Bapu’s murder trial
Kanwalpreet
‘Let’s Kill Gandhi!’: A Chronicle of his Last Days, the Conspiracy, Murder, Investigation and Trial
by Tushar A. Gandhi. Rupa.
Pages 987. Rs 995.
It is rightly said that the life of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was very rich. Though many writers have delved into his life, thoughts and actions, he continues to remain elusive. Each attempt sheds new light on the leader who dreamt of "Ram Rajya" or an ideal polity. In the past, Prof. Bhikhu Parekh, Raj Mohan Gandhi and Kamran Shahid have been some of the intellectuals who have analysed the leader who has been treated as a demi-God by generations of his countrymen.

Tagore deconstructed
Shalini Rawat
My Life in My Words
by Rabindranath Tagore.
(Letters selected and edited by Uma Das Gupta).
Penguin. Rs 495. Pages 395.
Once again I wake up when the night has waned/when the world opens all its petals once more/and this is an endless wonder. ‘Bismay’ Parisesh; 1932. "Does one write poetry to explain something? Something felt within the heart tries to find outside shape as a poem. So when listening to a poem, (if) anyone says he has not understood, I am nonplussed.

Another world is possible
D.S. Cheema
Making Globalization Work
by Joseph Stiglitz. Penguin Books.
Pages 358. Rs 595.
The book is the "next stop" in the series of great works like Globalization and its Discontent and The Roaring Nineties by the Nobel Prize-winning author Joseph Stiglitz who is considered a great thought-leader in the world of economics. With his experience as Chairman of Council of Economic Advisors under President Clinton and as Chief Economist of the World Bank, he is the best person to tell us how globalisation can work. While his earlier works showed why globalisation failed, the present book discusses how globalisation can be properly managed to the great benefits of both the developing and developed world.

Balancing choices
B.S. Thaur
Having it all... and Making it Work
by D. Quinn Mill, Sasha K. Mattu and Kirstin R. Hornby. Pearson Education Ltd. Pages 144.
This book is about maintaining a balance between one’s working life and family life. The authors have given a six-step plan to help shed differences and dichotomies that often exist between couples. The six steps are in fact sure-shot tips as how to have a fast-track career and a fulfilling personal life.

House of endless stories
The Top of the Raintree
by Kamalini Sengupta
IndiaInk/Roli Books
Pages 291. Rs 295
Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly’’ and in a similar vein, the house that holds Kamalini Sengupta’s treasure-trove of stories, The Top of the Raintree, effectively draws the reader in through the front door, backdoor, the garden and even the roof. Stylishly named the Rajmahal, this "creamy white" gorgeous turn-of-the-century Calcutta house on Chowringhee, also has an abundance of voluble and vociferous ghosts enjoying an unlimited, unpaid-for stay in its four floors, to help in the story telling by adding their own masala and mischief.

Portrait of a reader as writer
For Sham Lal, a book was not an escape from real, all-too-real problems of life, but a way of dwelling intelligently in this world, questioning ideas and power. A tribute to the eminent editor-writer by
Manish Chand

Sharp focus on child rights
Amarjeet Sinha
Focus on children under six (FOCUS) Abridged Report 2006
published by Citizen’s Initiative for the Rights of Children Under Six (CIRCUS).
The FOCUS Report is unique in many ways. First, unlike most Indian academic publications, it is an action-oriented report exhorting the reader to act for the well-being and rights of Indian children under the age of six years.

SHORT TAKES
RJs and civilisation
Randeep Wadehra
Incantations and other stories
by Anjana Appachana
Penguin. Pages 178. Rs 195.
Womanhood in different situations forms the main theme of this collection of eight short stories. My Only Gods is about a girl-child who is possessive about her parents to manic extent. Her insecurities have been highlighted with great sensitivity.

The Radio Jockey Handbook
by Simran Kohli
Fusion Books, N. Delhi. Pages XXVI+200. Rs 195.
Indus Civilization
Ed by Toshiki Osada
Manohar, N. Delhi. Pages: 269. Rs 750.

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