Twice told tales

Katha started in 1989 with the purpose of helping build capacity in writers, translators and editors in the Indian languages. Since then, they have published a large number of translations of high quality, mainly into English (from languages such as Asomiya, Bangla, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meiti, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu) and occasionally translations between the various Indian languages. In addition to short stories, Katha has also brought out translations of "narratives that come from India 's vast storehouses of oral traditions, novellas and novels, biographies and autobiographies, and critical texts."

Gita Dharmarajan- the moving force behind the organization- is a woman with a mission. And a vision, which combines social activism with literary activism. Katha has instructive, informative and imaginative books for children, emanating from the multilingual magazine Tamasha that they had started even earlier. Indeed, Katha's best writers, illustrators and translators put their efforts into the wonderful childrens books that they produce. They also have a fledgling effort in the arena of academic publishing with a few books in the areas of gender and caste, along with some poetry, biography and essays. And of course, their mainstay, literature.

Scholars has long carried several of their titles particularly those of the likes of Manto, Sobti, Hyder, Chugtai, and Tendulkar in addition to their academic list. During July 2008, we are pleased to offer a flat 5% off the list price on all their titles (some of which you can see on our site, and the rest on www.katha.org). Katha is a very uncommon publishing house. And our heart has its reasons...

So many histories

"History, it is said, cannot be studied without reflecting on the practice of historians who narrate it. The articles in this volume introduce readers to the writings of four scholars who study the subject of temple desecration in interesting and different ways. They focus on the ways in which historians study the political culture, events, historical narratives, material remains and aesthetic norms of a time very distant from us. Through their focus on the theme of temple desecration, a subject of considerable import in political rhetoric today, these essays also underline how easily history can be subverted to serve narrow, cynical ends. At a time when history has become so important in the making of the nation’s identity, the articles in this book invite the readers to pause and reflect on the craft of history, the exciting and engaging conclusions to which it can lead and the worrying ends to which it can also be nudged."

Three Essays Collective, Gurgaon, bring out Demolishing Myths or Mosques and Temples? Readings on History and Temple Desecration in Medieval India edited by Sunil Kumar, containing the essays Indian Art Objects as Loot by Richard H. Davis, Somanātha: Narratives of a History by Romila Thapar, Temple Desecration in Pre-Modern India by Richard Eaton, Islam, Iconoclasm and the Early Indian Mosque by Finbarr B. Flood, and in an Appendix, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Address to the Public Meeting at Somnath on October 31, 2001.

As usual, both in paper and hardcover simultaneously. In our History section.
And in the TEC paperback list.

Environmental Action

Kalpavriksh, the enviromental action group based in Pune, live up to their name and their ethos. Their essential philosophy is simple enough: a country can develop meaningfully only when ecological sustainability and social equity are guaranteed, and a sense of respect for, and oneness with nature, and fellow humans is achieved.

Forests Alive! is the CD of a "Handbook for educators and teachers on the lives of the Soliga tribal community who live within the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka. The CD also includes information pertaining to the BRT sanctuary and the wildlife within it. Generously illustrated with drawings, maps, and colour foldouts, the CD also contains descriptions of over 175 activities. Educational aids like posters, flash cards and game cards specific to the BR Hills have also been developed. The entire package can be used as part of an EE programme for students from Classes 1 to 10. It can be adapted for non-formal learning programmes as well. The book will also be of interest to teachers, environment educators, the Forest Department, wildlife tourists, NGOs and concerned individuals. While the content is set in the BR Hills, it can serve as a useful tool for other areas, as much of what it contains can either be used directly or modified."

Since there is so little by way of instruction or information in this very vital area, this CD is a most welcome addition to our For Children section. The authors are Sujatha Padmanabhan, Sunita Rao and Yashodhara Kundaji. We hope that many schools will see this as a way to convert the (usually dull) EVS periods into more participatory activities. We need more activists, especially with regard to the environment!

For Kannada readers, Nagesh Hegde has translated the book and Navakarnataka have produced it as Vana Sanjeevana. Write in to us for information as to how to get either of these. Forests Alive! comes for Rs 150 in India ($15 outside the country) and Vana Sanjeevana for Rs 275.

Elusive Peace

One Step at a Time is a new book by Sumanasiri Liyanage of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. An economist with a very wide pallette-he teaches political economy and has written in both English and Sinhala on constitutional reform and on devolution, Liyanage has analysed the events and processes that occurred in Sri Lanka between 2001 and 2006. The idea that increased trade and economic growth would help in transforming the conflict and bring peace has largely failed, not because it was intrinsically a poor idea, but more that this "liberal theory of conflict and conflict resolution fails to grasp the rich complexity of modern ethno-political conflict".

