Customer Reviews

3 reviews

• Barbara Hannay

  Tiffins and Chanawallahs A Childhood Journey by Oonagh Prettejohn
  
  I was enchanted by Oonagh’s beautiful memoir of her childhood in India. She takes us into another place and time filled with the colors, scents, and spices we associate with that country, and then gives us intimate glimpses to make her story very personal and unique.
  Set mostly in the 1940s and 50s, we are introduced to a country where monkeys are not only swinging from tree branches but from temple rooftops and from chandeliers. We’re in a world where young Oonagh has her school lunch (often curry, dahl, and rice) delivered to her by a Tiffin Wallah. We meet her mother, Mickey, somewhat unconventional for those times, who not only has several marriages, and takes a job presenting a jazz radio program on All India Radio, but is also able to shoot a mad dog that’s been terrifying the neighborhood, and does so with the calm heroism of Atticus Finch.
  Then there’s Hank, Oonagh’s stepfather who works for Shell, but must also travel to a nearby town to despatch a leopard that’s been terrifying the villagers. We meet her brother first described as dressed in a starched white uniform of Bombay Bloomers and a shirt. And then there’s the family’s “scragged”, “almost-terrier”, Bunny.
  As we’re immersed in a colorful swirl of silks and saris, we also discover the gentle heart and spirit of this land, embodied in the people who nurtured Oonagh, who accompanied her constantly and kept her safe, but also shared their legends and beliefs with her, while respecting her family’s Christianity. But perhaps what makes this memoir particularly special is Oonagh’s wonderful way with words which at times becomes pure poetry.
  Here’s just one of many brilliantly descriptive paragraphs...
  “There, at the very midpoint is the railway station, a pinpoint on a map, a comma, and a brief interruption to more important journeys. The train halts, exhausted from its laborious puffing, to expel a great gasp of soot and steam. Hardware and treasures from the city clatter and drag in the push of the glittering bright saris and white dhotis spilling from blackened carriages.
  One boy stands alone, waiting.”
  Oh, and I loved the tension of the epilogue too...
  Bravo, Oonagh, and many thanks for sending me a copy to review.
  

• Robyn Kienzle

  Although India has always fascinated me, it has never been on my bucket list to visit. The hordes of diaphanous rainbowed humanity surrounded with smog, smoke and smells always seemed more than I could bear. In Tiffins and Chanawallahs, I felt Oonagh take my hand and lead me behind that messy canvas to a more peaceful, picturesque place. Each chapter was a vignette to savour and sometimes reread to fully appreciate the language and the many experiences that Oonagh describes through the wondrous senses a child. Like its cover, this tantalising memoir is colourful and refreshing. I have read many of Oonagh’s stories and always admired her prose. She certainly does not disappoint in this her ‘childhood journey’.
  
  
  
  

• Diane Finlay

  This book is an emotional journey through a magical childhood. The smells, sights, and sounds of India are cleverly woven through the narrative; literally taking the reader by the hand to relive those precious thirteen years in India.
  This memoir will be enjoyed by anyone who has a connection or curiosity about India from 1948 to 1961.

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