Curry Is Thicker Than Water, Canadian author Jasmine D’Costa’s debut collection of short stories, was served with a side helping of high drama at the official launch in Toronto.

The presentation transported more than 150 invitees to the distant shores of India, D’Costa’s birthplace, to witness the din and chaos of an era gone by – as enlisted actors playing reporters of the 1950s leapt on stage, cameras blazing and firing a barrage of questions at the unfazed author. And the unfolding dramatization brought to life a taste of D’Costa’s India at the packed venue right here in Toronto. 

For the numerous friends, fans and well-wishers who could not attend, or were in faraway places, there was a wired and wonderful solution: the live Webcast.  I enjoyed the experience and was able to join D’Costa on the book launch journey via the webcast.

If anything, creativity was the essence of D’Costa’s presentation marking the launch of her book. Hosted at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto’s downtown core, the event captured the exotic, rich, and sometimes pungent aromas along with a hint of the aftertaste etched in the author’s memory.

And there was music – driven by inspiration and delivered with passion – by young producer / composer Nikhil Seetharam, who performed popular hits and a couple of his numbered compositions on keyboards. For him too it was a debut of sorts – an introduction to a media event and a taste of things to come!

For those who’ve lived in the time and places charted in D’Costa’s Curry, it proved a nostalgic trip back home. For others who’ve only been armchair travellers at best, the Gladstone reading and enactment of the first story, The Elephant on the Highway, could have been the next best thing to the real life experience. It brought to life a heady mix of the rich culture, ethnic fashion and the ambience of mystic India! On D’Costa’s stage at the Gladstone, the theme celebrated the incredibly colourful India - contagious and captivating.

Sari-clad women, both Western and Indian, added vibrant splashes of colour with their glittering jewellery and stunning makeup.  Traditional hospitality and contemporary greetings blended well to make the gathering seem like a huge family reunion with cheerful hugs and loving kisses and an aura of warmth all around. At the centre of the celebration was D’Costa, magnetic and majestic in a glamorous pink and gold sari, with enough gold jewellery to make a bride blush!

Mary Ellen Koroscil, chargé d’affaires of D’Costa’s media relations made an impressive point: “Look at me! I’m an Irish woman in a sari!” Koroscil also noted that D’Costa’s kindness and gregarious nature helps her “connect with people,” and create a wide circle of friends in the  few years she’s been in Canada.

Author in focus: Reporters in action…

Ethnic look: Saris everywhere!

Sitaram strikes the right note!

Bombay-born D’Costa, a PhD and international banker for 25 years, immigrated to Canada from Bombay in 2004. She terms the move an adventure and a new direction in her life. As a banker, she’s been widely published in academic journals, business magazines, and books from international relations to trade, corporate finance and banking. She is currently involved in theatre and writing, and is president of the Writers and Editors Network in Toronto.  

D’Costa was generous in her thanks and praise for everyone involved in making either her book or her life better – publisher, editor, friends and family, and her growing legion of fans. Her narrative conveyed gratitude, humility and humour: “I’m going to presume that you want to hear me read my stories.” Applause. Well-orchestrated signals had the audience yelling out responses that caused a puzzled stir until D’Costa explained the rising babel of voices and sounds: “That was Bombay, thank you!” Loud, stark, chaotic, and real!

D’Costa paid a thankful tribute to Sylvia Fraser, author of A Rope in the Water: a pilgrimage to India, who has been a particularly inspiring influence.

Master of Ceremonies, Brian Hull, described D’Costa’s work as an “arresting new voice in multi-media, multicultural storytelling,” a woman with the “courage and commitment and heart to pursue a new path in life.”

In his foreword, Austin Clarke, the Giller Prize and Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winning author celebrated D’Costa as “a writer who understands how allegory can be used with light-heartedness, and placed for easier understanding on the certainty of a philosophical foundation, that heightens the traditions of culture.” D’Costa noted she was just “thrilled that he did the foreword.”   

If your bloodstream is rich in turmeric loaded traces of curry, this could be a literary main course, sprinkled with a dash of multicultural dressing – certainly a treat you’ll savour! Or, if you’re planning a voyage of discovery into South Asian literary fare: be warned, it is an acquired taste, and Curry’s going to get you!

For me, another helping, please!

Frederick Rocque is a features writer, editor, newspaper journalist, columnist and critic. He has designed, edited, written and produced international publications, including news and feature magazines. A volunteer copy editor and member of the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC), Fred is a regular contributor to various publications. He enjoys digital photography and is a keen web-design enthusiast. Fred volunteers as a web developer / content advisor and also hosts and manages several web sites.

A sampling from Curry Is Thicker Than Water

The Elephant on the Highway trumpets the author’s giant step into the realm of gripping short story magic. Here’s where memories, sounds and aftertaste blend into a pungent and decidedly unpleasant mix. Ear plugs and nose clamps needed to deal with the jumbo rear action and the elephant droppings…

Eggs carries a dark and foreboding secret, evil and eerie and takes readers to picturesque Goa.  Loaded with symbolism, Eggs illustrates the helplessness of the unborn and burden of deformity in those destined to live...handicapped. The tug-of-vengeance and deceit plays out in the relationship between a mother and son as they outdo each other.

In Two Wives and a Doormat, a particularly powerful story of lust and unbridled sexual punishment, the author paints a vivid picture of repeated abuse by a bigamous husband. The tone is equal parts raw and raunchy, with a softer side in the tender emotional ties between the two wives.

She Married a Pumpkin, set in Mumbai and Nagpur in the province of Maharashtra, takes a deep look at the tradition of arranged marriages using the symbolism of a pumpkin. The narrative shows the despised tradition in desperate need for reform, even outright rejection. It’s a practice that has no place in the lives of women of our times or in our relationships. 

The Guest at My Grandfather’s House takes readers to a Mangalorean village in the province of Karnataka. Here, a stranger’s yearning for the warmth and the sense of family adds meaning and excitement to a little girl’s life. It is her escape from sheer boredom and his only chance to discover what family means…