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OFf
the shelf
An
ill-starred Maharaja
Reviewed by V. N. Datta
Sovereign, Squire and Rebel:
Maharajah Duleep Singh
By Peter Bance.
Cornet House, London.
Pages 200. $49.
THIS
book offers the blighted, tragic and pathetic life story of Maharaja
Duleep Singh, his two wives and six children. The work is elegantly
produced and profusely illustrated with over 250 rare photographic
images culled from diverse sources, especially from India, Pakistan
and England.
Of
roots and wings
Reviewed by Shalini Rawat
Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity
By Pavan K. Varma.
Penguin Books.
Pages 275. Rs 499.
COLONIALISM,
by its very nature, is a set of unequal relationships between the
colonist and the indigenous population. The driving forces behind it
are profits, power, escape from persecution/lack of opportunities in
the colonist’s metropole and conversion.
Blood
against blood
Reviewed by Kuldip Dhiman
Empire of the Moghul:
Brothers at War
By Alex Rutherford
Hachette India.
Pages 436. Rs 495.
LIKE
the first volume of the quintet Empire of the Moghul, Alex
Rutherford’s Brothers at War also opens with the death of an
emperor and the war of succession among the siblings. In December
1530, Babur’s eldest son Humayun, the fortunate one, finds himself
wearing the crown at the age of 22.
On
a holy trail
Reviewed by Harbans Singh
Reforming Vaishno Devi and a
Case for Reformed, Reawakened and Enlightened Hinduism
By Jagmohan.
Rupa.
Pages 305. Rs 395.
THE
author belongs to that rare species of Indian administrators who have,
with a judicious mix of thought and action, immensely contributed
towards improving the quality of our civic life. After a long and
distinguished career that included the office of the Governor of Jammu
and Kashmir and Union Minister, he now continues to contribute as a
scholar and thinker.
Defying
physical mortality
Reviewed by Kavita Chauhan
Royal Tombs of India: 13th to
18th Century
By A. S. Bhalla
Mapin Publishing.
Pages 152. Price not mentioned.
THE
Latin word ‘tumba’ meaning tomb is a home or house for the dead.
From the beginning, different religions and cultures have different
practices concerning burials. "Some civilisations included the
building of memorials to the dead in or next to such holy places as
mosques or churches. Indeed, in the Christian faith, many kings were
buried in churches and cathedrals."
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Speaking
of Sonia
The process of making
Sonia Gandhi learn Hindi and turn her into a public speaker
entailed a lot of team effort, says Rasheed Kidwai’s book,
Sonia: A Biography. an excerpt…
SONIA
tried to master Hindi from various sources before taking the
plunge into politics. She had begun learning Hindi at home soon
after her marriage. Indira had arranged for a tutor from the
Hindi Institute at Green Park to teach her to read and write in
the Devanagri script, and slowly, she developed a liking for the
language. Her teacher found her a good learner, who seldom
missed her homework. |
Out
of Africa
Madhusree Chatterjee
Few humorous books come out of Africa, says Nigerian Commonwealth
Writers Prize-winner
Adaobi
Tricia Nwaubani, winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2010 for the
best first book in the Africa region, says she has fulfilled her dream
of "writing the kind of humorous book that I have always wanted
to as a child".
Back
of the book
Soaps,
seasons and sprints
Sinking, Not Swimming
By Nalini Rajan.
Penguin-India. Rs 299
-
Seasons of Flight
By Manjushree Thapa.
Penguin-India Books. Rs 299.
-
Johnny Gone Down
By Karan Bajaj.
HarperCollins-India. Rs 99.
-
Sprint of the
Blackbuck: Writings of Wildlife and Conservation in South India
edited by S. Theodore Baskaran.
Penguin-Books India. Rs 299.
-
Dance O' Peacock
By Aruna Jethwani.
Cedar Books. Rs 175.
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