BOOK REVIEWS “AGE OF VICE” BY DEEPTI KAPOOR

Book

It is tremendously difficult to resist Deepti Kapoor’s Age of Vice (published by Riverhead/Penguin Books, New York, 2023, hardcover, 548 pages), and I mean that both physically and in the literary sense. Even if you aren’t a book nerd, as I am (and proudly so), it will announce itself loudly from its spot in the very front of virtually every bookstore. For me, a lifelong lover of Indian authors in the diaspora, let’s just say I was actively counting down to the release date.

Without revealing any spoilers, I am happy to report that Deepti Kapoor does not disappoint. The plot of Age of Vice - part-thriller, part-drama - moves at full-throttle in time and space, taking us from rural Uttar Pradesh to northern mountain locales to Goa, as two main characters - Ajay and Sunny - face ubiquitous corruption at every turn. While Ajay’s young life is marked by loss and Sunny is surrounded by the spoils of wealth, Kapoor resists such simple categories as good and evil. After a tragic accident takes the lives of five bystanders, Ajay and Sunny become inextricably linked, challenging us with questions of what determines innocence and guilt. Both male characters are nuanced and multilayered, evolving with each new hurdle.

It was while I was immersed in Ajay and Sunny’s stories that I began to wonder, why no female characters? Of course, just then Neda emerged as the third point in the key triangle of characters, the observer of the male-dominated plot line who must choose between her heart and her mind. It was in Neda’s narrative, interestingly, that I lost my footing. Ever the rooter of underdogs, I wanted to like her; I just couldn’t. Perhaps the love did not convince me; perhaps the point was not to like her; perhaps the point was not to like anyone.

After all, Age of Vice sticks to its title. This slice of India concerns itself with the wealthy and powerful dynasties that control everyone in their path. Local, regional, and higher-up, wherever men congregate, they indulge in vice. While there are graphic and gory scenes, it does not do so gratuitously. These are men who have lost their morals in the throes of the pursuit of power and money. If their pursuit comes at the cost of plenty of dead characters, it seems

“SURAT TO SAN FRANCISCO”

BY MAHENDRA K. DOSHI

Book Review by Debajyoti Chatterji (New Jersey) to be Kapoor’s point. The corruption that toxifies so many sectors of Indian society, from street sellers to local magistrates, commissioners to police - Indians suffer from broken systems and devastating disparities in wealth. The most powerful live in a vacuum, but vices in the vacuum spread fastest.

The diaspora of Indian literature has long intrigued me, not least of all because of miniscule shift of a kaleidoscope - the acceptance of a job in Austin instead of Vancouver; an aunt in Liverpool instead of Dubai - opens our eyes to completely different lands. The India Kapoor describes is not one that calls to me, whispering dreams of an idyll, but one that sadly resembles all too closely what the United States, also my homeland, feels like some days. Politicians smiling for photo ops and failing to create any structural differences in the lives of the impoverished. A criminal justice system that purports to be blind but locks up Black men at appalling rates. A culture of addiction, of excess, of materialism and superficiality. In Kapoor’s India, the generation coming into power is not from what has come before: all the more worrying given how grim her original picture is.

All the same, I do recommend this book, particularly to fans of action novels. I have plenty of friends (almost all male) who tell me they don’t like their books to be “talky” - i.e., they don’t want lots of internal dialogue. I don’t quite understand this, but I respect it all the same in another reader as an important characteristic. For those, this book will rise to the top.

For those looking for a dizzying view into modern India, who love the epic sort of tale that moves relentlessly from one dramatic episode to the next, who love the sheer rhythm of a story artfully told, this one’s worth the time.

If you’re like my father, who claims he got tennis elbow from reading heavy hardcovers, do yourself a favor: read it on your tablet, or wait for a paperback.

NOTE: Kooheli Chatterji has been an independent school principal, dean, and teacher for the past 25 years and is currently earning her Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University.

The byline of the book’s title succinctly summarizes its scope: “How the Patels from Gujarat Established the Hotel Business in California during 1942 to 1960”. The book is published by Trailblazers Publishing, LLC, San Jose, CA. (2022, hardcover, 338 pages). Copies can also be obtained directly from the author (mahendra.kumar.doshi@gmail.com).

When I came across this book, I immediately felt a kinship with the author because of my own interest in the history of Bengalis who immigrated to the United States before 1971 (when the immigration laws were clearly discriminatory against virtually all Asians). When I finished reviewing the book, I was truly impressed with the depth of research conducted by the author on a thin but very important slice of the history of Gujarati immigrants in this country.

As most of us know, the “Patels from Gujarat” have been immensely successful in the hospitality sector in America. According to various published reports, 40 to 60% of hotels and motels in the US are owned by Patels. As Doshi explains, Patels came in small groups of 2 to 4 men as early as the 1930s from India (often via Trinidad or Panama where Patels had already established small networks). They had come as sojourners, hoping to make some money and then return to India after a few years. By 1940, a few brave pioneers had settled in California and found jobs as low-paid, hourly laborers in the farming sector. As Mr Doshi’s research shows, their entry into the hotel/motel business was an opportunistic move by one Gujarati living and working in the Sacramento area as a farm-hand. His name was Kanji Manchu Desai (Kanjibhai). In 1942, he leased an SRO (Single Resident Occupancy) building in Sacramento from a European owner, although he had no experience whatsoever with the hospitality business. Two of his Gujarati friends also entered the SRO business within a couple of years. Kanjibhai subsequently moved to San Francisco’s Mission District and leased a larger property with better business prospects. In time, Kanjibhai attracted many Patels from Surat, his home region in Gujarat, into hotel/motel business in the Bay Area and acted as their mentor and financier.

Mr. Doshi not only provides an extensive account of Kanjibhai’s life and influence but also provides crisp descriptions of journeys and experiences of many Patel families who immigrated to the US and other countries before and after the arrival of Kanjibhai. He interviewed over 150 Patel families in California and elsewhere whose forefathers had owned and operated hotels and motels, following the footsteps of Kanjibhai and the other pioneers of that era. The book is full of many interesting details the author gathered through his interviews and includes numerous photographs and documents he collected from these families.

The book is nicely structured and lucidly written. Although the author focuses only on a narrow timespan, 1942 to 1960, when the Patels established their footprints in the American hotel/motel business, he covers the personalities, events and experiences of the pioneers in a comprehensive manner. Let me cite the titles of some of the chapters in the book to give you a flavor of the author’s coverage: The Gujaratis and America, The Early Arrival of Patels, The Three Founders of the Patel Hospitality Business in America, The Patels in the SROs, LuceCellar Act & Lottery Visa Winners, The Founders and the Later Years, The Role of Pioneering Patel Women in the San Francisco Bay Area, etc.

Our readers may find it interesting that Mr Doshi has a strong “Bong Connection”. He was born in the Saurasthra region of Gujarat but moved to Kolkata early in his life. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Presidency College (1964) and his master’s degree from the University of Calcutta (1966). He subsequently came to the United States and received his MA (in History) from the University of Nevada at Reno.

I recommend this book to all who have interest in learning about the history of the immigration of various Indian ethnic groups to Canada and the United States. If you read and liked “Bengali Harlem” by Vivek Bald, you will find this book as a worthy follower. Furthermore, this book will help us develop a deep respect for the hardworking, entrepreneurial Patel community that has earned a special place in the American hospitality business.