Long before the city became trendy, there was the Indian city. It existed in our colourful and incredible mythology. It existed when the first of human civilization took root on the subcontinent. It was central to the multiple kingdoms that flourished from corner to corner in this vast land for centuries.
Among the recent works on Bihar, men- tion may be made of Vinita Damodaran (Broken Promises, 1992), Papiya Ghosh (Community and Nation, 2008), Hitendra Patel (Communalism and the Intelligentsia, 2011), Narendra Jha (The Making of Bihar, 2012), Lata Singh (Popular Translations of Nationalism, 2012).
The postmodernist invasion has not only pushed certain traditional histories out of circulation but also relegated the extremely useful analysis of class and movements that Indian history was used to.
The book under review discusses the cul- tural contours of North East India in three key areas: the integrated approach to the understanding of history using folk materials; tradition and change in folk culture; and the pan-Indian connections of religion, epics, arts and crafts.
The question of identity vis-à-vis migra- tion in Assam is a much debated, highly complex, thoroughly contested issue. The issue is enmeshed in the cauldron of contending views and is delivered differently by intellectuals, administrators, media, and various elements of the Assamese social structure, including individuals both natives and the migrants.
The book under review seeks to critically analyse the factors, circumstances and processes that underlined the tumultuous and painful march towards the creation of the State of Telangana as the twenty-ninth State of the Indian Union marking the conclusion of a long-drawn struggle of the people of Telangana seeking separate Statehood for their region.