A book may also be judged from its significance to the times in which it is published. To the two important dates that have marked the month of January for Indians
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March 2024 . VOLUME 48, NUMBER 3This is precisely what Ghosh has done. Eight years after the publication of Flood of Fire we have a book in which he has written about the key concerns that shaped the novels comprising the trilogy. As the narrative progressed from the first novel Sea of Poppies (2008)
The key argument of this thought-provoking book is that although the Indian economy is growing, yet its impact is seen to be very uneven
James Fergusson’s Tree and Serpent Worship, published in 1868, got many things wrong but one thing right. It drew attention to the abundance of trees and snakes in the sculptures at Sanchi and Amaravati.
To locate the occupations, religious preferences and mobility of the ordinary man in early India, a source of utmost importance were the donative records.
Instead of getting into the long-drawn ‘Iron Age and Social Change’ debate, she makes a case for bringing up the different aspects of iron production and their relationship with the social formations in the context of early India.
This is an unusual and innovative book that captures the history of Velha Goa through the lens of archeology as method, and urbanism as the heuristic category for understanding the Portuguese city as it was designed and constructed since the 16th century.
2023
The British state, in order to establish its dominance around the globe, used a range of instruments of power. Among others, two closely linked instruments of power were the ‘Prize Laws’ and the ‘Prize Courts’.
Susmita Mukherjee’s book under reviewexamines the historical and sociological processes that resulted in the concentration of women doctors in India in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Fali Nariman, now aged 94, is among the last of a generation of legendary lawyers whose ranks included the likes of Nani Palkhivala, Soli Sorabjee, Ram Jethmalani, and K Parasaran, and who effectively laid down the foundations of India’s postcolonial legal development.
literary activism of women depended upon the influence of male intellectuals, it was only in the 1980s that Dalit women began writing to ‘externalize their pain, show their plight, demand their rights, spread social awareness and mobilize themselves for affirmative articulation’
This book’s thesis, in one line, is that Artificial Intelligence is artificial, different from human intelligence, and it is also about faking that human intelligence.
Promil Pande’s lovely book, Floor Coverings of Kashmir, comparatively slim considering its impressive content, and beautifully illustrated, brought back nostalgic memories of Kashmir
The 1980s is a decade of contradictions in Hindi cinema. Theatres grew in numbers over the decade while the size of the theatre audience fell.
At the Jaipur Literary Festival this year, there were about half a dozen panel discussions on translation and multilingual literatures,
Editorial
After all what is the purpose of the story, if it cannot help us leave time behind?’ asks Gocharan Ray, the signalman in Siddique Alam’s story ‘The Stopped Clock’.
It was written as a year-long series in the well-known magazine, Ananda Vikatan and was well received by readers. The aim was ‘to introduce young readers to outstanding Tamil stories’ (p. ix). The collection has been translated with sensitivity by PC Ramakrishna and Malini Seshadri
The first point to note about this work, a fact that the ‘translator’ records in her Note, is that it is no straightforward translation of the original Tamil novel
The harsh realities of the caste system and patriarchy are brought to light in this collection of 14 heart-breaking stories of Sahitya Akademi awarded writer Imayam (V Annamalai). They showcase his unparalleled storytelling skills, marked by a strong sense of justice.
2023
The English translation of renowned Malayalam author KR Meera’s Assassin narrates the ‘story’ of a middle-aged protagonist,
‘After the action-dominated early stories, the short story was centred around, first, the specific outward expressions of life in the social-reformist stories, then the inner life of the individual and, finally, the abstract plane of indirect experiences full of paradoxes involving a philosophical outlook.
The title of the book is metaphorical and symbolic of the lost cultural harmony and its revival in a post-Partition milieu. Sheila,
2023
Firefly Memories contains poems written since 2010. It would be remiss of us to look at current Indian Poetry in English without paying attention to the publishing facilities that put out a book in print.
A distinct symbolism underlines Radha Chakravarty’s debut collection of poems Subliminal.
The title hints at a presence which though unseen is palpable.