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Connecting the planet
Reviewed by Roopinder Singh
BlackBerry: The Inside
Story of Research in Motion
By Rod McQueen. Hachette. Pages 320. Rs
495.
THE meaning of a word
should be understood by the way in which it is used within its social
context, said the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. When we speak of
BlackBerry these days, we have not ‘Arundhatised’ the world with
an unconventional capitalisation, but changed its meaning from that of
a berry to an object that is the centre of a cult, in fact, the one
that has become one of the defining symbols of business in action.
The mystery of vanishing
Sarasvati
Reviewed by Kuldip Dhiman
The Lost River: On the
Trail of the Sarasvati
By Michel Danino. Penguin Books. Pages
358. Rs 399.
THE
importance of Ganges
as the most sacred river in Indian culture cannot be overstressed.
However, there was another river which was a lot more important than
the Ganges. In fact, there are not very significant references to the
Ganges in the Vedas. The pride of place was given to the Sarasvati, a
river that no longer exists!
Straight from her heart
Reviewed by Aradhika Sharma
From Me to You: Writings
on Love, Life and Learning
By Sathya Saran. Westland. Rs 250. Pages
212.
THOSE of us, who have
grown up in the cultural ethos that the magazine Femina fashioned,
are quite familiar with the column, From Me to You, by Sathya
Saran. Without a doubt, we may say that Saran was one of the foremost
voices of conscience, who "raised issues", when we were not
even familiar with the concept of "issues".
History, mythology
remixed
Reviewed by Sai R. Vaidyanathan
The Immortals of Meluha
By Amish Tripathi. Tara Press, New Delhi. Pages 398. Rs 295.
THIS
one definitely is a
page-turner. And as it has action, drama, adventure and romance, a
prolific reader can finish its 390-odd pages off in two sittings and
an average one in about five. The writer, after having read Vedic
mythology and ancient Indian history, has let his imagination fly.
Silky ride
David Evans
A Carpet Ride to Khiva:
Seven Years on the Silk Road
By Christopher Aslan
Alexander. Icon Books. Pages 336. £8.99.
THE British author
Christopher Alexander travelled to Khiva, an ancient Silk Road outpost
in northwest Uzbekistan, to work for a Swedish NGO, and ended up
making the place his home. Immersing himself in the country’s
language and culture, he became fascinated by kilims (hand-woven rugs)
and established a workshop in a disused madrasa (school) to help
revive age-old weaving techniques cast aside during the Soviet era.
Caste apart
The rise of Dalit
literature marks a new chapter for India's marginalised class
Andrew Buncombe
AJAY
NAVARIA, a writer
of novels and short stories, cannot help but laugh as he reflects on
the nature of his "other" job of teaching Hindu ethics and
the so-called "untouchables", and a little more than a
generation ago, for him to have even been discussing Hindu texts would
have been an offence that could have cost him his life. The fact that
he now teaches them brings a smile to his face.
Tete-a-tete
Stage presence
Nonika Singh
Nearly three decades
ago, he was a part of the crowd scene for a play Dhamak Nagade Di.
Today, Amritsar-based theatre person Kewal Dhaliwal draws crowds for
plays. As his group Manch Rangmanch is all set to celebrate the 20th
anniversary of its inception this year, he jogs down the memory lane
to recount his journey that has been more than momentous and fruitful.
SHORT TAKES
Bengaluru beckons
Randeep Wadehra
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