The rich complexity is something most of us can't fathom, either, living as we do in a land of even greater apparent contrasts and diversity, so the book- which has been widely praised by scholars in Sri Lanka as "comprehensive and well-researched' and "a useful read that asks us to take an open-ended and transformative process seriously" should be of interest to students and observers of strategic affairs and politics the world over, and especially here.

In an earlier post, we had drawn attention to another of the many books that analyse the problem from an Indian perspective. Nirupama Subramaniam's Sri Lanka: Voices from a War Zone, is a journalist's take on the conflict. She uncovers "these ‘little histories’ as she calls them—of children forcibly recruited into Tiger training camps; of parents waiting for mass graves to reveal their bleak secrets; of people fleeing their homes in war zones only to become prisoners in refugee camps; of the families of the missing who still wait and hope; of women in the maid-trade bonded in virtual slavery in foreign lands." From Penguin.

Professor Liyanage's book is published by the South Asia Peace Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka and can be ordered through us. Write in our usual addresses...
mail@scholarswithoutborders.in or scholarswithoutborders@gmail.com.

In our Politics Section. Paperback, 269 pages, Rs 300. ISBN: 978-955-9098-79-9

Universal Values

This post is about the sumptuously produced periodical International Gallerie which is published from Mumbai by Bina Sarkar Ellias who believes in "the rich diversity of the world’s cultures and the powerful universality of ideas." The latest cover could well be one of Frida Kahlo's self portraits... and maybe it is... Which, we presume, is the point.

Launched in 1997, the inaugural issue (and subsequent issues) were widely praised and went on to win a number of national and international awards for excellence. What began as an arts and literary journal that focused on creative excellence worldwide underwent its own transformation and developed into a forum for the discussion of issues such as art, music, theatre, cinema, poetry and travel. And this is reflected in the varied themes that fuse the different issues: the latest Gallerie is titled Two Bengals and "traces the shared culture of Bangladesh and West Bengal."

Scholars have been lavish in their praise for the journal, and justifiably so. Amartys Sen calls it "a magnificient production as well as very discriminating and topically forceful presentations" while Pratapaditya Pal, editor of Marg (and one who should know!) says he is " enormously impressed with Gallerie. Knowing the constraints of producing such work in India, I am in full admiration for the courage and dedication with which it is produced. I hope this journal becomes a permanent feature in the Indian cultural landscape."

We agree! International Gallerie is a new addition to our Periodicals category. Annual subscriptions are Rs 530. Back issues for Rs 295. International subscriptions $45. Subscribe to the journal here.

The Freshness of a Dream

       O joy! that in our embers
          Is something that doth live,
          That nature yet remembers
          What was so fugitive!

The Last Lecture, a most unusual book is now widely available in paperback in India, at a special price of Rs 295. Written by Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, the book continues his "last lecture", given in September 2007, and which can be seen and heard on Youtube. A few hundred thousand people have, already.

The Last Lecture is a particular format at several US Universities where "Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question". Ironically, when Pausch was asked to give the talk, he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer that had affected his pancreas, and had been given a few months to live.

It is impossible not to be moved. Randy Pausch is 47 and will leave behind a young family. And in his talk, he spoke of the importance of childhood dreams, of enabling the dreams of others, and of overcoming obstacles, and of living. The book extends the lecture, talks of the circumstances around his present situation (you can follow his journey on his website, so one knows that he is still fighting...) and in a series of brief essays, gives his formulae for how best to conduct oneself.

Like much good advice, most of it is simple. Sometimes disarmingly so, but the genuineness of the man comes through on every page. Maybe it is simplest to live life through straightforward and simple axioms after all... How else, in the face of so obvious a tragedy, can one cope with so much dignity and so much grace?

The title of this post goes back to Wordsworth, from his moving and apt Ode on the Intimations of Immortality. There are other lines that I particularly like in the poem, and which seem appropriate, given the context.

          Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
      Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
      To me the meanest flower that blows can give
      Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

If you would like to get this book and its not available nearby, write in.

Unexploited opportunities

Its unusual for us to highlight books published by Tata McGraw Hill (mostly because they largely tend to be reprints) but a recent enquiry brought up the book Out of Poverty by Paul Polak which was recently published by them. Lifting people out of poverty- 17 million or so by some counts- using a grassroots approach, Polak and the International Development Enterprises have been spectacularly successful.

