A NIGHTMARE ON DECEMBER 23RD

Kant, in this debut memoir, recounts a successful life after defying the expectations of his small village in India.

The author was born in Bathinda, a village with a strong sense of tradition and all the orthodoxy that entails. However, his grandfather was something of a “visionary,” he says, as he insisted that Kant, who was 7 at the time, attend a good public school. (The book’s title references the sad day of his grandfather’s death in 1981, when the author was still a child.) That decision marked the beginning of an impressively ambitious academic career; the author was a diligent student and pursued a business degree from a local community college, although many of his fellow villagers criticized his choice of major as impractical, compared with medicine or engineering. He eventually graduated with high distinction and earned company-secretary and chartered accountant certifications, despite others’ doubts. The author finally overcame the stigma attached to leaving home in order to find work; he moved to Delhi and later pursued a career in the United States, where he became a permanent resident and later the managing director of a major accounting firm. Kant not only had to overcome the prohibitive presumptions of his community (and even members of his own family), but also his own lack of confidence, to explore beyond Bathinda. Eventually, though, he “started understanding the world.” Over the course of this memoir, the author writes with informal clarity, affecting a simple, anecdotal register. His life story is an inspiring one of emotional fortitude and perseverance, and readers won’t be able to help but admire his considerable accomplishments. However, this is a rather granular remembrance of a life that includes too many minute details of family squabbles, medical challenges, and financial struggles, and as such, it simply won’t sustain the attention of readers outside the circle of his loved ones. Still, this narrowly personal story is one that they will surely enjoy.

An admirable life, captured in a manner that will lack universal appeal.