Author Archives: Thebookreviewindia

Hindu Mythology is often seen as a complicated, contradictory and inaccessible compendium of stories that we all have heard bits and pieces of, but never really knew sequentially or entirely. Despite the unique stories and characters involved in Hinduism, the fact that there are multiple sources and versions of the same myth makes it difficult to involve children in learning these extraordinary tales. Mythquest Omnibus is a beautiful series of four books, which resolves this dilemma in a simple way…

In The Phoenix in the Sky: Tales of Wonder and Wisdom from World Religions, the author Indira Ananthakrishnan tells stories of wandering monks, wise kings, foolish gods, ordinary people with extraordinary deeds, heart-warming miracles, and daring escapes. You get to read the story of Raikv, a mystical cart driver. It is from the Chandogya Upanishad. You will get to know the three questions Prophet Mohammed asked his disciples. Most of his older disciples did not know the answers but a young boy gave all the right answers!…

Both the stories in this volume have been translated from the Malayalam, and bring alive people from the past.The first story, ‘Badshah, Mera Dost’ written by Shefali Jha is an innocent tale narrated by an eleven year old boy. The young protagonist Adil’s hatred for history turns into love in a fascinating turn of events. Adil, a bright child who loves sketching is very attached to his father. Despite having a great history teacher, he finds no interest in the subject and gets demotivated easily.

What do Indira, Ambika, Murugan, Asha, Mohini, Ravi, Shashi and Ambika the Second have in common? They were all India’s ambassadors, but you will not find their names in the civil list. And who would have thought that ambassadors, diplomacy and international relations could be topics for a children’s book? Clearly Devika Cariapa did! She presents the most appealing aspects of Nehru’s ‘Elephant Diplomacy’, in a well written, easy-to-read narrative for children. Jumbos sent as gifts to children across the world who wrote asking for one…

This story is set in 1857 in British India. It is centred around 13-year old Meera, who, at the age of 4, was married off to a 4-year old boy named Krishna. Sadly for Meera, her teenage husband is killed during a trip to Delhi when he is caught in the middle of gunfire during the Mutiny, also known as India’s First War of Independence. This rebellion was a major turning point for British rule in India. Meera’s life is entangled in these historical events as she is caught up in cultural expectations that she does not agree with. Her father expects her to die on her young husband’s funeral pyre, but Meera chooses her own path by running away…

The One Day Elsewhere series by Puffin consists of a set of four beautifully illustrated books, translated from the French by Nakashi Chowdhry, which tell the story of individuals and events in history that changed our world. Picking up incidents from world history which have resonated across time and have significantly impacted politics, environment, science and humanity, these books place them within the context of a child’s life. They link the personal and the public, thus making these intertwined momentous events come alive and seem like they are a natural part of a child’s life. The political and the public become a more immediate and felt experience…

There’s scarcely a child in India who hasn’t heard of the courageous Jhansi ki Rani—while my generation grew up memorizing and stridently reciting Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s ‘Khoob ladi mardaani voh to Jhansi vali rani thi’, subsequent generations have met her in picture books and most recently in a Bollywood production which is, as usual, less concerned with historical fact than with creating alternative histories. What then could another telling of this tale have to offer a reader? It turns out—plenty…

Many years ago, one of our regular sojourns to the Delhi Book Fair found us buying books Written in Blood: History with the Gory Bits Left In and a few titles in the Horrible History Series. The normal childhood fascination with the macabre meant that those were one of the few books on history I willingly finished reading. Reading Natasha Sharma’s Tughlaq and the Stolen Sweets reminds me of those books. The book is a fictional story revolving around the ‘theft’ of a fruit prized by the Sultan, and the reluctant ‘volunteers’ made to identify the thief…

Celebrated children’s writer Subhadra Sen Gupta’s swansong, Let’s Go Time Travelling Again! Indians Through the Ages, is a remarkable addition to her already brilliant repertoire of publications. The second in the Time Travelling series, published posthumously, will alas also be the last of her many books aimed at making history fun and accessible to young people. She leaves behind a formidable legacy. Her non-fiction publications, especially on Indian history, continue to set a benchmark for introducing children to critical themes in an engaging way…

The ‘present’ generation and its values have oft taken the blame for much that is wrong in the world. The generation keeps changing just as the wrongs keep changing. As people age, the side of this blame game that they represent also changes. Yet, seldom do people sit and think who is responsible for the changing values of the ‘present generation’ that has led to so much ‘wrong’ in the world. Parenting for most people is not a conscious choice. We grow up, build careers, and start a family, because that is what society teaches us. This is taken as a given without any conscious thought about who can be a good parent.

