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The Walking Brahmin: History From Vantage Point

Published by Garuda Prakashan decades after the original manuscript, it puts all pieces of the story together with maps and photographs and offers a unique insight into what really happened during the War of 1857…reports Asian Lite News.

Drawn from the details provided by a Brahmin-turned-amateur-historian, this is a real story that follows two learned men as they traverse India during the 1857 uprising on foot, unearthing history from a new vantage point

As the First War of Independence raged, a Brahmin from Maharashtra, Vishnubhat Godse, on a pilgrimage found himself caught right in the middle of the action. He, along with his uncle Rambhat, went through a series of adventures, including barely escaping hanging.

Upon his return home, Godse wrote it all down in Marathi so that his forthcoming generations could have an idea of how things were during that tumultuous period. “The Walking Brahmin” by Maneesh Madhukar Godbole retells that journey, which is a rare eyewitness account from a common Indian’s point-of-view.

Published by Garuda Prakashan decades after the original manuscript, it puts all pieces of the story together with maps and photographs and offers a unique insight into what really happened during the War of 1857.

This tale starts in 1857, as the protagonist duo starts on a ‘teertha yatra’ from Varsai, a small Maharashtrian village, and walk smack in the middle of the mutinous upheaval of 1857. Having the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, they were caught in the crossfire between the loyalist Indian troops and the British.

Narrativising historical incidents through an Indian lens, such as the fall of Jhansi, they survived the aftermath of British savagery, were robbed of all their belongings multiple times, and even managed to avoid getting hanged twice. Being on the road for over two years, they finally returned to Varsai, which was where Vishnubhat penned down his adventure for his descendants.

“His original manuscript, which ran into 297 pages, comprised two notebooks and twenty-two individual pages. It was eventually published as a Marathi book in 1907, a few years after Vishnubhat’s death. This is probably the only known instance of a document that talks about 1857 from an Indian perspective,” the Pune-based Godbole said.

“Not only does it give us the story from the perspective of the vanquished, but it is also more reliable as it is a first-hand account of experiences and not based merely on hearsay. Thus, the value of this book, in the annals of history, is quite priceless.

“Vishnubhat’s book offered me a unique and authentic insight on how our ancestors lived. What they believed in, the social structure of those times, the hardships, the never-give-up attitude, their fortitude, their beliefs and their ability to even put their lives at risk to fulfill their responsibility,” added Godbole, who learnt about this lesser-known story when he was busy writing blogs related to his travel to northeast India and subsequent research.

Sharing his insights on the book, Uday S. Kulkarni, historian and author of “The Extraordinary Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa”, said that it “gives us a graphic account of the cruelty perpetrated by British forces in cities such as Jhansi, where troops looted and massacred the populace in retaliation for the stiff resistance the city offered the attacking force. It’s a short book, which brings alive the times, the dangers, the smell of war and of death…a first-rate historical account of those turbulent times.”

ALSO READ-The Book of Passing Shadows: Journey to Redemption

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‘Cancer you picked the wrong girl’

Not Mukherjee, who was made of sterner stuff. She called her chemo doctor, who coolly informed her: “Yes, in most people, the chemo does stop her periods.”…writes Vishnu Makhijani

Not Mukherjee, who was made of sterner stuff. She called her chemo doctor, who coolly informed her: “Yes, in most people, the chemo does stop her periods.”…writes Vishnu Makhijani

When Shormistha Mukherjee, whose Linkedin profile describes her as a storyteller, creative strategist, problem solver, connection maker, team builder and entrepreneur, was diagnosed with cancer, she kept wondering why people were so awkward around her.

Then she realised it was because they didn’t know what to say because in India, “we don’t talk about cancer, we just neatly sidestep it like dog poo on a pavement”.

But Mukherjee was made of sterner stuff. Aided by a husband beyond compare, Anirban, a host of friends, principally Oindrilla (Oinx) and Ziba, three doctors at Kokilaben Hospital (among many other caregivers) and her parents, she not only survived breast cancer — and even sorted a midlife crisis — but emerged from the experience roaring to write a book about what she had gone through.

