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Too many
turning points
The narrative does not follow
a chronological order but continuously tosses back and forth. It also
contains some pen-portraits of places and events and people that
played a role in Habib Tanvir’s life
Reviewed by Suresh Kohli
Memoirs: Habib Tanvir
Translated from Urdu by Mahmood Farooqui
Penguin Viking. Pages 345. Rs 599.
There
is nothing in Mahmood Farooqui’s Introduction to indicate
what has been left out of Habib Tanvir’s Memoirs that he
began to write in Urdu in 2004 at the ripe age of 82, and which was
planned as a "Three-part autobiography," but ended with the
first part itself… events coming to a halt in 1954. But what we do
learn from it is that he "looked aristocratic and cosmopolitan,
yet he thrived by doing plebian theatre." Besides, "he was
quite a ladies’ man"; and remained constant in his vices, right
to the end," and further adds: "His most salient quality was
his inexhaustible zest for life."
A
new perspective on the Sino-Indian war
Reviewed by D S Cheema
China’s India War 1962
Ed Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, AVSM, VrC, VM (Retd)
KW Publishers, New Delhi. Pages 332. Rs 920
The
story of the 1962 Indo-China war has been told so many times in
so many different ways that the reader does not expect anything which
has not been said earlier. Fortunately, the contributors to this
volume have analysed the causes and consequences of China’s 1962 war
and the lessons India should have learnt, from a fresh and an
unconventional minority-view angle. The book has been edited by a
distinguished soldier, Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, a Padma Bhushan
awardee and defence expert, who headed the Institute for Defence
Studies and Analysis (IDSA) for many years and is presently the
Director-General of the Centre for Air Power Studies.
The
music that tugs at heart strings
Reviewed by Nirupama Dutt
Light of the Universe: Essays on Hindustani Film Music
by Ashraf Aziz
Three Essays Collective. Pages 184. Rs 350
Is
the Hindi film music more literate and democratic than the
earlier forms of Hindustani classical music and folk music? Was there
an underlying suicidal wish in the popular romantic songs of lyricist
Shailendra? Was Lata Mangeshkar’s singing de-sexed?
Glimpses
of deceit and wafts of irony
Reviewed by Geetu Vaid
Shoes Of The Dead
by Neelima Kota
Rainlight/ Rupa Pages 274. Rs 495
Hunger
is an important thread in the tapestry of life. So it is in
Kota Neelima’s latest political fiction, whether it is for power and
lucre or for food, self respect, rights and justice.
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