Sunday, June 8, 2003		Books

The many faces of Sikh diaspora
Roopinder Singh
The Global Indian: The Rise of Sikhs Abroad
by Gurmukh Singh, Rupa, New Delhi. Pages 289. Rs 2,500.
THE movement of Punjabis from what was the land of five rivers began after Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death. Sikhs became an important part of the British Army and this took them to the southeastern parts of the Asian continent, and then to Britain, the US and eventually the whole world.

Understanding the spirit of Islam
L. H. Naqvi
On Developing Theology of Peace in Islam
by Asghar Ali Engineer. Sterling, New Delhi. Pages 220. Rs 400.
ISLAM is the most reviled religion. At the global level it is projected as a religion of violence, hate and civil strife. In the domestic context it is a religion of a category of people who are described as "mlechha"—one who is outside the recognised Indian religious and social structures.

Freedom to rob & exploit
Shelley Walia
On Power and Ideology: The Mangua Lectures
by Noam Chomsky. South End Press, Cambridge, US. Pages 140. $13
THE US international and security policy forms the main subject of Chomsky’s five lectures at the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua. The intellectually daring audience at these lectures consisted of academics from Nicaragua and other Costa Rican universities.

Origin & evolution of language
Gobind Thukral
Signification in Language and Culture
edited by Harjeet Singh Gill. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Pages xi+675. Rs 950.
SIGNIFICATION in Language and Culture is an anthology of papers presented at the international symposium on Signification in Buddhist and French Traditions (with its impact on later developments in India and Europe) held at the Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, in September 2001.

A heap of dim-lit personal memories of an indigenous utopia
Rana Nayar
Remembering Preet Nagar
by Urmila Anand, translated into English by S. K. Bhatia, Guru Nanak Dev University Press, Amritsar. Pages 82. Rs150.
MAN’S desire to create a world within a world, a secular utopia lies embedded somewhere in the religious fantasy of the Promised Land. A strange blend of myth and reality, this desire incarnates itself differently in different human beings.

Spilling blood over sand
Harbans Singh
Blood and Sand — The West Asian Tragedy
by S. Nihal Singh. CBS, New Delhi. Pages 334. Rs 550.
WITH his vast experience of world affairs and the distinction of having edited the Khaleej Times in the Persian Gulf for nearly seven years, S. Nihal Singh bears impeccable credentials to unfold the never-ending tragedy and heartbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation.

Quest in the realm of tantra
Krishan Malhotra
Mahayana Tantra: An Introduction
by Shri Dharamakirti, Penguin, New Delhi. Rs 200.
THIS book may be called as ‘Experiments with Truth’ because it not only offers an exposition of Mahayana Tantra but it records the personal experiences of the author in the realm of spirituality. The author is a disciple of His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Write view
Healthy fare indeed!
Randeep Wadehra
Good Health: The Alternative Way
by Katie Coutts with Marion Quinn Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi. Pages 304. Rs. 195.
HEALTH is essential for our happiness, but the human body is susceptible to various ailments. Reasons can vary from stress to genetic disorders to a sedentary lifestyle. Though modern medicine has made tremendous progress, yet, despite sophisticated diagnostic techniques, it has been unable to provide a cure to all the ailments.

Concept of freedom and postmodernist thought
D.R. Chaudhry
Freedom
by Zygmunt Bauman. World View, Delhi. Pages 106. Rs. 70
ZYGMUNT Bauman is one of the leading lights among post-modernists. In his numerous works like Individualised Society, On Modernity, Post-modernity and the Intellectuals he has focused his attention on the agonising situation of an individual in the modern consumer society.

The strategy for making strategies
B. B. Goel
Business Policy and Strategic Management
by Sukul Lomash and P.K. Mishra. Vikas, Delhi. Pages xxiv+381. Rs 180.
STRATEGIC management in the current market scenario is one of the trustworthiest signs of good governance. It is an analytical thinking process, thereby committing resources for the profitability and viability of a venture. It is fundamentally a market driven and customer-oriented entrepreneurial activity and aims at capitalising market opportunities.