Nuclear energy, media & murder
Reviewed by Aditi Garg

Breaking Ground: Journey Into the Media… And Out
By Rami Chhabra
National Book Trust. Pages 469. Rs 305

At a time when women are rubbing shoulders with men in most fields, in India they still have to struggle to prove themselves to be on a par with the male of the species, even when they are better. A candid view of how the media treats women, especially those who choose to stick to their guns in the face of severe opposition has been presented in Breaking Ground: Journey Into the Media…And Out. Rami Chhabra has been associated with the media since a time when women were looked down upon in the media circle. She still managed to hold her own and make an indelible mark.

Starting in the 1960s as a student who created a niche for herself in a leading newspaper, she chalked out the course for an illustrious career that found resonance in the corridors of the Government as well. Not one to mince words, she never feared to speak out her mind. She had enough conviction in her abilities to be able to work flexi-hours even when she was just starting out. She reflects upon many unusual, intriguing and inane experiences she had, be it as an Indian teenaged model making headlines in Japan, or while undertaking a 2000-km road journey. She also gave up the lucrative post of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Planning.

A woman who had her feet firmly planted in principles, she fought for what she believed in, even when many in positions of power were up against her. Her work for the HIV Aids patients, family planning and emancipation of women has won her laurels. Globalisation, politicisation and other changes of the media opened up a new set of problems that left her disillusioned with the system and she decided that it was time for her to move on and explore the next stage in her life. Told with heartfelt sincerity, the book is a wonderful read. It is not only an eye-opener about the complexities of media and its working but it also gives an insight into an era goneby.

The Power of Promise — Examining Nuclear Energy in India
By M.V. Ramana
Penguin Books. Pages 366. Rs 699

Nuclear energy has been heralded as a magical solution to all of India’s energy woes and people have been awaiting that magical unfolding of events for many a decade now. What has been sold to the ordinary man as a dream for unlimited, clean and cheap energy has not been able to hit the mark even after much research and spending lots of money. The debate about nuclear energy cannot just be dismissed as it being good or bad. It calls for serious discussion about its viability. M.V. Ramana’s book, The Power of Promise — Examining Nuclear Energy in India, explores the possibility of providing enough energy to feed the growing needs of a developing nation from the viewpoint of someone who is well-versed with the subject. He examines the effectiveness of using a fuel that is one of the most toxic fuels in the world and is capable of having serious world-wide negative implications. The waste that is generated in facilities where nuclear reactions are carried out for production of electricity is also toxic and resistant to bio-degradation, thereby poisoning the environment around it permanently. It was touted as a cheap fuel but has cost billions of rupees to set up the units to generate energy and for research, without much success. The book is a must read for anyone interested in knowing the future of India, based on nuclear energy as a basis of development.

A Degree In Death
By Ruby Gupta
Alchemy Publishers. Pages 278. Rs 225

Nothing compares to the thrill of reading a well-written murder mystery. As the pages turn, the complexity of the plot builds up and the suspense keeps the reader hooked to the whodunit. Keeping pace with the evolving times, Ruby Gupta’s A Degree in Death revolves around a campus rocked by murders with social media sites holding the clues to the same. A professor and head at a renowned institute, she is also a writer of repute. Her prowess as a writer with adequate grip on her characters and situations is obvious from the way she has the power to keep the reader engrossed.

The mystery of the murders at the prestigious MIST institute and the hurling of suspicion from professors to students and vice-versa had the entire institute in a tizzy. Not simply petty college politics, the book has a bigger web of conspiracy that leaves everyone bewildered as the murderer is revealed.

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