The Ramayana, unlike its mighty compere, the Mahabharata, has received compara-tively less attention from critics and scholars alike. One reason might be the very nature of the epic: its being the first kavya, the conscious¬ly: literary composition, as opposed to the more oral character of the other.
Shrikant Verma has been considered a controver¬sial writer right from the beginning. He has carried out many experiments in his poetry. On the basis of his poetic diction evident in his latest poems, it can be said that Shrikant Verma has given a new idiom to Hindi poetry, which is not merely playing with words but giving a digni¬fied expression to the poetic temper in terms of language embedded with layers of meaning.
Redeeming Higher Education is a collection of 15 essays written during the period 1972 to 1985. Four essays were published in the ‘seventies and the rest were written in the eighties. These are grouped into four sections: 1. The Baby-sitting Syndrome; 2. Towards Restructuring; 3.On Teachers and Teaching; and 4. In conclusion. In his introduction Amrik Singh provides a connecting link between the various readings.
This comprehensive and eru¬dite study on peace, stressing the imperative need for pre-serving it in a turbulent world, is of great relevance today in the context of the menacing nuclear arms race, the immi¬nent possibility of extending nuclear weapons deployment to space and the increasing number, frequency and inten¬sity of ‘local wars’.
Observing the failure of anti-participatory development strategies of the last three decades and realizing the increasing trend of worldwide poverty, the author of the book suggests and creates arguments for the adoption of people-based participatory development in the Third World. He fervently believes that the construction of a just world is possible if people are empowered.
Bonded labour is one of the forms of urs freed labour exist¬ing predominantly in rural India. It is one of the most inhuman forms of social stig¬mas rooted in the socio-economic structure of our country. Poverty and unemp¬loyment are the chief driving forces behind bondage. In addition to this, the Hindu caste hierarchy plays an important role in preserving this evil as low-paid and menial jobs cannot be done by higher castes. Hence, it is pre¬valent since many centuries.