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Inimitable Bard
of Avon
Reviewed by Shelley Walia
Shakespeare: A New Biography
By Bhim S. Dahiya.
The Shakespeare Association, Kurukshetra.
Pages 168. Rs 495.
THE
world does not have concrete traces of Shakespeare’s life, and those
that we have bring across a man with glaring contradictions. We who
adore his tragedies and comedies cannot remain indifferent to his
life.
Visionary
President
Reviewed by Puneetinder Kaur
Sidhu
Spirit of India
By APJ Abdul Kalam.
Rajpal Publishers.
Pages 180. Rs 195.
SPIRIT
of India is former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s latest book.
It presents a selection of his views expressed on some very
interesting, relevant, oftentimes irreverent questions posed to him.
The questions, in turn, reflect the concerns, aspirations and dreams
of the youth of India, his most devoted audience.
Modern
age Don Quixote
Reviewed by Deepa Gopala Krishnan
The Mythologist
By Vamsee Juluri.
Penguin Books. Pages 269. Rs 299.
THE
Mythologist is the story about a failed "hero" who
habitually escapes into his own world of myths and beliefs instead of
facing the harsh reality. Like the author, who was born in Hyderabad
and grew up in a film-making milieu, protagonist Parshuram, too, is a
Hyderabadi whose Big Grandfather is a veteran star-maker, famous for
his mythological movies.
A
woman’s odyssey
Reviewed by Sumit Ahlawat
The Westward Traveller
By Durgabati Ghose. Trans. Somdatta Mandal.
Orient BlackSwan. Pages 104. Rs 195.
THERE
is hardly any historical travelogue written by an Indian about some
foreign land. However, the late 19th century and the early 20th
century witnessed an explosion of travel literature from eastern
India, particularly Bengal.
Nowhere
people
Reviewed by Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal
Stateless in South Asia: The
Chakmas between Bangladesh and India
By Deepak K. Singh.
Sage. Pages 289. Rs 695.
THE
Chakmas are amongst the first victims of development-induced
displacement in modern South Asia. The completion of Kaptai Reservoir
in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs), now a part of Bangladesh, in early
1961 had turned some 100,000 people into environmental refugees.
Insights
into Islam
Humra Quraishi
M. I. H. Farooqi’s Muslim
Societies— Rise and Fall examines the changes in the community
LUCKNOW-based
Dr M. I. H. Farooqi is a well-known botanical scientist who retired
from the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, as head of
its Plant Chemistry division. He has authored several books, the
latest being Muslim Societies – Rise And Fall (Sidrah
Publishers, Lucknow).
Tête-à-tête
Visual vistas
Nonika Singh
IN
a world inhabited by people who know little and go to town bragging
about it, Mahendra Kumar, noted theatre person and ace designer,
believes that one must first know a lot and then share only a
miniscule part of it. No wonder, he feels, "Restraint is the
basic principle not only of design and theatre but also of life
itself."
SHORT TAKES
Poetry unbound
Reviewed by Randeep
Wadehra
A Sinner Says
by Sanjiv Bhatla.
Crabwise Press.
Pages 71. Rs 150.
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