‘This is a labor of love in more ways than one—deep love both for the scientific work that went into it and for the people whose language and knowledge are the object of this book.’…
Books about the history of the various ethnic groups of North East India may be found abundantly in libraries but those catering to the minds of young children are few and far between. That is why Who are the Nagas? in its attempt to reach out to children is a commendable effort. Haksar, a human rights lawyer…
2011
The Lotus Queen, the first novel by Dubai-based and London- educated Rikin Khamar, is set in 14th century Chittor, the capital of the Rajput kingdom of Mewar (most of modern-day Rajasthan). It falls in the genre of historical fiction, as Khamar spins a tragic tale of valour and sacrifice around the time when Mewar is threatened…
At the very start, in her introduction, Subhadra Sen Gupta puts you in the mood to read. There is that rather obvious positivity in the opening/introductory lines that pulls along even adults like me. Who would not like to escape from the chaos spread around, towards those long stretches of exciting distractions holding sway…
Neither Bhojpur nor ‘Naxalism’ stand at the heart of the issues which this book raises. The places, the dates, the individuals—and the ‘-ism’ attributed to them-pale into relative insignificance besides the deeper causes, and the long-running continuities, of the struggle for land rights and human dignities which is the real substance of this work.
Perky and precocious, Tiya the parrot lives in the great big banyan tree which is home to thousands of creatures—feathered bipeds, quadrupeds, centi, deci and millipedes. Tiya’s is a secure and comfortable existence amidst his many neighbours in a place where nothing changes but the seasons. Indeed….
