Tag Archives: Biography

When Jamia Millia Islamia, under its visionary Vice Chancellor Mushirul Hasan, decided to name its newly built daycare facility after Gerda Philipsborn, this German-Jewish woman was resurrected from anonymity for Jamia’s younger generations. Slowly, fragments of her life began to appear in articles and discussions and then, Margrit Pernau decided to do a full-fledged biography of this spectral figure. Considering a general apathy for institutional histories and even greater disregard for the role women played in them, this was a remarkable move.

The core consists of the Introduction (pp. 1-47) and seven chapters with sub-sections and Notes (pp. 48-317). ‘My narrative explodes some myths and questions many perceptions, including an explanation of how he became a spendthrift. To understand Michael, there is a mass of misinformation to cut through…’, says Dasgupta (p. 40).

The Holocaust has undoubtedly birthed the most harrowing stories but Silana’s journey across countries, fleeing an infernal homeland to reach a safe haven in India doesn’t leave an impact. The Maharaja frets over British disapproval of his mission of saving several Jewish children and the need to keep their work secretive, yet it’s unrealistic how several foreign children lodged in his summer palace escape the attention of the Britishers. For a novel largely set in India, the WWII years that mark a crucial phase in the struggle for Indian Independence make a measly appearance. Even though the story has its heart in the right place, the writing is too dandified.

The family narrative is woven into an exposition of Sikh history. The radicalism of the Khalistani movement, the conflict between Sikh and Hindu nationalist fanaticism, and the all-too-familiar twists of politics and politicians help the reader identify with the world and setting that the story delineates in such great detail.

Gilchrist Gardens, Ammu’s residence in Madras, was the site for her social life and later a hub for Congress political activities. She was a founding member of the Women’s India Association (WIA) along with Annie Besant, Malathi Patwardhan and others. The WIA addressed the many ills of child marriage, Devadasi system, widow remarriage, divorce, inheritance, and advocated for female suffrage. Ammu introduced Lakshmi to politics, was a votary of the Sarada Bill and in time stood for elections and won a seat in the Madras Corporation. Ammu was vocal about her critique of caste, not sparing Jawaharlal Nehru for adopting the title ‘Pandit’.

Among Irawati’s writings about her experiences in the field, the most moving and significant is her description of a dig in Langhnaj, Gujarat, which she undertook with her Deccan College colleague, Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia, Professor of Proto-Indian and Ancient Indian History.

It is unfortunate, but not totally surprising, therefore that some jealous people strove to create a rift between Islam and Tagore. In the poem ‘Kandari Hushiar’, which we have mentioned earlier, Islam used the word ‘khoon’ for blood. This was objected to by a number of writers associated with the magazine Shanibarer Chithi. In this context Tagore also critiqued Islam’s frequent use of Arabic and Persian words in Bengali poetry. He was deeply hurt and reacting to this controversy, wrote the essay, ‘Borar Piriti Balir Bandh’.

The book under review is a sweet interaction between the past and the present. The book takes the reader through the cultural and historical on sweets popular in various parts of India. The diversity of sweets in their varied shapes and textures together prepare each chapter with a historical base topped with its present understanding and existence and then generously sprinkled with the recipe towards the conclusion of the chapter.

Homeless, a memoir, is a book about a young woman struggling with coming to terms with the complexity of her life. Although how much of it is autobiographical has not been clearly mentioned in the book,

Imagine one morning you find a spacecraft (belonging to 3023) landing in your back garden. What would you do? You may start with some hypothesis and try to figure out what this is. You may try to open the doors with the tools you have. Understanding Autism is also like that.

India has just finished its campaign at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, with a total of 107 medals, its biggest-ever haul at a single edition. Out of the 28 gold medals won, 9 were bagged by women/women’s teams and 1 mixed team. Similarly, out of the 38 silver medals won by Indian players, 17 were won by women (teams) and 2 mixed teams and among the players winning the 41 bronze medals 19 were women or women’s teams and 2 mixed teams.

Meera Mukherjee was a sculptor from India who was known for her innovative bronze casting technique which she learnt from the Bastar sculpting tradition of Chhattisgarh. The book traces her journey from her childhood days and presents a glimpse of the artist’s life and pursuit for sculpting.

This book gives wings to a child’s wishes. They imagine themselves to be a number of things apart from what they already are. We see quite a range in these imaginations, for instance, a cup of tea, atwelve-armed octopus, a sneeze, a tadpole’s tongue, a question mark, a smelly sock…and many many more.

This is a good introduction to the celebrated vocalist Kesarbai Kerkar and a story about how her recording of Raga Bhairavi ‘Jaat Kahan Ho’ was included in a disc that was sent into space.

Biography is an evergreen genre. The urge to know about famous people’s lives seems fairly insatiable as can be seen from any major publisher’s list. And yet, these slim books by Lavanya Karthik manage to stand out, for they deal not with the great glories of the famous persons they are about but with small occasions from their childhood that sowed the seeds for the direction their lives would take in the future. Each story is crafted from the perspective of the child that was.

When the list of books for review for TBR 2023 was shared, the title of this book attracted me, as this is a biography and I love reading them! Secondly, there are many books written on the life of Milkha Singh and I was curious to see how one written for children would present the life of this iconic athlete.

Humour with Mario Miranda is a picture book thick in board page format. The text focuses on Mario’s growing up years and the themes in his art. Mario was fascinated by the everyday characters he encountered, life and its traits, families and cityscapes. Like other texts from the Learning to Be series, this book is a biography in fragments.

What can a single woman do on her own? The question can also be posed as ‘can a single human do anything significant by themselves after all.’ The story of Jamuna Tudu is one such tale. Lavanya Karthik has presented Jamuna’s story in a very interesting manner.

The 39 chapters of the book cover Sreenivasan’s experiences as a family man and administrator, from his selection for the Mysore Civil Service in January 1918 to his tenure as a Minister in the Princely State of Mysore in 1943, and Dewan of Gwalior in 1946.

Scott R Stroud succeeds in arguing a Deweyan Ambedkar: Did Ambedkar have one intellectual interlocutor throughout his life? Was Ambedkar’s world mediated through Dewey? It is however a well-argued book, theoretically rigorous which systematically conceptualizes Ambedkar’s pragmatism.