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Politics of
religion
Kanwalpreet
The Hindu-Muslim Divide: A
Fresh Look
by Amrik Singh.Vitasta Publishing.
Pages 238. Rs 345.
There
is no holding Amrik Singh,
the author of this book. He takes up issues and lays them threadbare,
dissecting each problem in his own thoughtful way. The book is dedicated
to his grandchildren, who he hopes will be witness to "a more
relaxed India". A noble thought indeed, but the beauty of the work
is that he subconsciously dedicates his thoughts to his readers by
involving them. Thus, it becomes more of a discussion between an elder
in the family and an awe-struck curious progeny.
The
poverty of aid
Ash Narain Roy
United Nations Development Aid: A Study in History and Politics
by Digambar Bhouraskar.
Academic Foundation, New Delhi. Pages 269. Rs 695
Human
development is the primary
objective of United Nations development aid. International aid and
technical assistance are among the most powerful weapons in the war
against poverty, misery and economic marginalisation. Despite decades of
UN development aid, aimed at accelerating the pace of economic and
social development, poverty and destitution, inequality and structural
vulnerability of the recipient countries remain substantial across the
globe.
Old
novel, new theory
Jane
Austen’s portrayal of
William Darcy, in the novel Pride and Prejudice, with his
characteristic reticence and off-hand behaviour may have made him a
heart-throb among women, but an academic thinks that autism was the
reason for his being tight-lipped.
Return
of the Kama Sutra
With Deepak Chopra and Pavan
Varma entering the list of writers on the Kama Sutra, there are
more versions of the book, reports B.K. Roy
For
generations people have giggled nervously at the very mention of the Kama
Sutra. Kama Sutra had meant two words suggesting similar things to
all. A book of positions so impossible that you’d need Tom Cruise,
John Woo and 50 stuntmen to help you through it.
Of
blood red in olive green
Himmat Singh Gill
Victoria Cross Winners of India
By Jaswant Singh and Manvendra Singh.
Rupa. Pages 186. Rs 395.
Lean
in page size, but not in
terms of bravery and Herculean conduct of the soldiers who sacrificed
their all in the service of the British government in the First and
Second World Wars, this is the saga of Victoria Cross winners from India
by the father-son team of former Defence Minister Jaswant Singh and
Manvendra.
A
pleasant time pass
Rachna Singh
Looking for the Big B:
Bollywood Bachchan & Me
by Jessica Hines.
Bloomsbury Publishers.
Pages 286. Rs 385.
Books
on the life and work of
Amitabh Bachchan have of late been flooding the market. And why ever
not? Bachchan is after all a Bollywood living legend. Be it a temple in
Kolkata where he is the reigning deity or be it the waxworks of Madame
Tussaud, Amitabh seems to have caught the imagination of not only the
celebrity-starved Indian public but also the international film
fraternity.
Handy
tips for managers
D.S. Cheema
Big Winners and Big Losers
by Alfred A. Marcus.
Wharton School Publishing.
Pages 396. Price not stated.
If
history is any guide, it
appears two subjects have churned out maximum printed pages,
self-management and business management literature, in that order. The
trend for business management books was started by In Search of
Excellence published in 1982. Since then a revolution has been
brewing.
Flip
side of development
B.S. Thaur
The Politics of Every Day Life
by Paul Ginsborg. Penguin.
Pages 214. Rs 245.
This
book brings into sharp focus
the impact of modern development for the last more than three decades on
economics and politics the world over. The author, Paul Ginsborg, has
forcefully argued as to how binary categories like riches and poverty,
power and powerlessness, male and female, profits and ethics,
environmental conservation and depletion of natural resources, are going
to confront population at large.
SHORT TAKES
Wealth of
detail
Randeep Wadehra
Butterflies of North-West India
by HR Pajni, HS Rose and VK Walia
Atma Ram & Sons, Chandigarh.
Pages 115. Price not stated
Like
homo-sapiens, in the animal
world too the glamorous outbid their plain cousins and siblings in
popularity stakes. Thus it is the colorful butterfly that attracts us
while the grey-brown moth is ignored if not actually abhorred. Belonging
to the Lepidoptera order of insects, both have two pairs of
scale-covered wings.
Now
in other languages
There is good news for those Pakistanis who could not read President
General Pervez Musharraf’s book In the Line of Fire in English.
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