Understanding a book of divine revelation
Reviewed by Parbina Rashid
Living Qur’an in Our Times
by Jamal Khwaja Sage. 
Pages 213. Rs 650
Life comes full circle, they say. They seem to be right. From bunking the compulsory theology classes during my college days in Aligarh Muslim University to involuntarily picking up this volume, Living the Qur’an in Our Times, by a former Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the same university, Jamal Khwaja, for no other reason than to understand the faith I was born into, life certainly has come full circle in my case.

NON-FICTION

A father’s legacy
Reviewed by Balwinder Kaur
A Few More Patriots
by G.S. Aujla
Himalayan Books. 
Pages 224. Price unstated
The privilege and honour of being one of the 284 patriots to sign the Constitution of India on January 24, 1950, is a singular achievement worthy of respect and pride. Sardar Sochet Singh Aujla has to his credit this testimony of his dedication, determination and triumph over life’s daunting challenges. Proud son G.S. Aujla pays tribute to his father and recounts his incredible journey to becoming one of the founding fathers of the Indian Constitution and beyond in A Few More Patriots.

Racy drama in the hills
Reviewed by Vikrant Parmar
The Ghost Hunters of Kurseong
by Shweta Taneja
Hachette India
Pages 220, Rs 295
Famous Five, Secret Seven, Adventurous Four…do they ring a bell? Perusing through Shweta Taneja’s debut children’s novel, The Ghost Hunters of Kurseong, one is often reminded of the great Enid Blyton and her group of children out on adventurous trips, sometimes bordering on the dangerous.

Of poetry, passion and politics
Reviewed by Nirupama Dutt
it was in an anthology of Urdu poetry from Paksitan, brought out in Devanagri script in the 1980s, that one chanced upon the verses of a poet called Mahmood Shaam. What caught the eye of the heart was the passion in the content as well the ease with which it was expressed in a conversational contemporary idiom: Likh apni diary mein kabhi mera naam bhi, Unn rang rang harfon mein ik saada naam bhi or Urhati hui hai dil ke farash pe beete dinon ki raakh, Main hoon, tera khayal hai aur cigaretton ki raakh.

Early Wodehouse work discovered
researchers have discovered a huge trove of works by PG Wodehouse, languishing in a newspaper archive in Leeds. Experts working for the Wodehouse Reclamation Project uncovered the work in The Globe and Traveller evening paper from 1901 to 1903. The writer, aged 20 at the time, and a full-time assistant, later became editor of the By the Way series.






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