JANA BIBI'S EXCELLENT FORTUNES

I was in one of those reading slumps and nothing I picked up could hold my attention.I was just not in the mood for a really serious story which didn't have a happy ending and I happened to mention this to a friend who promptly suggested that I read 'The Jana Bibi' series.So this was one book I picked up without reading the book blurb and delved into the story clueless.

Jana Bibi's excellent fortunes is the first in a series of three books.It tells us the story of Mrs Janet Laird,(fondly nicknamed Jana Bibi) an unpretentious scotswoman who happens to inherit the Jolly Grant House ,in Hamara Nagar,Uttar Pradesh,left to her by her late Grandfather.She moves to this fictional town along with her parrot  Mr.Ganguly and Mary the Madrassi Ayah.In this quaint hillstation,she gets to meet a motley host of characters.Jana gets acquainted with these colorful characters at the Why Not?tea shop.All's well in this peaceful town until word gets out that the government is planning on building a dam there and evacuating all the people forcing everyone to start over.Jana is then enlisted to save the community,which she agrees to do by starting a fortune reading salon called 'Jana Bibi's excellent fortunes' thus trying to put their little town on the Map by making it more attractive to tourists.Does everything go as smoothly as planned and does luck work in their favor is what the story is all about.

My Views:Like I said earlier,I picked up this book during a lull in my reading and it took some time for the story to grow on me.I trudged through the initial few pages when the characters were being introduced and this happened a bit slower than I would have liked but the book really did pick pace when Jana Bibi sets up the salon.I enjoyed the story after that.I loved that Mr Ganguly could anticipate the persons mood and character and say just the right thing at the right time. What I liked most was the Indianness this book portrays despite the author being a foreigner.The repeated references to Indian films,songs,The Hindustan Times,The Illustrated Weekly of India brought back a flood of memories. I could recognise and hum the tune of the songs mentioned despite their English translations...Mera Joota hai japani,hawa mein udta jayee tera lal dupatta malmal ka and ai maalik tere bande hum and these brought a smile to my face.Also there were parallel stories running along the main story and everything falls neatly in place at the end.

Its the kind of book where everything gets sorted out rather quickly but then you find yourself wanting it to.
This book took its time to pick up pace but once it did it was a fun ride,like a ferris-wheel,slow to begin with but then you find yourself  whirling faster and enjoying it.Will I pick up the next one in the series?Most definitely !
I rate it a 3 out of 5.