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Cloistered in
their world
Reviewed by Kanwalpreet
Jat Sikh Women: Social
Transformation — Changing Status and Lifestyle
by Amarinder Sandhu.
Unistar.
Pages 152. Rs 295.
PUNJAB
has been one of the most developed states of India. Though
education, economy and modernisation have gone hand in hand, there are
some areas where the state lacks. It is a male-dominated society where
preference for a male heir is rooted deep in the psyche of the men and
women alike.
Tantra
demystified
Reviewed by Seema Sachdeva
An Immortal Story
by M. Sreekumar.
Translated by Varghese C. Abraham.
Rupa.
Pages 204. Rs 195.
NARRATED
in a story-telling session, M. Sreekumar’s An Immortal Story
is a tribute to the tantric tradition, which is being widely
misunderstood due to ignorance and malpractices by certain
unscrupulous persons. Following
the pattern of ancient Indian narratives of a story within a story,
which is an important part of the tantric tradition, the book, which
has been translated from Malayalam, works on three storylines
simultaneously.
Standing
tall amidst men
Reviewed by Nonika Singh
Woman: Many Hues Many shades
Complied and edited by Satjit Wadva.
Lahore Book Shop.
Pages 162. Rs 295.
TRUE
to its title, Woman: Many Hues Many Shades is quit a
concoction. Not only in terms of content that includes articles, short
stories, poems and even quotes, but also quality that varies like
quicksilver—now enchanting, now perceptive, now engaging and now
predictable.
Classic
autobiography revisited
Reviewed by Kanchan Mehta
Ardhakathanak (A Half Story)
by Banarasidas.
Tr Rohini Chowdhury.
Penguin.
Pages 310. Rs 350.
THE
work of a poet, middle class merchant and philosopher, written
in Braj Bhasha, Ardhakathanak is indeed "half a
story", as the author communicates himself partially. Enumerating
briefly his strengths and foibles, failures and triumphs, he keeps his
intimate experiences (amorous escapades, conjugal life) and acts of
indiscretion secret.
hindi
book review
A
promising poet
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Baarish ki boondein
by Manoj Dhiman
Sahitya Silsila Prakashan.
Pages 111. Rs 150.
HINDI
poetry is blessed with rich traditions, enjoying a variety of forms.
The emphasis was on metre and, not infrequently, rhymes. However,
thought was most important, and it required exceptional talent to
weave metaphor, message and metre into a work of cadence.
Newsmakers
Humra Quraishi
Waves in the Hinterland
raises a toast to rural women reporters who made news
Mainstream
papers usually talk to the 'sarpanch' (village head) and a few other
important people. But we talk to everyone. We are interested in
everyone." This is what Shanti, 45, an ace reporter with Khabar
Lahariya (KL) has to say about the country's first and only
newspaper brought out by women in Bundeli, a dialect of Hindi spoken
in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Labour
pains
New book says Brown blamed
Blair for ruining him
Gordon
Brown subjected Tony Blair to ill-tempered and expletives-laden
tirades, claiming Blair had ruined his life, in a fierce bid for
British premiership in the months leading up to Blair's resignation,
says a controversial new book.
Pen-chant
Rushdie to pen down memoirs of
days spent in hiding from the death fatwa
BOOKER
Award Indian-origin novelist Salman Rushdie has said he plans
to pen down his experiences of a decade of hiding from a death fatwa
from the Iranian clergy.
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