An Administrator's Perspective From North East

From changing lifestyles to health, environment and world affairs, former IAS officer Aalok Shrivastava’s new book is an amalgamation of 50 articles and poems. The section on world affairs deals with Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, China and Pakistan, besides leadership challenges. He delves into the public domain and raises issues of corruption, over-population and elections. A section on eminent persons attempts to look at Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar, among others. It also includes five poems and two stories by Ankoor, the author’s only child who died young.

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Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu remains one of the most endearing and enduring figures from Indian mythology — a luminous hero who met a tragic fate. Anuja Chandramouli, who had earlier authored ‘Arjuna’, takes apart the familiar narrative and weaves it back with originality and flair, delivering a moving take on a classic text. Abhimanyu’s saga unfolds by shedding light on unexplored aspects of his remarkable life and extraordinary persona. The story casts a spell on the reader, who is left to agonise over the life of the famous and yet not-so-well-known character from Mahabharata.

Anu Girdhar, a professor in dentistry, discovered the poet in her during the lockdown. Ever since, she has let her innermost thoughts flow freely and her verses have found space in various web magazines and anthologies. ‘Heartstrings’, her latest collection, depicts the deepest feelings, the strongest affections, emotions and reactions of a woman. The 60 poems in the collection cover topics such as self-love, strength of a woman, gratitude, acceptance, romance, life, death and many more. Written in simple language, readers will find a connect with the ideas that the poems aim to convey.