"Political correctness in India, decently done." That's The Complete Review's summary of Githa Hariharan's In Times of Siege. They have links to all the major reviews except for the Biblio review, and that's because Biblio's website is still swathed in cobwebs. (The Babu is a patient man. He can wait.) TCR also has a page of links to reviews of The Ghosts of Vasu Master.

Speaking of political correctness, the CBSE received so much flak when it substituted a Premchand novel for one written by a BJP party member (see post for May 3, 2003) that it has sneaked Premchand's Nirmala back on the syllabus. Mridula Sinha's deathless prose hasn't been removed, however. Why is the Babu thinking of A Confederacy of Dunces--just the title, something about its mellifluous ring sounds right--as he types?