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Books
]‘Shouldn’t have been on bench that heard harassment charge’: Gogoi
A controversy had erupted after justice Gogoi presided over a three-judge bench on April 20, 2019 after the accusations of sexual harassment surfaced against him.
Published on Dec 09, 2021 01:37 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
HT Picks; New Reads
On the reading list this week is a book that looks at what data tells us about the lives, beliefs and attitudes of contemporary Indians, another that presents how water-related extremes will shape our future, and a volume that celebrates India’s tradition of handcrafted textiles
Updated on Dec 03, 2021 05:44 PM IST
HT Team
Interview: M Mukundan, author, Delhi, A Soliloquy – “I always dream in Malayalam”
Winner of this year’s JCB Prize for Literature, M Mukundan talks about wandering the streets of Delhi, the power of translation, and contemporary Malayalam literature
Published on Dec 03, 2021 05:42 PM IST
Kunal Ray
Review: Nagme, Kisse, Baatein, Yaadein – The life and lyrics of Anand Bakshi by Rakesh Anand Bakshi
An accomplished biography, grounded in the reality that film songs deliver an emotional and textural surplus that stays much longer than their cinematic experience
Published on Dec 03, 2021 05:34 PM IST
Sudhirendar Sharma
Review: Christianity and Politics in Tribal India; Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism by G Kanato Chophy
G Kanato Chophy disputes the conventional understanding that missionaries who came to India’s northeast highlands worked in tandem with the colonial powers to convert gullible tribal people with an exotic belief-system and the white man’s halo. The truth was far more complicated with the relationship between the American Baptist missionaries and the British administrators being more confrontational than cordial
Published on Dec 03, 2021 05:32 PM IST
Thangkhanlal Ngaihte
Review: Bombay Hangovers by Rochelle Potkar
Poet Rochelle Potkar’s first collection of short fiction includes 15 stories set in Mumbai and one set in Goa. They uncover the inner lives of characters while revealing the author’s knack for fashioning intricate plots and dissecting complex relationships
Updated on Dec 02, 2021 03:23 PM IST
Lamat R Hasan
Dinyar Patel wins Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize for 2021
The prestigious prize worth ₹15 lakh was awarded for Dinyar Patel’s biography of Dadabhai Naoroji, ‘Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism’, the first comprehensive study of the most significant Indian nationalist leader before Gandhi
Updated on Dec 01, 2021 02:07 PM IST
HT Team
HT Picks; New Reads
This week’s list of interesting reads includes a book that looks at the names of many streets and localities in Delhi while attempting to decode what the act of naming and renaming means, a volume on how India helped Bangladesh freedom fighters liberate their country, and an anthology of short stories by women writers from India and across the world
Updated on Nov 26, 2021 04:23 PM IST
HT Team
Heading: Interview, Shrayana Bhattacharya, author, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh – “I’m a loud and proud feminist economist”
Economist Shrayana Bhattacharya believes that in a deeply unequal country, filmy fandom bridges class divisions and narrow identities. Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, especially, allows people from vastly different backgrounds to talk to each other as equals. Her book uses Shah Rukh fandom to explore the struggles of Indian women as they work, worship and wed
Updated on Nov 27, 2021 01:11 PM IST
KX Ronnie
Excerpt: The Disruptor; How Vishwanath Pratap Singh Shook India by Debashish Mukerji
VP Singh’s prime-ministership was short but eventful and changed the trajectory of the nation. This first exclusive excerpt from a new book on him shows how the Mandal report’s recommendations on quotas for OBCs was finally implemented in 1993 despite widespread protests
Updated on Nov 26, 2021 09:00 PM IST
Debashish Mukerji
Review: The Art of a Happy Exit by K Srikrishna
Entrepreneurs exit businesses for a range of reasons including financial distress, partnership squabbles, misread marketplace reality, pressures of competition or the lollipop of fancy takeover offers. Through 26 chapters packed with case studies on entrepreneurial sentiment, K Srikrishna tells readers how to successfully sell their own business
Published on Nov 25, 2021 12:40 PM IST
Sujoy Gupta
HT Picks; New Reads
This week’s reading list includes a book on the people, culture and politics of Haryana and its evolution from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century, one that encapsulates the musical universe of Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and a history of the political thought that laid the foundations of modern India and looks at the power of ideas to drive historical transformation
Published on Nov 19, 2021 07:20 PM IST
HT Team
Interview: Farrukh Dhondy, author, Fragments Against My Ruin – “I’ve taken the risk of naming everyone”
Farrukh Dhondy’s autobiography reveals a no-nonsense man who has given his all to causes and never cared much for others’ opinion of him
Published on Nov 19, 2021 07:16 PM IST
Saaz Aggarwal
Review: The Mughals and The Sufis by Muzaffar Alam
A comprehensive review of the many different kinds of interactions between Sufis, monarchs, political ideology and religious contestation in Mughal India
Published on Nov 19, 2021 07:13 PM IST
Mahmood Farooqui
Excerpt: Annapurna Devi; The Untold Story of a Reclusive Genius by Atul Merchant Jataayu
Extraordinary talent, corrosive jealousy, rifts caused by differing world views and levels of integrity, and great tragedy were part of Annapurna Devi’s life. This exclusive first excerpt from a book on the Hindustani classical music legend by one of her disciples documents the end of her marriage to Pandit Ravi Shankar and its tragic aftermath
Published on Nov 19, 2021 07:05 PM IST
Atul Merchant Jataayu
Essay: Damon Galgut - cartographer of the South African psyche
In simple, lyrical and effortless prose, The Promise, which won the Booker prize this year, explores the fusion of, and the confusion between, races and sexes, and their twisted dreams and desires, their disillusionment and misdemeanours
Updated on Nov 16, 2021 11:42 PM IST
Nawaid Anjum
HT Picks; New Reads
This week’s reading list includes the story of how colonial Indian brands were produced, distributed, and marketed between 1847 and 1947, a book that looks at four encounters that Nehru had with contemporaries from across the political spectrum that are critical to understanding his ideas, and their impress on the present, and a volume on viruses as a major actor in the human body and in civilization
Published on Nov 12, 2021 05:36 PM IST
HT Team
Interview: Jerry Pinto, Translator, Battlefield - “All translation is difficult”
Ranaangan, a Marathi novel published in 1939, explores the love between an Indian man and a German Jewish woman. The story unfolds aboard a ship sailing from Genoa to Shanghai on the verge of World War II. Battlefield is Jerry Pinto’s English translation of filmmaker and playwright Vishram Bedekar’s only novel.
