GEM OF A TOME

Ranjit Hoskote has curated a stellar anthology of Indian writing through the ages in this offering from the Murty Classical Library of India

- Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Some six decades ago, there lived an itinerant vendor called D.K. Murthy. Thin to the point of looking emaciated, wearing diamond studs in his ears, clad in collared shirt and muslin dhoti, he would take the Grand Trunk Express from Madras to 'upper India' with a small cache of classically traditional south Indian jewels. One nondescript year, Murthy just stopped coming. But his legend as the purveyor of 'quality' gems continued. And the genuine articles still adorn the persons who bought them from him and their descendants.