Befitting way to bring Faiz alive
Reviewed by Rakshanda Jalil
Faiz Ahmed Faiz: His Life, His Poems.
The Way It was Once
Biography by Ali Madeeh Hashmi and poems translated
by Shoaib Hashmi.
Harper Collins. Pages 256. Rs 499.
While Urdu literature itself is rich with many diverse genres and styles, sadly the tradition of critical literary biographies is missing. What we have are largely hagiographical accounts of: great writers, with little or no attempt to place their life and work in a larger perspective. Fortunately, a new breed of scholars, often not from conventional academic backgrounds, are doing a fine job of accessing Urdu texts and writers and placing them before a wider audience by using English as a link language.

Refreshing narrative
Reviewed by Kanwalpreet
Tea for two and a piece of cake
By Preeti Shenoy. Random House,
Noida. Pages 263. Rs 125
A story that is as common but addictive as tea in our daily lives. A not-so extraordinary girl, Nisha, who has minimum expectations from life gets sucked into situations not of her own making. In the beginning, she appears impulsive but very happy with her job which eggs her on. Gradually, as she grows in life she accepts whatever is in her fate, introspects and then faces life. Her determination , sometimes, takes the reader by surprise. It engulfs the reader, yet leaves plenty of breathing space to enjoy the plot.

How the global impacts the local
Reviewed by Ambika Sharma
Sustainability of rights after globalisation
Ed. Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury,
Ishita Dey
Sage. Pages 258. Rs 795
Rights form a crucial part of the civilised society where their sustainability, especially after globalisation, which presents both possibilities and challenges, has become an issue of concern. The book throws up pertinent questions like how equal is a commoner and how local hold over common property resources have transformed after privatisation and enactment of liberal laws.

Voice of the bard of myths 
Vandana Shukla
For a teacher of maths, being recognised as a poet is a bit unusual. Perhaps not! Jayant Mahapatra, the celebrated poet from Orissa taught physics all his life while earning accolades as a poet. Paramveer Singh is perhaps following his footsteps, in Punjab. However, for this recipient of the Yuva Puraskar, 2011, introduced by Sahitya Akademi this year, recognition has come early.

Saving Face shows mirror to society
The Oscar honour for Sharmeen puts the focus on acid attack victims of Pakistan and how they fight back resiliently, writes Surekha Kadapa Bose
It's a story that's been told again and again in almost all South Asian countries. Be it India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, it's not uncommon for women in this part of the world to be viciously targeted; inflicted with the most gruesome torture in the form of acid attacks.

Grimm's Fairy Tales in a new form
Philip Pullman, the celebrated author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, is to publish new adaptations of 50 of his favourite Grimm's Fairy Tales this autumn, 200 years after the works were first published.

Struck by the mystique of art
Author, critic and art curator Ina Puri may have succumbed to the mesmerising world of art decades ago but even today she is raring to go, writes Nonika Singh
Art is such a seductive world that before you know you are seduced." This writer of several books, including three on the famous painter Manjit Bawa is busy channelling her energies on getting those interested in art "hooked."

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