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A virtual danger
zone
Reviewed by Amar Chandel
Vulnerable India: A
Geographical Study of Disasters
By Anu Kapoor.
Sage Publications.
Pages 269. Rs 850.
FRANKLY,
a geographical study is not something which normally grips the
attention of a lay reader. It can at best appeal to academics with
adequate grounding in the subject. However, Anu Kapoor, who is
Associate Professor of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, has
managed to do the impossible through her riveting style of writing.
Inimitable
songster
Reviewed by Harbans Singh
My Name is Gauhar Jaan! The Life and Times of a Musician
By Vikram Sampath.
Rupa.
Pages 318. Rs 595.
THE
title of the book is appropriately taken from the "high pitched
and flirtatious announcement" made towards the end of the
earliest recordings of Indian music symbolises the pioneering of
"a major revolution in the field of Indian classical music".
Slice
of rural life
Reviewed by Shalini Rawat
Panchlight and Other Stories
By Phanishwar Nath Renu.
Trans Rakhshanda Jalil.
Orient BlackSwan.
Pages 145. Rs 275.
THE
cover photo best sums up the image we have of Bihar today—of a river
in spate, with two children astride wading buffaloes and (probably)
their parents following them clutching their meagre belongings. Bihar
nowadays captures headlines usually because of its disasters, both
manmade and natural, or because of its backwardness and poverty.
History
and fiction blended
Reviewed by Ramesh Luthra
A Time Elsewhere
By J. P. Das.
Trans Jatindra K. Nayak.
Penguin.
Pages 454. Rs 350.
THE
novel A Time Elsewhere by J.P. Das, a bureaucrat-turned
writer, playwright, novelist and critic, is a skilful display of
hard work and research. Das, who felt the absence of any political,
social and literary history of Orissa, has tried to capture different
aspects of life of people of the state beautifully.
Stimulating
discourse
Kanchan Mehta
Crossing Borders: Post 1980
Subcontinental Writing in English
Ed. Jasbir Jain.
Rawat Publications.
Pages 270. Rs 695.
ORIGINATING
as an anthology of some papers presented at a seminar by a galaxy of
well-known authors and scholars, the book discourses upon some crucial
issues—inevitability and utility of crossing borders, exile/
homelessness, problem of identity, violence and power struggle.
Capital
gain
Zafri Mudasser Nofil
The love story of a Delhi couple is the theme of the new Jeffrey
Archer book
A
Delhi couple falling in love
while waiting for a traffic light to turn green in the Capital will
figure in one of the several stories of a new book by celebrated
British writer Jeffrey Archer, which is having a special India launch.
The story in question is about Jamwal and Nisha who fall in love while
waiting at a traffic signal.
SHORT TAKES
Intrigue, passion
and media
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Broken News
by Amrita Tripathi
Tranquebar.
Pages X + 234. Rs 250.
-
Writing, Print
Media, Planning & Publishing
by Arjman Chand Goel.
Decent Publishers.
Pages 180. Rs 225.
-
Sir Chhotu Ram
by Balbir Singh.
Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Pages 350. Rs 190.
Holiday
handbook
Reviewed by Paloma Ganguly
Must for Mums Delhi;
by Rina Mehta. Rs 210.
SUMMER
is upon us and, in no time, so will the school holidays be. So,
all Delhi moms — and exceptional dads — who are beginning to sweat
at the thought of keeping the children busy, here's an idea: go buy
this handbook.
Tête-à-tête
Dogri
dramatised
Nonika Singh
Beneath
Balwant Thakur’s affable demeanour lurks a resolve of steel.
And it’s his never-say-die spirit that gives him the strength
to be a fulltime theatreperson. That, too, in a city like Jammu,
where conditions for artistes, to put it mildly, are far from
amenable. Yet, Thakur has not only made his theatre group
Natrang a force to reckon with but also created audiences for
theatre in a place where people are more accustomed to curfews
and disturbances rather than dramas and plays.
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