Sunday, May 5, 2002		Books

Protest against destruction of humanity and nature
Brian Mendonca
The Upheaval (Acchev) by Pundalik N. Naik. Translated from Konkani by Vidya Pai. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Pages 144, Price Rs 295
TRUTH is stranger than fiction they say. In Pundalik Naik’s The Upheaval, it is difficult to say which is which. Published originally in Konkani in 1977 Acchev is the first Konkani novel to be translated into English. It fills a major lacuna in Goan literature.

A novel’s rebirth across time, language
Manju Jaidka
The Final Question by Saratchandra Chatterjee edited by Arup Rudra and Sukanta Chaudhuri. Ravi Dayal Publishers, Delhi. Pages 313. Rs. 395.
SARATCHANDRA CHATTERJEE, began writing under the influence of literary giants like Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chatterjee but managed to cut across class and caste distinctions, becoming far more popular than his contemporaries. His work struck a responsive chord in the readers of pre-Independence India with their thrust on contemporaneous issues and their strong emotional commitment.

Invisible workers
D. S. Cheema
Invisible Labour by Neelam Gupta. SEWA Bharat, New Delhi. Pages 58, Rs 50.
WORK, in essence, is the use of a person's physiological and mental processes in attainment of some goal. For millions of home based workers in a poor and developing country like India, the definition of work is, "any means of earning a livelihood", even in the most pathetic conditions.

The mad, magical world of Bollywood
Devinder Bir Kaur
Bollywood by Ashok Banker, Penguin. Rs 125. Pages 130
WHO can think of India without thinking of its wonderful mad world of Hindi films? The two are just inseparable. Even today films are entertainment No. 1. You just can't have enough of them. Surprisingly then, there aren't many books, let alone many worth reading, on the subject.

Journalists’ account of terrorism
Padam Ahlawat
Unholy Wars. Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism by John K. Cooley. Penguin, New Delhi. Pages 299. Rs 295
THIS is a journalist’s account of terrorism in our times. It foresees the attack on US and covers events up to the bombing of the World Trade Centre. The crashing of the aeroplanes into the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, and loss of 6,000 lives are events that happened later.

The colossal cost of keeping peace
Rashmi Sharma
Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka 1987-89 by Lt Gen Depinder Singh Natraj Publishers, Dehru Dun. Pages 206. Price Rs 395
EVEN after more than one decade, one often ponders over the question whether the Indian military intervention in Sri Lanka was worth the loss of life and limb the Indian Armed Forces suffered, the enormous financial expenditure the country had to incur and the widespread criticism it evoked even among our countrymen?

OFF THE SHELF
The poet Iqbal and religious faith
V. N. Datta
SIR Muhammad Iqbal is easily one of the greatest of Urdu and Persian poets in India. He still continues to be read, but not so widely as he was in the pre-Partition days when he was much popular in North India. A spate of literary works has appeared on his poetry, philosophy and on his political role in the creation of Pakistan.

SHORT TAKES
Jeet Mendonca’s thrilling adventures in Mumbai
Jaswant Singh
Jeet and Runaway Detective by Ramesh Rodrigues alias David Adams; Minerva Press, New Delhi; Pages 268; Rs 225.
IT is a thriller that really thrills. David Adams, a private eye with a London security service, is on the trail of a fellow detective who has robbed a client and decamped. The search takes Adams to Mumbai where his distant cousin, Jeet Mendonca, teams up with him in the hunt for the fugitive.

BOOK EXTRACT
Not really needed now
THE interiors of the garage attached to our home were dark, suffocating, heavy with the strange smell of stale garlic. And when our Baby Hindustan was to be disposed of, a long line of people waited their turn outside, to jam weary bodies into this garage hole.