For most of Upamanyu Chatterjee's admirers, he remains the classic irreverent young man of English, August fame. But he has just reached the veteran's gallery by bagging the Sahitya Akademi prize this year for his Mammaries of the Welfare State. At 46, Chatterjee is a spring chicken as far as the Akademi's honours list is concerned, though Amitav Ghosh and Amit Chaudhuri have joined the club in recent years. His fourth book, incidentally, is on its way.
Shobhaa De's latest book, Spouse, did have a fashionable turnout. But as the Page 3 couples lined up for a panel discussion on marriage: how it works and fails, the audience headed straight—and noisily—for the bar. Overheard in the melee: "Oh my god, I need a drink. It's like sau chuhe kha kar billi haj ko chali."
