FICTION
‘Tell Her Everything’ by Mirza Waheed: The life and times of Doctor K
Tell Her Everything is a dramatic monologue for the most part, in the voice of a man, an Indian doctor, who is talking in his head to his daughter, composing the letter he means to write her, the letter that will “tell her everything”. Sometimes, the man addresses the reader to describe what he will put in the letter. Sometimes, he addresses the daughter. But the ‘you’ has a persistent pull, it establishes an uneasy bond between doctor and reader from the very first line: ‘I did it for money’.
"This is a simple yet powerful book in itself, but the rudderlessness of these times makes it resonate with an even deeper urgency," writes our Literary Review Editor Vaishna Roy.
‘In the Time of the Others’ by Nadeem Zaman: A good documentation of the Bangladesh Liberation War
In the Time of the Others is part of Nadeem Zaman’s two-part PhD dissertation on the creation of Bangladesh after its liberation from Pakistan. Herein lies the problem: the novel remains more of a thesis than a work of fiction in its own right. And this is not because there is overmuch of history but because the characters are merely pegs holding the events in place. They are undercooked, having little or no inner lives, which could have made them reflect on history as it happened, writes Anusua Mukherjee in this review.
‘May I Borrow Your Country?’: A collective of British writers of South Asian origin tell the whole story
Preti Taneja’s foreword to the anthology 'May I Borrow Your Country' evokes the many things that weigh down a woman writing in an alien land — structural prejudice, unchanging hierarchies of power, and a climate devoid of empathy. The writers featured are a collective of British novelists, poets and screenwriters of South Asian origin. They call themselves The Whole Kahani, and they want to tell the whole story of women in the U.K.
Our reviewer Latha Anantharaman writes: "In the current world, there is little room for detachment when reading the stories of migrants."
‘Blue Eclipse and Other Stories’ by Kakanadan: Language of flesh, blood and toil
In George Varghese Kakanadan’s world, the complex often becomes the simple. One of the pioneers of modernism in Malayalam literature, Kakanadan revelled in building characters who negotiate absurdly complicated, Kafkaesque lives. And they were not restricted to Kerala. The stories in ‘Blue Eclipse’, an anthology that is disappointingly short for a writer of Kakanadan’s calibre, are good enough to introduce English readers to the writer’s universe, writes Jinoy Jose P who reviewed this collection of short stories.
‘Spooky Encounters: Gossip and Banter with Marx’ by Sumanta Banerjee: The ‘bearded gentleman’ in conversation with Bengalis
Food and football apart, nothing perhaps excites the Bengali more than a rally. Whichever party calls one for whatever cause, hundreds of people turn up at Brigade Parade Grounds in the heart of Kolkata to shout ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ with gusto. The first two months of 2019 saw two mega rallies, one by the government in power, the other by the Left. Both saw “record” crowds. Why are processions, meetings, bandhs and “all such democratic rights” of paramount importance in Bengal?
Sumanta Banerjee, social historian and activist, takes us on a serio-comic ride to understand where things stand. Read our full review by Sudipta Datta.
Here are a few other suggestions from our bookshelf:
'Killing Time in Delhi' by Ravi Shankar Etteth
This begins with a murder and then travels through the murky by-lanes of Delhi’s property wars. Charlie Seth, a privileged denizen of Lutyens’ Delhi, leads a life of idle luxury fuelled by money, drugs, sex and parties. A cocaine overdose kills his girlfriend, thrusting him into a maelstrom of conspiracy, murder, blackmail and promiscuity. As the world of Crazy Rich Punjabis unravels, Charlie’s future is suddenly at the mercy of strangers. This is a brutally funny look into the shenanigans of Delhi’s ultrarich.
'Mother India' by Tova Reich
Meena, a Jewish-American lesbian who has claimed India as her home, takes the reader into a darkly comic universe populated with three generations of women along with other family members. Among others there is Meena’s religious mother, Ma, who desires to remove herself from the wheel of life; Meena’s daughter, Maya, a misunderstood child growing up in an emotionally treacherous household. The novel is satiric but sympathetic in tone.
'The Anatogonists' by Tina Biswas
January 12, 2013. Sachin Lohia, billionaire businessman, wakes up to a nightmare when a fire ravages his hospital. It leaves over 100 people dead. The chief minister of West Bengal, the formidable Devi, brands Lohia a murderer. Her supporters are baying for blood, and Lohia seems the scapegoat. Will her schemes bring about his downfall or will she be the one to get hurt in this battle of wits?
