The first Kannada novel, Indira Bai or The Triumph of Truth and Virtue, has been recently translated into English, for the second time, by Vanamala Viswanatha and Shivarama Padikkal. Originally published by the Basel Mission Press, Mangalore, in 1899 the novel was first translated into English.
‘I was my mother’s boy.’ ‘Amma took this shy, introverted child by hand and pushed him out into the world.’‘I was forty-six the year Amma died. Even today, I inhabit the world she created in those forty-six years with me.’
In November 2019, the Tata Literature Live Festival, held in Mumbai, conferred a lifetime achievement award upon Shanta Gokhale, recognizing and acknowledging her long and distinguished career. Reading her delightful memoir, we can understand.
We know a lot about the British who explored and mapped India in the nineteenth century, with a scientific rigour that Indians have never possessed. As a matter of fact, till the Mughal time geography was not even taught in schools and we were too scared of losing.
As our Republic turns 70, there is a distinct anti-intellectual wind blowing in the air, by which I mean not merely a certain wariness often bordering on suspicion of ideas but outright disrespect for ideas that are not popular. Ideas that question or point to flaws.
All the Wrong Turns: Perspectives on the Indian Economy by TCA Ranganathan and TCA Srinivasa Raghavan, two highly regarded and respected professionals, one a lifelong banker and the other an economic journalist, is a welcome addition to the growing commentary on.