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Power of
tank irrigation
Meeta Rajivlochan
Social Designs: Tank Irrigation
Technology and Agrarian Transformation in Karnataka, South India
by Esha Shah. Orient Longman. Pages 288. Rs 295.
THE
concept of community has occupied prime importance in developmental
discourse since the 1980s. While there are several strands in this
discourse, the dominant view has been that the community is an excellent
manager of natural resources: the corollary to this view being that
government should withdraw from managing them.
Development
and conflict
Usha Ramanathan
Interstate Disputes over
Krishna Waters: Law, Science and Imperialism
by Radha D’Souza Orient Longman. Pages 487. Rs 1150
THE
development project started coming up against roadblocks of resistance
about three decades ago. Acquiescence in the planning and execution of
projects was the dominant mood when the Hirakud and Bhakra dams were
built. This has given way to endemic unrest based on experience of the
‘development project’ as inequitable, often with destructive
potential, and appropriating.
Mysteries
of the great goddess
Arun Gaur
Devi: The Devi Bhagavatam
Retold
by Ramesh Menon Rupa. Pages 514. Rs. 595
THE
mysteries connected with the Devi are dealt with in 83 chapters of this
book. She is the representative of the Archetypal Feminine which has
been illustrated through different inter-connected narratives, symbols,
and configurations. Her involvement in the creation, nourishment, and
protection of the mankind is inevitable.
Travails
of migration
Santosh Kr. Singh
Migrant Women and Work
ed. Anuja Agrawal. Sage Publications. Pages 226. Rs.350
Migration
is as ancient as the human civilisation. Modernisation brought
prominence to the subject as it entailed an unprecedented large-scale
human exodus, courtesy industrialisation and urbanisation in the late
19th and the early 20th centuries.
Revealing
portrait of society
Kanchan Mehta
Conflict and Other Stories
by Shubham Gupta. Frogbooks. Pages 198. Rs 250.
THE
20 absorbing stories in this collection provide a revealing portrait of
the present social reality, human moods and truths of life. All the
devices of short fiction—irony, satire, sarcasm, wit, satire,
metaphor, character and situation—are well exploited.
Discovery
of a ‘woman eater’
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Sasthi
Brata replied to my letter. The London-based writer was pleased that I
liked his story that had been published in a collection of English short
stories written by Indians. I also wrote to him that I did not like his
travelogue set in India, which at best could satisfy foreigners looking
for readymade, quickish stuff on India.
Decoding
God
Shalini Rawat
Code name God
by Mani Bhaumik Penguin. Pages 222. Rs 150
FOR
the major part of the history of mankind, God has been the
director-cum-scriptwriter-cum-hero. Till science came along that is. It
held man’s faith upside down and the small change of age-old beliefs
fell to the wayside. It promised to deliver us from all evil and disease
and answer all the questions that the mind could ever conceive of.
Publisher
extraordinary
Keki N. Daruwalla
RAVI
Dayal passed away a week back, leaving a lot of authors and friends
floundering in grief, not to mention people in the publishing
fraternity. Those lucky enough to have known him will remember the frail
figure smoking away, the shy self-deprecating smile, his gentle manner,
unfailing courtesy, and the fresh ideas he would throw up each time you
met him.
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