Books like Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

Chauncey Gardener in India, Sampath is a slacker of the first order, completely lacking in ambition and as distractible as an infant confronted with moving shiny objects. After losing his job in a rather dramatic manner, Sampath wanders up the road until he feels the pull of a guava tree and decides to take up residence. The unknowing manage to project onto him a fully undeserved holiness. A new cult is born as Sampath tosses out meaningless parables in answer to the many questions asked him by the gullible. Desai clearly has a bone to pick with the practice of religion (and the postal service) in India. This is a fun read, but although I thought I was catching much of what was tossed out to the reader there must be a lot that my western eyes missed that is perceived by South Asian natives. It is an entertaining and fast read. A criminal monkey and his pack are particularly entertaining. In an American context they might stand in for Republicans aligning with religious frenzy for their own ends. I expect the same breed exists in India. Not a must read, but an entertaining one.