Reading books has been an essential part of human civilization for centuries. It not only provides knowledge, it enriches the mind, sharpens the intellect, and broadens one’s horizons. Famous authors, politicians, and scientists have all emphasized the importance of reading and its positive impact on one’s life. In this essay, we will explore the reasons why reading books is important and why it cannot be substituted by the internet.
In the last two decades, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) has brought out a variety of publications, including research, advocacy and impact-driven reports, books, papers, etc., related to technology and its impact on society, including misinformation, internet shutdowns, and the role of social media in people’s lives.
A young and yet, already an acclaimed academic, Kanad Sinha has brought out a stunning book entitled From Dasarajna to Kuruksetra. The very utterance on Kurukshetra immediately connects one to the Mahabharata. On the other hand, Dasarajna, literally the battle of ten chiefs who were defeated by another powerful chief, Sudas, on the banks of the river Parushni (modern Ravi) refers to the outstanding political event in the Rigvedic clan society. The book seeks to establish connections between these two battles fought in separate historical epochs.
Growing interest in the history of peninsular India has sparked a series of excellent books of value to the specialist and lay reader alike. Kamini Dandapani disavows being either a historian or a writer by profession, but her Rajajraja Chola, King of Kings does long-delayed justice to a ruler who is among the greats of the world and to a dynasty that for several hundred years was the shining light of India with a legacy that stretches to this day.
Tears of the Begums is the first-ever English translation by Rana Safvi of Begumat ke Aansoo, originally written in Urdu by Khwaja Hasan Nizami, a follower of the Sufi order Chishti-Nizamiya and a descendant of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. Born almost twenty years after the revolt of 1857, Hasan Nizami’s spiritual pursuits led him to investigate the events of 1857, the encounters of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, the cruelties meted out to the royal family and the plight of royal family members, many of them women, who survived the revolt.
Women in the Worlds of Labour, originating in a conference on the same theme in 2014, brings wide-ranging critical and theoretical approaches into conversation with one another. While not claiming to be comprehensive, the editors lay out the analytical and historical importance of an interdisciplinary and intersectional perspective on the subject.