Balbir answers “Does anyone else think Mr. Simmons...”

Gordon Grant asked this question about Song of Kali:

Does anyone else think Mr. Simmons demonstrates a streak of racism in this book? The uniformly vile description of India and all the people he encounters there in contrast to the idyllic visions of Vermont, Colorado and his lovable, New Yorker friend Abe leaves a sour, xenophobic taste in my mouth.

Balbir Simmons is a terrific writer; I have read most of his books but kept avoiding this one as I suspected that there might be certain... issues, and when …moreSimmons is a terrific writer; I have read most of his books but kept avoiding this one as I suspected that there might be certain... issues, and when I eventually got round to it, I wasn't disappointed
The portrayal of Calcutta may be forgiven, as it, and the deity it hosts, are supposed to signify evil; however, there are multiple other problematic issues: not a single Indian character (barring the wife, who is Westernised, and is not really treated as an Indian) is portrayed positively; usually, such books contain at least one or two native characters of integrity; moreover, Simmons makes numerous profoundly ignorant, if not outright racist, remarks-for eg stating Sikhs were responsible for most of the killings during the partition (!?); Simmons seems to have done some research, but not enough, about the subject matter, as there are a lot of factually incorrect things peppered throughout the book (about subcontinental history, mythology, etc)
From an Indian perspective, this book has plenty of vexatious parts, to say the least(less)

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