2008
Bama’s Vanmam is in many ways a marked departure from her earlier works Karukku and Sangati. Moving away from her earlier autobiographical mode Vanmam steers clear of the familiar confessional, conversational tone and adopts a linear, descriptive,
During the December 2007 music festival in Chennai, I attended a dance performance by Alarmel Valli. The programme included a short piece, based on a verse from Madurai Meenakshiammai Pillaittamil.
Three miraculous events have happened on this earth: the birth of three men of great purity of soul (mahashuddhatma), many years apart in time—and in countries far away from each other. They taught the world a mantra of immense significance.
2008
Meera Kosambi’s earlier collection of essays, Crossing Thresholds: Feminist Essays in Social History (2007) had introduced us to the writer Kashibai Kanitkar (1861-1948). This reviewer had been particularly intrigued by Kosambi’s section on Kanitkar’s utopian novella Palkhicha Gonda (The Palanquin Tassel, written in the late 1890s but published in 1928).
The structures of the institutions of family, society and the state acquire new dimensions when seen from women’s perspective. Factors like religion, social values and hierarchies intertwined with patriarchy play an important role in moulding women’s lives.
2008
This collection of articles reflects in essence the dark brooding face of Kerala: the violence faced by women of all classes, castes and communities, experienced within families, at workplaces, and several institutions. What the studies also do emphatically is to extend what is already being established over several years now: that in addition to a socio-economic paradox,
2008
It is a truism to say that the index of the civilization is the status of its women. The honour and manhood of the state also rests on its capacity to shield and protect its women particularly the weak and the vulnerable. The Indian widow has for long been a metaphor for the humility and capacity for self sacrifice to inspire the Indian fighting for the freedom of his country thanks to Mahatma Gandhi.
This book as the title implies, covers three of the most important issues in development namely gender, food security and rural livelihoods. Finding enough to eat still remains a major concern for at least a third of the Indian population despite high levels of growth and substantial investment in rural development.
The waves of liberalization and globalization in the Indian economy since the early 1990s have thrown up new challenges for labour. With the advent of new forms of production organizations, necessitated by the integration of markets, there have been drastic alterations in technologies used and processes handled by small enterprises in the country.
The updated and improvised new estimates on global poverty released by a World Bank study last August have opened up a new debate on the impact of these estimates on the poverty profiles of developing countries.
2008
War and violence are usually considered taboo subjects for children, a task left only for the brave author. David Grossman’s stories are set around seemingly insoluble Israeli-Palestine conflict.
It has to be accepted that by and large, learning Mathematics is not one of the favourite activities among the young. This phenomenon is universal and found in varying degrees in different countries and different cultures.
These books are part of a series of Science books for Classes 1 to 8. It conforms to the principle of the National Curriculum Framework [2005] and follows the C.B.S.E syllabus based on NCERT guidelines. These books are well-planned and there is a systematic and sequential development from one level to another.
Reviewing the award winning (highly sought after, Silver award of the Geographical Association) ‘Horrible Geography’ series, has been a ‘horrible’ experience; as ‘horrible’ as Anita promises Geography will be! The new meaning of Horrible is now exciting, interesting, and delightful!
Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay is a well known and popular writer in Bengali literature and has numerous books to his credit. He has also made a great contribution towards children’s literature in Bengali. Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee has several translations from Bengali to his credit.
When girls were married off before or at the onset of puberty and relegated to household chores thereafter, the naughtiness or irreverence that makes fictional boys so popular was denied to them. For Sibaji Bandyopadhyay, the injunction from the Manu Samhita advising parents to marry off their daughters at the age of twelve neither authorizes the perpetuation of such an unreasonable,
What is the best piece of news about Urgum: The Axe Man and Urgum and The Seat Of Flames, two brand new books about to hit the stands? Firstly, it’s a post-Harry Potter release and, unlike scores of books written for young people, isn’t a Harry Potter rip off.
The art of great story-telling lies in the ability to retell a worn-out old tale—but in a style that is delightfully engaging, maintains its grip on one’s attention, and it only gradually dawns to the reader that this was, after all, a tale s/he knew about all along.
2008
Wilderness was given to me to review many moons ago. I read it there and then, but have only been able to write the review now. It says a lot for the power of the book, if after such a long gap, the emotions still remain strong and vivid.