Viewed through the unique lens of an immgrant, Wayward Brahmin offers a candid, often erotic, thought provoking tale of a young man's sruggle to cross a vast cultural bridge in search of a fulfilling life in America, all the while questioning the meaning of existence.
From the headiest of discourses on the structure of the universe to steamy interludes with beautiful campus, THE WAYWARD BRAHMIN is truly a garden of delights. Rare is the work so much to offer the intellect...and the baser instincts, as well.
THE WAYWARD BRAHMIN tells the story of Mo, an Indian Brahmin with a doctorate in Physics and an indefatigable libido. After traveling to the U.S. with his friend Punjabi to complete his post graduate education, Mo finds himself haunted by the beautiful (and often forward) Americn women. Coming from a sexually repressive society, and possessing a "deep-rooted passion for the female form," Mo is primed for a series of exceedingly passionate affairs with a wide selection of campus coeds.
Between amorous encounters, Mo takes time out to discourse on "higher things." With his campus colleague, Artist, Mo discusses black holes, the Big Bang, and the structure of matter. Conversation even extends to the Hindu notions of reincarnation, after-life and cosmic consciousness. Mo is tested in his ability to defend against attacks on scientific thinking. He does so with a humor and grace that is delightful to share.
Professional Reviews
Book Review: Hindustan Times by Meeta Chaitanya Bhatnagar
Wayward Brahmin makes you take notice. An unusually striking title for a book that is written with atypical dexterity, Wayward Brahmin transfixes its narrative gaze upon the reader with rare grit and grip.
The book is a first in many ways. This is the author's first novel, and he has for good, for bad, for both, written in a singular fashion. First the simple component, the airy adumbration...Mo, a Brahmin from rural India travels to America for his post graduate education and his subsequent unrelenting tenure in the land of opportunity, thereafter, ever after.
Hereon, both the author and the reader scuttle ferociously through the inimitable sexual and, well, other, adventures of the hot-blooded, full throttle, energetic protagonist who, for some godforsaken reason meets (and beds without exception) every woman who comes his way. There is one in every chapter, by the way.
Only, each ecounter, both in its ineptitude (initially) and vividness (thereafter, ever after!) is laced with a generous helping of Singh's unique brand of humour. Not entirely without eroticism, these episodes are absorbing because they explore and hilariously explode with the hypocrisy and false visage Mo and his ladies endeavor to extol while they strip themselves, and each other ravenously, shamelessly of those very edicts. And so, Mo remains an ardent Brahmin who thanks God after comsummation, and Miss Black returns to marry a black from her own race, from fear of being ostericized forever.
Punjabi, the narrator is the empathetic compatriot who related the viccitudes of Mo's life innings, oops sexual meanderings, to an engrossed listener, Listener, and to the vexed reader, you! If this makes the tale unconventionally, generically related to the Genesis of God, Adam and Eve, the author lets you think so. If this makes the tale an accidental perfidy of the long lost Morality play, he lets it be.
Anyhow, these are these prototypical characters, personifying, needless to say the browbeaten essence of what-the-name-stands-for (Punjabi, for instance hails from the sexually repressive rural India, never mind what you think) that roll on, relating the adventure of a newcomer, a newcomer from the 'sexually repressed rural India' in an unimaginably advanced and sumptuously liberal American milieu.
This apart, Wayward Brahmin is strikingly original attempy to draw together concepts as disparate as theories of physics, Indian theology, sexual impulsions, to man's spirit of adventure, Black Holes, Nirvana, Doppler effect, Bhagvad Gita, Ring Nebulae are all suffused as debatable subjects of interpretation in the characters' and the author's minds. Which, in itself is remarkable. The book merits a read because of the way Singh manages to infuse interest into a fiction-subject as drab as clinical physics, through sexual rhetoric. Singh's mastery over the language he writes in is pleasantly edifying. It is second element that saves the book from being classified as pornography wannabe, and rejected a bad pornography wannabe!
As for the 'sexually repressed rural India'; think again. The sexual matrix in rural India is a feisty part of the so-called erotic-exotic-esoteric Oriental creed, in its vital form if you may. Also, you may have us believe, not every blonde blue-eyed damsel in America is ready to jump into bed with a 'dark stranger' at the drop of a hat. And, despite all our deamy notions and love potions, the authorial insistence on both these trends weighs far too heavy on the reader's discernment. The book suffers enormously for want of a believable, trite, terse thematic injunction.
Wayward Brahmin remains exhilarating and debilitating. It is worth a read because it evokes such disparate responses between pages, and also because it mirrors unerringly the author's intense commitment to a subject he clearly holds close to his heart.
Book Review by Annette Gisby, author of Silent Screams
An unusual book, a book of philosophy entwined with the narrative of a young man from India who travels to the US for college. Between bedding various girls, he discusses philosophy and the state of the world, which makes for a different type of read.
Although there are many love scenes in the book, they are tastefully done. There is a wealth of vivid description, from the sights, sounds and smells of the young man's village where he grew up, to his first impressions of America. The writer has a very poetic style which makes a pleasant reading experience.
Worth a look if you would to read something different from the usual.
Dreamin’ Dreams is more than a collection of stories; it is a celebration of Irish life, adventure, and the unforgettable characters who make growing up in Ireland a journey worth remembering.
The bulk of the collection is eight short stories that are set in yesteryear. The compilation is filled out with four entertaining fantasy pieces and three poems.
