@hingehead,
I could surmise that. But, I was married for decades to a screenwriter. Stuff happens in screenplays, that is the way of them. The film is the pulse, or the pulse is the film.
It is not my favorite novel re india, but it amused me. If I was from india, it might not amuse me at all, and knowing myself, would aggravate me.
So, and then what? If you in the world at large run across the book, it's a read. I never took it seriously.