Contemporary Kautilya
Kanwalpreet
To Uphold the World: The Message of Ashoka & Kautilya for the 21st Century
by Bruce Rich. Penguin. Pages 326. Rs 495
THIS book tries to find alternatives to uphold the strife-torn world. Bruce Rich finds his answers in the thoughts and practices of Kautilya and Ashoka, " ...unquestionably two of the most extraordinary and, at least in the West, unappreciated figures in world history." In fact, these two figures are neglected even in the country of their birth. Except for a passing reference in different courses in the universities in India, their thoughts are not studied in depth.

How Lao Tzu’s wisdom will help you
Kavita Soni-Sharma
Change your Thoughts—Change your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao
by Dr Wayne W. Dyer. Hay House, New Delhi. Pages 392. Rs 395.
Attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching or the Great Way has been called the wisest book ever written. In this collection of 81 poems, we are confronted with mysterious language, a voice at times extremely personal in its moral and ethical revelations, and at other times enigmatic, teasing us out of our rationality into deeper considerations of who we are, where we are and what we are doing.

BOOKS RECEIVED: PUNJABI

The great revolutionary
K. C. Yadav
Bhagat Singh: The Eternal Rebel
by Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich Publications Division, New Delhi. Pages 206. Rs 150.
THE centenary year of Bhagat Singh, 2007, prompted many people to write on the great revolutionary. As a result, there is a proliferation of writings on his life and work. Seeing their content, one can easily place these writings into two distinct, if not neat, categories—one, those paying tributes to the great revolutionary and the other, discussing/analysing his life, ideas, work and so forth.

All about romance
Manmeet Sodhi
Shall we dance Mr Koshy?
by Thangasurabi Bright Raj Frog Books. Pages 329. Rs 345
THIS is a soft, mellow, heart warming love tale suffused with pink clouds et al. It is about an extraordinary association between two individuals driven by distinct passions. Candace, a misfit merchandiser, 23 years of age with a ‘brain of Shakespeare’s theatre assistant’ is pissed off with her lifeless existence in the garment industry.

Immigrant curry
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
Spicing Up Britain
by Panikos Panayi. Reaktion Books Pages 288. £ 19.25
PANIKOS Panayi has written extensively about migrants. His books surprise and gratify, draw readers into the alternative history of this mongrel nation, unmade and remade by waves of outsiders—and not only the usual suspects. He has studied German migrants in the UK, earlier Italian and Spanish migrations to England, and other unrecognised groups.

The sensible boy
Chetan Bhagat has retained his down-to-earth attitude even as he has shot to the top of the bestseller charts. His latest book is in its 16th reprint within a week of its launch and has had a print run of lakhs. Roopinder Singh interviews the author.

Tale of friends and follies
The 3 Mistakes of my Life
by Chetan Bhagat. Rupa. Pages 258. Rs 95
I got a mail from a mother in Pune. "When I read about your third book, I became happy ...and sad, because my 16-year-old daughter and I used to read your books together and laugh together a lot. But I have lost her last year. She would have been so happy to be there....to meet you."

Look, who's writing
Political memoirs almost always create a flutter and generate considerable interest. Paul Vallely examines what makes people write these and what purpose do they serve
POOR old Gordon Brown is facing an onslaught from three different sets of memoirs, which have been released in recent days, by Cherie Blair, John Prescott and Lord Levy. All of them have unflattering things to say about the Prime Minister's personality and behaviour.

PUNJABI REVIEW
Realistic stories
B. S. Thaur
Bauney
by B. S. Bir Arsi Publishers, Delhi. Pages 168. Rs 165.
THIS book is a collection of 21 stories in Punjabi by B.S. Bir who already has to his credit several books in Punjabi and Hindi. The headings of some of the stories are so colloquial and satirical that even an onlooker would get curious and itches to know the end of it. Story after story offers a similar treat and the reader tends to read the whole book in one go.

SHORT TAKES
Power of mantras
Randeep Wadehra

  • Mantras: the sacred chants
    by Swami Veda Bharati Wisdom Tree. Pages: ix+123. Rs 125

  • Law functioning in Germany & India
    by Harpreet Sandhu Baikunth Publications, Ludhiana Pages: 140. Rs 250

  • Quit smoking
    by Surinder K Jindal Vitasta, New Delhi Pages: xiii+217. Rs 250

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