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My name is Salman
Reviewed by Rumina Sethi
Midnight’s Diaspora:
Encounters with Salman Rushdie.
Ed. Daniel Herwitz and Ashutosh Varshney.
Penguin/Viking, New Delhi.
Pages 149. Rs. 399.
TWENTY
years ago, as I left India to study literature at Cambridge, a fatwa
was issued against an up-and-coming author that was to become an avid
topic of dinner-time conversations for months to come. I was the new
arrival from a country that had just banned Salman Rushdie’s The
Satanic Verses and was forced to take positions at all such
discussions between sub-continent sentiments and literary
forthrightness.
Nonchalantly
insolent
Reviewed by Gayatri
Rajwade
Piggies on the Railway: A
Kasthuri Kumar Mystery
by Smita Jain.
Tranquebar/Westland.
Pages 402. Rs 295.
ALAS!
Lady-detectives, Indian lady-detectives are elusive literary
creatures. Despite the plethora of contemporary characters that the
modern Indian writer has cajoled out of the mighty pen, this earthling
has failed to evolve.
When
love conflicts with ‘honour’
Reviewed by Aradhika Sharma
Come, Before Evening Falls
By Manjul Bajaj.
Hatchett.
Rs 295. Pages 238.
THE
theme of the book is honour—of men, communities and the honourable
choices that we do or do not make. The question that Manjul Bajaj
raises is, is it OK to compromise your honour even if it is for the
most beautiful, noble end? Should honour be sacrificed under any
circumstances? She manages to convince you that it is not.
Genesis
of troubles in Punjab
Reviewed by Kanwalpreet
1984: Lessons from
History—Intrigue and Conflict in Centre-Sikh Relations
By Harminder Kaur.
Corporate Vision.
Pages 246. Rs 595.
WHEN
you read the title of this book, the initial reaction is: "yet
another work on the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in the
tragic year of 1984!" Yet only after going through the first few
pages, you see the depth of the book.
SHORT TAKES
Tryst with truth
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
What is man? Selected writings of Madhava Ashish
Penguin.
Pages xiii+304. Rs 350.
“My
creative part is unfulfilled”
Madhusree Chatterjee
THE
writer in the busy Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi
Tharoor appears to have taken a backseat. And the minister is wistful.
"I have not written anything in a while since joining the
government, barring tweeting and writing regular official notes and
missives," says Tharoor, with a twinge of regret and nostalgia.
Tęte-ŕ-tęte
An
enigma called Sonal
Nonika Singh
LIKE
her dance, celebrated dancer Sonal Mansingh, recipient of India’s
second highest honour, the Padma Vibhushan, and many other awards like
the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Kalidas Samman, is timeless.
Refusing to age in spirit or belief, the fire in her blazes still.
Nook
boss heads B&N
Stephen Foley
BARNES
& NOBLE, the world’s largest bookseller, promoted the
30-something boss of its online business to run the whole company.
William Lynch, who only joined the company 13 months ago, is now the
chief executive. He has vowed to continue expanding the retailer’s
e-books business, which he said was "key to our future".
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