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Pathos of a king without a kingdom
The King in Exile: The Fall of
the Royal Family of Burma
By Sudha Shah. Harper Collins. Pages 456. Rs 799
Reviewed by Harbans Singh
THE mystique attached to royalty continues to charm mankind the world over. That explains why we are attracted to even the Bourbons and the Tsars who manufactured their own tragedies. Even our very own Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Emperor whose command could not be heard beyond the walls of Red Fort, has been romanticised, one suspects more because of the poignancy of his poetry. We saw this aura at work again in Romania three years after the fall of Communism in 1989. King Michael I of Romania, who had been forced by the Communists to abdicate in 1947, and had become a commercial pilot, returned to the country to celebrate Easter, and was greeted by a million people.
Nothing quite like chai
Hot Tea Across India By Rishad Saam
Mehta. Tranquebar. Pages 191. Rs 195
Reviewed by Vibha Sharma
Roadside tea stalls make their presence felt almost everywhere throughout India. They do not just serve a rejuvenating drink , tea, to weary travellers but work as perfect guides. Priceless information is given to the people on the roads, as are local news updates and correct shortcuts. Tea which is soon going to get its due by being honoured as India's national drink, humbly conjoins the adventures of Rishad Saam in Hot Tea Across India.
Revving up the inner search engine
Power, Passion and Purpose By Ann Nichols
Roulac. Rupa.
Pages 247. Rs 295
Search Inside Yourself By Chade Meng-Tan@@Harper Collins. Pages 268.
Rs 299
Reviewed by Aditi Garg
A journey inside your self is a journey of self-discovery. What you feel, how you react and what you do are all dependent on the energy inside all of us and how we choose to channel it. From our health to our personality, we can choose to determine our state. Power, Passion and Purpose shows the way to improve upon the various aspects of life by quoting experts in each field from medicine, spirituality, wellbeing and alternative therapies.
Looking at Punjab through prism of history
Punjab
Reconsidered, History, Culture and PracticeEd Anshu Malhotra, Farina Mir. Oxford
University Press.
Pages 461. Rs 695
Reviewed by Kanwalpreet
punjab, as it was and even now, has a rich past that is being delved into by serious researchers who want to put history of the region in the correct perspective. For this, an analytical study is needed. Editors have published a set of papers giving an insight into the history of the region.
Principles of love and life
Tyagpatra or The Resignation is a beautifully narrated tale that has been retold with conviction
The
Resignation (Tyagpatra) by
Jainendra. Translated by Rohini
Chaudhury.
Penguin.
Pages 178.
Rs 250
Love and all that it entails forms a major chunk of fiction written around the world. But very few remain relevant ages after being written. Tyagpatra or The Resignation is a beautifully told tale that has been retold with conviction. Chaudhury brings out the pathos of the main character, Mrinal in its true force.
A roadmap for change
Revitalising Indian
Democracy By Major- General Vinod
Saighal.
Gyan. Pages 267. Rs 590
Reviewed by Abhishek Joshi
major-General
Vinod Saighal, rather than simply stating what ails Indian democracy, comes up with a workable model for stemming the rot. Called the Model for Restoration of Good Government
(MRGG), the solution is at once striking in its applicability and sincerity of purpose. Saighal says the founders of the movement will keep away from political office.
Of shamans
as mentors
The Shaman in Stilettos, By Anna Hunt,
Penguin
£8.99
Anna Hunt
was a wealthy, glamorous journalist: “London's Carrie Bradshaw”. But she felt unfulfilled, so she took off to an expensive retreat in Peru for some me-time. Under the mentorship of the handsome and enigmatic Maximo Morales, she learned the therapeutic craft of the shaman, and resolved to spread the word to stressed-out city-dwellers.
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