|
White
mythologies
Rumina Sethi
Colonial Studies 1880-1947:
Special Issue of South Asian Review. Vol 25, No. 1.
ed. K. D. Verma. Pages 390. Price not stated.
Colonial
Studies 1880-1947 focuses on representations of India worked
out in the fantasies of both the coloniser and the colonial subject. In
the years of colonialism, India became the tabula rasa for varied
manifestations emerging out of both the imperial and the colonial
psyche.
Full-fledged
view
Baljit Singh
Birds of Western Ghats, Kokan and Malabar (including birds of Goa)
by Satish Pande. OUP. Pages 276. Rs 995
THE
history of avian literature in India began when Major T.C. Jerdon, a
surgeon in the Madras Presidency Army, wrote Birds of India in
three volumes in 1862-64. This book remained the basic reference for the
next one hundred years. Major Jerdon is justly called the
"father" of Indian ornithology.
Sufism
and romance
Shastri Ramachandaran
A Beggar at the Gate
by Thalassa Ali Review (Headline) London Pages 333. Rs 250
AT
a time when the international media is flooded with demonised images of
Islam reinforced by violence and terrorism, a novel on the Sufi theme of
peace, love and acceptance of the different is a refreshing read. More
so when it is a historical romance set in 19th century India, more
accurately the Punjab and Lahore, by a Boston-born
stockbroker-turned-writer of half-British descent who converted to Islam
and lives in Karachi.
New
data on events chronicled
Bhupinder Singh Mahal
Connecting the Dots in Sikh History
by Harbans Singh Noor Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh. Pages 127.
Rs 150.
Different
writers may assess the same key event from different angles, and on
occasions, the findings may change historical dynamics. The author
singles out turning points in the Sikh history that his research shows
were not satisfactorily explained and, hence, their import not fully
understood.
With
a lot happening under
M. L. Raina
An Inch & a Half above Ground: Collected Stories
by Nirmal Verma Translated from Hindi
by Jai Rattan and Others. Rupa, New Delhi. Pages 710. Rs 395.
IN
the novella Days of Longing, the narrator, an Indian student
adrift in the bohemian haunts of Prague, makes an observation that
would sum up both Nirmal Verma’s themes and his method of
composition: "The whole day had gone by without anything like an
event, but it seemed as if after reaching a point, it had reached an
event, all of it."
Well-aimed
potshot
Kavita Soni-Sharma
Babudom Bosh + Squibs of Sweet and Sour Shots
by Shriniwas Joshi. Sanbun Publishers, New Delhi. Pages 169. Rs 150.
THIS
refreshing book containing 71 essays will bring a smile to anyone
familiar with the ways of bureaucracy. Here Shriniwas Joshi tells us of
the complicated relationship between the politician and the bureaucrat.
The politician is a master, like Phaedrus,
while the bureaucrat is his donkey.
A
perfect ten
Aruti Nayar
Nine on nine
by Nandita C. Puri, Rupa, New Delhi, Pages 209. Rs. 95
A
well-told tale has the power to make the reader forget time and space
and watch the line between fiction and reality blur as the characters
acquire a life and momentum entirely their own. Almost all the nine
stories in Puri’s collection have the grip of stories well told.
Fears
before freedom
Padam Ahlawat
The year Before Sunset
by Hugh & Colleen Gentzer, Penguin. Pages 256. Rs 250
HUGH
and Colleen Gantzer are well-known travel writers and travel documentary
makers. The husband-wife team travels for six months and probably writes
about their travels for the rest of the year. This time they have come
up with a work of fiction. They are seventh and second generation
Anglo-Indians.
The
tale of a mother’s fight
THIS
is the tale of a mother's battle on behalf of her dying 25-year-old son,
Venkatesh, who demanded euthanasia to be able to donate his organs.
''The Last Hurrah'', a 150-page fictional biography, seeks to revive the
debate on these sensitive issues as it recounts the lone fight of
Sujatha to fulfil the last wishes of her son whose earlier dream— to
be a soldier had also remained just that — a dream.
Back
of the book
-
Secret Histories
by Emma Larkin. John
Murray, London. Pages 232. £ 5
-
Swan Music
by Sarah Harrison. Hodder
& Stoughton, London. Pages 502. £ 10.99.
-
Survival and
Emancipation – Notes from Indian Women’s Struggles
by Brinda Karat. Three
Essays Collective, Gurgaon. Pages 284. Rs 275 (Hardcover Rs 595).
-
The Terracotta
Warriors
by Maurice Cotterell.
Headline, London. Pages 298. £ 7.99.
-
Views: Yours and
Mine
by Humra Quraishi. UBS
Publishers. Pages 348. Rs 245.
|
