The Self-Respect Movement initiated by Periyar E.V.Ramasamy in 1926 constituted, no doubt, the most radical phase of the Dravidian Movement. The vast literature on the history of the movement clearly locates its radicalism in its conscious effort to give primacy to issues of gender and particularly so in the women’s voices critiquing the brahminic patriarchy.
In this study of violin playing techniques in western classical and south Indian classical music Dr.Lalitha elaborates her understanding of contrasting techniques used in playing the violin in two distinct musical traditions. The violin was a late and foreign entrant in Indian classical music.
James Kippen’s book on the tradition of tabla in Lucknow first came out in 1988, as part of the series of books entitled Cambridge Studies in Ethnomusicology. Re-reading the work at this distance dimly recreates the excitement of our introduction to ethnomusicology: for many of us, it was a new kind of writing on music, that generated both admiration and resistance strongly.
Pichwai painting is one of the best documented painting traditions in India. There have been several studies of pichhwai painting’s background, themes and iconography, such as Robert Skelton’s Rajasthani Temple Hangings of the Krishna Cult (1973), Talwar and Krishna’s Indian Pigment and Paintings on Cloth (1979) and Amit Ambalal’s Krishna as Shrinathji (1987).
For most people, the term ‘Buddhist monuments of India’ automatically brings to mind the Sanchi stupa and the magnificent cave complex at Ajanta; or perhaps the medieval monastery at Nalanda. Names like Lalitagiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri in all probability draw a blank.
This slim volume provides the reader more than what the title page promises. Besides the immensely readable English translations by Vasanthi Sanakaranarayanan of ‘Ramayana retellings’ by two outstanding contemporary Malayalam literary figures,
2006
It is interesting that popular stories often bordering on the scandalous and the profane should now be so freely and evocatively retold in the English language for, as a student of history, I am apt to recall that only about a hundred years back, the same had been indignantly assailed by the first crop of English educated Indians.
Srimadbhagvadgita—or Gita in short, has been interpreted in many ways. It is considered one of the three fountainheads of departures of the authentically ‘Vedic’ worldview, the other two being the Brahmasutras and the eleven principal Upanishads. No philosopher can expect his views to be taken as ‘authentic’ extension or evolution of the perennial Vedic wisdom, if he cannot produce a convincing commentary of these three texts—the Prasthan Trayee!
2006
Myths have fascinated all human societies, from the oral tradition to the written and to the age of cyber technology. Myths live forever, and, like genes, mutate and learn to survive and flourish in every generation. The term myth originates from the Greek muthos, which means “speech” and resembles the Sanskrit katha, vac (“story telling”, “narration”).
In a world trying to grapple with the contradictions of a global reality and a need for cultural identity rooted in local traditions and history Vamsee Juluri’s book Becoming a Global Audience tries to address some of these issues through her study of music television and specifically countdown shows.
One of the problems with a book that covers the gamut of communication forms and technologies and from Harappa to the present is that it is too demanding of any reviewer, certainly this one. The volume in question attempts to do this based on a set of papers presented in the panel on “History of Information and Communications Technology in India” at the Mysore session of the Indian History Congress, 2003.
There is an increasing realization that in our age of globalization, a kind of homogenization of cultures and life styles is taking place leading to a mono culture and macdonaldization. Cultural diversity and indigenous ways of life are coming under threat. This mono culture spread by multinational corporations and the law of the market is a kind of aping of western life style and values.
2004
I was gifted with a copy of the set of poems by Kabir, translated into English by the well known Sikh writer, poet and philosopher Dr. Kartar Singh Duggal. My first reaction was to ask myself how come poems with such beautiful thought had not come to my notice till so late in my life.
Outside the Information Technology industry, Ranbaxy is India’s most genuinely multinational company. This well-researched book tells the story of Ranbaxy’s evolution. Bhupesh Bhandari has woven the tale well – it has strong personalities, serendipitous events, the twists and turns of policy changes, and even intrigue. Far from being a dry account of business history, The Ranbaxy Story is thus a highly readable work of contemporary business history.
What was Indian society really like at the time when it came under colonial rule? What was the nature and extent of this encounter and how does it continue to affect the lives of millions of people today? These surely must be among the most frequently asked and challenging of questions confronting Indian historians.
The Centre for Non-Proliferation Studies in the Monterey Institute of International Studies, USA, along with the United States Institute of Peace and the Cooperative Monitoring Centre at the Sandia National Laboratories, USA, funded and supported the research and publication of the above volume.
In the long and chequered annals of Tibet, India to the South and China to the West have played—and indeed continue to play—very significant roles. Expectedly, both have contributed a great deal to the texture of Tibetan life.