'The Redeemed: The West Country Trilogy' by Tim Pears
It is 1916. The world has gone to war, and young Leo Sercombe, hauling coal aboard the HMS Queen Mary, is a long way from home. In a world torn asunder by war, how can the old ways of life survive, and how can the future be imagined in the face of unimaginable change? How can Leo, lost and wandering in the strange and brave new world, ever hope to find his way home? The final instalment in Tim Pears’s West Country Trilogy, The Redeemed is a story of love, loss and destiny fulfilled.
NON-FICTION
‘Coming Out as Dalit — A Memoir’ review: A Dalit who stopped being a ‘brahmin’
Journalist Yashica Dutt’s 'Coming Out as Dalit' documents the torment of a life filled with insidious and devastating forms of abuse that caste inflicts, and how she worked up the courage to discard pretence and embrace her identity as a Dalit. The book is a mix of memoir — of a Dalit who pretends to be a brahmin, until she doesn’t — and social commentary, interspersed with brief historical fragments about the Dalit movement. The personal narrative alternates with observations on caste, “the invisible arm that turns the gears in nearly every system in our country,” in Dutt’s memorable words.
This book will hopefully sensitise the ‘caste-blind’ to the many forms of discrimination and everyday casteism that often go unchallenged, writes our reviewer G. Sampath.
‘Virtus in Arduis — I Did It My Way’ review: The politics of reform
The memoirs of Parthasarathi Shome, former adviser to the Finance Minister of India, is titled 'Virtus in Arduis' — virtue in perseverance — the Latin motto of his school Don Bosco in Chennai. It describes the rigorous research and multi-country experience that has gone into the making of a globally renowned tax expert. Shome built his reputation in policy and advisory areas through his stints in academia, the International Monetary Fund and his work with 50 governments.
This book knits all his work together to create a body of literature on the evolution of global taxation policies and practices, writes S. Mahalingam in this review.
‘Bridging East & West — Rabindranath Tagore and Romain Rolland Correspondence (1919-1940)’ review: Rich discourse
The book is a collector’s item, thanks to a rich, scholastic introduction penned by Chinmoy Guha, setting the tone. Equally enlightening and uplifting is the section on conversations between Rolland and Tagore. The letters between Kalidas Nag and distinguished Indian Communist Saumyendranath Tagore are the added attractions, writes our reviewer Indrani Dutta.
‘The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan’ review: Touch of music
If The Music Room was Namita Devidayal’s personal foray into classical music with its trials and dilemmas The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan has the author trying to walk into the footsteps of the sitar legend, offering glimpses of an artist who had transformed his instrument to resemble the human voice. The weighty world of Indian classical music, inhabited by its brilliant practitioners is rendered to the reader in a light-hearted touch and therein lies its appeal, writes Anuradha Raman in this review.
Here are a few other suggestions from our bookshelf:
'Indian Fiscal Federalism' by Y.V. Reddy and G.R. Reddy
Likening fiscal federalism to a game between the Union and the States, the writers lay bare the complex rules of play. It examines the role of Finance Commissions and assesses momentous events since 2014, like the replacement of the Planning Commission by NITI Aayog, the emergence of the GST Council, and controversies surrounding the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
'Mouth Full of Blood' by Toni Morrison
This collection of essays, speeches and meditations, spanning four decades, is divided into three parts: the first is introduced by a prayer for the dead of 9/11; the second by a meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., and the last by a eulogy for James Baldwin. She takes on contested social issues like the foreigner, female empowerment and black matters.
'The Transformative Constitution' by Gautam Bhatia
A lawyer offers a new way of reading the Constitution. The Constitution embodies a moment of profound transformation—one in which the subjects of a colonial regime became free citizens of a republic. The Indian Constitution was, however, transformative in a second sense as well: it sought a thorough reconstruction of State and society itself.
'A Shot of Justice: Priority-Setting for Addressing Child Mortality' by Ali Mehdi
Children have been guaranteed an equal right to life, yet hundreds of them continue to die due to preventable causes. Their deaths are widely perceived as a biomedical issue, with vaccinations being presented as the ultimate life-saving intervention. This book argues that a clear and consistent pattern of preventable child deaths is primarily a problem of justice.
'The Steel Frame: A History of the IAS' by Deepak Gupta
An insider traces the history of the Indian Administrative Service in India. The development of the Indian Civil Service was one of the dominant features of British rule. It established its own traditions and acquired a formidable reputation in administrating civil and criminal justice. After independence, the service continued with the basic structure though there were several changes.
