BOOKS BY JAMES HADLEY CHASE

During my teen years in 1980s and early adulthood, James Hadley Chase was my favorite writer. Here is a list of all his books. I have all of them except the short stories. The current generation of youth in India  have not even heard of this author; No one I know in Canada have ever heard of James Hadley Chase...except Indians in Canada. For some reason, Chase was a beloved author in India of the 70s and 80s but virtually unknown in USA, where most of his novels are set.

I wonder if Chase was so well known in India because his were the only books available and other authors were not so accessible in the private circulating libraries in Indian cities? Or is it because his books were more interesting and less complex than the other crime fiction books available in Indian libraries at the time? I found Chase books much easier to read and fast paced compared to the other books available at the time in India. The plots were more or less linear and not too complex, compared to say...Alistair Maclean and other writers.

Chase books were out of print and unavailable for a while except a few books on ebay and amazon. But now,  as recently as 2000, his books have been reprinted by various publishers like The murder room, Stark house press, House of Stratus, Bruin books, etc. his books are also available in Kindle, Audible audio, hardcover and softcover.

I enjoy some of his books so much that I reread them almost every year when the mood comes. But some are so sad or the characters put me off so much  that I don't ever read them again but like a true hoarder, I have bought all of his books, even those which I am unlikely to read!

The books I love include Miss Shumway waves a wand, Double shuffle, the Mark Girland series, the Mission to Venice and mission to Sienna, and more.

The list below is from Wikepedia.

James Hadley Chase

(1)1939	No Orchids for Miss Blandish also The Villain and the Virgin ---------
(2)1941	The Dead Stay Dumb ----------------
(3)1941	Twelve Chinks and a Woman also Twelve Chinamen and a Woman also The Doll's Bad News --------------
(4)1941	Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief -----------
(5)1942	Get a Load of This (short story collection) ---------------
(6)1944	Miss Shumway Waves a Wand ------------
(7)1945	Eve ------------------------
(8)1946	I'll Get You for This ----------------------------------
(9)1947	Last Page (play) ---------------------
(10)1948	The Flesh of the Orchid ---------------------------------
(11)1949	You Never Know with Women -------------------------------
(12)1949	You're Lonely When You're Dead ----------------------------
(13)1950	Figure It Out for Yourself also The Marijuana Mob ----------------------------
(14)1950	Lay Her Among the Lillies ------------------------------
(15)1951	Strictly for Cash ------------------------
(16)1952	The Fast Buck --------------------------
(17)1952	Double Shuffle -------------------------------
(18)1953	I'll Bury My Dead
(19)1953	This Way for a Shroud
(20)1954	Tiger By the Tail
(21)1954	Safer Dead
(22)1955	You've Got It Coming
(23)1956	There's Always A Price Tag
(24)1957	The Guilty Are Afraid --------------------
(25)1958	Not Safe to Be Free also The Case of the Strangled Starlet ---------------------------
(26)1959	Shock Treatment
(27)1959	The World in My Pocket
(28)1960	What's Better Than Money
(29)1960	Come Easy – Go Easy
(30)1961	A Lotus for Miss Quon
(31)1961	Just Another Sucker
(32)1962	I Would Rather Stay Poor
(33)1962	A Coffin from Hong Kong
(34)1963	One Bright Summer Morning
(35)1963	Tell It to the Birds
(36)1964	The Soft Centre
(37)1965	This Is for Real
(38)1965	The Way the Cookie Crumbles
(39)1966	You Have Yourself a Deal
(40)1966	Cade
(41)1967	Have This One on Me
(42)1967	Well Now – My Pretty
(43)1968	An Ear to the Ground
(44)1968	Believed Violent
(45)1969	The Whiff of Money
(46)1969	The Vulture Is a Patient Bird
(47)1970	Like a Hole in the Head
(48)1970	There's a Hippie on the Highway
(49)1971	Want to Stay Alive?
(50)1971	An Ace Up My Sleeve
(51)1972	Just a Matter of Time
(52)1972	You're Dead Without Money
(53)1973	Have a Change of Scene
(54)1973	Knock, Knock! Who's There?
(55)1974	So What Happens To Me?
(56)1974	Goldfish Have No Hiding Place
(57)1975	Believe This – You'll Believe Anything
(58)1975	The Joker in the Pack
(59)1976	Do Me a Favour, Drop Dead
(60)1977	My Laugh Comes Last
(61)1977	I Hold the Four Aces
(62)1978	Consider Yourself Dead
(63)1979	You Must Be Kidding
(64)1979	A Can of Worms
(65)1980	You Can Say That Again
(66)1980	Try This One for Size
(67)1981	Hand Me a Fig Leaf
(68)1982	Have a Nice Night
(69)1982	We'll Share a Double Funeral
(70)1983	Not My Thing
(71)1984	Hit Them Where It Hurts

