Author Archives: Thebookreviewindia

Like the scraps of a quilt, the poet Indu K Mallah stitches the pieces of fabric together with the invisible thread of warmth and empathy in her slim volume of poems.

The narrative describes Phalke as a versatile personality, whose ‘tenacity’ brings the Indian filmmaking industry to where it is today.

This book is a collection of essays in honour of Professor Krishna Kumar, doyen in the education world in India, by his former students and colleagues. The Department of Education (or the Central Institute of Education (CIE), as it is more popularly known) is the premier Department for Education Studies in India including the professional courses of B.Ed. and M.Ed, in its academic programmes.

Anurag Behar has a rich experience in the field of education in working with Azim Premji Foundation and travelling extensively at the grassroots level. Like others who have worked in the field, he points out quite rightly, good education is in the end, ‘A Matter of the Heart’.

In the middle of the 19th century, Savitribai and Jotirao Phule began their systematic critique of how they believed caste, gender, and power worked together to suppress women, Shudras, and Dalits. Faced with the prospect of trying to change an ancient system accepted as normal by millions of people, and etched into all aspects of everyday life, the Phules started small: they opened a school for girls in Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848.

Mainstream education in a society as stratified and diverse as ours finds it often difficult to reach children of geographically remote and socially marginalized communities.

This book on the historiography or rather a social-cultural history of education is a rare example of this phenomenon. Subramanium is interested in how education has been imparted over a long duration of history. He begins from the ancient, traverses the medieval and ends with the colonial period.

This novel shows us the coming of age of Parashurama in a coherent way in a beautiful narrative. Fans of fantasy books should be the first to grab a copy, because it has all the ingredients of a truly iconic mystical story. The mystery of ancient prophecies, the beauty of powerful weapons earned through dedicated meditation, the strength of pure family bonds, the satisfaction of finding one’s path through effort and self-realization, the aura of mythical kings and priests, and epic battles between good and evil bring out magical realism at its finest.

This is the fourth book in the Ram Chandra Series written by the well-known writer of mythology, Amish Tripathi. Although the thrilling saga of the great story of Rama has already been covered in other volumes of the series, this book, the final part of the series stands alone as captivating fiction. Once I started reading, it was unputdownable, crisp and riveting.

Here is a study of Abhimanyu by a young author, Anuja Chandramouli, from Tamil Nadu. She brings a burst of fresh energy to the understanding of the Mahabharata in modern India as initiated around late 19th century. Through around ten best-selling books as well as YouTube presentations, she is fulfilling this very essential task of connecting the youth of today to historical and mythological figures

Here is a book by Dipavali Sen that takes us on a long and wonderful journey, back to the times of the Mahabharata, as seen through the eyes of Subhadra who plays many pivotal roles—as the daughter of Vasudev and Rohini, sister of Krishna and Balarama, the wife of Arjuna, the mother of Abhimanyu…and right down to her deification as an idol at the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
All this takes place within the framework of a modern setting in Gurgaon.

An unusual theme coming from a talented writer made me hold the book in my hand and turn it around staring in bewilderment at the arresting title and also the cover design that depicts a woman clad half in an ancient garment and half modern. I started reading, turning the pages with avid rapidity.

Hinduism as we call it today has been known as Sanatana Dharma to the ancients. It has shown people from time immemorial the right way of performing worldly duties that are sustained by value-based restraints and natural laws. To explain the how and wherefores of this, Vedic systems were born.

Picture books hold a special place for children. They are a tool for learning, a visual journey, the basis for story time with family and a tactile resource for sensory exploration.

How do you review a book like Karuppu? I’ve asked myself this question ever since I finished reading it. Last page read, book shut…and there I am, left with a feeling that I have yet to emerge from a fog-shrouded mystical world, sprinkled with violence, poignancy, tragedy, micro-stories of relationships filled with sharp shards, and a sense of something ending. Alongside are clearly etched images,

Chandrasekhar Kambar, though recognized as one of the foremost Navya (modernist) writers in Kannada, along with the likes of UR Ananathamurthy, P Lankesh, Girish Karnad, Ramachandra Sharma, Shantinath Desai and KV Tirumalesh, was always different from them.

Since the emergence of Folklore Studies in the nineteenth century, the study of folklore grew exponentially in the twentieth century and continues to thrive through academic as well as popular literature in the twenty-first century. In the context of India, there is a sizeable market for books dealing with oral traditions as in recent years

Even our brains are not good enough unless our hearts are calm. You must try to sharpen your wits. But, above all, be calm. If you are calm, nothing can frighten you…Our fear kills us before we are killed by an enemy. He who is without fear has no enemy.

In her first-person account, Andrea mentions where she finds Carlos. She defines the dark, unreachable place that he holds her in. She calls him his ‘teacher’. While it is clear that more than being her teacher, Carlos is the dictator of her life. Quite early on in the narrative, the readers get to know that Andrea has recently lost her mother. Carlos seems to have taken birth as a response to that traumatic event in Andrea’s life.

It is challenging for anyone to grasp the gravity of the impact of the climate crisis on our planet. It is even more challenging to share these concerns with children and students without it becoming overwhelming or depressing.