Sunday, October 14, 2001		Books

Hindi Literature
In Himachal fiction writing is up and up
Review by Satyapal Sehgal
THIS is continuing with the stock taking of contemporary Hindi writing in Himachal Pradesh. This time the focus is on fiction writers. But before I start I must mention the name of Tej Ram Sharma, well known in Indian Postal Services (he is Chief Post-Master General,,Haryana Circle) but a rarely heard name in Hindi poetry even among literary circles of Himachal.

A different analysis of social structure
Review by Harjinder Singh
The Alternative to Capital’s Social Order
by Istvan Meszaros, K P Bagchi & Company, Kolkata, pp. 116, Rs. 100.
TO most ordinary people the failure of the erstwhile Soviet bloc countries is the collapse of a system of political governance that in the name of serving the poor allows no freedom to people. It is not so obvious to many that the political stability of any country in the world is not a question that can be seen in isolation.

Of love, deception and desertion
Review by Randeep Wadehra
Pavalayi
by K. Chinnappa Bharathi. Writers Workshop, Calcutta. Pages 143. Rs 200.
LOVE has a myriad manifestations. It can render one lonely and heartbroken or make him popular and full of joy. It can be possessive or sacrificing in nature. It generates hatred in the spurned lover’s heart or it raises him to sublime heights. Cruelty comes easy to young lovers who do not care for the sensitivities of those whose heart they break while pursuing the object of their love.

When one is in forced exile and feels nostalgic
Review by M. L. Raina
Reflections on Exile and Other Essays
by Edward Said. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Pages xxxv +617. $ 35.
EXILE literature would be characterised as the literature of "restorative nostalgia", which puts emphasis on nostos and proposes to "rebuild the lost home and patch up the memory gaps". As against this is "reflective nostalgia" which "dwells in algia, in longing and loss". This would approximate to Said’s refugee literature.

Chandigarh: the creation of two cousins
Review by Sayed S. Shafi
Le Corbusier & Pierre Jeanneret: Footprints on the Sands of Indian Architecture
by Sarbjit Bahga and Surinder Bahga. Galgotia Publishing, New Delhi. Pages 367. Rs 1750.
THROUGH the ages India has had invaders and conquerors, but also scholars seeking the mysterious philosophies of a fascinating land of diverse peoples and cultures.

Conversion of citizen as consumer
Review by D.R. Chaudhry
Liquid Modernity
by Zygmunt Bauman. Polity Press, London. Pages 228. £ 14.99.
THE post-modernity phase has generally been characterised by Zygmunt Bauman as liquid modernity. In the earlier phase, many things in the life of an individual as well as society was had an element of permanence, a semblance of immutability that infused life with a meaning.