Page 65 - 15MAR2019E

theStack 1876 BENGAL CALAMITY

WAS HISTORY’S WORST
TiTan: inside india’s MosT successful consuMer Brand The cyclone was not simply a natural event, but one
By Vinay Kamath; Hachette India; 599; 187 pages shaped by all-too-human patterns of exploitation
and inequality, says new book
Tagged as an essential read for aspiring entrepreneurs, business
students or anyone interested in a success story, “Titan” narrates Telling The sTory of the storm that came
the story of one of India’s best-known brands which on the night of October 31, the non-fiction An
went from a casual idea of making wristwatches Imperial Disaster: The Bengal Cyclone of 1876 is a
in 1977 to capturing the Indian market and eventu- “troubling but essential reading” on the subject.
ally crossing the $10 billion market capitalisation Debut author and historian Benjamin Kings-
milestone in 2017. “Not only did the new watchmakers bury describes the event in details. “It was a full
on the block transform watches from being utilitarian moon, and the tides were at their peak; the great
objects to fashion statements, but it also systemati- rivers of eastern Bengal were flowing high and
cally ventured into areas untapped by corporate fast to the sea. In the early hours the inhabitants
entities with its brands Titan, Tanishq, Titan Eye- of the coast and islands were overtaken by an
plus, Skinn and Taneira,” the book says. Written by a immense wave from the Bay of Bengal — a wall
journalist, the tale of innovation and fortitude takes of water that reached a height of 40 feet in some
readers from boardrooms to backrooms to reveal how a quintessen- places,” he says.
tial Indian brand from the house of the Tatas, not known till then for “The wave swept away everything in its path,
its success in the consumer goods market, reached such remarkable drowning around 215,000 people. At least another
heights and of what continues to make Titan tick. 100,000 died in the chol-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- era epidemic and famine
that followed. It was the
second nighT worst calamity of its kind
By Rajiv Dogra; Rupa; 295; 230 pages in recorded history. Such
events are often described
The romantic novel is the riveting story of a woman as ‘natural disasters’,” the
determined to escape and a man who has vowed to synopsis says.
find her. An unforgettable tale of friendship unfolds Debut author and his-
as three friends come together in Mussoorie to spend torian Benjamin Kingsbury
the most amazing night of their lives.A story of power turns that interpretation
of love, the pain of loss, and the possibility of re- on its head, showing that
demption, is penned by Rajiv Dogra, who was India’s the cyclone of 1876 was not
Ambassador to Italy and Romania and the last Consul simply a “natural” event,
General in Karachi.”I reminisced about our two nights but one shaped by all-too-
in Mussoorie. The first night, as in the first night of a human patterns of exploita-
marriage, had passed in a rush. The second night turned out to be tion and inequality — by divisions within Bengali
amazing, though slightly risque. I had thought I alone would end up society, and the enormous disparities of political
providing sketches from my life. But all of us revealed more of each and economic power that characterised British
other than ever before in our life,” the book’s synopsis reads as a rule on the subcontinent.
sneak peek. With Bangladesh facing rising sea levels and
------------------------------------------------------------------------- stronger, more frequent storms, there is every
reason to revisit this terrible calamity. An Impe-
Mee and JuhiBaBy rial Disaster is troubling but essential reading:
By Susmita Mukherjee; Speaking Tiger; 350; 272 pages immensely relevant history for an age of climate
change.
Mee’s mother, Juhibaby, is the unwanted child of constantly travel- “A well-written, very readable book, based on
ling jatra artistes in rural Bengal. Growing into a ravishing 16-year- many official records and newspapers. It is full of
old, she is married off to a family in distant New Delhi, where Mee telling details and anecdotes and emphasises the
is born. Mee’s life is a far cry from Juhibaby’s, as official failures, neglect, misinformation, damag-
she grows up in a respectable middle-class family ing ideology, and personal ambition of colonial
and goes to an upmarket convent school. But what rule during the 1870s,” reads University of London
she inherits from her mother is a love of acting. She academic Peter Robb’s endorsement of the book,
follows her star to Mumbai, where she becomes a suc- published by Speaking Tiger.
cessful Bollywood actress. But a failed marriage and a “The book is elegantly written, deeply moving,
bruising rejection by a movie mogul derails her into a humane, angry without being polemical. One of
world of alcohol and promiscuity. As she struggles to the most compelling historical reconstructions
make a living as a TV writer, Mee gets to know that the of a climatic disaster that I’ve read,” says Sunil
mother from whom she has long been estranged is Amrith, Professor of South Asian Studies and
now blind and ailing, in an old age home. Professor of History, Harvard University.

Tehelka / 15 march 2019 65 www.Tehelka.com