Drawing room deliberations
Aradhika Sharma
Superstar India From Incredible to Unstoppable
by Shobhaa De. Penguin. Pages 442. Rs 350.
WELL, we can’t say that the book is boring. It’s not. But it is a bit disappointing. Is it supposed to be a social commentary on India as it is today and has evolved over the past 60 years? Is it a series of columns that have been put together after having reworked them? Is it a book of memoirs of Shobha De Superstar, as she turns 60, coincidentally with India?

Extraordinary performer
Ambika Sharma
If Better is Possible
by John Buchanan. Pages 252. Rs 295.
WHILE there is no sure-short formula to success, victories in cricket are attributed to the adaptability of a coach to a team and how well the former comprehends their capabilities. It is a well thought-out combination of the two, which can deliver and also take a team to new heights.

How to really have fun at work
Laxmi Kant Verma
The Power of Humour at the Workplace
by K. Sathyanarayana. Sage Publications. Pages 284. Rs 295.
HAVING a good sense of humour is very important; otherwise life would be incredibly dull and boring. Laughter is the best medicine, so its significance becomes even more important in today’s fast-changing business environment, where cut-throat competition is involved. Also, humour helps in relieving stress, improving communications, promoting creativity, teamwork and fun at workplace.

A fight for women’s rights
Jyoti Singh
Women’s Livelihood Rights: Recasting Citizenship for Development
Ed. Sumi Krishna. Sage Publications. Pages 404. Rs 695.
THE freedom struggle in India did result in an awakening of women to the possibility of their own emancipation, though in a limited sense. In 1931, the Fundamental Rights Resolution of the Indian National Congress stated that the freedom, justice, dignity and equality for women were essential for nation building. These ideas were also enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Journey to redemption
Amar Nath Wadehra
One Master one Disciple
by Jyotii Subramanian. Yogi Impressions, Mumbai. Pages IX+174. Rs 250.
BORN feet-first, Jyotii appeared destined for an unusual life. A pampered child, she grew up listening and learning Carnatic music and wearing ahead-of-the-time dresses, thanks to her entrepreneur mother. Belonging to a family from Kerala’s Palakkad district, she had spent her childhood in Bengal and Bihar before finally moving to Chandigarh (the move was triggered off by a chance eavesdropping by her father on the sweet-nothings that his teenage daughter was exchanging with a lad over the phone).

On road to peace through conflict
Himmat Singh Gill
Four Crises And A Peace Process
By P.R.Chari, Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, Stephen P.Cohen Harper Collins. Pages 252. Rs 495
Pakistan’s Iqbal Cheema and P.R Chari, members of two thinktanks on both sides of the border, and Stephen Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, have got together to write about four crises, which in their reckoning enveloped the sub-continent post-1971, and have thereafter traced the various peace processes that ultimately were able to de-escalate these explosive situations and in one case an armed conflict.

Emotion of devotion
Kuldip Dhiman
Understanding Bhakti
by H. P. Sah Kalpaz Publications, Delhi Price: Rs 750, Pages: 286
WHAT does bhakti or devotion mean? At least to the Indian reader, the answer might be obvious. Some might say it is the devotee’s love for God, and this might bring the images of Meera and Chaitanya to their minds. In his well-reasoned book Understanding Bhakti, H. P. Sah shows that devotion or bhakti has many dimensions, and it could be understood through various angles.

Tales of wacky titles
WACKY titles and contents may sound interesting but such books have spawned more imitative work and might not entice readers who mostly like to gel with the protagonist’s actual life or share his or her dreams, feel some authors while for others they do make an impact.

Gone With the Wind: The legend lives on
WHEN Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind to pass time during an illness, she could never have foreseen its amazing popularity. As a musical of the novel hit the West End recently, Liz Thomson traces the life story of its reclusive author.

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