The Dragon Kingdom is basically a nar¬ration of the author’s impressions of Bhutan formed during his travels in 1961 as a part of the mission sent to explore the terrain and define the possible para¬meters of communications and Bhutan’s security coverage. The book briefly men¬tions the purpose of this visit.
Bharathi Shivaji’s book The Art of Mohiniyattam is a practitioner’s rich tribute to this art form. Contrary to Shanta Rao’s apprehension (as echoed in the preface) about the inadequacy of words vis-a-vis gestures and movements on stage, to delineate the technique of dance, this book represents a meeting-ground for literature and art, where articulation is wholesomely supplement¬ed by photographic and grahic illustra¬tions to enable even the lay reader apprehend the rich nuances of this dance form.
Aakaasa Veeduhal, (Homes in Heaven) is the latest novel by Vasanthi, one of the leading women writers in Tamil today. Translated into English by Dr Gomathi Narayanan, it has been selected by the UNESCO for inclusion in their collec¬tion of representative works.
Is there such a thing as a woman reader? Is it possible to say that women read differently from men? Or, for that matter, that women write differently from men? Or even that men write differently about women than they do about men? And if any, or all of these is/are the case, who is different, and how, and, as impor¬tant, why?
The Indian woman perhaps more than her sisters in other parts of the world is a fascinating creature. In spite of all the amazing odds against her, she emerges undefeated in spirit though often humbled in circumstance. Time and again we come across typical personalities—‘the eternal mother, the young urban working woman, the desperate survivor—a fraction of some we see when we look into each other’s eyes.
We have good novels and great ones. We have poetry that is good and poetry that is great. Vikram Seth’s The Golden Gate is a masterpiece both as fiction and as verse, This simultaneous triumph will not come as a surprise to those who have read Seth’s engaging travelogue which appeared in 1983. From Heaven Lake marked the com-mencement of a creative journey, a journey of immense promise.