Book review: 'The Average Indian Male'

Book:The Average Indian Male   
Author: Cyrus Broacha
Publisher: Random House India   
Rating: ***

It’s incredibly empowering to know that you can talk s**t about people and no one would come after you. Funnyman Cyrus Broacha is one such lucky man. In his new book The Average Indian Male, Cyrus mercilessly nitpicks on the ingredients that make the average Indian man. And since he’s the ‘master critic’ and ‘agony aunt’, you know he’d obviously be forgiven for all his wry brazenness and sarcasm and comments inducing ‘no comments’. Having said that, Cyrus chooses to pick on the right bone — it tickles you to laugh, so much so that despite generous doses of generalisations, you’d be tempted to agree with him for most part of this fast read.

The two parts of his book can be summed up thus: the average Indian man is a mama’s boy, who likes his loose mismatched clothing alright, picks his nose and farts in public, loves his balding pate so much so that he’d never let his comb outta’ the sight. Indeed Cyrus’s reflections at times get exhaustingly clichéd.

Take for instance, the categorisation of Indian men according to the four different zones (read regions). At times, he even seems to be simply rambling and comes across as trying too hard. But then again, his smart, sharp observations about, say, the all-knowing bhajeewala or the queue guidelines, keep you going.

What’s mention-worthy about Cyrus’s writing is that he writes what he thinks, and he really doesn’t care about what you think. It shows. It oozes out of his sentences laden with irreverence. The ubiquitous double entendres and jibes are in place. The self-deprecating sense of humour is true to Cyrus’s image. His guru gyaan on handling the subject, in this case the Indian male, mirrors his trademark quirky cells at work.

You will either dismiss all of it, or read it till the end, laugh a bit, and move on. Cyrus is a funny guy, after all, and he delivers what he’s expected to — a fun book. It’s best to keep it that way.

— Jayeeta Mazumder