|
Tracing
the resurrection of Islam in Central Asia
Manisha Gangahar
Jihad: The rise of militant Islam in Central Asia.
Ahmed Rashid. Orient Longman, Hyderabad. Pages 281. Rs 295.
SINCE
Darwin’s theory of Origin of Species the concept of "survival of
the fittest" has become a mandate for modern civilisation. However,
more than proving oneself as superior it is essential to prove the other
a misfit.
Writing
and difference
Rumina Sethi
Deconstructions
edited by Nicholas Royle. 2nd edition. Palgrave Press, Hampshire and New
York. Pages 312. $ 20.
DECONSTRUCTION
is yesterday’s news. Often it is believed that ‘theory’ is a virus
or a parasite. And so the old guard waits patiently for the body politic
to restore itself to equilibrium and maintain its bodily fluids after
the ‘ghost’ has retreated and new passionate recruits have settled
down to a more sedate and stable conservatism.
Our
heroes and chinks in armour
Kuldip Singh Bajwa
Musharraf’s War
edited by Maj Gen Rajendra Nath, PVSM (retd). Lancer Books, New Delhi.
Pages 298. Rs. 580.
THE
Pakistani aggression in Kargil in 1999 was a link in the long chain of
unabated hostility towards India ever since 1947. Maj Gen Rajendra Nath
and his fellow contributors have made a commendable effort to take a
holistic view of this conflict.
One
with the world
Rajnish Wattas
Heaven and Earth and I: Ethics of Nature Conservation in Asia.
Edited by Vivek Menon & Masayuki Skamoto. Penguin Enterprise. Rs
250. Pages 201
IT
would be a lonely planet and a terrible one if there was no wildlife.
Imagine life, if one had to suffer only the company of one’s fellow
human beings. Although ancient
wisdom, folklore, philosophies and religious texts of the East are rich
with details of man’s happy co-existence with birds, animals and other
living beings, such co-existence is rare these days.
Complex
hues of India
K. Rajbir Deswal
Faiths, Fairs and Festivals of India
by C. H. Buck. Rupa & Co, Delhi. Pages 222. Rs 195.
"VAIDIYA
Dharama is like a river, which has shallows that a child may play in and
depth that the strongest diver cannot fathom." "The
habits of Musalmans in India differ considerably from those of their
confreres in Arabia, Persia, Turkey, Egypt…however the main principles
of Islam have retained their purity in India."
Cards
of fortune
Vinita Gardner
Annual Horoscope 2003 — Tarot Card Readings
by Ma Prem Usha. Fusion Books, New Delhi. Pages 400. Rs 195.
"DESTINY
is not a matter of change, it is a matter of choices; it is not a thing
to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." Ma Prem Usha, an
Osho sanyasin for over thirty years, brings this goal within the
ambit of human endeavour and achievement through her powerful Tarot card
readings.
Short takes
From Naga
nationalist to rationalist
Jaswant Singh
My Native Country: The Land of the Nagas
by V.K. Nuh. Spectrum Publications, Delhi. Pages 153. Rs 330.
THE
British kept India’s North-East closed to all except their white
officers and foreign missionaries. This gave the missionaries an open
field to convert the tribes, helped by the British officers. This went
on all through the British rule and the result has been that today the
North-Eastern hills form an almost unbroken Christian belt.
Write view
Using
spirituality to handle the vicissitudes of life
Randeep Wadehra
Transcending Sorrow through Dhyana
by Surinder Singh. Platinum Publications, Chandigarh. Pages 194. Rs 200.
WHILE
playing variegated roles as social beings, people often undergo severe
mental, physical and spiritual test. The moral fibre experiences great
stress and strain. As a result some become social renegades, iconoclasts
or cynics, while others introspect and develop a sapient mindset.
|
