Impressive compendium
Reviewed by Roopinder Singh
Encyclopedia of Hinduism
by Ed. Kapil Kapoor.
Rupa & Co. Pages 7,184. Rs 21,000
The editors have drawn on over 2,000 scholars for contributions. The encyclopaedia does not confine itself to religion alone, and has in it entries on art, history, language, literature, philosophy, polity, sciences, and even women studies
Hinduism has a hoary past, and countless attempts have been made to understand the faith, its precepts and practices. Indeed, the list of scholars who have worked on Hinduism is as long as it is impressive. It is an ocean into which many have taken a dip and explored what they found, yet they were always acutely aware that what they had grasped was merely a microcosm.

Fair forthright account
Reviewed by Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu
Beyond the Border
by Yoginder Sikand
Pages 298. Rs 350
Beyond the Border, based on two journeys that writer-academic Yoginder Sikand undertook to Pakistan, is a strikingly unconventional account of what life is like for ‘ordinary’ Pakistanis. The Pakistan he discovers only remotely resembles the stereotypical Muslim nation of the collective Indian imagination. From Shiela, the daughter of a feudal lord, named after her mother’s Indian best friend to a rundown, local eatery owner who offers the author free food because Sikand is the first Indian to visit his stall, encounters with Pakistanis from all walks of life reflects a very different image—that of a Pakistan as diverse, paradoxical and rich in narrative as India.

Tribute to ancient India
Reviewed by Harbans Singh
Ashoka
by Charles Allen. Little Brown.
Pages 460. Rs 750
Charles Allen’s Ashoka is not just the story of a monarch but that of the long lost ancient India. The book is, in no small measure, a tribute to those archaeologists who despite often being plagued by petty jealousies, competition and ego clashes have thwarted the combined efforts of bigots, iconoclasts and the elements to excise ancient India from human memory. Often it happened due to the omission of the Brahmins who would not yield any space to Buddhist India but more often because of the wanton vandalism of the Muslim invaders.

Sex, drugs and JFK: Memoir of a White House intern
Guy Adams
When a retired church administrator called Mimi Alford decided to write a memoir of her teenaged love affair with President John F Kennedy, her revelations about the Camelot-era White House. “I’ve seen enough to know what an extraordinary heart and soul exists in this book,” Random House’s Executive Editor, Susan Mercandett, told The New York Times, after paying “close to” $1m (£630,000) for the story. “It’s about a loss of innocence. I was just struck by how simple, yet how profound it was.” The book’s author, he added, was “just not that type of person, where she’s going to spill her guts about intimate stuff for the whole country to see”.

Date with history, well kept
Reviewed by Belu Maheshwari
Our History, Their History: The Contrasting Historical Narratives of East and West
by G.S Cheema. Manohar. Pages 248. Rs 825
The real value addition of history is not to know the tales or narratives of bygone times but to be able to understand the present by the study of the past. It is not only about the names of kings, eventful dates, but more importantly, about every aspect of evolution of life and civilisation. The knowledge of the subject is also about answering vexatious questions of why we are what we are? Why do societies in different parts of the world behave differently for the same incident?

A spiritual journey
Reviewed by Balwinder Kaur
A Step Away From Paradise
by Thomas K. Shor.
Penguin Books. Pages 282. Rs 399.
Living happily ever after in a land of peace and plenty has been the shared dream of humanity since time immemorial, transcending national boundaries and cultural differences. Prophets leading people from a land of turmoil and suffering to the promised land is the staple of many religious texts. However, these journeys all happened a long time ago, thousands of years even. A Step Away From Paradise is the story of Tulshuk Lingpa, a modern-day lama who led hundreds to seek the promised land of Beyul Demoshong (the hidden valley) in 1962. The writer seamlessly blends the accounts of those who went on this journey to weave a fascinating tale which leaves the reader wanting answers and makes them ask at every turn "what happened next?"

“A gifted performing artiste is born, not made”
Nurturing a rich lineage of Hindustani classical music, the Mumbai-based  renowned  vocal maestro Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas is a rare blend of musical genius, academics and administration. With a Masters in sociology from Mumbai University and a doctorate in classical vocal music, Vidyadhar served as principal, Government Music College Jaipur. He was also Head Department of Music, Mumbai University, and later on, the Vice-Chancellor of the Bhatkhande Institute (deemed music university) at Lucknow. A top- grade artist of AIR, Vidyadhar learnt the finer nuances of music in the family environment and imbibed an in-depth knowledge of classical music under the tutelage of his father and guru Gyanacharya Pandit Narayanrao Vyas, the disciple of legendary Pandit Paluskar.

Capital unbound
Reviewed by Aradhika Sharma
Delirious Delhi
by Dave Prager. Harper Collins.
Rs 399. Pages 389.
‘Delhi exists in a kind of quantum state: in Delhi, all things are true at once.’
Dave Prager’s Delirious Delhi is excessively Indian. To begin with, the cover of the book is exaggeratedly Bharatiya- you know the type of retro Indian art that’s much in vogue these days - the truck art sort of art? Well, the cover jumps out at you from the bookshelves with its vivid colours, and its street-poster style graphics. Yet, it’s anything but a chalta-hai book. In fact, the observations of the couple from New York give us new insights into what should be completely familiar to us. Are we really like that? We ask while chucking at Dave’s funny but observant insights. "We are", is the answer we would give ourselves if we are honest.

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