This is one of the "Penguin 60s" series of little books produced to mark the Penguin anniversary in 1995. Embarrassingly, it's been sitting on my "to be read" shelf ever since. When someone asked the question in a talk thread "What's the oldest book on your TBR pile?", I thought it was time to act, and put it in my pocket to read on the bus...

The text is an excerpt from Mark Tully's book No full stops in India of 1992. Tully is a British journalist, well-known for his work for the BBC, who has spent much of his life in India. This text reads a bit like an extended From our own correspondent piece, analysing his relationship with his servant Ram Chandra. He recounts Chandra's background, explores his own Western liberal guilt at employing a servant, and then uses the occasion of Chandra's daughter's wedding, for which he is invited to Chandra's home village, to discuss the social difficulties of the situation. Tully has helped to finance the wedding, he and his family are guests of honour, their presence obviously enhancing Chandra's standing in the community. On the other hand, they feel that they are outsiders, causing extra inconvenience and without any real role to play in what is essentially a community event.

It's an enjoyable little essay, that raises a few interesting questions about the collision between cultures of developed and developing countries, but doesn't delve too deeply.