Superstar India- Shobhaa De

Book Title: Superstar India

Author : Shobhaa De

(Non-Fiction )

Shobhaa De’s ‘Superstar India’, is a book which can be or rather ‘should’ be read by all Indians at all times, it is more than a book about India. For some of them out there who still think it is a fiction let me ignite a fact that it ain’t any fiction. It is about India, it’s about ‘us; ‘Superstar India’ takes a dig at everything about our ‘Indianess’. The book simply questions our age old traditions and questions our own commitment and sincerity towards our customs and traditions which we have been preserving for centuries.

Narrative Style:

It is really nice to read Shoba’s free flow of thoughts being poured in the pages in a unique narrative style. She touches about everything which is bothering our society and she also tells how our India’s newly acquired status is creating vibes in the Western world. What she constantly mentions in this book is about the reluctant younger generation, unwilling to learn anything from our tradition but instead mindlessly follow the Western culture and their way of living. The fact of the matter is we are still obsessed with the Westernized lifestyle.

What is so surprising in the book is that the writer unhesitatingly has touched upon certain controversial ideologies, sensitive matters and of course lots of minuscule things, for example in the book she talks about how she hates to be addressed as ‘Mrs’. She hates men introducing their wives as ’My Mrs’ instead of their names, she calls it that embarrassing.

She talks about how a middle class family had to shed out a lump amount in cine multiplexes, few bold statements about UP Chief Minister Mayawati is more than enough how well the writer is well-versed in political theories. Generally, in India age old traditions, customs and rituals are passed over to the children from the parents, so that it never dies but Shoabhaa confesses her failure to learn anything from her parents and its dead and gone with them. I sincerely do not know what to talk and what not to talk about this book because it has so many issues Shobha has meticulously covered; in fact some of the stories are really astonishing and can be enjoyed only when it is read rather than it is told.

This is one of the very few books we have seen in recent times that analyses our deepest sentiments in a much broader way. It’s a great book to read, I strongly recommend everybody to get hold of this wonderful book and plunge into this priceless adventure.