Pride and prejudices

The writing is meandering. Long asides interrupt the narrative out of the blue; references to events yet to be described appear with regularity

Retro India

R M Rajgopal

Manipal Universal Press

310 pages; Rs 350

The attics of our minds contain memories, good and bad.  Gradually, the edges of the bad ones become less sharp, much as old photographs get blurred.  The sepia hues of the good ones become alluring by themselves. We bring them out from time to time, share them with those we think may be interested in them and then put them back, until they fade away. That is nostalgia. 

Some people polish these and arrange them for public display, as autobiographies or memoirs. But not all such exercises yield treasure troves. Very