The outcome: “Cancer, You Picked The Wrong Girl” (HarperCollins).

“Not just the mastectomy, reconstruction, chemo, hair loss, but also the mental see-saw, the loss of dignity, the constipation, the hot flashes. To write about it, was to face up to it. It was the most life altering thing to happen to me, but it also had its moments of humour and lightness. And I want anyone, who god forbid, has to go through this, or a caregiver, or a friend or even a reader who is too scared to say the word cancer, I want them to find hope in this book, and of course snort out their tea in laughter,” she says.

Like, for instance, when during chemotherapy she felt she looked like “a baby hedgehog with a swollen face”.

Or, when she’s buying things at a fancy store “with my bald head and my mask, and a lady just keeps staring at me…So, finally, I walk up to her, lower my mask, and in a loud whisper announce ‘I have cancer’. She left the shop faster than you can say bhindi,” Mukherjee writes.

Or the 6 a.m. “magic hour” in hospitals.

“I don’t know what is with their fascination for doing everything at that unearthly hour. So, my IV was put in at 6 a.m. My catheter was taken out at 6 a.m. My first medicine was given at 6 a.m. Oh my god. Just stop. Let the patient sleep. All that’s needed is a roll call parade, so you feel like you’re in jail,” Mukherjee writes.

“When I look back,” she writes, “I realise the one person who saw me through everything was of course Anirban. But it wasn’t just seeing me through, it was like we both lived it. In the hospital, I’d be all happy and chirpy all day, and then before I slept something would trigger a meltdown. Some days I would be feeling scared, some days I would be wanting to just go home. And every night, Anirban would hold me and we’d both cry.”

The nine months from diagnosis, through the surgery, the chemotherapy and the radiation therapy “also released me”, Mukherjee writes.

“It was like a blank slate, we were starting all over again…It’s not easy being married. And we got married when we were kids. Twenty-two and twenty-three (Mukherjee was 45 at the time of surgery). But let me also tell you, that sometimes it takes cancer to tell you that this is the person you want to grow old with. This is the only person who truly gets you,” Mukherjee writes.

“It taught me how much I was loved. By my parents, who put their lives on hold so they could be there for me. They’d literally fly down (from Delhi to Mumbai) before every chemo, wait till I felt better and then go back, and then do this all over again. They lived out of suitcases for that entire period. Only so I could be looked after, and yet have my space. As my chemo progressed, they also learnt to deal with it. There were days when we’d laugh, they’d take me for long drives in the rain, they’d cook my favourite food. It was always going to be hard watching their daughter (their only child) go through this,” Mukherjee writes.

Then there were her friends, Oinx, “who cancelled her holiday abroad. Ziba, who can never wake up early, came for every early morning appointment. My friends and partners at work, Parag and Dixit, who for nine months did their share of work, and mine too. It was bloody hard for them, especially since one day I was at work and in their lives, and the next day I was gone. But they never said one thing to me except ‘All you have to do is beat this’,” Mukherjee writes.

There was also the realisation that as her physical struggle with the chemo reduced, “my fight with my mind became more serious. And I think in the end that’s what made me stronger. I was never in a fight with my body, it was always my mind that I had to control.”

“I was dealing with all this, when another bolt from the blue hit me. My periods stopped. Just after my second chemo, I kept waiting for my period to knock on my fallopian doors, and all I got was some stray spots of blood. Now, nobody tells you this stuff, Not your doctors, nurses, no one. Maybe they’re pretty sure people will Google this.”

Not Mukherjee, who was made of sterner stuff. She called her chemo doctor, who coolly informed her: “Yes, in most people, the chemo does stop her periods.”

Will they come back after the chemo is over, she asked.

“Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. There is no fixed time period. You are forty-five. They might not come back and you might have forced menopause,” the doctor said.

“Menopause. Now I also have menopause to deal with. Just like that, with no warning,” Mukherjee writes.

What a time for a midlife crisis to strike!

“Ooh boy. So much unbidden stuff rushed into my head. Menopause means I am now old. Off the shelf. In a dusty, dowdy little corner. How could that be? I was fit and slim and beautiful a couple of months back. And now you tell me I’m over the hill, and past my prime,” Mukherjee writes.

