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Leaves from the
past
Reviewed by Parshotam Mehra
History: Perspectives-I
Eds M. Rajivlochan, Devi Sirohi and Anu Suri.
Unistar.
Pages v+246. Rs 395.
NOT
so long back, Panjab University, Chandigarh, played host to the
Institute of Historical Studies, Kolkata, and availed of the opportunity
to assemble a fairly representative group of scholars actively engaged
in research.
Quest
for self-identity
Reviewed by Harbans Singh
Dalit Theology in the
Twenty-first Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways
Eds Sathianathan Clarke, Deenbandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock.
OUP.
Pages 302. Rs 745.
THE
Indian society has always suffered from ironical contradictions.
Otherwise, how does one explain the high place enjoyed by Valmiki, his
birth in a low caste notwithstanding, the pride that his followers take
in being his followers and the continued state of Dalitness of those who
adhere by him?
Extraordinary
mind
Reviewed by Nirbhai Singh
Understanding Gandhi: Gandhians
in Conversation with Fred J. Blum
Eds Usha Thakkar and Jayshree Mehta.
Sage.
Pages 572. Rs 550.
WE
have here a collection of interviews of Mahatma Gandhi’s closest
associates J.B. Kriplani, Raihana Tyabji, Dada Dharmadhikari, Sushila
Nayar, Jhaver Patel, and Sucheta Kriplani. These six interviews are
selected from a manuscript of 24 interviews of Gandhi’s associates.
Echoes
of the hills
Reviewed by Parbina Rashid
Three Score Assamese Poems
Compiled and translated by D. N. Bezbaruah.
National Book Trust, India.
Pages 66. Rs 35.
WHEN
you grow up reading Navkanta Barua, Nilmoni Phukan and the likes as part
of your school curriculum, the prospect of reviewing their poetry is
indeed, daunting. After all, there is no teacher’s note to guide you
through the complex maze of those beautiful minds.
Wildlife
safari
Reviewed by Uma Vasudeva
Where the Serpent Lives
By Ruth Padel.
Little Brown Book Group, London.
Pages 308. Rs 595.
RUTH
Padel has successfully ventured into the world of novel writing after
having worked in many fields — poetry, prose, broadcasting,
conservation and Charles Darwin’s quest for nature and animals.
Spring
king and queen
William Dalrymple,
Shobhaa Dé offer peeks into
their new books
WrITer
Shobhaa Dé provided a sneak preview into her forthcoming Sethji,
her first novel in 15 years, at the Penguin Spring Fever festival in the
Capital last weekend, while William Dalrymple read out an extract from
his The Return of the King: Shah Shuja And The First Anglo-Afghan
War, to be published in 2012.
Beyond
break-up
Arifa Akbar
Manju Kapur’s Custody examines the emotional fallout of divorce
and custody issues on a wealthy extended family of Delhi with a
satirical touch
A
marriage preceded or fractured by a heady, socially unacceptable romance
has emerged time and again in Manju Kapur's fiction. It reappears in her
latest novel, Custody. Here, the subject is matrimony at its most
intolerable followed by the emotional fallout of a break-up on a wealthy
extended Delhi family.
Tête-à-tête
Joy of
versatility
Nonika Singh
Audiences
simply love him. Some stiff-lipped connoisseurs, however, unable to
pigeonhole him in one fixed slot find it difficult to appreciate his
versatility. But take it or leave it, gifted sitarist Shujaat Husain
Khan won’t follow the beaten track.
Short Takes
Room for improvement
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Songs of the Soul
by S. S. Bhatti
Rosedog Books.
Pages: viii+275. Price not mentioned.
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