Sunday, April 21, 2002		Books

Positive dimensions of ethnicity
Madan Mohan Puri
Ethnicity and Nation-Building in South Asia
by Unnila Phadnis and Rajat Ganguly, Sage, New Delhi. Pages 467. Price Rs 300.
MANIFESTLY a post-Colonial phenomenon, ethnic fires the world over burn with varying intensity and impact. In the world defined by empires, they were ruthlessly doused—--often in blood—--or somehow managed and kept subdued or effectively driven subterranean.

How humanitarian can you get!
Shelley Walia
Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs
by Noam Chomsky. Pluto Press, London. Pages 252 £10.99
THOUGH it is difficult to erase or destroy the governing ideas of our culture, the individual can at least rupture or disrupt them by showing how they have been constructed, and how contrary opinions are left out or relegated to the margins.

Sepia-tainted nostalgia of the Raj
Harbans Singh
The Last Days of the Raj
by Trevor Royle. Rupa & Co, New Delhi. Pages 291. Price Rs 195
AFTER having endured the period of the 1960s and 70s when the British imperial rule was frequently castigated by intellectuals, The Last Days of the Raj takes the reader through those momentous last days which marked the end of a relationship, and which, according to the author, was "not always unequal or unfair; (nor) was it a simple matter of exploitation." Obviously, the book is an Englishman’s view of the last days of the Raj.

Scholars on WTO’s meaning
P. K. Vasudeva
WTO & Competitiveness: Challenges for Indian Business and Management Education
edited by D Paduranga Rao, Excel Books, New Delhi. Pages 639. Rs 495
THERE have been vicissitudes in the world economy, especially after the ongoing war against terrorism in Afghanistan. Global financial markets have come under severe pressure. There is a decline in the foreign direct investment inflows. Trade balances are adversely affected.

An experimental poet who excels in blank verse
M.L. Sharma
NAI Sadi Ka Sannata is the 11th literary work by Madhav Kaushik, a well-known literary figure of Chandigarh. It is also his tenth poetical work. He has compiled these 83 poems, both in blank verse and in metre. They deal with multifarious subjects and reflect his confidence and excellence in poetry.

Music that symbolises the rhythm of life & death
G. K. Pandey
Romance of the Raga
by Vijaya Moorthy Pages 129 Price Rs.1,200
CLASSICAL music of India is undoubtedly one of the refined and sophisticated forms of artistic music in the subcontinent. Numerous books have been written on the subject and the latest addition is Romance of the Raga.

Quest for new physics of creation
Arun Gaur
The Sign of the Serpent: Key to Life Energy
by Mark Balfour. Published by UBSPD Price: 225 Pages 201
FROM the nucleus of pure cosmic consciousness, creativity radiates and the serpent is a symbol of this consciousness — it is the central thesis of the present work of Mark Balfour.

A literary journey of the chaar dhaam
Padam Ahlawat
Badrinath and Kedarnath. The Dhaams in the Himalayas.
by Subhadra Sen Gupta, Rupa, New Delhi, Pp.81 Rs 95
THE author has brought out a series on the chaar dhaam, which are the most sacred places of pilgrimage for the Hindus. These tirthas of Badrinath, Puri, Rameshwaram and Dwarka are located in the most picturesque locations. The books are illustrated with appealing photographs.

SHORT TAKES
Gems from Tagore’s treasure trove
Jaswant Singh
My Boyhood Days; Four Chapters Selected Poems (Vol I to V );
by Rabindranath Tagore Rupa and Company, New Delhi Rs 50 each.
RUPA and Company, which has already published some works of Tagore in English in their series "Rabindra Rachnavali", have now come out with these new volumes. "My Boyhood Days", written in 1940, just a year before the poet’s demise, constitutes memories of his early life.

BOOK EXTRACT
One image draws from the next frame...
The last wilderness
by Nirmal Verma Published by Indigo Pages: 296. Price: Rs 295
I SEE HIM in the distance. Alone, or is that someone with him? It’s impossible to tell. He is in a dip of the slope where, if he had a companion, he or she would be invisible to me. I’ve given up wondering. He is now in the last grove of trees, under that green ceiling, shot with gold by the setting sun. Above it is the conclave of the birds and above that sky, stars, air .... and then nothingness.