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Satyam’s
half-truth
Reviewed by Nirmal Sandhu
The Double Life of Ramalinga
Raju
by Kingshuk Nag.
HarperCollins.
Page 182. Rs 250.
THE
writer and the publisher have shown indecent haste in bringing out a
book on the country’s "biggest corporate fraud"
perpetrated at Satyam by its own promoter. An attractive subject, no
doubt. The publisher’s intent
to cash in on public curiosity and a journalist’s desire to be the
first with a book, it seems, prevailed over patience to wait till it
is all over.
Massacre
revisited
Reviewed by Roopinder Singh
I Accuse ... The Anti-Sikh
Violence of 1984
By Jarnail Singh.
Penguin/Viking.
Pages 165. Rs 350.
SIKHS
were slaughtered following the assassination of then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi in 1984. The attacks were planned, politically guided
and provided for, and the coercive power of the state was only used to
disarm the victims where they defended themselves, or assist
attackers.
Mess
in higher education
Reviewed by Anand Prakash
Higher Education in Haryana:
A View from Within
By Bhim S. Dahiya.
Shanti Prakashan, Rohtak.
Pages 185. Rs 550.
BHIM
S. DAHIYA’s Higher Education in Haryana: A View from Within
is sure to create waves for its exposure of things that happen behind
the scenes to control education and educationists.
Strenuous
life of a patriot
Reviewed by Kanchan Mehta
Bose of Nakamuraya: An Indian
Revolutionary in Japan
By Takeshi Nakajima. Translated from Japanese into English by Prem
Motwani.
Promilla and Co. Pages 323. Rs 700.
THIS
illustrated monumental biography covers a broad spectrum of issues:
decoding "the puzzle called Rash Bihari Bose" recording his
life story, evolution of the Indian freedom struggle, the connection
of Bose and Nakamuraya, biculturalism, Japan’s expansionism and
history of Asia in the first half of the 20th century.
URDU REVIEW
Transcending
prevalent ideologies
Reviewed by Nirbhai Singh
The Romance that Stayed:
Window on Select Urdu Progressives
by Harbhajan Singh Deol.
Aesthetic Publications, Ludhiana.
Pages. xxiii+120. Rs 200.
THE
author inherited love for Urdu poetry from his father that stays to
the marrow in his writings. He evinced revolutionary ideas from
Marxian thought. The romance of progressive thoughts awakened his
dormant "spirit of creativity".
SHORT TAKES
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Pilgrimage to Paradise: Sufi tales from Rumi
By Kamla K. Kapur.
Penguin.
Pages: xvi+158. Rs. 200
Madhushala
makeover
Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala
gets a new avatar
WHEN
megastar Amitabh Bachchan and other members of his family took to the
podium to recite from Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala — The
House of Wine, commemorating his 102nd birth anniversary,
nostalgia was in the air as the book was launched in a new avatar.
Tête-à-tête
Sounds
for the soul
Nonika Singh
ONE
moment, he has masses swaying to his Punjabi pop. Yet another time,
when he dons the mantle of a Sufi singer, connoisseurs swear by his
power to make listeners transcend the material world. The shining star
of Punjabi singing’s firmament, also a consummate Sufi singer, to
whom devotional singing comes as naturally, Hans Raj Hans is God’s
chosen child. People accept him in varied roles.
Bullet,
proof
Quaid Najmi
With all its blood and bravery, 26/11 has spawned many a book
Blood
and gore, fear, good versus evil, acts of valour, moving tales of
survivors, grief, a dash of high society...26/11, perhaps more than
any other single event in India’s recent history, had all that it
takes to spawn books and movies.
Two
much trouble
ONE
of India’s bestselling authors Chetan Bhagat feels that
non-acceptance of and resistance towards inter-regional or
inter-religious marriages in modern India "shows how divided our
country is".
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