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Silent Life: Memoirs of a
Writer
by Chaman Nahal. Roli. Pages 285. Rs 295.
I look forward to reading memoirs
as opportunities for treading paths traversed by others and
simultaneously elapsing from the ennui of my predictable pattern of
existence. Undoubtedly, the drudgery ceases as one can gasp with awesome
fascination at achievements and similarly, feel a vicarious glee at the
follies and foibles imbued and gloat over fallibility as being
unanimous.
A
melodic take on the master of bansuri
Inder Malhotra
Hariprasad Chaurasia: Romance of the Bamboo Reed
by Uma Vasudev. Shubhi. Pages 350. Rs 495.
THE art of writing biographies is,
alas, not a strong point of this country’s literary tradition. This is
not to say that biographies are not published here. They certainly are,
but the question is about their quality, not quantity. Moreover, most
biographies written here have so far concentrated on politicians.
Towering figures in literature, fine arts, music, etc, are usually
ignored.
On
surfing the offshoring wave
Peeyush Agnihotri
The Offshore Nation
by Atul Vashistha and Avinash Vashistha. Tata McGraw-Hill.
Pages 296. Rs 750.
Outsourcing seldom fails to make
news. Earlier, it was all about the brouhaha that developed countries
made about job losses and now, it is all about confidential customer
data being compromised, allegedly. Critics debate on social losses
versus economic gains while business houses swear by the net gains that
accrue through offshoring.
Across
the border, spanning time
Jyoti Singh
Season of the Rainbirds
by Nadeem Aslam.
Faber and Faber, London.
Page 195. £ 3.25.
Here is a book that can be judged
by its cover, in fact, the picture of a train crash on the cover is the
focal point around which the story revolves. The intermittent cries of
the papiha against the backdrop of rainy season, which the characters in
the story register, aptly earn the title for the prose of this exquisite
fictional debut.
Gained
in translation
Usha Bande
Literature is power and so is
translation. In a multi-lingual and plural society like ours translation
of quality literature from one regional language into another is
fundamental to the survival of our rich social fabric and cultural
heritage.
To
nuke or not to nuke
P. K. Vasudeva
Nuclear Deterrence in Southern Asia: China, India and Pakistan
Ed Arpit Rajain. Sage Publications, New Delhi. Pages: 495. Rs 480.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
returned from his official visit to the US recently with the most
important signing of a document on nuclear clearance for civilian use.
He got Washington’s commitment to help India in the civilian use of
nuclear technology, especially in the area of power generation.
The
faraway world
Aditya Rishi
Tales of the Future:
Ten Best Sci-Fi Stories by Jayant Narlikar.
Witness Books, Delhi. Pages 216. Rs 250.
As the waters rose in Mumbai, I
held back my review. I lay at periscopic depth, waiting to see the end
of it. As the roads came out of the watery grave, I watched in horror
how close and how quickly the professor’s prediction had come to life.
Vying
for the crown
Priyanka Singh
Veggies Go on a Beauty Parade
by Chetna Keer Banerjee. Rupa. Pages 24. Rs 50.
Just this once, children would
actually be delighted to hear about vegetables! Chetna weaves a charming
story around vain vegetables competing for the annual veggies’ beauty
pageant.
IMPRINT
Go the
cinema way
David Usborne
Nearly
half a century after it was written by Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation
classic On the Road is finally headed for the cinema. The long
wait has only heightened the expectations of a project that will always
run the risk of disappointing the millions of Kerouac disciples for whom
the book, published in 1957, was an almost sacred text of rebellious
self-discovery and literary exuberance.
On
Assam’s film pioneer
He made the first Assamese
film Joymoti in 1931 when the era of silent movies was over and
Indian ‘talking film’ production was still in nascency but it is
unfortunate that Jyotiprasad Agarwalla, the pioneering film-maker of
extraordinary talent, hardly finds a place in the annals of Indian
cinema history.
Short
Takes
Schools
for thought
Randeep Wadehra
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Madrasas in India
ed by Akhtarul Wasey. Global Media Publications. Pages 123. Rs 300
-
Freedom Struggle in
East Punjab States
by Chander Shekhar Azad
Azad Publications, Ludhiana. Pages 233. Rs 200.
-
Reflections of India
by Jagman Singh. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co (Pvt) Ltd. Pages
xi+612.
Price not mentioned.
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