James L. Docherty

(72)1941	He Wont Need It Now

Raymond Marshall

(73)1940	Lady, Here's Your Wreath
(74)1944	Just The Way It Is
(75)1945	Blonde's Requiem
(76)1947	Make The Corpse Walk
(77)1947	No Business of Mine
(78)1948	Trusted Like the Fox also Ruthless
(79)1949	The Paw in the Bottle
(80)1950	Mallory
(81)1951	But A Short Time To Live also The Pick-up
(82)1951	Why Pick on Me?
(83)1951	In A Vain Shadow
(84)1952	The Wary Transgressor
(85)1953	The Things Men Do
(86)1954	The Sucker Punch
(87)1954	Mission To Venice
(88)1955	Mission To Siena
(89)1956	You Find Him, I'll Fix Him
(90)1958	Hit And Run

R. Raymond

(91)1946	Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology

Ambrose Grant

(92)1947	More Deadly Than The Male

CRIME FICTION SET IN DENMARK

(March 19th 2016) Currently reading the book The hanging girl by Jussi Adler-Olsen.
Set in Denmark. Nice writing. Interesting beginning. I think I am going to like this book.
This may be the first crime fiction set in Denmark which I am reading.

As I said before, I love crime fiction. I enjoy knowing that the books I read are set in different countries.  As the years pass, I am getting the feeling that I may not be visiting other countries and places due to various constraints. But reading crime fiction set in various countries gives me the satisfaction of getting to know those countries, especially their underbellies! Underbellies is the 'truth' wile what the tourists see is a beautiful happy photogenic lie...in my opinion.

Crime Fiction set in Bangalore my home town!

 Crime Fiction set in Bangalore, my home town!

I am trying to compile a list of (crime) novels set in my home town of Bangalore.

 1.Nilanjan P Choudhury's  'The case of the secretive sister'. 
The above is authored by a Bengali who moved to Bangalore.(available in amazon.com) I bought it. Read it. Loved it. It's hilarious!

Dead air-Biju C James : Notion press, Sept 17, 2021 

2 Anitha Nair's Cut like wound
I am a Gowda ...ergo I am so tickled to see a Gowda hero...probably the first Gowda detective in an English novel!
I borrowed it from Toronto Public library and read it!(also available in amazon.com).  It may not be the best crime fiction I ever read but I love that it has the elements of my culture....I never ever dreamt that I would one day be reading a book with a ragi mudde -mossoppu eating detective! Nair has captured the culture of Bangalore so well! Hope she writes more of Bore Gowda books. 

There are several Gowda police officers in real life in Karnataka and India;there are many many Gowda detectives in Kannada movies & maybe Kannada novels too. But Nair's Bore Gowda is going to put both Bangalore and Gowdas on the world map!
Visited Bangalore again (September 2016) and discovered the next Borei Gowda book is out! Read and loved the second book
3) Chain of custody.

4Aravind Adiga's The white tiger...Adiga had put Bangalore on the world map long before Anita Nair through The white tiger...he won the Man booker for this. I am not sure if this book belongs to the genre of  crime fiction ....it's definitely about crime.

Harini Nagendra's The Bangalore detective's club 

5. Zac O Yeah's Mr.Majestic, the tout of Bangalore
Zac is a  Swedish writer.

6.Zac O Yeah's Hari a hero for hire.
I picked Zac's two books during my 2016 trip to Bangalore and  loved them! The books are hilarious and describe Bangalore well. The style of writing is refreshingly different and the sudden quips had me in splits many many times. I do hope there's more of Hari AKA Majestic coming from Zac!

