Readable and scholarly
Roopinder Singh
Sikhism
by Gurinder Singh Mann. Prentice Hall, USA. Pages 128. $ 20.
THERE has been much much interest in the Sikhs and their religion, especially since 1984. This book gives an authoritative, readable account of the community, its beliefs and practices and its place in the world. It even ventures a look at the future of the community.

Books received: English

Pipeline politics
Parshotam Mehra
Central Asia: A Strategy for India’s Look North Policy
by Air Commodore Suryakant Nijanand Bal, AVSM (retd). Lancer Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi. Pages 414. Rs 795.
A good measure of the interest that Central Asia evokes may be gauged from the number of titles that continue to appear on its varied themes, and happily not a few by Indian authors. Another book on Central Asia is welcome in its own right; the present doubly so, in that its author has a rich defence background.

Adventures in life and beyond
Rajdeep Bains
Refugees from Paradise
by Anuradha Majumdar. Penguin India. Pages 283. Rs 295.
WHAT is paradise? Does it really exist and will we be able to recognise it if we come across it? Refugees from Paradise searches for these answers in a world where a "hole in the sky" can offer a glimpse of eternity and stories lurk within stories, just waiting to be discovered.

To catch a power thief
M. M. Goel
Electricity Theft: Empowering People and Reforming Power Sector
by Professor Surinder Kumar, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Pages 176. Rs 400
TO achieve sustainable development of the power sector in the present economic scenario, there is an urgent need to understand the associated problems, including power theft. The power system in India is facing a number of technical and financial hurdles in spite of its impressive expansion.

Man of the movement
Jaswant Singh
Unfinished Revolution: A Political Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan
by Ajit Bhattacharjea. Rupa & Co., New Delhi. Pages 467. Rs 795.
IF one were asked to name two persons who have influenced Indian society and its political thought most, the obvious answer would be Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narayan. Both stood for moral based politics. Both were liked immensely by the people and equally disliked by those wielding authority.

Gone Away, Dom Moraes
Rahul Singh
DOM MORAES died in his sleep in Mumbai just the other day. He was only 65 years old. Though he produced a substantial body of work in both poetry and prose, not to mention journalism, one felt that his best years were still ahead of him. He had not fulfilled his immense potential.

A work of epic proportions
Chaman Lal
The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering
Two volumes, both by Ramesh Menon, Rupa & Co., 2004. Pages 821 and 718.
THERE are hundreds of translations and renderings of the Mahabharata in all Indian languages, as well as in English and in some foreign languages. Many fictional characters based on Krishna, Draupdi and Arjuna, and other characters from the Mahabharata are found not only in Hindi, but also in the literature of Oriya, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati and other Indian languages.

Institutes of excellence
D.S. Cheema
The IITians
by Sandipan Deb. Viking, Penguin. Pages 375. Rs 425
THIS is the story of the Indian Institutes of Technology and their alumni whose contribution to the modern world has been phenomenal. Sandipan Deb of IIT Kharagpur, who later studied management at IIM Calcutta, before switching over to journalism, has travelled widely to interview the IITians and has recorded their experiences.

Signs and signatures
Keats’ ode to the Bard
Darshan Singh Maini
IN one of his later poems, John Keats (1795-1821) struggling to reach down to the Shakespearian depths of his tragedies sings of "the bitter sweet of this Shakespearian fruit". He, himself was, at that time, seeking to climb some of the Shakespearian heights in his great odes and sonnets written at a time when he knew that his death was almost imminent.

Punjabi review
Earthy rhythms of Punjab
Nirupama Dutt
Taropey: An anthology of Punjabi verse
by Aazim Gurvinder Singh Kohli. Pages 227. Rs 295.
WELL-BOUND in the rich gold and white motifs of the traditional Punjabi Bagh, the book is called Taropey or stitches. Holding the thick volume published on fine art paper, for a moment one thinks that here is a book exploring phulkari lore a la Hitkari. However, it turns out to be a book of Punjabi verse penned by Aazim Gurvinder Singh Kohli.

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