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Everyday reading by Aakriti Mandhwani
Everyday reading by Aakriti Mandhwani. Speaking Tiger. Pages 223. Rs 599
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This book focuses on the middlebrow publishing and reading practices of the North Indian middle classes in the 1950s and 1960s. The author argues that this largely unexamined archive of Hindi magazines and paperbacks, commercially successful as well as desirable literary objects, is vital to understand the emergence, nature, and concerns of the North Indian Hindi-reading middle classes in the post-Independence period. She examines this period through magazines such as Sarita and Dharmyug as well as Hind Pocket Books, the first paperbacks in Hindi.

Transformed by India by Stephen P Huyler. Penguin Random House. Pages 407. Rs 799

Fifty-two years since his entry into India on a bicycle, Stephen P Huyler has traversed the subcontinent dozens of times. As an anthropologist and art historian, the author recognised early on that most of the world had little access to feeling the pulse of the people of South Asia. His many books aimed at bringing the two together. This book revolves around tributes to the individuals he has known — from maharajas to musicians, Dalits to Brahmins, politicians to potters.

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Myth, Memory & Folklore of the Wancho Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh by Tara Douglas and Jatwang Wangsa. Niyogi Books. Pages 188. Rs 595

Tara Douglas and Jatwang Wangsa travelled to villages in the Upper Wancho region of Longding district in Arunachal Pradesh to document inter-linking themes of kinship, social order, tradition and cultural change in the Wancho community. They interacted with the village elders to learn their stories. The result is this book, a collection of myths, fables, folktales and oral history. These elements come together and paint the portrait of the tribe, hitherto unseen to the outside world.

The Phantom’s Howl Translated by Arundhati Nath. Speaking Tiger. Pages 203. Rs 399

Literary works about the demonic and otherworldly traditionally comprised such a popular genre in Bengali literature that in the early days, ghosts were the sole ingredients of Bengali folk and fairy tales. This book comprises stories from both legendary authors such as Rabindranath Tagore as well as lesser-known but equally marvellous writers. Replete with intrigue and horror, these stories have entertained generations of readers since they first appeared. These new translations bring these household favourites to a new generation of readers.

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