The author, S Narendra, formerly of the Indian Information Service, has comprehensively explored the extraordinary rise of PV Narasimha Rao (PVNR) from the grassroots, a journey that saw him become Prime Minister in June 1991 and the only one till then, from outside the Nehru-Gandhi fold, to complete a full term in office. He was known for his sharp analyses of political situations and was prominent in many an electoral battle.
Most books in which the central theme veers around ‘women’ tend to focus on issues of equity, equality, gender justice, patriarchy, emancipation and empowerment. The book under review, true to its title also does this, but in a style, manner and context which is not combative or radical. The text is indeed very gentle and sensitive to how women and their issues are represented.
Menon covers an array of issues revolving around the idea of ‘desire’ through the paradigms of sexuality(s), politics, culture, and so on. Looking at how Indian law shapes our understanding and limits of desire and how desire has had a similar relationship with the law, creating normative and descriptive imperatives, she backs up almost every claim she makes by factual data in case law, historical evidence, or academic works, over the course of six chapters.
A Portrait of Ageing is a collection of essays that are poignant ruminations on the process of ageing. Through narratives about one’s experience with ageing and stories about seeing loved ones getting old, these essays tenderly address the vulnerabilities of losing youth and approaching the evening of life. The essays are a call to acknowledge the frailty associated with losing physical vigour and a strong voice to accord dignity and not invisiblize the old in our society.
Indian society is characterized by immense diversity, a fact which the public and scholars of all hues have never failed to acknowledge and remind us. This claim is undeniably true but what needs reminding too is the other parallel fact of unity. Among the various structural and socio-cultural traits which Indians across cultures, castes, classes and creeds share, it is the love for sport and in particular cricket which stands out.
In this age of the image, given that the use of the visual in academia has not been the norm, it is interesting to know how established scholars came to appreciate that there is now space for images. Well-known historian Vinay Lal’s thirty-year teaching experience in the US led him to believe that ‘the printed text is but a foreign object to most students.