Recently, my school has started a quarter-long course called Eagles Enhancing Lives (EEL). In this course, we learn about social justice and issues that have happened and are currently happening in the world. There are four mini units we go through, and we explore the concepts of Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Identity. In each unit we explore different social justice issues and learn about how each concept links to the issue. For example, in our Identity unit we learned about intersectionality, and how we’re more than ‘one story’, or one perspective and trait…

The first quarter of 2020 was marked by a fear of COVID-19 in India. A sudden lockdown was declared and although it seemed to be initially for a finite period, it soon became clear that the period of uncertainty would continue for a while. While adults grappled with illness, loss of job, relocation, and a changed lifestyle, children were themselves faced with a completely alien set of circumstances. The experiences of children have been heterogeneous, essentially marked by their socio-economic contexts and family circumstances.

Childhood has long been an area of interest to psychologists, sociologists, educators and parents. It is important to understand childhood through the lived experiences of children as they give us unique insights into their life worlds. They also provide insights into the ways in which children need to be raised, socialized and enculturated and the different roles and styles of parenting that exist in different families. Reflections on children’s lives and experiences also enable decisions on visualizing effective pedagogic processes, curricular structures and school policies and practices that would support children’s learning and development in schools…

Children in the Post-pandemic Era We are now into the second year of the pandemic; even as discussions on reopening schools gain momentum, signs that the new normal will be very different are already evident. While education systems across age groups have been impacted, the exigencies of the pandemic on children have been particularly acute,…

Afghanistan has undergone more changes in the past fourteen weeks than in the last twenty years. There are no more indiscriminate bombings and night raids since the US and NATO forces withdrew. The Taliban swept into Kabul on August 15, within nine days of capturing the first of the 34 provincial capitals, Nimroz. On September 11, its flag flew over the Arg Presidential Palace and the erstwhile US Embassy.The current situationYet, peace and stability have eluded Afghanistan. The benign face of the Taliban has gone. One of the first acts of the Taliban was to promise a general amnesty. On the contrary, reports of retribution, killings, and ethnic cleansing are beginning to pile up…

The rise of the Islamic State—variously known as ISIS, ISIL, IS, Da’esh—represents a unique occurrence within the burgeoning global jihadist movement. It is perhaps for the first time in modern history that an extremist group has succeeded in conquering swathes of territory as vast in size as present day United Kingdom, with several million inhabitants, and transformed itself into a quasi-state like entity, thereby succeeding in establishing a unique political system representing the typical attributes of a totalitarian regime…

Indo-Pacific (comprising the maritime space extending to the Indian Ocean, the littorals of East Asia and to the western Pacific Ocean[1]) can be regarded as the new buzzword in international affairs. The renewed focus of the United States towards Indo-Pacific and the ‘pivot to Asia’ call adds strength to this concept. Freedom of navigation and safety of the movement of cargos and resources through the sea lanes of communication are vital for maintaining peace and order in the global system. Most of the trade and resources flow through sea routes and keeping them safe and accessible to all is an important requirement…

This an extremely readable book written by a British national whose Sikh and Indian roots draw him back to write not about the country of his parents’ origin (India), but his own country, Britain. In that sense, this book is distinct as it does not focus on the former colony as most books and academic works, especially in the field of postcolonial studies tend to do. It looks at the lingering after-effects of colonialism on a former colonial power like Britain itself. What emerges is an interestingly written account of Britain as a nation that held sway over a vast empire upon which a once fabled sun never set…

Vipul Dutta is Assistant Professor of History at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, where he combines research and teaching interests in South Asian diplomatic, military, and economic history of the twentieth century. The book is an outcome of his doctorate from King’s College London.In his dissertation, Dutta set out to plug the gap in knowledge in India’s civil-military relations between the demands for Indianization, or the displacement of British officers with Indian officers in the army, and the institutional development in terms of training institutions such demands entailed. Whereas there is enough spotlight on the former, with the contribution of stalwarts from the freedom struggle like Motilal Nehru and Jinnah finding mention…

Amartya Sen requires no introduction to an Indian audience. Economist, philosopher, author, educationist, Public Intellectual Extraordinaire—call him what you will—he has loomed large. All of us have read his writings, be they profound academic contributions or more popular essays and pieces for general readership. The book being reviewed here, Home in the World: A Memoir, is a book with a difference. It is a memoir more than an autobiography. It starts, like it should, at the very beginning, when Sen was yet to be three and was on his way to Burma on a ship which hooted rather often, but then seems to stop, rather suddenly in 1963, just when Sen, not yet thirty, joins the Delhi School of Economics to occupy the chair being vacated by VKRV Rao…