A bookj release close on the heels of the general elections held the hope of a timely fresh take on the emerging political landscape. The title of the Marathi book, Indian Animal Farm, provoked curiosity, because it was reportedly premised on the world-renowned Animal Farm allegory written by British novelist-essayist George Orwell. The book cover, depicting a crow perched on a pig, bore a striking resemblance to bygone-but-archived cover jackets of the hugely popular satire, which has been immortalised in 1200-odd editions, which account for 70 foreign language translations, including three versions in Marathi.

Animal Farm's notable Indian connect had delighted me as an undergraduate studying the allegory. Its author, in the first year of his life (1903), was raised on a pastoral bungalow-warehouse in Motihari, Bihar, as his father served in the opium department of the British government. In 2003, scenic Motihari's role in Orwell's life was internationally feted when journalists descended on the town to celebrate Orwell's hundredth birthday. Against this backdrop, I was happy that a Sawantwadi-based Marathi writer, Pravin Dashrath Bandekar, had attempted to "localise" or rather experiment with a magnificently long-lived parable, penned almost 75 years ago.