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He devoted his life to peasants
Reviewed by Harbans Singh
Sir Chhotu Ram: Peasantry in Colonial India
Ed Ranbir Singh, Kushal Pal; Haryana Academy of History and Culture. Pages 199.
Rs 250
There are few personalities that
evoke so much of gratitude and reverence as Sir Chhotu Ram does in
North India in general and Haryana in particular. No narration of
peasantry is complete without paying a tribute to the messiah of the
farmers and no effort is spared by the politicians to appropriate his
legacy. Not surprisingly successive generation of scholars too is
drawn to this iconic figure.
Of a love that is innocent
Reviewed by Priyanka Singh
The Night Rainbow
by Claire King.
Bloomsbury. Pages 263. Pounds 7.99
Loneliness, for a child and adult alike, weighs heavy on the spirit. And who would know it better than a little girl who has lost her father and whose heavily pregnant mother has no time for her?
Pea's solitude is oppressive. Not yet six, she imagines situations and even creates a four-year-old sister Margot as she comes to grips with the loss of her father and that he wasn't even her real papa — a truth brutally flung at her by her mother.
Ancient tales
Reviewed by M. Rajiv Lochan
The Mouse Merchant: Money In Ancient India
by Arshia Sattar
Penguin Books. Pages 224. Rs 499
Few would today recall the
entrepreneurial ways of ancient Indians. To take one example, we have
the tale of the poor boy who found a dead mouse. He uses it as seed
capital. Trades the mouse for some gram and, in turn, trades the gram
for some wood. He keeps the cycle going. Buys and sells. Becomes the
owner of a considerable fortune. He ends up getting the daughter of
the city’s richest merchant as his wife. The tale tells us that
anyone with wits could make a fortune. Making a fortune was socially a
very desirable activity and could win a fair bride.
Why do we cheat and lie?
Reviewed by Jayanti Roy
The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty
by Dan Ariley Harper Collins, London. Pages 284 Rs 399
Cheating, lying, dishonesty,
corruption — all these tendencies are integral part of human life.
Moral codes, rules of ethical conduct, religious commandments have
been devised to guide us on the path of righteousness. Yet time and
again we find ourselves straying away, falling into temptation and
committing crime. The struggle to curb these inferior instincts,
harmful to the person, nation and the world, is ever continuing. This
book is an effort in that direction wherein the author has, through
his research, tried to unravel and understand dishonesty and in that
light has provided tips to create a world with lesser moral
degradation.
History of the world and clash of civilisations
Reviewed by Khushwant S. Gill
The New Clash of Civilizations: How the Contest between America, China, India
and Islam will Shape our Century
by Minhaz Merchant Rupa. Pages 314. Rs 500
Publisher and journalist Minhaz
Merchant's The New Clash of Civilizations echoes Samuel
Huntington's controversial 1996 work, but only in its title. As
Merchant makes clear at the outset, this is a personal amalgam of his
previous journalistic work and fresh material is woven together to
convey his basic theme. It is less about the constant thundering
clashes that Huntington had us hear throughout his thesis, and more
about India's upcoming role in a new world order.
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