Zac O Yeah's Tropical Detective published on Dec 28th 2017.

7. Agni Sreedhar's My days in the underworld..the rise of Bangalore mafia. Tranqebar press(available in amazon.com) This English translation is an abridged version. The Kannada original, is longer than this. Based on true events in the life of the author who was an underworld don(was or is?)
In the context of Agni Sreedhar's book,you may also like to read   online, Scott Carney "The Godfather of Bangalore",  on the Wired dated October 20th 2008. This is an article about land mafia of Bangalore. I have not read these books of Sreedhar.

Another book by Agni Sreedhar is Gangster's Gita published in 2019 by Eka (kindle and paperback available)and translated from Kannada by Prathiba Nandakumar

8.Monideepa Sahu's The riddle of the 7th stone  published by Zubaan in 2010. This is a crime fiction for children.(ISBN 978-8189884802)(available in amazon.com)

9)Vinay Ramakrishna: Bangalore chronicles: A kidnap.  Paperback/Pub: Notion press Pub date: Sept 8th 2015 

10)Madhumita Bhattacharya: Murder at the temple (Juggernaut publications...?digital and not book I think)

11)Romantic guerrilla by D.S.Kumar may have a little bit of Bangalore in it. 

ISBN	1707452695, 9781707452699

12) Child of paradise. Listen to your dreams. Prathiba R.D.H

13) This is NOT fiction. Bhais of Bangalore by Jyoti Shelar published in 2017 by  Penguin Random House

 If you dear reader come across any crime fiction set in Bangalore please let me know, so I add to this list. Thanks in advance!

I also discovered that there many self-published crime fiction from India available only  in ebook formats. Some of them were Bangalore based crime fiction.


Below is a link to an article on books set in Bangalore
http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/stories-of-bangalore/article5956623.ece

If you google Novels set in Bangalore, a page from good reads pops up with a list...but not of crime fiction

A joke I created this morning...

My house is so small that I can  walk around in reading glasses

PHOTOS & RELAXATION

Sometimes I am in a mood to do nothing but while away my time and then I am unable to come up with a good daydream to elaborate and fantasize!

At those times, I start looking at photos on Google to engage myself . The photos which Google throws up which keep me relaxed or happily engaged include photos when I google the words Mughal jewelry, cats, kittens, sea glass, sea glass jewelry, sea-brick and sea brick art, antiques, antique furniture, recycled (I fill in anything which pops into my mind after the word recycled when I google...words  like  tires, cococola tin, typewriters, slippers, etc)

Looking at the pictures puts me in a different frame of mind...I am able to stop thinking about current happenings in my life and simply enjoy gazing at the photos. My mind is as blank as it can be and stops during those moment to  heed any current worries. I am able to look at the pictures with peace and without any 'excitable' emotions.



And of all these photos, the ones which I am really entranced with is the photos of the weaverbird's nests(Baya). I have loved the weaver bird's nests ever since I saw them for the first time, as a child, when walking through fields from one village to another. I still remember how excited and amazed I was to see those nests, so perfect and so beautiful and unlike any nest I had ever seen before. Of course, I wanted one immediately; and of course, they were out of reach of any human hands as they were up in trees or hanging from the walls of wells!  After a few years I did get two  of these nests from a tree which had been cut down and took them to my home in Bangalore. I kept them safe. Once in a while, for several years, I would take them out and gaze at them. Even as an adult, I continued the ritual of  taking the nest, looking at it, feeling it.

