When I was asked to write a review of a new book of photographs by Margaret Bourke White sheer excitement ran through my nerves. While Henri Cartier Bresson has been a much talked about figure in the photo communities here in India Margaret Bourke White has in comparison been quite invisible at least amongst the discussions that have gone on among my contemporaries.
Three major approaches underline the bourgeoning literature on Northeastern India—the historico-political, the Marxian and the Pluralist. Emphasizing on the class dimension of the turbulences in the various states of the region, the Marxian perspective has noted with concern, the evolution and growth of ‘little nationalism’ and nativist chauvinism.
To me the Bengali title that alludes to an older well known work, Rajnarayan Basu’s Sekaal O Ekaal, seems more appropriate than the English title. Ekaal Sekaal —Now and Then—would lead the reader to expect a story meandering between the present and the past.
This book is a collection of a hundred short stories by the popular Bengali writer who wrote under the pseudonym Banaphool (flower from the forest). The stories, whether set in urban or rural Bengal, contain the romantic whiff of nature in its broadest sense, including human beings.
Atranslator has to be faithful to the text he/she is translating into another language. A translator has to observe not only the linguistic practices of the language into which he/she is translating the text but also keep in perspective the cultural norms of the recipient society.
The House with Five Courtyards is an epic family saga, quietly told and sensitively translated. The novel Paanch Aangano Wala Ghar, written originally in Hindi, won Govind Mishra the Vyas Samman in 1998.
Ashish Khetan’s cover story, ‘Dazed & Confused Again’ (Tehelka, Vol.8, Issue 37, 17 Sept, 2011) traces the growth of one Abu Faizal Khan, an IM operative from Hansapur village in Azamgarh, UP. The tenor of Khetan’s report is no different from the reality of Jamal Ansari, Omair Ahmad’s protagonist in Jimmy The Terrorist.
Jaishree Misra’s new book, A Scandalous Secret, her seventh work of fiction and the third in her ‘Secret’ series testifies to the popularity of this genre of Indian fiction.
Tulsi Badrinath has produced another elegant work, which explores the urban map in new ways. In this novel, she brings to our attention the banality of middle class chores and the concern with the details of these.
Bulbul Sharma’s latest novel, The Tailor of Giripul is the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy monsoon evening. It is redolent of the sounds and smells of the mountains, which the author evidently loves, and of the minutae of life lived in the small forgotten little villages nestled in the heart of those mountains. THE TAILOR OF GIRIPUL
The Past: Radcliffe’s Line Makers on the Dollmakers’ Island’, the title of the first chapter is self evident and spells out the theme of the novel. The plot swings between the past and the present; between history, fantasy and the real, thus making it a surreal satire; and from Ashoka’s times to the contemporary internet age.
It has been a while since we have seen a story about Kerala, written in English and replete with its local flavour and fervour.As a result Binoo K. John’s new book catches one’s eye. Known for his three previous books, all non-fiction: two travelogues about Malabar and Cherrapunji and one on the English language in India, a ‘quasi-academic book’ as he calls it, John’s versatility as a writer is put to the test this time around.