The IDE website asserts that they are a "different kind of non-profit organization, .... dedicated to ending poverty in the developing world not through handouts, but by helping poor farmers invest in their own success." Their manifesto is decidely and firmly optimistic and upbeat, declaring their belief in " the right of poor women and men to a secure livelihood, that markets can be a powerful force for poverty reduction, the value of innovation and entrepreneurship, and their confidence in their ability to make a significant difference". And it appears that there are significant market opportunities for the desperately poor that Polak and his group have identified and helped develope.

A point of view that is worth considering in the midst of an inflation that threatens to drag us all into poverty. In our Economics, Development Studies, and General Books sections. Rs 295. Paperback, 248 pages. ISBN: 978-0-07-023027-9

The Importance of Reviewing Earnestly

The biweekly journal Current Science was founded in 1932 by the Current Science Association in collaboration with the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.

In recent years, the journal has emerged as a very public - and very lively- forum for the discussion of ideas, not just on science, but on science management, science education, and science policy. Articles by leaders in these areas dominate the first few pages of the journal which spectacularly lives up to its mandate as " a medium for communication and discussion of important issues that concern science and scientific activity. "

Some of the vitality in these spheres comes from the Editors of the journal: P Balaram, who has served as editor for the past several years, and who is presently (and very ably!) assisted by Niranjan Joshi, K R Rao and K S Gandhi.

Current Science editorials are usually a treat to read- provocative and thought provoking at the best of times. And this week is not an exception, and in the piece entitled Writers and Readers Balaram talks of the importance of Book Reviews. Of course the editorial is about many things, but some of them struck enough chords to warrant this post. About which more later. (By the way, the journal is Open Access and anyone can download any of the online articles. Clicking on the above link will get you a pdf file of the editorial in question.)

Quoting Maddox, Balaram points out that "‘the scientific community, any intellectual community, has reason to be grateful to reviewers’. The requirements of a book review, according to Maddox, is that they ‘should be essays in sympathetic understanding, marked sometimes with sorrow, rarely with anger’. " And elsewhere in the article, "For avid readers, who are hard pressed for time, a review may help in deciding whether a book is worth pursuing. The difficulties (and expense) of getting one’s hands on some titles in India cannot be underestimated, making well-written reviews invaluable. Reviewers who are knowledgeable about the subject and its history can sometimes provide insights that are lacking in the book itself. "

This is something that we at SwB are seriously concerned about and our review Lists are designed around this concern. All too often one reads reviews of books that one immediately wishes to have. And that is difficult for one of several reasons....

• A bookstore is not close at hand (which is most often the case anywhere in India).
  

• The information about the book is incomplete (including the dreaded phrase "Price not stated", which usually means that the price could be $100 or so...).

• The book in question comes from an obscure press (finding which, or finding a distributor for which is more trouble than seems worthwhile).

From time to time we list all the books reviewed in Current Science (and in selected other magazines- see the Review Lists on our site), especially if the books in question are published in India. Obscure or otherwise. We do believe that you should be able to get the books you want, and would like to make the process simple. Try it- write in to us for any book reviewed anywhere.

The journal itself is quite a bargain. Subscriptions can be made (of course-) via Scholars: here!

Dancing without Borders

Urmimala Sarkar Munsi, who is presently visting the School of Arts and Aesthetics at JNU has a new book out from Tulika, Dance: Transcending Borders. There are many borders she has transcended- a trained dancer and choreographer, she is also a social anthropologist specializing in Dance Studies, with a career that cris-crosses many other borders, political and social.

This edited volume is a project of the Research and Documentation Network of the World Dance Alliance–Asia Pacific. It brings together renowned scholars from the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas and Europe to discuss issues of global and local importance that are at the centre of contemporary research in dance.

"As globalization forces us to revisit the local in dance, an examination of the processes of identity formation, generation and affirmation becomes very necessary. The world of dance in today’s context is constantly being shaped by the nature of the state, politicized markets, the dialogues taking place within and between cultures, as well as the growing importance of multimedia skills. As the identity of dance and of dancers undergoes constant interrogation and reorganization, there is an increasing need to establish dialogues across regions, and to identify and understand the major areas of concern – some of which may be common to all, while others may be specific to the social–political–historical conditions of particular countries."

In our Performing Arts section. Hardback, 292 pages, Rs 595. ISBN: 978-81-89487-38-6.

