The country that exhausts but does not bore

The most veteran of the place will remember Indira Gandhi. Well, the Indian leader was determined to meet Gabriel García Márquez, and she did so at the seventh Non-Aligned Summit, held in 1983 in New Delhi, where the Colombian Nobel laureate traveled with the entourage accompanying Commander Fidel Castro. The novelist and the avid reader were introduced, hit it off immediately, and never left each other's side. The fact is that, after two days together, the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude already believed that Indira Gandhi was a fellow countryman, that "she was born in Aracataca." The story is told by Peruvian writer Santiago Roncagliolo. But, beware, the tale doesn't end there: it turns out that Tomás Alcoverro, a correspondent in the Middle East for half a century, was already there! He was covering that key Cold War conference for La Vanguardia, of course, at a time when Indian universities had yet to take down their Che Guevara posters. "They don't know he's dead," Roncagliolo jokes.

Thus, in a relaxed atmosphere, the presentation of The Illusion of India (Diëresis) takes place, by Jordi Joan Baños, this newspaper's correspondent from Thailand for Asia and who also practiced the old profession—observing, merging with the landscape, trying to understand and explain—for no less than a decade in the Indian subcontinent, a country that "tires but doesn't bore." It exhausts, rather. The writer and journalist's octogenarian father, on the occasion of a trip to Benares, confessed to him that the city of the Ganges seemed to him like "the gates of hell," when they were both riding in a rickshaw , "traveling like crazy through the crowds."

It's Thursday, at the Altaïr bookstore, where Baños explains that his goal has been to "remove the veil of Maya from appearances." Most works dedicated to India veer to extremes: either they present it as a mystical and idealized country or, in an intellectual apology, they speak of a "purulent" territory that will eventually engulf the world. Neither one nor the other; the correspondent takes "the middle path." Maestro Alcoverro is full of praise for his colleague's book, for its originality, for its vindication of the text, for the style so far removed from chronicles written "according to the sources." So much praise rains down on Baños that Pep Bernadas, director of Altaïr, tells him: "I don't know what you know today."

In Spain, Franco's regime left a legacy: "Nepotism and corruption," says Giles Tremlett.

In recent years, India has not only surpassed China in population, but has also become a key link in the global textile industry. And look, at this very hour, they're talking about the fashion phenomenon on the street above us, in Finestres, a street dedicated to art and comics. We arrived late, barely, but just in time to witness Marc Giró's power to attract people.

More than a hundred people delighted with life and lots of laughs at the christening of Philosophy of Fashion. Escollits texts (Ela Geminada), edited (and with a prologue) by Rita Rakosnik. The undersigned and the entire fire department of Fahrenheit 451 thank the Almighty for the entertaining book presentations, and thus the afternoon becomes a hilarious medley that mixes luxury, the concept of elegance, TikTok influencers, the Paris Commune, the author's favorite stylish ladies—Elsa Peretti, Audrey Hepburn, and Marlene Dietrich—, the trickle-down theory (the imposition of fashion would come from above), and Jeff Bezos's wedding in Venice.

Jordi Joan Baños presents 'The Illusion of India' at Altaïr, with Tomás Alcoverro and Santiago Roncagliolo.

Looking back at the chronicle, Baños says that "there are countries that are missing a screw and countries that are missing a wheel"; India is missing three, yet it moves; in other words, there are problems everywhere. In Spain, without going any further, Franco's regime left us a delicious legacy: "Nepotism and corruption," according to Hispanist Giles Tremlett. He stated this on +Bernat on Tuesday, in a talk about Franco: The Dictator Who Shaped a Country (Debate), accompanied by editor Miguel Aguilar; Neus Tomàs, deputy editor of ElDiario.es ; and a large representation of the British colony in Barcelona.

P.S.: Please don't leave your drinks on the brand new books, they're for sale.