Book Review | Chuckle Merry Spin: Us in the US Is Fairground With Diverse Attractions

With her title, Chuckle Merry Spin: Us in the US, Khyrunnisa A riffs on Mark Twain’s much-loved Huckleberry Finn, an apt choice for a funny tale of travel adventures across the vast American expanse. A daughter-in-law’s graduation ceremony at an American university is the reason for the author and her spouse, VK, to cross national borders for the first time ever. Starting from the moment the couple receives a pressing invitation to visit the United States, the author writes up a giggle gala that comes to an end on the day of their return flight to Thiruvananthapuram. 

The trip to the United States turns into a coming-of-age rite for the author and VK. The rite involves several initiation rituals. Among the many risible firsts, two are specially quirky. He acquires his first pair of jeans for the rigours of international travel and she gets a crash course on how to use a smart phone from her son. Like many other first-timers, the travellers compare their novel experiences in a foreign country with familiar ones back home. Sears Tower’s change of name to Willis Tower reminds them of similar transitions for several Indian cities. Trying out octopus in a Chicago restaurant is strongly reminiscent of the Delhi-belly syndrome that afflicts many foreign tourists in India. 

The short chapters of the book convey the author’s fascination with all that she finds different and admirable in the United States. Museums, parks, orderly traffic, and unfettered access to public institutions are deserving recipients of admiration. On the other hand, the underbelly of inequalities, social and economic, that wealth has not been able to eradicate is not left without comment. Discussions on issues such as racial differences and the poor state of public infrastructure in the United States occasionally interrupt the book’s general tone of levity, creating a dilemma for the reader. Should they sustain their smile or tighten it into a grimace?     

Chuckle Merry Spin is a fairground that furnishes diverse attractions. Each chapter is a different ride. The author’s indulgent support for VK’s addiction to museums of all ilk –paper, rail, art, presidential– ensures that the travelogue includes motley snippets of history. The author’s own sense of awe at natural splendours is a source of ecological minutiae that she weaves into the travel narrative. The mirth quotient ranges from a gentle rumble to stomach-turning levels, as in the instance where the author’s only option is to make use of a pit toilet in an otherwise exquisite nature reserve.

Writing about undiscovered destinations, largely unfamiliar to the intended reader presents a steep challenge. Then again, writing about a country that is on almost everyone’s itinerary, past or future, is even more uphill. While seasoned travellers to the United States may think some of the observations in the book commonplace, they will still find themselves smiling at the wide-eyed wonder of the author and her travelling companion. The travelogue is ideally suited to reading tastes that seek the curious delights and frustrations of first-time travellers to the United States.