The book in my hand: January 8, 2017

A weekly column on what well-known personalities are reading and planning to read.

Kannan Sundaram (left), Amandeep Sandhu

 

 

Kannan Sundaram

I am now reading A Thirsty Fish , the Tamil translation of 13th century Persian poet Rumi, who was also a jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. The translation has been done by N. Sathyamoorthy. Both the content and production of the book match international standards.

Next, I am planning to read A Place of No Importance , a collection of short stories by Veena Muthuraman. The writer belongs to a Tamil family settled in Kerala and I am very keen to read her observations. I was told she is one of the promising English writers from the country at the moment.

Kannan Sundaram is publisher of Kalachuvadu and is a panellist at The Hindu Lit for Life 2017.

 

Amandeep Sandhu

I am reading Mr Iyer Goes to War by Ryan Lobo. I am also reading Sudhir Kakar’s Shamans, Mystics and Doctors and Elias Canetti’s Crowds and Power. As I am drafting my non-fiction book on Punjab, the reading is really erratic and based on my need to understand the issue I am writing about. I typically flip through many books on the same day, all related to Punjab.

I need a break, so next I plan to read a big thick novel called The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil.

Amandeep Sandhu is the author of ‘Sepia Leaves’ and ‘Roll of Honour’ and is a panellist at The Hindu Lit for Life 2017.