Book Review of the Week

Reviews of books from a publisher *other* than me, recommended for your reading …                   … and, since reviews are so short, why not read one or two of these reviews right now?

“Carpenters and Kings” by Siddhartha Sarma; and “The Churches of India” by Joanne Taylor; reviewed by Vivek Menezes

Siddhartha Sarma’s Carpenters and Kings and Joanne Taylor’s The Churches of India outline an Indian Christian landscape as rooted as any other aspect of subcontinental heritage. Amidst India’s ongoing telescoping of political power into unprecedented dominance for the BJP of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, some of the most intriguing subplots involve parts of the

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The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civilization: Hope for the Future

In his latest book, The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civilization: Hope for the Future, Dr. Basheer Ahmed offers fresh insight as well as a fresh perspective on eight centuries Muslim history, focusing on innovative Muslim contributions to science, technology, and mathematics (STEM). In the early years of Islam, Muslims were inspired by Quranic verses

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unheard-voices

Unheard Voices: A Tranquebarian Stroll

Vasco da Gama (1469‒1524) from Lisbon arrived in Kôzhikôde (Calicut, 11o25’ N, 75o77’ E) in 1498, during the reign of Nédiyirûppû Swarõpam Mãnava Vikraman Sãmõŧírí1. Consequently, the early years of the 17th century were busy for Europeans. Britain launched the English East-India Company (EEIC) in 1600 AD to explore India, seeking pepper and cardamom. The

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In his book JNU: Nationalism and India’s Uncivil War, professor Makarand R Paranjape fails to understand the essential irreverence that characterises the premier university

  Jawaharlal Nehru University is an idea which is dreamy and irreverent, challenges the stereotypes, breaks traditional moorings, is Leninist in its thought process but Gandhian in ethos and that makes it mystical and intriguing, and, in certain ways, spiritual. For an outsider, JNU is intimidating but for someone who has lived on the campus

In his book JNU: Nationalism and India’s Uncivil War, professor Makarand R Paranjape fails to understand the essential irreverence that characterises the premier university Read More »

‘The Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy’: Kafeel Khan’s memoir is a punch to the gut

“Dekhta hoon tujhe…” those three ominous words were uttered by Uttar Pradesh’s then newly appointed chief minister Yogi Adityanath to Kafeel Khan, the junior most lecturer at the Department of Pediatrics at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur on August 13, 2017. (In the book the three words are translated to ‘I will

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Food as the Central Character of Our Lives

In ‘A Taste of My Life: A Memoir in Essays and Recipes’, Chitrita Banerji dives into the crunchy socio-political and interpersonal dynamics that give each of our lives texture. Nehmat Kaur 23/JAN/2022 There’s widespread derision on the internet for long personal anecdotes that precede actual recipes on food blogs. The scene is almost always one

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