That too passed.

And today, “guess what, menopause is just fine. Sweaty suits me, adds a sheen to my face. For too long, this shit has been kept under wraps. I’m not past my prime or off the shelf or a ‘poor thing’. I’m just getting older, and that’s fine. I can still do everything I want, without some eggs getting in the way.

“Wait a minute. It took cancer to sort out a midlife crisis! Damn, next time, the universe, just deal me a sports car or something,” Mukherjee concludes on a jocular high.

ALSO READ-Manish Tewari in damage control mode at book launch

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Exceptionals who attained unreachable heights

Exceptional individuals from all walks of life were using the same concepts and sometimes even the exact words as they described what got them to the top…writes Vishnu Makhijani

There are the achievers and there are the exceptionals.

In his first book, “The Innovation Biome”, Kumar Mehta, one of whose many hats is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southern California, had identified the common elements across the most successful corporations in history.

From there, he embarked on a similar exercise to identify the characteristics and traits shared by the most exceptional people in the world and why certain individuals in sports, business, science, music, and other fields are able to separate themselves from the rest.

The result is his current book, “The Exceptionals – How The Best Become The Best And How You Can Too” (Rupa).

“Several years of research have gone into developing and writing this book,” Mehta told in an interview, adding: “The process started with a series of conversations and interviews with many of the most exceptional individuals in the world, including Nobel laureates, Olympic gold medalists and other world-class athletes, business icons, musicians, and people in other professions who reached the very elite levels in their fields.”

He tried to understand their lives and their stories and how they could scale the pyramid when many others could not and as he spoke to more people, themes started emerging.

“Exceptional individuals from all walks of life were using the same concepts and sometimes even the exact words as they described what got them to the top.

“Additionally, I studied the growth and development of many people who have reached the top rungs in their fields. Some of these people are household names, while others come from areas that often don’t make the headlines but require the same qualities of extreme success. I have studied countless interviews to understand the factors that have helped them develop into the most extraordinary individuals in the world,” Mehta explained.

Also, with the field of what it takes to become exceptional having been researched extensively by researchers and academicians around the world, he studied numerous research papers and articles to understand what other researchers have learned, all of which further shaped his thinking.

“The themes shared in ‘The Exceptionals’ have emerged from a deep immersion into the topic, learning from all possible sources. I feel confident that the book covers the essential elements required for becoming exceptional,” Mehta elaborated.

What then are the five main take-aways from this book?

* Fifty per cent of what makes someone exceptional is genetic. You have to have a certain amount of natural talent or innate abilities in your discipline. The good news is that everybody is “gifted” at something. Your gift may be athletic, logical/mathematical skills, spatial skills, musical abilities, etc. To become exceptional, you need to identify where your innate abilities lie and build upon them.

* Twenty-five per cent of what makes you exceptional is the amount of effort you put into developing your skills. Intense effort or hard work is the hallmark of every outstanding individual. The most common phrase I heard from the most exceptional people in the world is “no one will outwork me.”

* The final 25 per cent of what it takes to become the best in the world at something is a set of enabling traits that include:

Being in an environment that supports skill development (e.g., Bill Gates had access to computers at an early age when they were rare, and Usain Bolt came from a country with a strong running culture)

Self-belief — every exceptional believed they could become the best

Total commitment: Exceptionals do not have a plan B; they fully focus on Plan A

Micro-excellence: The attention to the minutest detail is what sets the exceptionals apart from everyone else

Mentors and learning: Exceptionals realize that they can’t do it alone; they are open to learning new ideas from other people and other fields.

* The best one can do is fulfil the physical, mental and social potential available to them, and Mehta calls this achieving “your possible best”. The book also offers specific and practical advice on achieving your possible best and becoming exceptional in your domain.

* Becoming exceptional is multi-dimensional. While popular culture may say that 10,000 hours of grit or a certain mindset is the key to growth, the reality is that multiple elements are necessary, and they are listed in the book.

