Book review: The Extraordinary Life of Max Bulandi By Sidharth Singh
Rock and rollercoaster
This book will hold instant appeal for those who grew up listening to Elvis, The Beatles, Santana, then graduated to The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. Who did drugs like tomorrow would never come. Who read JS…except, in this book it`s not the iconic Junior Statesman but a popular magazine called the Junior Standard. Who were rebels with and without a cause.
The protagonist of the book, who goes by the improbable name of Nirvana, is a not-so- young, first-rate journo working for a second-rate tabloid in Mumbai, wrestling with his internal demons, riding a Royal Enfield (of course) named Sally for what else but Mustang Sally, and careening from spliff to spliff. He`s also in search of That Good Story and finds it in a back copy of the Junior Standard, in an account of a 70s rock band called The Flow, fronted by a crazy wild guy who goes by the name of Max Bulandi.
And so, Nirvana gets on a self-funded research trip, trying to track down band members Jimmy and Allan Stewart, Jo Nongrem, Timmy Mathur who wrote the piece up for JS, and finally Max B`s girlfriend of the time, the British beauty Belinda. This trail moves smoothly and at a languid pace.
In the closing chapters of the book, Nirvana is on a major quest, the Holy Grail here being Max Bulandi`s origin story. Which, as the reader expects by then, comes straight from left field, as befits an extraordinary man who led an extraordinary life.
We have two different takes on today`s music, one that roundly condemns it as EDM-based heavily produced crap, the other applauding the wide range of talent in young musicians of today who are able to craft viable careers. At the heart of the story is the message that there is life after sex, drugs and rock n roll.
Politics and rock n roll
Singh adopts a straight-as-an-arrow style as counterpoint to the textured content. There are events regarding the quest unspooling in the foreground, and in the background there`s the politics of the time. At times the latter tends to overpower the trajectory but it all comes good in the end. There`s also the grim thread of hard drugs brought into India and sold freely, and many youngsters` descent into dope madness.
If you have come of age in the 70s and 80s, chances are that you have known or consorted with a Max Bulandi. Sidharth Singh`s magnetic Max B is one hell of an interesting character.
The Extraordinary Life of Max Bulandi By Sidharth Singh. HarperCollins Books. Rs 399. 246 pages.
Sheila Kumar • November 3, 2024