A very different point of view

From the time I saw this map in a friend's office and had to have my own copy, I have been impressed by the point of view that Himal has to offer. The magazine, a monthly,is published and distributed by The Southasia Trust, Lalitpur, Nepal.

But more than that, Himal is Southasia’s first and only regional magazine. As they point out, "Stretching from Afghanistan to Burma, from Tibet to the Maldives, this region of more than 1.4 billion people shares great swathes of interlocking geography, culture and history. Yet today neighbouring countries can barely talk to one another, much less speak in a common voice. For two decades, Himal Southasian has strived to nurture, define and amplify that voice.

Independent, non-nationalist, pan-regionalist – Himal tells Indians and Nepalis about Pakistanis and Afghans, Sri Lankans and Burmese about Tibetans and Maldivians, and the rest of the world about this often-overlooked region. Critical analysis, commentary, opinion, essays and reviews – covering regional trends in politics and economics with the same perspective as culture and history, Himal stories don’t stop at national borders, but are followed wherever they lead. "

I have my subscription- which is less than Rs 50 an issue- and could not agree more. The latest issue talks of Bhutan's new democracy, of the regional food crisis, of conservation in Mizoram, street gangs in the Maldives, the new Nepal, Baltistan, the tortured Srilankan peace brokering. And even about Thollywood. (Yes! In Thimphu...).

And the map. It can be downloaded from their website, where you can also read the magazine online. Go ahead. The editor, Kanak Mani Dixit, offers a truly pan-regional point of view!

Measuring up

The paucity of original mathematics books in a country famed for its mathematicians is something that we have learned (with some sadness) in the few years that SwB has been in operation. Its not just mathematics- in the sciences, the situation is just as bad. Or maybe worse. The reasons are many- prime among them being that journal articles- and not books- are the usual mode of transmission of original research in the sciences, as opposed to, say, history or economics or philosophy. Be that as it may, the lack of good texts is both undeniable and worrisome...


It is not all bleak, though. There is a tremendously good series of high level, high quality books in Mathematics published by the Hindustan Book Agency in Delhi. Texts and Readings In Mathematics or TRIM has Rajendra Bhatia as managing editor, and in the ten or so years that they have been publishing, have brought out over 50 books of superb quality, both in the mathematics as well as the production value.

One area where there have been a number of rather good books is Measure Theory. An outstanding text is K R Parthasarathy's Introduction to Probability and Measure, 33 in the TRIM series. (According to a remark attributed to Mark Kac, probability theory is measure theory with a soul!) Those who have had the fortune to be taught by KRP will know that this book captures his meticulous style: it is a masterly exposition by a master.

Also in the same series is Measure Theory by Krishna Athreya and Soumendra Lahiri, both professors in the US. The book is written with the MSc or PhD student in India in mind, though- presenting measure and integration theory in a self-­contained and step by step manner. A modern presentation of the subject, this book includes a large number of exercises that should prove very useful to teachers and students in mathematics, statistics and related fields.

Universities Press in Hyderabad, is another publishing house that does something to alleviate the problem of the lack of original texts. Addressing, along the way, the lack of a strong University press tradition in the country (when, if ever, will we have the likes of an Oxford or Cambridge University Press? Probably when we have the likes of Oxford or Cambridge....) they have been bringing out a number of publications in the sciences, both original books as well as reprints. (We did a post about their Maths Olympiad books some time ago.)

Recently they published Measure and Probability by Siva Athreya and V Sunder, another fine addition to the field from two of the best. Among the highlights of the book are a thorough coverage of the fundamentals, a discussion of real as well as complex measures, Lp spaces, Radon–Nikodym theorem and the Riesz representation theorem. The elements of probability theory (random variables, distributions, independence, product measures spaces), discrete time Markov chains, the Riesz representation theorem and the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem are presented.

All in our Mathematics section. Great value.

