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A bridge too
far
Rumina Sethi
Deepening Democracy: Challenges
of Governance and Globalization in India.
by Madhu Purnima Kishwar.
Oxford. Pages 334. Rs. 595.
In
1985, when Madhu Kishwar
published her hugely popular article, Gandhi on Women, in the EPW,
she criticised the Mahatma for advocating mere "benevolence"
by those in authority towards the downtrodden instead of striving to
remove economic injustices altogether. In Deepening Democracy,
Kishwar’s heart is still in the right place: her focus is on the
growing rift between the urban elite and the rural poor.
Choices,
development, and ethics
Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal
The Ethics of Development: From
Economism to Human Development
by Des Gasper. Vistaar New Delhi. Pages 255. Rs 295.
"Development
ethics" is a term that
emerged in 1959 in the work of Louis-Joseph Lebret, a French economist.
Nevertheless, there were important academic works such as writings by
John Locke (1632-1704), Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), J. S. Mill (1806-73)
and Karl Marx (1818-83) that covered such concerns without using this
label. Danis Goulet (1971), Peter Berger (1974), E. F. Schumacher
(1973), and Amartya Sen (1999) further developed the idea of development
ethics.
Ray
is electric
Shalini Rawat
Speaking of Films: Satyajit Ray
Translated from Bangla
by Gopa Majumdar
Penguin. Pages 220. Rs 275.
This
first-ever English
translation of Ray’s Bishay Chalchitra, a collection of essays
describing his worldview on films, reinforces our ideas about him, that
Satyajit Ray’s art was rooted firmly in the Bengali ethos and yet it
manifested the avant-garde techniques and topics of his time. It
iterates that Ray’s novels, stories as well as this anthology mirror
the unique charm and lucidity that characterised all his films. His
comments and analysis in this volume of essays makes it a veritable
first reader for anyone wanting a peep into the world of films.
Buy
books by page
Chris Gaither and Julie Tamaki
Amazon.com
Inc. previewed a service to
sell just a few pages or chapters of a book—allowing one of the
world’s oldest mediums to be chopped up and customised like an album
on iTunes. Although he offered few details, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos
said Amazon customers soon would be able to buy snippets of books for as
little as a few cents a page. That might come in handy for tourists
planning a trip, chefs seeking recipes or students assigned one chapter
in an expensive textbook.
Ties
that bind and gag
Parshotam Mehra
Sino-Mongolian Relations
1949-2004.
by Shakti Madhok.
Reliance Publishing House, New Delhi.
Pages 246. Rs 260.
In
the heart of Asia stretch
two vast and empty lands, Tibet and Mongolia: with an area of 1.2 m sq
km, the Tibet Autonomous Region has a bare 1.8 m population, while
Mongolia’s 1.5 m sq km is home to less than 3 million persons. Both
nations have exercised (and still do) a profound impact on their
populous and powerful neighbours (Tibet on China and India; and Mongolia
on China and Russia).
He
held a mirror to society
After Prem Chand’s
125th birth anniversary year, R.L. Singhal
takes a look at the seminal contribution of the pioneering author
Munshi
Prem Chand,
whose genius has not yet been fully recognised in India (the land of his
birth), is one of the greatest novelists that the world has produced. He
is undoubtedly the most widely read author in modern Hindi literature,
and in the domain of fiction he remains peerless to this day. This doyen
of Hindi letters was born on July 31, , in a small village, Lamhi, near
Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Confetti
Prattlers
S. Nihal Singh
Gained
in translation
Komal Vijay Singh
Japuji As I Understood
by Santokh Singh Johal
Sanbun Publishers
Pages 152. Rs 150.
The
Sikh Scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, opens with the Japuji
Sahib, a collection of hymns composed by Guru Nanak, which
encapsulate the essence of Sikh philosophy and theology. Designated the
morning prayer, it is to be recited at amritvela (the pre-dawn
ambrosial hour). In the sacred hymn, Guru Nanak outlined his vision of
God as One Being, the Timeless Truth, the Master-Creator, the Unborn,
the Fearless One. The Japuji Sahib comprises the Mul Mantra
( the prologue epitomising the basic underlying principle of Sikhism),
an introductory sloka, 38 stanzas called pauris (steps)
and the epilogue in the form of a concluding sloka.
Write
is might
Sugita Katyal
THE
Empire Writes Back. That’s what the world said when a host of Indian
authors writing in English burst upon the global literary scene more
than a decade ago.
Back
of the book
The Essential Dalai Lama
His important Teachings
Edited by Rajiv Mehrotra
Penguin Viking, Rs 350, Pages 258
His
Holiness the Dalai Lama, one
of the most eminent spiritual teachers of our times, reaches out across
nations, religions and ideologies. An embodiment of the highest
aspirations of the Buddhist path, his writings and ideas have had a
powerful impact on millions of people worldwide, and to many he is a
Buddha. Now, for the fist time, this substantive selection offers the
Dalai Lama’s most significant teachings and insights.
Hindi
Review
Unusual
ghazals
Ashok Malik
Ve Baagh Aankhen
Poetry collection by Dr Paresh, Gajanan Prakashan, Chandigarh. Pages 92.
Rs 120.
Mein aur Bougainvillea
Ghazal collection by Satish Bedaag, Udan Publications, Mansa. Pages 111.
Rs 110.
Self-publication
is often seen as vanity publication and is not very well
regarded, but likes of Dr Paresh (he has authored over a dozen acclaimed
books) can never be placed in that basket. The self-publication of his
latest collection of poetry may thus be seen as an effort to avoid the
hassles of finding a publisher for his mostly esoteric poems.
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