Publisher's Synopsis
'A warm, witty and completely charming account of one man's passionate love affair with the India which has taken over and utterly transformed his life.'William Dalrymple?
Mappillai meaning 'son-in-law' in Tamil, is the story of journalist Carlo Pizzati, a European living with his in-laws in urban Chennai and with his wife in rural Paramankeni, Tamil Nadu, India. When in Paramankeni, he finds himself in the company of fishermen and goat-herders, in a house where 3G asserts itself in a corner of the bathroom and electricity courses through rooms in fits and starts.
At one level, Mappillai is deeply personal. With beguiling candour, Carlo tells of his struggle with two extreme, contradictory responses to India-fascination and suspicion-and his awkward attempts at cruising through a maze of bribery, bureaucracy and traffic. Yet, at another level, the book offers a glimpse into the world of expats in contemporary India by introducing us to a host of colourful 'firangi friends'-from those who are overwhelmed by this nation's noise and colour; to those who 'go native' in kurtas; to those who believe that India is vast enough to accommodate their diverse selves as dreamers or yogis or artists. But, beyond all of this, Mappillai is the story of India. Over his decade long stay in this nation, one that has taken him north and south, west and east, Carlo has witnessed a land in flux-from the gloom and doom of 2008 when the New India dream shattered, to the heady optimism of 2015, right up to today.
With wry humour, wisdom and acceptance, Mappillai offers an intimate capsule of contemporary Indian history, of the associated Hinduization and Westernization of India, intertwined with the Indianization of a European!
Mappillai meaning 'son-in-law' in Tamil, is the story of journalist Carlo Pizzati, a European living with his in-laws in urban Chennai and with his wife in rural Paramankeni, Tamil Nadu, India. When in Paramankeni, he finds himself in the company of fishermen and goat-herders, in a house where 3G asserts itself in a corner of the bathroom and electricity courses through rooms in fits and starts.
At one level, Mappillai is deeply personal. With beguiling candour, Carlo tells of his struggle with two extreme, contradictory responses to India-fascination and suspicion-and his awkward attempts at cruising through a maze of bribery, bureaucracy and traffic. Yet, at another level, the book offers a glimpse into the world of expats in contemporary India by introducing us to a host of colourful 'firangi friends'-from those who are overwhelmed by this nation's noise and colour; to those who 'go native' in kurtas; to those who believe that India is vast enough to accommodate their diverse selves as dreamers or yogis or artists. But, beyond all of this, Mappillai is the story of India. Over his decade long stay in this nation, one that has taken him north and south, west and east, Carlo has witnessed a land in flux-from the gloom and doom of 2008 when the New India dream shattered, to the heady optimism of 2015, right up to today.
With wry humour, wisdom and acceptance, Mappillai offers an intimate capsule of contemporary Indian history, of the associated Hinduization and Westernization of India, intertwined with the Indianization of a European!