Man to Man

Earlier this year, Sage brought out Parmesh Shahani's Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)longing in Contemporary India. Widely praised for its novel methodology, which combines personal narrative with research, the book describes what it is to be gay in Mumbai today. The book "critically examines the formulation and reconfiguration of contemporary Indian gayness in the light of its emergent cultural, media, and political alliances. [It]

• Offers an exciting path breaking ethnography, which combines a large macro sweep with an intensely personal narrative. The author's memories flow in and out of the main narrative to create a distinct reading experience.
• Presents a unique and timely look at urban contemporary Indian sexuality
• Provides an integrated approach that illuminates how new media technologies, the media industry, audiences, and broader socio-historical contexts shape gay identity in contemporary urban India
• Gives a different perspective on globalization in post-liberalization urban India, as India re-positions itself as a global superpower. How are its minorities being treated? How are they asserting themselves in this new imagination of the nation-state?
• Weaves in personal experience that helps us understand male same-sex desire in relation to customary experiences in a city like Bombay. "

Rachel Dwyer, who has written extensively on contemporary Indian culture says that the book is "a path-breaking study of homosexuality in modern Bombay/Mumbai that will be essential reading for students of gender and sexuality."

In our Sociology and Gender Studies sections, 360 pages, Paperback. Rs. 395. ISBN 9780761936480

Trenchant and inspiring

So says the Hindu about Fireflies in the Mist, Qurratulain Hyder's novel on Bengal. With an Introduction by Aamer Hussein, this recent title from Women Unlimited, is a novel that moves through "nearly four decades of East Bengal's history, from the dawn of nationalism to the restless aftermath of the bloody struggle for an independent Bangladesh.

At the heart of this many-centred novel is Deepali Sarkar, a young Hindu attracted to the extreme left wing of the nationalist movement, and Rehan Ahmed, a Muslim radical of Marxist inclinations who introduces her to the life of the rural deprived. Their common political engagement draws them into a quietly doomed love affair. Through their relationship, Hyder explores the growth of tension between Bengal's Hindus and Muslims who had once shared a culture and a history.

"History," says Hyder, "is another name for humanity's inability to learn its lesson." Lit by the flare of Hyder's prose, history is captured in the glow of the firefly's wing, unfolding in the lives of her characters as they try to come to terms with their own and Bengal's shifting fortunes.

Hyder who passed away last year, wrote in Urdu, and extensively. Her work consists of four collections of short stories, five novels and several novellas. She was awarded the Padma Shri, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the prestigious Jnanpith, in 1989, for this novel. The marvelously pensive photograph on the right is by Gauri Gill...

In our Translation section, 424 pages. Rs. 350 ISBN: 81-88965-52-9

Pillars of Light

The University of Leeds publishes a great journal of transcultural writing, Moving Worlds. Which, by the way, was among the first journals to be made available for subscription via Scholars (and we will not soon forget that they were one organization that took the idea of without Borders seriously!). Leeds has played a pioneering role in Commonwealth and postcolonial studies, and feel the need to "explore new work, new directions and new perspectives...."

Their latest issue, Pillars of Light, explores Muslim cultures. Jeffrey Wainwright writes in Zefira Poems:

Without zefira there was nothing,
no way of writing nothing;
with it every distance,
every credit, every debt,
and how the universe bends round itself:
the decrees of physics are the decrees of fate.

The issue has fiction (Hamid Ismailov, Aamer Hussein, Abir Hamdar, Anand), poetry (Khadijah Ibrahim, Joolz Demby, Shawkat Toorawa, Tim Younds, Robert Chandler, Jeffrey Wainwright), and articles (Nima Poovaya Smith, Sheila Canby, Shusha Guppy, Kadija Sesay, Javed Majeed, Simon Broughton, Anshuman Mondal, Salima Hashmi, Ananya Kabir, Barnaby Rogerson). And more.

Order it via Scholars. The journal can be subscribed here as well. Write in!

Stree Shakti!

More power to Stree and Samya (Kolkata) as they (finally!) revamp their website and put up a more complete list of books than they previously had....

As many of you will surely know, Stree and Samya are two imprints of the firm Bhatkal and Sen. Since 1990, Stree has been publishing on gender studies, focusing on the status of women in India, in both English and Bengali. They publish on " the workplace, class relations and political subjection, marriage, the family, the impact of religion, culture and ideology [and] translate women’s writings, fiction and nonfiction, from Indian languages into English."

Caste is another important area that both Stree and Samya, founded in 1996, focus upon. Also on "culture and dissent, which gives priority to the study of caste in a changing society, through scholarly analysis, its place in the creation of knowledge, and the writings of dalits, often in translations into English."

We're very proud of our association with Stree/Samya. Most of their titles have been available through Scholars for quite some time now, but with their new website, the link is now bidirectional.

Kesharshivam, Kancha Ilaiah, Ashok Mitra, Jashodhara Bagchi, V Geetha, Gail Omvedt, Kalpana Kannabiraman.... Their list of authors is as impressive as the titles that they have brought out over the years.