I could not get the nests to Canada and I really miss them. I cannot fully explain the emotions & thoughts which go through my brain, as I gaze at these nests.  It is not one of excitement or extreme joy or anything so dramatic. I suppose what I feel can be described as feeling mellow, calm, relaxed, at peace. I would get the same feelings when I would look at my seashell collection in childhood. I am sure all those  kids who collect seashells and have a bunch of their favorite toys get these very same feelings.
Why do weaverbird nests have such an effect on me? I can think of a few possible reasons. One. These nests are so perfect and beautiful and NOT man-made ! Instead it's a beautiful work of art, woven by birds.  Tell me who doesn't like a natural thing which is so perfect, beautiful and natural, NOT artificial? The most amazing thing for me is that this bird does not have hands and fingers like us, yet it builds such wonderful  nests. Two. I love the upside down nests hanging from branches, swaying in the winds and the bird diving into the nest  through the tunnel at the bottom of the nest. The nests feel  slightly bouncy where the straw is the thickest; the entrance is a long dark fibrous tunnel woven of straw and there is a small pocket inside for the eggs. The bottom of this pocket is lined with stuff to make it soft. It is such a great simple piece of architecture! I adore the shape of the nests and of all the other species bird-nests I have seen, the weaver's is the most beautiful and perfect looking. Three. I love the colony feel I get as there are several of these  nests in a single tree.  Mornings and evenings, one can hear them and it sounds like a social club of gossiping birds. I enjoyed seeing these yellow birds sitting on the outer surface of the nests as they swayed in the wind. I enjoyed watching the green nest turn straw-yellow over the passage of days,  as the green grass  the bird built the nest with, dry and change colour over time.
 II was the only one in my class who had not only seen but also owned a couple of these nests and I felt so proud to take them to school and show them off to my class mates! Children these days seem to have tons of stuff...toys, books, clothes, bike,video games,  DVDs, CDs, and so on. Compared to homes today, my childhood home was bare and the things we had as kids was almost nil. Ergo, it was such a joy for me to own this nest, a thing of nature and so unique and none of my friends had ! The nearest to my nests the other kids had were peacock feathers and seashells... but then lots of other kids had them too.... there was nothing unique about their feathers and shells. Some kids had amazing seashells, but they were bought in shops by their parents and to me buying shells  is not as wonderful as finding them. You know what I mean???


A weaver bird's nest conjures up for me, the vision of a  sunny day in the countryside, with rice fields, coconut  and other trees with birds & their nests in the trees, quietness all around except for birds, distant sound of buses and farm folk talking...and me sitting under a shady tree with a book.

I hope I get a pair of abandoned weaverbird nests the next time I visit India. ( I wouldn't dream of taking a nest from a tree in case it's in use). I would hang it in my bedroom...as I am here most of  the time, when at home. I would gaze at it and transport  to my own inner world of blank peace. Maybe I would paint a tree on the wall with leaves, branches and birds and then hang this nest on the wall.... Don't know if this would look tacky or great but what the hell!
In case you are wondering, why two nests...there are two types, one completed and one incomplete and both look amazing. I thought the incomplete nests were the nests of male birds and then I discovered on the internet that a male build many nests to attract many females and  he seems to abandon  many without completing; the completed nest is for the female who he finally mates with and the future  eggs & chicks.
,,,,,,,,,,,,



My family didn't own a camera in my childhood; even if we had, I doubt if my dad would let me even touch it or 'waste the film reel' taking photos of  birds and birds nests. So I don't own any photos of the weaver bird or the weaver bird nests. Now  I have a camera, but I have not visited my village   nor have I seen a weaver bird in the places I did visit. I hope that one day I will  have the joy of photographing my favorite nest &  the birds who build them.


...............I wonder if the 'time' at which I compose my articles  and the content of my articles  reflects my 'moods'? I wonder if I write sad-angry stuff in winter and my articles are less bitter-angry when  composed in spring and summer.
Do I have a bit of SAD? Seasonal affective disorder...I wrote this weaverbirds thing today March 4th as it's nearing spring; I wrote another happyish sort of thing a few days ago. But what I write in winter was angyrish-bitter i.e. the stuff on cultural pathology of India.

Fictional detectives with happy families

One reason I love certain crime fiction is  because the hero is in a stable/happy family.   I get to enjoy not only the exciting and adrenalin pumping part of the book but also vicariously experience the quiet happiness of the detective returning daily to the  love, trust & warmth of his family.

Many crime fiction  these days both on screen and in books show the hero's family life as messed up ...be it his/her parents or his own family. The hero's personal life too is  messed up with affairs, divorces, drinking and God knows what else. I  do understand that the fictional hero's life is filled with misery because  misery is a 'bestseller' while  happiness is 'too boring to read about' and happiness simply doesn't sell!
Perhaps modern writers believe that Dystopian is 'fashionable' or 'misery & evil are stylish'???