Updated on Nov 12, 2021 05:30 PM IST
Syed Saad Ahmed
Review: The Blind Matriarch by Namita Gokhale
The blind Matangi-Ma registers the changing dynamics of her family during the extended lockdowns, as they begin to re-examine their life and purpose, reconcile with old secrets, and form new bonds. Namita Gokhale’s twentieth novel is a story of love and loss, of the resilience and triumph of the human spirit
Published on Nov 12, 2021 05:09 PM IST
Lamat R Hasan
Review: Ramrao; The Story of India’s Farm Crisis by Jaideep Hardikar
Ramrao is a farmer who lives in Hiwara village in Yavatmal district in Vidarbha, Maharashtra. He had a debt of ₹25 lakh when he tried to take his life. This book tells the story of farming in India through the life of Ramrao
Published on Nov 12, 2021 04:56 PM IST
Aparna Karthikeyan
Review: Believe; What Life and Cricket Taught Me by Suresh Raina, Bharat Sundaresan
This short and easy read has numerous engaging anecdotes from every phase of Suresh Raina’s life. Those who watched him play for Team India or follow the IPL will enjoy this book that seamlessly merges stories from the cricketer’s personal and professional life
Updated on Nov 12, 2021 05:43 PM IST
Biswadeep Ghosh
HT Picks; New Reads
This week’s reading list includes a novel about the expulsion of Indians from Uganda in the 1970s, a superstar chef’s unfussy cookbook, and a collection of the personal mantras that kept eminent people productive beyond the age of 75
Published on Nov 05, 2021 06:06 PM IST
HT Team
Interview: Payal Dhar, Author, It Has No Name – “Online spaces have been my lifelines at various points.”
On her book about a gay teenager in the context of survival, representation, legal reform and queer politics in India
Published on Nov 05, 2021 06:05 PM IST
Chintan Girish Modi
Review: Karachi Vice by Samira Shackle
An intimate account of Karachi that presents a city where gangs formed along ethnic lines trade in drugs, protection, and amenities and are openly affiliated to political parties
Published on Nov 05, 2021 06:04 PM IST
Percy Bharucha
Review: India versus China; Why They Are Not Friends by Kanti Bajpai
An attempt to explain how the relationship between the two countries became so fractious despite their periodic attempts at cooperation
Published on Nov 05, 2021 06:03 PM IST
Suyash Desai
Essay: A tribute to Ritwik Ghatak’s writing on his 96th birth anniversary
November 4 is auteur Ritwik Ghatak’s 96th birth anniversary. While many know his films, few are acquainted with his written work comprising essays and stories whose appeal transcends time, place and culture while being deeply rooted in the Bengali milieu. A homage in his birthday week
Updated on Nov 02, 2021 11:22 AM IST
Shoma A Chatterji
Interview: Anahita Dhondy, author, The Parsi Kitchen - “I don’t believe in keeping recipes a secret”
Dhansak and patra-ni-macchi are probably the only two items that come to most people’s minds when asked about their favourite Parsi dish
Published on Oct 29, 2021 06:36 PM IST
Huzan Tata
HT Picks; New Reads
This week’s reading list includes a biography of Satyajit Ray, a study of the oral tribal Ramayana tradition in Kerala’s Wayanad, and a volume on the rise of Hindutva
Published on Oct 29, 2021 06:32 PM IST
HT Team
Review: Funeral Nights by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih
This seminal work of great scholarship contains hundreds of stories and anecdotes that open up a discussion on Khasi history, mythology and contemporary issues
Published on Oct 29, 2021 06:32 PM IST
Saudamini Jain