A well-researched book, it’s an easy read filled with stories of the most exceptional individuals — Mahatma Gandhi, Ian Fleming, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jesse Owens, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, The Beatles, Sachin Tendulkar et al — the world has known.

“It will genuinely help readers who want to scale the pyramid in whatever career they have chosen. The elements of excellence are common across all professions,” Mehta maintains.

What next? What’s his next project?

“My next project is putting the principles developed in ‘The Exceptionals’ into practice. I have developed a program to help aspiring athletes fulfil their potential. This program (called EPIC) is designed to understand the specific elements that are holding back talented individuals from achieving their potential and breaking through them so more people can achieve their possible best,” Mehta concluded.

So, pick up this book and find your way forward!

ALSO READ-Nilosree’s great start for endless Banaras

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Nilosree’s great start for endless Banaras

Her earlier book, also co-authored with Irfan Nabi — ‘Alluring Kashmir: The Inner Spirit’ — has found a home in the Library of Congress…writes Vishnu Makhijani

Author and filmmaker Nilosree Biswas have shot various documentaries in Banaras since her first visit to the city in 1996. The idea of a book took root in 2013 and she was initially apprehensive whether she would come out “fully scathed or oblivious”. The outcome of this true labour of love is a book that combines her rich prose with the powerful images of photographer Irfan Nabi that explores the fascinating nuances of the holy city.

“My relationship with Banaras dates back to the 90’s; my first trip to the city was in the early winter of 1996. Since then I have visited Banaras numerous times; I have shot various documentaries there. The seed idea of the book initiated way back in 2013; we started working on it in 2017.

“And I decided to visit the place once again, apprehensive of whether I would come out fully scathed or oblivious, that is, pining for more or not wanting to ever go back again,” Biswas told in an interview of ‘Banaras – Of Gods, Humans and Stories’ (Niyogi Books).

“All the captivating elements — the ghats, the rickety stalls, the winding lanes, and the daily lure of sweet and savoury Banarasi delectables — too many visual imageries stuffed my mind. I wanted to capture all that and more,” she added.

Noting that a book always has a wider canvas to work on and therefore, creates possibilities to tell more about a location, Biswas said: “Banaras is endless, one book is not enough, but it’s a great start.”

Considerable research that went into the book, from primary sources to secondary sources, field data, interviews; From the seminal works of Diana Eck, a scholar of religious studies who is a Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard, to travel accounts of European travellers, to English translations of scriptural texts, colonial records, to studying the art of British painters like (1749-1840).

“Apart from the published material, all my first-hand encounters with the artisans engaged in Banarasi-sari weaving, the meenakaris, the wooden toymakers, the tabla makers, the flower sellers, the snack makers and more have provided the most ‘real’ experiences for the research for this book,” Biswas explained.

“You cannot ever have or experience all that Banaras has to offer. It is imperative that one must visit the place, if not possible physically, then by turning the pages of this book. As I said, one book may not be enough, but it is surely a great start,” she maintained.

A cascading effect of events unravels in Banaras through the book — on its ghats and in its lanes. Myriad lanes emerge like an umbilical cord out of the ghats to the womb of the sacred geography, to the infinite spots where the believers pause to experience the divine. Its waterfront, a grid of stairs leads one’s vision up and the eye meets a world that is frantic of the mundane and magnum opus, a scene that appears chaotic yet in sync.

Biswas and Nabi discern the engaging narrative of a unique chromosome that makes Banaras. Traversing within the maze, its sacred topography, craft traditions, and gastronomic plethora, the book examines the tenets of its weave. There is a singular, unified, and unstoppable momentum to all this — akin to the unfolding of a scroll of a painting.

“A lovingly-written and profoundly personal meditation on the City of Light in all its different dimensions and avatars; vaulting from mythology to history and back through the ancient scriptures and epics to the living landscape, this is a warmly affectionate love letter to the holiest of all Indian cities,” says historian, art historian, author, and curator William Dalrymple.

Nilosree Biswas was trained in Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and later in cinema. Her interests include history, cultural studies of pre-modern, colonial South Asia, and early Hindi cinema. Her works, both film, and writing have appeared in various print media and screened worldwide including at Cannes Film Festival.