Still, some of my favorite authors have created stable families for their heros and yet, their books are both enjoyable and bestsellers!
(a)Working in the field that I do i.e.mental health,(b)having parents who quarreled bitterly all the time (c)seeing more unhappy and dysfunctional families than the opposite, I find it such a relaxing pleasure to see a 'normal' family in fiction...be it in books or on the screen. 
The book I finished today, (Feb 28th 2016) i.e. Lieberman's Law  inspired me to write this piece in which I have compiled all the books I have read where the  detectives have stable families.  Reading the description of  family life of the detectives in the books gave me quiet pleasure!

 I felt truly satisfied reading the book Lieberman's law and  one main reason for this satisfaction is the family life of Lieberman. He does have his share of family problems...though a lot lesser than the other fictional detectives or even most real people. The family part of the book rings true, the crime solving  is satisfying and  the end of this book was  like the conclusion of  a delicious meal!



The delightful and enjoyable crime fiction with normal/stable/happy families  are given below. By normal, I mean that these families are not 'too' dysfunctional; they are families with strong bonds and values.

The  books in this Lieberman series

• Abe Lieberman series

1. Lieberman's Folly (1990)
2. Lieberman's Choice (1993)
3. Lieberman's Day (1994)
4. Lieberman's Thief (1995)
5. Lieberman's Law (1996)
6. The Big Silence (2000)
7. Not Quite Kosher (2002)
8. The Last Dark Place (2004)
9. Terror Town (2006)
10. The Dead Don't Lie (2007)

• The series below is also by the same author Kaminsky. It is set in the USSR/Russia. I loved all the families mentioned  in this series.
• Inspector Rostnikov series

1. Rostnikov's Corpse (1981)
   (also published as Death of a Dissident)
2. Black Knight in Red Square (1983)
3. Red Chameleon (1985)
4. A Fine Red Rain (1987)
5. A Cold Red Sunrise (1988)
6. The Man Who Walked Like a Bear (1990)
7. Rostnikov's Vacation (1991)
8. Death of a Russian Priest (1992)
9. Hard Currency (1995)
10. Blood and Rubles (1996)
11. Tarnished Icons (1997)
12. The Dog Who Bit a Policeman (1998)
13. Fall of a Cosmonaut (2000)
14. Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express (2001)
15. People Who Walk in Darkness (2008)
16. A Whisper to the Living (2010

I adored the humorous Archy Mcnally  and loved reading about his family and his girl friend in the series by Lawrence Sanders.

• McNally's Secret (1992)
• McNally's Luck (1992)
• McNally's Risk (1993)
• McNally's Caper (1994)
• McNally's Trial (1995)
• McNally's Puzzle (1996)
• McNally's Gamble (1997)
• McNally's Dilemma (1999)

This series was continued by another author after Lawrence Sanders death, i.e. Vincent Lardo but I dint read as I dint like his style of writing. Vincent lardo's books are not listed here.

 I liked another series by Lawrence Sanders i.e. the Delaney series based in New York city listed below.

Edward X. Delaney series: The Anderson Tapes 1970 The First Deadly Sin 1973 The Second Deadly Sin 1977 The Third Deadly Sin 1981 The Fourth Deadly Sin 1985

 Vish Puri a private detective in Delhi, created by Tarquin Hall  too has a nice family and is fun to read. But I dint find the books unputdownable. I enjoyed reading about Vish Puri's feisty mother who kept trying to butt into is private detective business!

The Vish Puri books are :

 The Case of the Missing Servant 2009
The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing,  2010.     
The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken,  2012. 
 The Case of the Love Commandos,  2013

There were 4 books by James Hadley Chase where I loved a couple who featured to different extents in the books. The books are:
The double shuffle
There's always a price tag
An ear to the ground
Tell it to the birds
Of all , I really enjoyed Steve Harmas and his wife in Double shuffle. It was  exciting and I loved this couple's relationship! 

