HT Picks; New Reads
On the reading list this week is a portrait of the Ghadar Movement, a collection of curated quotations from Seneca who laid the foundations of the Stoic way of life, and a biography of the man behind some of Hindi cinema’s most successful films and enduring soundtracks
Portrait of a struggle
The Ghadar Movement was conceived in 1913 in the United States of America by Lala Har Dayal, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Harnam Singh Tundilat and others, all of them Indian immigrants in the US. Inspired by Tilak, Savarkar, Madam Cama, Shyamaji Krishnavarma and others, the Ghadar plan was to smuggle arms to India and incite Indians in the British-Indian Army to mutiny. Many Ghadarites, most of them from Punjab, came back to India from the US in order to participate in the struggle. In India, revolutionaries like Rash Behari Bose and Vishnu Ganesh Pingle joined them.
Owing to lapses in planning and the presence of informers in their midst, the plan ultimately failed and the British came down very heavily on the conspirators.
Some like Kartar Singh Sarabha (who inspired a young Bhagat Singh) were sentenced to death for their part in the struggle. Many others suffered long and cruel jail sentences in the Andamans.
Carefully researched and breezily narrated, Rana Preet Gill’s The Ghadar Movement is an accurate portrait of the struggle.*
A framework for cultivating positivity
The centuries-old philosophy of the Stoics holds the key to navigating our modern world. With its practices for staying calm under pressure, making ethical decisions and navigating challenges, Stoicism offers a practical framework for cultivating calmness and positivity in a complex world.
One of the greatest of the Stoics is Lucius Annaeus Seneca, whose writings explore the importance of ethics, resilience and virtue. His work lays the foundations of the Stoic way of life.
Using curated quotations from Seneca’s work, and supplemented with helpful commentary, authors Jana Capri and Charan Díaz formulate 79 questions that cover a range of universal concerns. Stay Calm with Seneca is a thoughtful and wise companion through the twists and turns of modern life.*
Bollywood flashback
In the 1940s, a young man was signed on by Guru Dutt as assistant director after he eagerly assured the director of his competency in Hindi, a white lie that was soon unmasked. The young man was Raj Khosla, an aspiring playback singer, eager to get a foot in the door in any way he could. In a plot twist he became a filmmaker who made several hit films.
Among his films are taut thrillers like CID, family dramas like Do Raaste, romances like Do Badan and action spectacles like Dostana. He was also behind some of Hindi cinema’s most enduring soundtracks including Lag ja gale and Jhumka gira re.
Through interviews with family, friends and coworkers – including Asha Bhosle, Waheeda Rehman, Mumtaz, Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore, Dharmendra, Manoj Kumar, Prem Chopra, Bindu, Mahesh Bhatt and Aamir Khan – this biography examines Raj Khosla’s work and reveals a director and a man who was as talented and sensitive as he was flawed.*
All copy from book flap.