‘Broken Memory, Shining Dust’, her prominent documentary, has been archived by the Oscar Library, also known as The Margaret Herrick Library, a world-renowned, non-circulating reference and research collection devoted to the history and development of the motion picture as an art form and an industry established in 1928 and located in Beverly Hills

Her earlier book, also co-authored with Irfan Nabi — ‘Alluring Kashmir: The Inner Spirit’ — has found a home in the Library of Congress.

Biswas is working on her next book on food stories during British rule in India.

Irfan Nabi studied in Srinagar’s prestigious Irish Catholic Burn Hall School. He photographs often and writes intermittently; his images have been part of major exhibitions in Amsterdam, Washington, Kolkata, and New Delhi among many other cities around the globe. He has shot and travelled solo across various terrains.

Indulgence in food and music is what keeps him going in his spare time. A book on Ladakh is in progress. Culturally nuanced photo elements are what his lens seeks.

ALSO READ-Indo-China ties: Past shadows the present?

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Indo-China ties: Past shadows the present?

She brings a practitioner’s keen eye to the labyrinth of negotiations and official interactions that took place between the two countries from 1949 to 1962…writes Vishnu Makhijani.

The Sino-Indian border stand-off is set for a long haul as Beijing seems “to have lost the plot” and within China, nationalism and authoritarianism “make for a toxic cocktail” that is steadily rising levels of tension in the region, says Nirupama Rao, a former Indian Foreign Secretary who has served ambassadorial stints in Beijing and Washington.

She also asserts that the Government must bring the Opposition on the same page on its dealings with China and formulate an effective communication policy that articulates a balanced approach, while the media must act responsibly on the issue.

“I certainly do not see any rainbows on the horizon ahead. The Chinese stand on the boundary question has steadily grown more rigid, inflexible and aggressively assertive in recent years,” Rao told in an interview on her book “The Fractured Himalaya – India, Tibet, China 1949-1962” (Penguin).

“They seem to have lost the plot. You have an increasing number of transgressions along the Line of Actual Control in the border areas. We have to deal with the situation by ensuring that the Chinese advances across the Line of Actual Control in all sectors of the boundary are dealt with firmness and by adequate and effective defensive measures.

“The pattern of Chinese behaviour is witnessed all across the region including in the maritime environment of the East and South China Seas. In China, nationalism and authoritarianism make for a toxic cocktail that is steadily rising levels of tension in the region,” Rao maintained.

At the bottom line, she writes in the book that losing the future “because of our ongoing quarrel between past and present in the quest for vengeful indictment can yield little by way of value. Beyond emotion and sentiment, the space for mutually acceptable solutions does exist and must be exploited.”

However, “the possibilities and prospects of realising such a scenario may increasingly be fewer and fewer if we do not learn from the lessons of history. Because of this, optimism is a scarce commodity and the road is long. We must for now accept the smallness, and the restricted, confining nature of the present.”

“Perhaps, one can visualise the dramatis personae in our history, most of them taken by the Grim Reaper, congregating one last time in some galactic hideaway as they take stock of the enormous liabilities that stem from the gambles they made – and the burden this inheritance imposes on future generations, yet unborn,” Rao writes.

Noting that India and China “are still writing the second act in the story of the life of their relationship”, Rao writes: “Around them, and within their own borders, worlds have changed unalterably. But a clear and unbiased reading of the history of the fifties and the early sixties of the last century in their bilateral interaction to yields useful pointers. Diplomacy may be life without maps, but an understanding of its history enables us to chart new paths and address fault lines. Only a combination of hindsight about history, and foresight, can help illuminate the pathways to an ultimate solution.”

“The Fractured Himalaya” unknots the intensely complex saga of the early years of the India-China relationship. Rao’s telling is based not only on archival material from India, China, Britain and the United States but also on a deep personal knowledge of China. In addition, she brings a practitioner’s keen eye to the labyrinth of negotiations and official interactions that took place between the two countries from 1949 to 1962.

