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Architect of
Partition
Reviewed by Parshotam Mehra
Road to Pakistan: The Life and Times of
Mohammad Ali Jinnah
By B. R. Nanda
Routledge. Pages viii + 373. Rs 745.
ALONGSIDE
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah was among the stalwarts of
the 20th century India responsible for the creation of Pakistan in
1947.`A0He was the first head of Pakistan who sadly did not live long
enough to preside over the destinies of the new nation he had, almost
single-handedly, helped create.`A0Along with Syed (later Sir Syed) Ahmad
Khan (1817-98), the ideologue, and Mohammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the poet,
Jinnah had been responsible for the birth and evolution of a separate
Muslim identity in the sub-continent. They had shaped, and led, the war
of Muslim communalism to its ultimate success.
Phenomenal
crusader
Reviewed by Kanchan Mehta
Milestones: A Memoir
By Indrani Jagjivan Ram.
Translated from Hindi by Tara Joshi.
Penguin. Pages 297. Rs 550.
MEMOIR
and autobiography/ biography group together with the focus on some
valiant, phenomenal personality. Likewise, telling essentially the
rudiments of life—history of the champion of the Dalits, ardent
freedom fighter and frontline national leader—Milestones reads
like an unfinished biography (as it covers only till 1972) of the
legendary Jagjivan Ram, the phenomenal crusader and achiever.
‘Decent
work’ a distant dream
Reviewed by Ram Varma
Improving Policy Coherence in
South Asia
Ed. Manas Bhattacharya.
ILO and Academic Foundation. Pages 426. Rs 1,295.
THE
workman is the principal engine of production, primary agent of growth
and very bedrock of progress and prosperity. Yet, at least in the South
Asian countries, he is wedded to poverty, wears a lean and hungry look
and lives in peripheral, makeshift shanties—the spectre of joblessness
haunting him forever. He is "blissfully" unaware that the
International Labour Office (ILO) has mandated that he is entitled to
what it calls "decent work", defined as "decent and
productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human
dignity".
In
the heart of darkness
Reviewed by Shalini Rawat
Black Light
By Rimi B. Chatterjee
HarperCollins. Pages 272. Rs 299.
"What is a woman without
pride?" Mahapajapati shrugged.
"She is herself."
THIS
dialogue between two characters in a story within the main text is more
or less summative of the way the world deems it fit to perceive women.
Social mores seem to be a remote control device for muting the qualities
of originality, creativity, assertiveness et al of the female. Instead,
she is socially programmed to be obedient, submissive and passive—in
short a washed out version of the bold, decisive and active male. This,
too, is the story of a female who finds her creative voice stifled and
is forced to lead a double life—a woman whose pride is synonymous with
her Self.
Writing
for every reason and season
From scams to shams, all
major happenings inspired books, a trend likely to spill into 2011
Humra Quraishi
Gone
are those days of Munshi Premchand, when books made way rather
too subtly or when authors were few and fewer in the making. Today,
there is a book for not just every single season but for any of the
relevant reasons of a particular season — scams, scandals, shams and
sexual escapades.
Tete-a-tete
Woman of many
hues
Nonika Singh
One
moment she mesmerises audiences with her sterling performance in
M. K Raina’s much acclaimed play Buhe Baariyan. With effortless
`E9lan, she fits into the part of a mother in many a Punjabi film.
Anchor of several television shows, this associate professor of fine
arts is as comfortable pouring her feelings on the canvas as emoting on
stage. So, which is the real Neeta Mohindra?
Short Takes
Of folk
theatre, tribes and communal politics
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Hoor Menaka: The Seductress
by Rajbir Deswal
Pages: 48. Rs. 50
Since
ancient times, there have been mutually enriching exchanges
between folklore and Sanskrit texts. This is evident from the stories
appearing in the various Puranas having similarities with those having
plebian roots like oral literature. Haryana’s swang is a fine
example of this process which involved a creative mix of history,
mythology and fantasy. The story of Menaka and Vishvamitra appears, with
certain variations, in different texts ranging from the Mahabharata to
Kalidasa’s works. Some experts see in these stories evidence of
ethnicity and caste-based rivalries.
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