Shobhaa De is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating personalities that I have seen on television. She has this magnetic and mysterious aura around her which contributes immensely to her popularity.

 

As a rule, I like her in the role of a columnist. She is witty and incisive and delivers her opinions with a conviction bordering on the arrogant. Again, she is known to be the person who exalted Hinglish into the ‘cool’ realm by liberally flaunting it in her writings.

 

Recently, however, I read some of her novels and was very disappointed. Agreed that she is known as the Maharani of Muck and the Princess of Porn, but I would still have expected better stuff from her. I guess Penguin has no such complaints as all her books have hit the bestseller lists.

 

What makes me feel worse is the fact that her novels have been prescribed as part of the popular culture curriculum of the University of London. In a sense, this is not bad as these Westerners might catch a glimpse of an alternative India which has nothing to do with poverty. The section of India that she depicts is completely immersed in a hedonistic lifestyle of frightening proportions.

 

I am not concerned with the theme of her writing as much as the quality of it. Even though she writes under the genre of popular culture, surely the novels can have more depth and readability. Even the sex parts in the novels were so banal and boring that I wished she had lived up to her reputation of being the Princess of porn.

 

All in all, I think I will continue regarding her as a columnist and try to forget her novels.