The book looks at the inflexion points when the trajectory of diplomacy between the two nations could have course-corrected but was not. Importantly, it dwells on the strategic dilemma posed by Tibet in relations between India and China-a dilemma that is far from being resolved. The question of Tibet is closely interwoven into the fabric of this history. It also turns the searchlight on the key personalities involved – Jawaharlal Nehru, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and the 14th Dalai Lama – and their interactions as the tournament of those years was played out, moving step by closer step to the conflict of 1962.

It is quite clear that the Government and the Opposition are at daggers drawn on the LAC standoff. How can this situation be resolved to bring everyone on the same page?

“Only dialogue in a reasoned and transparent manner between the Government and the Opposition can be the prescribed solution. The Opposition also needs to understand the complex issues we are dealing with, as also the history of the problem. This is an issue of national interest as well as national security that we must close ranks in the political space of a democratic society, Rao asserted.

“Noise and more noise, in the public space – and here, the media must also act responsibly – can never help the nation. The Government also needs an effective communication policy that is always anticipatory of the direction in which the public debate is going and is able to lead the discussion by articulating the balanced approach that is greatly needed in such matters,” she added.

What impact would the developments in Afghanistan have on India-China relations – both in the short term and in the long run?

“China’s closeness and strategic alliance with Pakistan make for a regional posture that has generated more tension, alienation and distance between India and China. China’s intentions and strategic outlook vis-a-vis Afghanistan lack clarity. For that matter, the entire situation in Afghanistan today is marked by great uncertainty about the future and rising levels of human suffering among the ordinary population of the country.

“China must engage India in helping to bring about a viable regional understanding and path forward on Afghanistan that has the welfare, the human security and the development of the people of Afghanistan at its core,” Rao maintained.

ALSO READ-The Book of Passing Shadows: Journey to Redemption

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Indian Roots, Ivy Admits: Guide for Abroad Aspirants

Students of Indian origin throng the world’s greatest colleges. Yet, there were no books contextual to Indian experiences and dreams…Viral Doshi and Mridula Maluste interact with Vishnu Makhijani.

With the essay commanding up to a hefty 25 per cent weightage for admission to a tony US college, aspirants must learn to master the craft, say two prominent educational consultants who have curated a book of 85 essays by students they have mentored that got them into an Ivy League University and Stanford — with a recurring theme being “the mission to actualize knowledge and learning for a better world”.

“Scholarship, innovative thinking, risk taking, following their own North Star, and unafraid of being different are the traits that Ivy League aspirants must possess but overall, it is the mastery of the essay, Mumbai-based Viral Doshi and Mridula Maluste told in a joint interview of their book “Indian Roots, Ivy Admits” (Amaryllis).

“We have worked with students in Canada, the US, Sri Lanka, UK, South and South East Asia, Peru, Beijing, Greece as well as India. The essays in this book are drawn from across India, from Patna to Mumbai, Kolkata, Jalandhar, and the Indian diaspora — Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, UK and Dubai,” they said.

“The selection emphasizes the diversity of not only applicant profiles and stories but also distinctive writing styles. While some essays directly address an academic field of interest, most of them discuss and engage with narratives that have barely any relevance to the student’s eventual major.

“Each essay is uniquely personal in its own right, containing chronicles from the student’s life,” the authors explained.

Thus, within the pages of the book, you will find a committed theatre artiste who loves chemistry, a sparrow conservator, a student who has been indelibly shaped by the forests she visited as a child, a writing enthusiast who established a community writing centre in Ahmedabad, a maths aficionado whose love for math evolved from her childhood love for paper craft and gift making, a boy from Jalandhar who reshaped the work and future of tour-guides in his city, a boy from Patna who saved snakes, a bird watcher who attempted to innovate packaging material out of banana peel, a student from Gorakhpur who started chai pe charcha, and other epiphanic tales and heartfelt stories of rising from tragedy, self-transformation.

