Boris Kagarlitsky, one of Russia’s best known Marxist dissidents has written widely on a range of issues. His latest offering, one of his best, is a history of Russia (and the Soviet Union) that situates it firmly in a wider European and world framework
Thirty years ago Stephen Alter chose a name – Debrakot, for a hill station in which he depicted the lives of a bunch of people from the Anglo-Indian community. Alter has drawn stories out of their fantasies and fears, hopes and aspirations in the Indo-nostalgic style that is found in his writings.
Bindu Chawla has worked tirelessly to preserve the memories of her father the eminent teacher and vocalist Amarnath. A few years ago she brought out a stately volume Conversations With Pandit Amarnath – a series of interviews that Amarnath informally gave his daughter on vocalism and musicology.
Was there ever a diplomat that didn’t wield, A pen so deft it could normally yield A tome on topics as varied as politics or gastronomy, Or the limitations on ambassadorial autonomy? Kiran Doshi has surpassed in verse, Subjects on which one would normally be terse The question is, will it be understood Beyond the civil service brotherhood?
‘Let’s pile up paradoxes.’ These words from “Cosmogony” signal the enigma at the heart of Published in the Streets of Dhaka by Kaiser Haq, for every feature of this motley collection is offset by other elements that contradict it. Spanning forty years of the poet’s creative life,
‘There is a river. In front of it is a house that opens to a limitless horizon’ (p. 5). The novel begins with the description of this ‘limitless’ river on the banks of which is situated the ancestral house of Raghunath Kalama. Both the river and the house have interesting roles to play in the re-exploration of the Kalama family history as well as the Buddha legend.