This months book club book was 'The space between us' by Thrity Urmigar.
It was a very interesting reading and it gripped the attention to the end and I found it specially close to my heart as the story is based in Mumbai, India and closely depicts the relationship between a Parsi lady and her maid servant. And I could relate to the dichotomy of the connection the two ladies had formed.
I had talked to the book club hostess about bringing some of the Mumbai culture to the food served that night and so I made Akuri (scrammbled eggs) and served them in pre made filo dough cups from Ikea. And made some bhel, the street side food particularly popular among the beach goers. There's even a bollywood song for that... (Chowpatty jayenge, bhelpuri khayenge ). Of course, I wore a sari as the cover page of the book shows a lady wearing sari and it generated many conversations.
All in all, this book was good for book club as it generated many dicsussions from food, to culture, to dresses and some religion too but it might not be suit every individual and its very specific to the temprament of the reader.
It was a very interesting reading and it gripped the attention to the end and I found it specially close to my heart as the story is based in Mumbai, India and closely depicts the relationship between a Parsi lady and her maid servant. And I could relate to the dichotomy of the connection the two ladies had formed.
All in all a good read that conveys beautifully the change in fortune that time can bring and also the life in the slums of a still developing country. What it lacked was a credible ending, it left too many avenues for open contemplation and everybody in the book club had a similar comment, the was too vague and open for interpretation.
The book was a very interesting read and generated a lot of cross culture conversations including family value and expectations. The 'Parsis' are immigrants to India from Persia and follow the pre- muslim religion of Zoroastrian. The discussion about hanging on to old beliefs and changing according to times was another stimulating discussion.
I had talked to the book club hostess about bringing some of the Mumbai culture to the food served that night and so I made Akuri (scrammbled eggs) and served them in pre made filo dough cups from Ikea. And made some bhel, the street side food particularly popular among the beach goers. There's even a bollywood song for that... (Chowpatty jayenge, bhelpuri khayenge ). Of course, I wore a sari as the cover page of the book shows a lady wearing sari and it generated many conversations. 
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