Author Archives: Thebookreviewindia

Ecclesiastical edifices in diverse cultural landscape have played an influential role since their emergence in the Indian subcontinent.
Temple, perhaps, was the most perceptible institution that could register socio-economic and cultural transformations in the surrounding society of which it was an inseparable part. Primarily it emerged as a centre of worship and pilgrimage but its role as museum of art and architecture cannot be denied.

stranger to History is the story of a dual quest. It is the account of a son’s journey to find his father and of his efforts to discover the
roots of his faith.

The volume under review includes the work of more than thirty scholars of Islam and Muslim societies in South Asia. The representation is very balanced in the sense that along with many eminent scholars in the field some budding scholars have also contributed to this book.

Raziuddin Aquil’s book is well put together. It offers an excellent entry point into the subject of Sufism in the medieval Indian con-
text to the uninitiated. Its attractive cover and easy-to-read Introduction, delightfully devoid of jargon, make it a delectable offering.

India and China are two countries in the world where there are more boys than girls in all age groups. In India, there are just 933
females for every 1,000 males (2001 Census). This is because females are just more likely to die than males. Infant girls may be killed soon after birth; they may be starved, poisoned or suffocated to death.

The study of the informal economy has in recent years become a matter of compelling importance. The many changes at the global
level in terms of the liberalization processes,

Western India was expe-riencing unforeseen changes in its economic and political scene during the years subsequent to the First World War.

The author begins by saying, ‘this book is an attempt to try and understand the shortcomings of the varied strategies that have been
adopted for biodiversity conservation by India since Independence, both in terms of policy as well as implementation’.

Women grieving publicly is the common image of disaster. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Women suffer disaster un-
equally. More women are victims than men of disasters—both natural and manmade. Women get less rehabilitation.

This anthology on myriad engagements of social science literature with Pakistani women’s lived experiences comes with two important caveats. In the first chapter, Sadaf Ahmad, its editor, bemoans the lack of a corpus of knowledge on Pakistani women which is nuanced and contextualized,

The recent violence marking Kashmir’s long summer of discontent is just one more reason why borders need to be studied and under-
stood.