“We looked for common threads when it was time to thematically group them into chapters — there are many essays that centre around Family, so ‘The Family Crucible’ came into being and these included quite funny parts. There are those incredible students who are working towards the planet’s future, and it was a no-brainer that they would be clubbed together in a chapter we decided to call ‘The Heavy Lifters’. The music and dance artistes and maestros would naturally be in the chapter ‘The Virtuosos’, and those who innovatively used a striking metaphor to tell their story, we congregated in ‘The Analogists’. And so on.

“So, there may be commonalities in theme, but not in approach and detail,” the authors said.

“Each essay is startlingly unique and a stand-out story. However, if one were to identify the one common thread across all chapters, it would be the ability to recognize and show a transformation of self, of heart and mind. And another recurring theme in each essay is the mission to actualize knowledge and learning for a better world,” Doshi and Maluste added.

How did the book come about?

“It’s an idea whose time had come. Students of Indian origin throng the world’s greatest colleges. Yet, there were no books contextual to Indian experiences and dreams.

“Our motivation behind this book was to reach out to all hopeful university applicants and ease some of their application anxieties. After years of assisting countless bright, young people of Indian origin from across the world, we have developed keen instincts for what makes admission essays compelling,” the authors said.

“We have found that most applicants, particularly those of Indian origin, in spite of stellar academic and other achievements, are apprehensive about the essay components of a college application,” they added.

“How had others written their essays” was a question that was often asked; how do their peers, those who applied before them think; how did they showcase their experiences when they applied? Students were seeking inspiration.

“Our stock of successful essays whose authors allowed sharing proved illuminating and inspiring,” the authors said.

So that’s how the book germinated.

“We especially hope to reach out to students world-wide, students we cannot mentor personally, and throughout India, including in tier 2 and tier 3 cities where applicants are on the rise,” Doshi and Maluste explained.

How were the 85 essays featured in the book selected?

“Our students have written countless exceptional essays that have got them into the colleges of their dreams. This collection focuses on Common Application essays that gained them admission into America’s most demanding undergraduate programmes at Ivy League universities and Stanford. We wanted essays that were inventive, brave, reflective, differentiated and above all, authentic.

“We brainstormed, made lists, went into archives – we never really selected, the students featured here had already been selected! So, their experiences were transformative, and the exposition of their essays was stellar. We remembered exceptional stories and wanted to showcase them in the book,” the authors said.

They wrote to 100 students thinking, ah well, 50 would agree to be in the book. Eighty-five wrote back enthusiastically, in the affirmative — and the book took shape

“We used the first year of the pandemic and lockdown for the rewarding process of analysing and critiquing the essays. What made them work? How could they be inspirational?”

Are there any personal favourites among the 85?

They loved each essay in the book, but chose five that are “hugely memorable”. Some of these employ humour, others are quietly reflective, some use one moment to amplify a life goal:

Shiven Dewan wrote on reimagining education for the Millennials and Gen Z. He went to UPenn.

Ninya Hinduja wrote a heartfelt essay on her work with autistic children – which consolidated her mission. She went to Columbia.

Anonymous wrote on Superheroes and how they moulded him. He is at Princeton.

Avantika Shah’s essay was on the impact of jungle safaris on her life and her values. She is at Stanford.

Riyaan Bakhda’s hilarious essay, ‘This Bombay Birder’s Banana Republic’ is about his serendipitous invention of eco-friendly banana peel packaging. He is going to Columbia.

What next? What’s their next project?

“This is our second book together. Our first joint book was ‘An Undefiled Heritage’ a beautifully produced history of (Mumbai’s) Cathedral and John Connon School (their alma mater). The school has since seen dynamic development and expansion. So, the book, too, needs to update,” the authors concluded.

ALSO READ-The Book of Passing Shadows: Journey to Redemption

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The Book of Passing Shadows: Journey to Redemption

The only solace he finds is in the loving companionship of a grieving widow, Sara, who has been equally wronged by fate and unbundles her woes with him…reports Asian Lite News.

Set in a Malabar village of Christian settlers and rendered by the prolific pen of C.V. Balakrishnan, “The Book of Passing Shadows”, translated from the Malayalam original “Ayussinte Pusthakam”, is the melancholic story of a family’s fall from grace and its journey to redemption.

