over the decades, and poems about the pain and frustration of traditional arranged marriages. One of my favorites is titled ‘Mundu, Meesha, Kumbha, Koda: The Sartorial Splendor of the Malayali Male’, a satirical analysis of the clothing favored by Kerala’s male population.

All of these stories act as a counter to Luce’s lamentations and frustrations. Where he fails to communicate the full complexity of Indian society on the ground, the writings on Kerala completely succeed, and without compromising. They include discussions on poverty, women’s rights, the urban/rural divide, and the impact of increased development on traditional society. They are emotional where Luce’s narrative is political. They are based in the lived experience while Luce’s is heavily filtered through the lens of a foreign journalist. It is effective at telling the story but unavoidably fails to describe the spirit. I’m glad that I experienced India in person and Kerala through this collection, and would gladly recommend it if anyone is interested in learning more about either Kerala or the complex creature that is India.