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Partitioned lives
Rumina Sethi
Torn from the Roots: A Partition
Memoir
by Kamla Patel. Translated by Uma Randeria.
Women Unlimited, New Delhi.
Pages 236. Rs 350.
Stories
about the atrocities perpetrated upon women and the manifold tortures
they lived through are gradually finding an escape route in memoirs and
criticism about the Partition. This book is a step forward in this
direction. Other than the heart-rending stories of rescue and
rehabilitation, Patel’s accounts raise a deeper philosophical issue of
the use of women’s bodies as signs of male triumphalism enacted
through the violation and pollution of women.
Blogger’s
handbook
Kannan Shastri
Blog Wild!
by Andy Wibbels.
Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Pages 174. Rs 195.
Andy
Wibbels aims at simplifying the concept of the Web log, or blog, as it
is called in cyberspeak. Andy manages to take a topic, which could
easily be termed "geek-speak", and present it in such a way
that the average reader can absorb, and more importantly, enjoy
exploring it.
Colourful
vignettes of Sikh way of life
Roopinder Singh
The Great Glory: Sikhism
by Sandeep Goswami.
Photographs by Malkiat Singh
Rupa. Pages 162. Rs 1950.
A
visual feast, this coffee table book has
vignettes that depict the glory of Sikhism. The photographer has picked
rather a vast canvas, and as such much is expected from this book. Rare
photographs of gurdwaras in Pakistan, and a very interesting set on the kar
sewa, the de-silting of the Amrit Sarowar or the holy tank in
Amritsar, specially stand out from among the images that also depict the
exuberance and the joy-de-verve for which the Sikhs are known.
20 stories from 20th century
Randeep Wadehra
Slice of Life
translation and introduction by Rana Nayar.
Unistar, Chandigarh.
Pages 204. Rs 295.
The
process of rendering
original literary works into another language involves an optimum
application of skill and sensibility. Often translators become so
doggedly faithful to the original text that their efforts result in a
stiff, inelegant and eminently unreadable end product.
A
truth well told
Divya Arora
Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles
by Jeanette Winterson.
Penguin.
Pages 96. Rs 225.
Weight
is part of a series on Myths. The series contemporises the hidden
truth in each story, making it relevant today. Acclaimed British author
Jeanette Winterson ‘chose’ to re-tell the story of Atlas.
Economics
for the lay man
Deepika Gurdev
The Undercover Economist
by Tim Harford.
Pages 269. Little Brown Rs 500.
IF
you have been wondering: Why your boss is hugely overpaid and you can’t
share their pain when they get a pay cut? Why some people are doomed
losers in the property market? Why is it that the rich nations get
richer, the poor, what else but poorer? What is it that the supermarkets
don’t want you to know? Most significantly, why does your cappuccino
cost the horrendous amount that it does? How China grew rich?
Shades
of solitude
Aditi Garg
The long reverie of Partha Sarma
by C. Sriram
Penguin. Pages 231. Rs 250
A pessimist is a man who thinks
everybody as nasty as himself, and hates them for it. George Bernard
Shaw was right in thinking so; as a man who always thinks the glass is
half empty cannot think of another being worthy. The ego of a pessimist
is ever so fragile that having it battered again and again does nothing
to improve self-esteem. Such a person sees no good in nature and no
humour in any day-to-day happenings. And to be oblivious to all around
you deadens the spirit and the person is no more than a walking corpse.
Only love can then redeem the state of affairs.
For
the memsahibs of yore
Raj
Chatterjee on The Complete Indian Housekeeper & Cook,
first published in 1888, meant to assist the English girls who came to
India during the days of the Raj
IN
the bad old days of the Raj the annual summer exodus to the hills must
have resembled Napoleon’s Grand Army on the march except that camels
were used as beasts of burden instead of horse-drawn wagons, or pack
mules.
Bend
it like Beckham
Matthew Beard
England captain David Beckham has signed a
deal to bring out his third book in five years, at the age of 31, an
autobiography. He is to put pen to paper for Making it Real.
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