Mother Pious : Lady Making Sense Of Everyday India

As the title suggests, the book is subtly amusing while being quite thought provoking. The humor is subtle and sarcastic at times.

It becomes plainly clear from the book that Santosh Desai is very well read, quite insightful and has a global view of things. He picks a bunch of Indian peculiarities and analyzes them but limits his analysis to digestible bite-sized chunks. The essays held my attention and by the time I reached the conclusions of individual essays, more often than not they made me stop for a moment and think of what Santosh had just described as the reason/background of why we are this way. The conclusions reflected well thought out reasons, not some shallow sound bites.

I would neither describe this as an easy read nor a difficult one, but certainly an enjoyable and satisfying one.

Personally, I would like to read a second edition with other Indian peculiarities discussed.

The book is divided into very small chapters, each is (kind of) an experience that an average Indian citizen would have undergone.The chapters about the Bajaj scooters and stainless steel utensils made me grin from ear to ear. While the chapters about the hill stations and vacations made me frown up on him for trivializing such an important experience in my life. But then again he shifted gears and had me in splits and nodding in smug appreciation when he trashes the concept of ‘arranged marriages’. The book in essence took me on a roller coaster in terms of my reactions to the chapters.

The book is a collection of articles by the author, grouped around certian themes. Any one who grew up in the eighties would be able to relate well to the summaries.

The author has an amazing insight in seeing meaning in the ordinary. The messaging brings out new facets in what the current generation stands for. The changes happening in the family setup and the rise of the small town. Amusing at times, the author does not mince words in bringing out our double standards.

A powerful book. You will come back with different takeaways with subsequent readings.

Desai's view point is so refreshingly different. One marvels at his ability to look at normal aspects of an Indian life and find elements of quirkiness, satire and uniqueness. Each chapter is just 2-3 pages.. ideal for those who do not like being chained down by a fat book. I lost the first copy so bought a second one and gifted the third to a friend. Need I say more!

Santosh Desai looks at the innate indianness in our everyday life. One can really relate to a lot of what he says and all of the themes are hilariously put.
One, however, can't expect an in depth analysis into the India consumer psyche from a marketing guru.
Overall it is a good, light read.