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Way to live a
good life
Reviewed by Ashok Kumar Yadav
Perfect Health in 20 Weeks
by Amar Chandel.
Konark Publishers.
Pages 146. Rs 195.
THIS
book is certainly not a sermon. It is in fact an interactive dialogue,
between the author and the reader. But there is a difference. Here the
reader does not ask questions, and he does not have to, in fact. It is
rather the author who peeps into the mind of the reader, anticipates
what the latter may need to clarify, addresses his doubts and guides
him to regain what he has already lost by sheer aberration in his
lifestyle.
Disparate
vignettes
Reviewed by Aradhika
Sharma
Kanya and Other Tales
by Amreeta Sen.
Malini.
Pages 196. Rs 175.
THIS
is a collection of Amreeta Sen’s works, carefully picked out from
her many publications in The Statesman, The Times of India and The
Tribune. Amreeta Sen, journalist, writer, mother, and above all,
woman, brings in all the sensibilities of the manifold roles that she
has played in her life into the pages of this book.
Understanding
Islam
Reviewed by Parbina Rashid
Muslims in India: Perceptions
& Misperceptions
Edited by Ishtiyaque Danish.
Global Media Publications.
Pages 168. Rs 400.
LET
me start with a confession. As a journalist, my brush with religion
has been limited to its periphery, the cultural aspect of it to be
precise, and, as a person, I do not understand religion at all.
However, my lack of interest or ignorance has not been able to save me
from those pointed questions thrown at me at times: Why does Islam
breed violence or why do Muslims multiply mindlessly?
Moving
portrayal of human pathos
Reviewed by Ramesh Luthra
Venus Crossing
by Kalpana Swaminathan.
Penguin Books.
Pages 244. Rs 275.
Kalpana
Swaminathan’s Venus Crossing stands tall in the genre
of short story in English. It is a masterpiece of craftsmanship of
story writing that brings forth very artistically the deep
complexities of human relationships. She focuses on "the instant
of transit, that moment when the impossible—the unthinkable—is
absorbed into the fabric of life so that life can be lived again. That
moment is everything; revelation, challenge existence". The
stories are a fine study of female psyche in the context of various
situations.
Woven
masterpieces
Indian
Saris: Traditions, Perspective, Design, by Vijai Singh Katiyar, a
faculty member at National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, is a
coffee-table volume with which the author and NID students, who also
turn into models, have taken a contemporary look at an ageless
apparel.
SHORT TAKES
Soldiers, poets and prisoners of hate
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
The Soldiers’ 2nd Innings
by Maj Gen Surjit Singh (retd) &
Lt Col Kanwal Dev Singh (retd)
MacMillan.
Pages: xx+139. Rs 495.
Tween
talk
Renu Rakesh
At 60, Shobhaa De reaches out to
GenNext with tween title
Sometimes
referred to as the Jackie Collins of Indian fiction, author
Shobhaa De has, through her books and columns, reached out to a wide
spectrum of readers. Her latest book S' Secrets sees her
blending a promise she made to her six children of writing a book for
them and her rich experiences as a receptive mother into her latest
tale that is moved forward by teenager protagonist Sandhya. De says
the book is "for tweens, not a preachy handbook on modern-day
parenting but a real book dealing with real tween issues".
Seeking
balance
Nonika Singh
IT
was legendary Amrita Pritam who set him on the poetic path some
three decades ago by publishing his poem in her prestigious Punjabi
magazine Nagmani. Since then, eminent poet Jaswant Deed has
come a long way. Back then, his teacher, noted writer Dr Dalip Kaur
Tiwana, told him: "Now you consider yourself a poet". Today,
the literary galaxy seems to have acknowledged his poetic mettle.
While in 2007 he won the coveted Sahitya Akademi award, this year he
has been honoured with the Shiromani Punjabi Kavi Samman that carries
a cash award of Rs 2. 5 lakh. Yet, instead of walking on cloud nine,
Deed exclaims, "Awards do not offer the same fulfilment as, say,
writing a poem or a piece of prose".
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