Vani Tripathi Tikoo Illustrated by Rupak Neogy

Here’s a question for you to mull over—why can’t elephants be red? Why not, indeed! Everything is possible in the multi-coloured fantasy world of a child.


Reviewed by: Deepa Agarwal
Vrushal T. Ghoble

In the wake of the Arab uprising in 2011, the West Asian region faces immense uncertainty due to the lack of a democratic structure, authoritarian rules, sectarian divisions, economic crisis, tribal and military polarization, and foreign state interventions. Being a rentier state, the region of West Asia experienced an immense geopolitical shift contesting the definition of regional power, especially between Saudi, Iran, Turkey, and others.


Reviewed by: Azeemah Saleem
Bikash Nath and Biraj Jyoti Kalita

The discovery of tea in Assam and the growth of tea plantation as commercial commodity have added a new dimension in the socio-economic landscape of Assam. The establishment of the tea industry in Assam, in which the British had monopoly, reflected the imperial mastery over colonial land and its inhabitants. The new industrial setup by the British transformed not only the economy but altered the whole demography of Assam as shown by the biggest human migration in Indian history in search of labour for tea plantations.


Reviewed by: Nidhi Gogoi
V. Murali

V Murali is a veteran who has spent his entire career in manufacturing, dabbling across various roles, and mastering a critical few, which have shaped him into a leader with a proven track record of a string of successes in business. Here, in the book Hop on Hop off, which comes across as his professional journal, he shares the recipe of those successes, from which scores of manufacturing professionals can draw vital lessons on making a turnaround when necessary.


Reviewed by: Shilpi Suman
Tapati Guha-Thakurta and Vazira Zamindar

The irreversible entrapment of religion with terms like violence, brutality, offence, anger, fear, and censure instead with say, inquiry, beauty, prayer or tolerance is a paramount sign of our decayed condition. But resigned acquiescence is also not a mark of the academic enterprise. The very act of thinking and writing challenges admission.


Reviewed by: Malvika Maheshwari
Jerry Pinto

Why is it that every Helen is an enigma? Homer’s, Marlowe’s, Bollywood’s? Does the letter H—drawn like a one-step ladder connecting nothing with nothing, or a bar in a passage between two walls—have something occult to do with it? Neither Menelaus nor Faustus could read his Helen. Both were doomed.


Reviewed by: Rajesh Sharma