I also enjoyed the fiery wife of Tom Lepski another police officer created by James Hadley Chase in another series of books.

A lot of books by Alistair Maclean had normal happy families and that really increased my enjoyment of the book. I would like to add here that family was not the main part of the Maclean books; yet, I enjoyed even the brief mention of  family members & family life of the protagonists. Some of which I can recall are:
Force ten from Navarone (there is not much family stuff, only a very brief mention of Andrea's new wife). 
Ice station zebra(brothers)
The Satan bug
Circus
Seawitch

I am not asking crime fiction writers to create  'happy' families but to create at least, reasonably down-to-earth, realistic families. For example, I enjoy reading the family life of Kurt Wallander (series) by Henning Mankell though his is not an 'ideal' or a 'happy' family.

 I wonder why the new crime fiction writers don't emulate the 'stable families' which feature in books of of the old writers'?
I don't know if I am the only one who thinks this, but since the last 2 decades writers seemed to think that their books will sell only if the crime is extremely bizarre, or cruel, or twisted. I am sick of the pedophilia, the bizarre mental illnesses of the criminals, the needless torture of the victims in the recent books. 
 Perry Mason books written from 1930 to 1970s sold in the millions though the plots were straightforward and the villains were not unnecessarily complex like the present day ones! I wish  the writers would go back to writing more believable crimes instead of the convoluted stuff they come up with at present.

Writers from the east (India, for example)seem to write fairly straightforward crime fiction; I don't know if it's because they lack the ability to be complex like the American and European writers or it's their choice. For my limited attention span & processing ability, I prefer a simple, straightforward crime, which moves along fast!


A lot of American crime fiction especially on screen, display the main protagonist's entangled sexual and romantic relationships with multiple partners. They also show several weaknesses or vices of not just the 'bad' guys but of the 'good' guys too. Though its attention-grabbing and thrilling, the immorality/moral ambiguity of all the characters is now putting me off! I am referring to shows such as House of lies, House of cards, True detective season 2, etc.
 I am either aging or mellowing down but I now seek simpler stuff with clarity regarding morals...I want  as much black & white and as little grey as possible!

A lot of classics I have read are simple and not as morally ambiguous as current day crime fiction. Maybe that is one of the reasons why classics are eternal. I believe there are a lot of people like me, who want poetic justice, want good guys to win and bad guys to lose, want something good they can believe in...like a strong supportive family, loving spouses, reliable parents and so on. These things add to the 'feel good' quality of a book which in turn has a tremendous positive influence on the reader's mood. Ultimately it is the mood the reader is left with, after reading a book, which determines if the reader will try the same author again. 

Let me add here that on some days when I am in some 'odd' moods, I prefer the morbid, the sad and maybe even dystopian fiction(like Child 44). But mostly, I prefer my crime fiction with less morbidity, more action and some humour.

Here is a link to others like me, who wonder why fictional detectives are so miserable!
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1522709-dark-dysfunctional-detectives

Mysteries & Crime Thrillers discussion

General > Dark, dysfunctional detectives

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Of the happy families on TV, I adore The Republic of Doyle series.  If you are interested in seeing this, go to CBC TV and check this out. It has 6 seasons and about 10 episodes in each season. It is an amazingly feel-good series. If you want dystopian stuff, this series is not for you.

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In 2018, I discovered the term 'cozy mysteries' and realize that that is the right term to describe what I feel when I read these books or see the show mentioned above.
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Infidelity to me is still wrong and I am always uncomfortable when the 'hero' or chief protagonist/detective is 'sleeping around' when married or in a relationship. Infidelity however seems to be common in many books and shows now. The sexual mores have changed SO MUCH now but I am stuck in a previously accepted state of morality! It is difficult to find a crime fiction book written these days with the 'olden mores' around the sex issue. In my opinion, the only books with the olden sexual mores for the chief protagonist seem to be books which are written by eastern writers, by women or those crime fiction  with simpler plots. 

FORGET THE PATHOLOGY OF INDIA! HERE IS SOMETHING GOOD FROM INDIA...IT'S RANGOLI

I am exhausted with the anger and hate I experience each time I think of India! Before my wells of anger fills up again, I am writing about something I liked in my childhood...Rangoli.
You can read up about Rangoli by googling it and get to know Rangoli...if you don't know about it already. Here is MY own personal take on Rangoli. 


