|
War that shaped history
Reviewed by Major-Gen
Rajendra Nath
India-Pakistan War 1971
By Major-Gen Kuldip Singh Bajwa. Har-Anand.
Pages 285. Rs 695
The 1971 India-Pakistan War started mainly due to the internal problems of Pakistan. The two wings of Pakistan were well separated and had deep
differences.
The book recounts the various
milestones of the India-Pakistan War of 1971 and is an interesting,
well-woven account. The author has appropriately dedicated this book
to Indira Gandhi and Field Marshal Manekshaw, who played leading role
in India’s brilliant victory in 1971 war.
Ventured
and gained
Reviewed by Balwinder
Kaur
How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company
By Varun Agarwal.
Rupa Publications. Pages 249. Rs 140
Varun Agarwal is the odd man out,
having veered from the trajectory set by his parents and society; he
enjoys the undesirable scrutiny his career choices or lack thereof
have garnered. How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded A Million
Dollar Company is the story of Varun Agarwal, written by Varun
Agarwal. A 20-something self-proclaimed loser; he is at the crossroads
in life where he has to choose his career path and there is fair bit
of cacophony surrounding him.
Defining the hyphens in knowledge
Reviewed by Manisha Gangahar
Inter-Sections
By Rana Nayar
Orient Black Swan
Pages: 276. Rs 445
Defamiliarising the familiar is
what Inter-Sections attempts to do, while emphasising the need
for a contrapuntal reading, not merely of texts but also of structures
and systems of knowledge. Yes, the hyphenated title is what first
catches the attention, and the author, in anticipation, clarifies:
"it is not a quirky decision… it focuses on interdisciplinary
nature and engagement with diverse ideas." Brooding melancholic tale
Reviewed by Aradhika Sharma
Ships That Pass
By Shashi Deshpande.
Rain Tree. Pages 136. Rs 295.
When Shashi Deshpande writes a
new book, every lover of fiction, pauses before the book in the
bookstores, and at least has a look at the fly leaf. The winner of the
Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2009, Deshpande’s
contribution to English literature has been creditable.
Proud
inheritor of a legacy
Nonika Singh
Not too long ago she was
trying to live down the comparisons with her illustrious parents Raja
and Radha Reddy. Today a dancer in her own right, Kuchipudi exponent
Yamini Reddy is looking for signs of a dancer in her month-and-a- half
old son. The talented dancer who is currently on a temporary
sabbatical from performing on stage, shares the joy of being a mother,
of creation and above all being the daughter of her parents.
Teen MBA, anyone?
Reviewed by Pooja Dadwal
MBA AT 16
By Subroto Bagchi. Penguin Young Adult. Pages 157. Rs 199
Many a teenage dream of starting
one’s own business has had to taste dust at the altar of confusion.
Faced with a deluge of available data, the best of us have found
ourselves at our wit's end when it comes to assessing this
increasingly widening web of information (that gets more complicated
by the second). Today, the average teenager would rather respond to
the latest app (which ironically is all about business) than show even
a flicker of interest in understanding the inspiring world of
commerce. And taking stock of the situation and acting as its
spokesperson is Subroto Bagchi, with his aptly titled teen guide
called MBA AT 16.
Indian diplomat pens mythological epic
Madhushree Chatterjee
An Indian diplomat in London
has written a mythological adventure novel drawn from the vast
repertoire of Indian spirituality and metaphysics. In Jaal,
author Sangeeta Bahadur combines laws of matter, the Hindu story of
creation, mythology, Vedic philosophy and metaphysics to weave the
epic of Aushij, the Lord of Maya (illusion) and Arihant, a young
warrior with divine powers. Arihant is both a Taraak (saviour)
and a Vinashak (destroyer).
International scene
A novel of ideas that is fun
All
novels about the future are in some sense about the present. But they
are also about the present's desire that there be a future, and one
that we have some hope of understanding. One of the attractive things
about 2312 is that its central characters, who are endlessly
free to zip around the inhabited parts of the solar system, are
nonetheless constrained by death, irritation and falling in love.
|
