Short Takes
Snapshots of years gone by
Randeep Wadehra

Riding Piggyback
by Rajinder Kaur (Translation: Komal Saini Pathak & Clifton Ivan Marques) Kunmun Publications, Chandigarh. Pages: x+225+vii. Rs 195.

Rajinder Kaur’s book fetes nostalgia. She was born in a village exactly when the 10 pm train was passing by. Since there were no clocks/watches around, it was assumed that the train was on time. Her birth was celebrated by distributing shakkar. There are anecdotes of how, as an infant, she survived a fall from the rooftop; and as a school-going kid almost died due to drowning. But the one that stands out is where she depicts a child’s dilemma: how to behave while visiting other people’s homes.

Her parents berate her for not eating on one occasion and thrash her for being a glutton the next.

Each autobiographical snapshot is complete in itself but it doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s enjoyable nevertheless.

Mathematics for Special Childrern
by Dr Rajkumari Gupta Unistar, Chandigarh. Pages: 96. Rs 60.

We aren’t familiar with the term ‘Dyscalculia’; although its symptoms are recognisable, viz, inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In other words, a child’s poor mental-math ability that becomes the parents’ despair and teachers’ headache. How does one teach math to a dyscalculic child? Gupta’s book has tried to resolve the problem. She has presented math lessons in a manner that should help both the teacher and the taught. It’s good to note that India’s special child is beginning to get tangible practical help. Hope to see more of such books on different subjects that target other differently enabled kids.

Mission India
by APJ Abdul Kalam & YS Rajan. Puffin Books. Pages: viii+103. Rs 95.

In various fora, President Kalam has been elucidating his vision of a developed India for quite some time now. This book examines the state of certain strategic and core industries like agriculture, food processing, chemical and biotechnology that have a crucial role to play in developing the Indian economy. It also has a look at our tertiary sector and, importantly, the education system; infrastructure and healthcare too come under the authors’ scrutiny.

The authors make it quite clear that technology, in conjunction with healthy and skilled human resource, will enable India to become a fully developed economy.

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