Analysing a milestone in Indian politics 
Reviewed by M. Rajivlochan
Emergency Retold
by Kuldip Nayar. 
Konark. 
Pages 320. Rs 295 
ON June 26, 1975, the Government of India organised a coup against the people of India. A new noun entered the Indian political vocabulary as a result: Emergency. This book, of four chapters, documents the manner in which that coup was organised, nurtured and finally ended.

Busting the myth of hard work and sacrifice
Reviewed by D.S. Cheema
Winning without Losing
by Martin Bjergegaard and Jordan Milne
Profile Books, London. 
Pages 290. Rs 350
Since our childhood, we have been programmed about virtues of hard work and sacrifice to achieve success in life. A student must put in labour day in day out to get good marks, an artist must put in 12 to 14 hours of rehearsal every day for several years to make a mark and entrepreneurs and businessmen must put in at least hundred hours a week to make their millions. Hard work which leads to success has to be invested at the cost of leisure, family and other relationships. Here is a book which breaks the myths of hard work and sacrifice; it shows that it is actually possible to put family, friends and other relationships first and win without losing on many other precious gifts of life.

An Olympian’s life storyy
Reviewed by Prabhjot Singh
An Olympic Medal: The Colonel's Deadly Scoop. An Autobiog-raphy of Colonel Balbir Singh. 
Rainbow 
Printing Press, Jalandhar. Pages 122. 
 Rs  899
one of reasons India has lost its supremacy in hockey is its failure to keep pace with the changes and developments taking place in this wonderful sport that gave India not only eight Olympic gold medals but also a foothold in world sports. This is one of the observations Colonel Balbir Singh (retired), Olympian, coach and national selector, has made in his autobiography that is all set for release. The book is a treasure-trove of rare photographs, some of which date back to the days of the Wizard of Hockey, Major Dhyan Chand. In places, it reads like a thriller, at others like an intimate autobiography.

Nine times the magic
Reviewed by Vikrant Parmar
Nine
by Shobha Nihalani
Penguin
Pages 378, Rs 250
hong Kong, Gaya, Calcutta, London, Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Dharamsala, New York, Cambodia…no, this is not a lesson in regional geography but the epicentres of Shobha Nihalani's 'Nine' - a history-inspired, mythology-nurtured, magic-imbued, conspiracy-laden, modernism-fed pot-boiler that weaves a million threads into a coherent whole.

A brave, new social world 
Reviewed by Satinder Kaur
The Green Rose 
by Sharmila Mukherjee. 
Penguin. Pages 212. Rs 250
A story of unusual biological instincts, The Green Rose explores the pains of confronting a patriarchal world and coming out of its shell to experience a gay world. Touching the sensitive theme of lesbianism, it is a story of young, beautiful and marriageable Charu, who belongs to a respectable family of South Delhi. She is apparently like the other girls but not one among them. She likes women and thus her mother's dream of marrying her to a foreign-posted groom fails to materialise.

Of water and mystic powers
The Water Catchers 
by Bhairavi Parekh. 
Hachette India. 
Pages 160. Rs 299 
water is valuable for humanity. This message is given and propagated in a number of ways by many and the book in hand seems to be one such attempt. The story begins in an overcrowded water-deprived locality of Mumbai, where an 11-year-old Chintan leads an ordinary life.

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