To me, the most fascinating thing about Rangoli is that illiterate women from villages, maid servants with limited or no education are such experts at Rangoli designs! I find the Rangoli designs  elaborate and fascinating.  To me, they seem so difficult to make and I marvel that these women, who have not gone to schools, who cannot read or write, can make these designs in a matter of few 3 to 5 minutes.

I do know that the Rangoli is an art passed on from one generation to another like  other things in a society's culture such as recipes, embroidery, proverbs, folk songs, etc. I do know these women  have learnt these designs since childhood from their mothers and grandmothers; I do know that practice makes one perfect; that one can learn these designs if one is interested.  

Many things about the Rangoli saddens and intrigues me. 

I feel sad that these women, who are so skilled in making Rangolis remain under-appreciated ill paid workers who can just about feed themselves with the money they earn. Few employers ever praise the Rangoli designs made daily on the door-steps by the servants. Some employers may not even notice the designs and simply take it for granted. A few servants spontaneously make  elaborate Rangoli designs on festivals and may or may not hear a word of praise from the household they work for.

This is a skill that many of the employers of servants don't possess. Yet, they refuse to acknowledge their maid who does this design daily on their doorstep. What does it cost you to say a word of praise for the art-work done? Don't these employers realize that thanking and praising costs nothing yet makes the maid feel happy and boost her self-esteem?

This is an art which has evolved from it's humble beginnings. Previously it was done with dry powder on the front door step every morning after the front yard was  swept and washed with water. Now you have books with Rangoli designs published;
 There are Rangoli competitions in many cities...However, I have not seen  maid servants participating in these competitions. These competitions  seem to be middle-class affairs where the educated middle-class and the upper class women participate. I doubt if the maids can afford the time and the cost of participating in the competitions. 

I am sad that people have stopped decorating the area at the front door with Rangoli these days in many households for various reasons. Apartment buildings are the new type of residences in Indian cities these days  and so there is no concept of washing the front yard. Also, many have given up old traditions like Rangoli decoration as they are 'modern'. The Rangoli powder is difficult to come by these days...shortage of natural non-renewable resources is the cause maybe?  Evolving of the Rangoli art lead to applying 'permanent' paints in Rangoli designs at the doorstep and so the daily art work of Rangoli with powder stopped. One can even buy Rangoli-design-painted strips of plastic which can be stuck in the places where Rangoli art is needed!  Seives with Rangoli patterns have been created and all one has to do is put the Rangoli powder on the seive, and give a gentle shake and the powder falls through in the form of the design !  Now, you don't need someone to take the Rangoli powder between their thumb & index fingers, put  'dots' of Rangoli powder and connect the dots with the Rangoli powder to create the designs anymore.

One last thing. A professor of neuropsychology had proposed Rangoli design drawing as a remediation task to improve certain neuropsychological deficits in  patients with neuropsychiatric problems. To do the Rangoli design, certain part of the brain is involved and this part could be stimulated and improved by creating or practicing Rangoli designs. I am not sure if she ever got to do this or published the research but this shows how the humble Rangoli art work can kick some ass! 

My question to Amazon.com and amazon.in

I tried to buy toys on amazon.com and requested that it be mailed to India. But I got the message, "Sorry. Cannot be shipped to this address".

I then tried to buy the same product on amazon.in. But my credit card was declined.

I hope I will be able to shop in amazon.in and my Canadain credit card is accepted or I hope the amazon.com will ship to India.

I feel sorry that I am unable to send Indian  children these amazing toys(Meccano sets) not found ANYWHERE in Bangalore.

I can afford them, I have the willingness to buy them, but this unfortunate glitch prevents my dear friends from having these toys. In Toronto, I cannot find people visiting India so that I could send the toys through them.
In USA, it's easy to find, almost all through the year, friends who visit Bangalore, and I could ask them to deliver these toys.
Buying the toys in Toronto and shipping to India is terribly expensive! It's a pity that Canada post is so expensive.
I cannot afford to travel to India as often as I want to...or I could take these toys there myself.

