Selected and Translated by Aruna Chakravarti. Foreword by Meena Kandasamy

Issues of migration are addressed in Nakul Mallik’s ‘Illegal Immigrant’. The formation of Bangladesh spurred the movement of Madhab’s family from a nation in formation to India and back. Extreme poverty once again pushes the family to migrate to India. Madhab settles down with Shefali but is picked up as an illegal immigrant and sent back to Bangladesh, a pregnant Shefali is left alone to fend for herself.


Reviewed by: Payal Nagpal
By Catherine Thankamma

The story ‘Madhu’ touches upon a theme we all like to believe to be a thing of the past, untouchability. As much as all of us would like to believe that we have moved past this inhumane concept, reality hits us in the face with a woman and her cup that no one else touches.


Reviewed by: Sunat
by Ritu Menon

Pinto deepens this terrain into a gendered critique of leave-taking, arguing that the very notion of leaving is profoundly shaped by patriarchal imagination. While women may harbour the desire to leave, this longing is routinely romanticized or appropriated by men, rarely granted the legitimacy of action.


Reviewed by: Sabah Hussain
By Chandan Sinha

The extensively and admirably researched introduction not only serves its stated purpose of introducing Rahim’s time, place and persona to readers like me who may not be familiar with all the fascinating details of the multiple contexts and sites from which these dohas emerge and must be read to be fully understood


Reviewed by: Anjana Neira Dev
Translated from the original Bengali by Malati Mukherjee

The difficulty of the translator of poetry from an Indian language into English comes from the music of the words. As a reader, the translator is a sahrday in the world of rasa which Tagore dives into to find formless gems: ‘I have dived into the ocean of form’, he says, ‘in search of a formless gem.’


Reviewed by: Ipshita Chanda
By Mukunda Ramarao. Translated from the Telugu by M Sridhar and Alladi Uma

‘How can I Deal with You, My Dear?’ refers to the daughter’s fear, who is dependent on father’s protection, but once she becomes an adult, she has to learn to walk in darkness and live with evil spirits in the external world. Where does this evil come from if not criminality and various types of exploitation? ‘Wrenching of Heart’ portrays the eternal wait of the parents for their missing son.


Reviewed by: J Ravindranath