Book Review: Bloodline Bandra
With Bloodline Bandra, the author Godfrey Joseph Pereira takes us down on what is quite an intense journey of coming of age of David Cabral, from Pali Village in Bandra, Bombay. And as the author states in an interview in the last three pages of the book, the narrative itself is more or less autobiographical in nature, and this revelation coming at the end of the book is quite shocking by itself, because even if half the things mentioned in the book have actually happened to the author himself, he sure has led quite a life so far.
The first part of the book deals with David’s life in Pali Village in Bandra, the home of the East Indians as they call themselves. Why do they call themselves that? You would have to read the book for that, and trust me you will not regret it one bit. Suffice to say that the East Indians, their lingo, their idiosyncrasies and their uniquely wonderful way of life makes for some hilarious and interesting reading. The lingo in particular had me laughing out loud when reading the book itself, and to be honest, in all the books I have read so far, I cannot recollect a single one which had me laughing so much and so loudly at the inherent humor in the situations and the descriptions.
The second part of the book begins with David having landed himself a job in New York City and proceeding to start off living his version of the American Dream. Except that it turns out to be more of a nightmare than a dream. The author uses this part of the book to narrate the travails of the situation he terms legal slavery, where employers who get cheap labor by sponsoring H1-B visas of Indians and other countries, mercilessly exploit them to make profits for themselves. The extremes to which this situation has been exploited is very clearly brought out in this part of the book.
However, as the saying goes, all is well that ends well, and the book does reach its logical conclusion after David having to go through many hoops and leap across numerous hurdles. More than his destination, it is his journey itself that makes for the lovely overarching narrative arc of this book.
As the East Indians would say ah-ray bugger, what you waiting for? Bleddy buy the book and read it, men!!!
Title: Bloodline Bandra
Author: Godfrey Joseph Pereira
Publisher/ Imprint: Harper Collins India
Pages: 254
Genre/ Sub-Genre: Fiction/ Drama
Rating: 4.00 of 5
Reviewed for: Author
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