CULTURAL PATHOLOGY OF INDIA-13-ACCEPTANCE OF ABNORMAL AS NORMAL

When one looks around in many eastern societies, so many pathological behaviors are not recognized  as pathological. Some of these pathologies are even glorified as Good or benevolent behaviours! Here are some people with pathological behaviors (I could recall meeting in India.)These people went  unrecognized as pathological in the best-case-scenario and were glorified as 'good or great' in the worst-case-scenario. 

(1) ADHD in children: I have seen parents of ADHD kids who are initially, extremely proud of their kids as they equate the hyperactivity with intelligence ; One family I know thought of their hyperactive son as an incarnation of Krishna and even named him as Krishna because they were so happy with his hyperactive behaviour! He was an adult before they decided to seek psychiatric help and even then, it was hard to make them accept that he has ADHD and that he needed treatment. They could not get the belief of him as extraordinarily bright, active and 'Krishna-like' individual out of their heads!  The positive view of his ADHD probably did good to his self-esteem but the family went through a tough time when his behaviours got worse as he entered adulthood and their belief that he is an incarnation of Krishna was severely tested.

(2)Another example is that many men with poor social skills or shyness,  or men who do not interact with women are regarded as 'very decent' and 'good' while someone who interacts easily may be suspect! Even to this day, guys who dont talk to women , in small towns and villages are considered as saints while men who talk to girls easily and comfortably are suspected of being flirts or as having evil designs on girls.

(3) Several psychiatric problems go unrecognized and ergo, untreated in India. 
Asperger's and those at the mild end of the autism spectrum go undiagnosed often in Indian culture; 
many cases of mild depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive neurosis, several types of seizures, many personality disorders, borderline intelligence, are neither recognized or treated. The odd behaviours are accepted, tolerated, maybe even considered as more  'positive'  than 'normal' behaviours by Indians! 
Many personality disorders are unrecognized and therefore untreated in India. This happens even amongst the educated folks.  

(4) Chronic alcoholism and gambling are not recognized and treated as mental illness in India even among the educated and those with access to information. 

(5)Homosexuality is regarded as abnormal and unacceptable and I have seen at least 5-10 homosexuals (mostly men) dragged to a psychiatrist by their parents to 'make them heterosexual' because his marriage has been fixed !  I have been told, things like "He has to become normal by November doctor. His wedding is in November!"  This is an instance where what is normal is considered as abnormal in India. I think I should write an article of all the normal things considered as abnormal in India! There are tons of such stuff too!
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Now  I am going to talk briefly  about corruption in India and it's acceptance as the 'norm' by the vast majority... rather than considering it as abnormal, obnoxious and something to be dealt with. .
This acceptance of the wrong  as 'normal' in India drives me insane! Now that I have lived in Canada for the last 12 years, I have lost my 'immunity' to Indian corruption and find my visits to India intolerable. I had managed to live with it for the first 30 odd years of my life and now I have lost my capacity to tolerate and accept corruption and find myself unable to spend in peace, even a few days in India!


That you have to pay a bribe to get any work in the government offices done is considered NORMAL. If you find that a government employee is not accepting a bribe, or not asking for it, you wonder and start suspecting if there is something else 'worse' going on which you don't know of!
That you have to bribe the police to make them accept a complaint is normal.
A person  belonging to certain unfortunate castes being ill-treated is the norm and if he's  treated with  a little bit of respect, in the villages of some Indian states, he will die of fright and shock!
People taking their pet dogs out for a walk and leaving it's poop out in the street is the norm. If someone bags it and brings it home, he may be considered crazy! But I think this is changing now  in some cities, but I am not sure.
This list can go on for hundreds of pages. But I am stopping here.


There is a wide gap between Indian values and the values upheld in western, democratic and modern societies.
There is a wide gap between what is in the constitution and the professed rules in India and the actual practice.
In India, there is absolutely no correlation between education and good behaviour, good manners;
 No correlation in India between education and wisdom;
No correlation between education and common sense
no correlation between education and being practical.
In fact, I sometimes wonder if the Indian education system, makes up lose what little we were born with!