The King’s Plunder, The King’s Bodies

Rahul Govind’s ‘The King’s Plunder, The King’s Bodies’ delves into the King’s rights of conquest, plunder and prize, as well as allegiance and subjecthood, establishing a monarchical form of the British Empire between 1600 and 1900, notwithstanding King-in-Parliament. It delves into its role in the East India Company’s government as well as its conquests, as much as its taking the shape of ‘direct’ Crown rule after 1857–58.

MK Ramachandran’s ‘Journey to Adi Kailash’ details his trek to one of the most revered mountains of India. It includes interpretations of our history, culture, traditions, the ‘Puranas’ and the ‘Upanishads’, as well as contributions by great sadhus, sages and rishis. In the Preface, author MT Vasudevan Nair says Ramachandran’s works are a reminder that we human beings are just tiny in front of nature.

Poet-publisher Sarabjeet Garcha’s latest poetry book looks at everyday life. The poems reassert the transformative power of the ordinary. From the railway platform to the kids’ room, summer holidays to the lockdown — he rambles across various spaces. Poet Devi Prasad Mishra says quietude is the hallmark of Garcha’s poetry: “Precise yet evocative, restrained yet effusive, melancholy yet radiant, his poems neither abandon hope nor cherish false optimism.”