As the narrative unravels against the wider inner conflict between bodily temptations and spiritual aspirations, the sins of one generation seem to visit ominously upon the next.

Through his journey from an innocent childhood to a ruined adolescence, Yohannan loses everyone he knows as ‘family’ — a father who is a convicted felon, a grieving mother who passes away while her husband is in prison, an elder sister with prospects who elopes to build a better life, a grandfather who embraces death after committing a sin, and a best friend and lover who chooses religion over a domestic life.

The only solace he finds is in the loving companionship of a grieving widow, Sara, who has been equally wronged by fate and unbundles her woes with him.

Faith plays a pivotal role, providing a mythical, ethical, and moral scaffolding of this heart-rending novel, which resonates with the agony and pathos of the human spirit caught in the travails of earthly life.

Written in a sublime style made lyrical with a biblical cadence and rich in scriptural allusions, this passionate and visionary narrative has remained popular with readers since it was first published in 1984.

C.V. Balakrishnan is the author of more than thirty books: Novels, short story collections, screenplays, and essays. He has received several awards, including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for the best novel and the Kerala State Film award for the best book on film studies.

The translator, T.M. Yesudasan, is a former Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English at the CMS College in Kottayam. He has contributed to journals and anthologies on literary and cultural studies, including the collection “No Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from South India”.

“The Book of Passing Shadows” is the latest addition to Niyogi Books’ repertoire of translated fiction.

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‘The Disruptor’ chronicles turbulent tenure of VP Singh

V.P. Singh ended up antagonising both the Congress and the BJP — perhaps one of the reasons he has not been given the posthumous attention he deserves…reports Asian Lite News.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Indias seventh Prime Minister, struck Indian politics with the force of a tornado.

Primarily remembered for implementing the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report, which provided reservations in Central government services for the first time to the Other Backward Classes, he deserves a place in history for much more — from conducting raids on the biggest business houses of his time when he was Finance Minister to investigating defence deals as Defence Minister (which cost him his job); from bringing together a divided Opposition to form an unlikely coalition government at the Centre comprising the BJP and the Communist parties to spearheading the biggest airlift evacuation in Indian history — of Indians stranded in the Middle East during the first Gulf War.

V.P. Singh weathered repeated crises during his eleven-month tenure: The rise of insurgency in Kashmir, starting with the kidnapping of his Home Minister’s daughter by terrorists; L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra in support of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which led to communal riots; and, above all, the backlash that followed the Mandal Commission report’s implementation.

V.P. Singh ended up antagonising both the Congress and the BJP — perhaps one of the reasons he has not been given the posthumous attention he deserves. Debashish Mukerji’s “The Disruptor” (HarperCollins) is a richly detailed account of his extraordinarily eventful life, told in the context of his times.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book:

The rivalry with Amitabh Bachchan; as Finance Minister, V.P. Singh’s raid raj’ against corporate corruption; Taking on Reliance; the V.P. Singh Rajiv Gandhi fallout and his dramatic resignation as Defence Minister; Defamatory campaign against V.P. Singh by the Congress; V.P. Singh curtailing his own security cover, accused of reducing Rajiv Gandhi’s; India could have gone nuclear but V.P. Singh chose not to; Biggest airlift evacuation in world history; steps initiated by V.P. Singh’s government, but completed and claimed by later governments: RTI Act, Lok Pal Act, OROP, MNREGA; and, of course, implementing the Mandal Commission Report.

“By bringing together a divided Opposition to usher in an era of coalition governments at the Centre, as also by implementing the Mandal Commission report which provided job reservations for the Other Backward Classes, Vishwanath Pratap Singh permanently altered India’s political landscape,” says author Debashish Mukerji.

“A politician ambivalent about pursuing power, and obsessed with financial integrity, he was also an extremely complex human being. The main issues he confronted – caste disparities, communal tensions and corruption – continue to bedevil the country even today. All these reasons prompted me to attempt this biography, which sets V.P. Singh against the context of his turbulent times,” Mukerji adds.

Says Siddhesh Inamdar, Executive Editor, HarperCollins India: “V.P. Singh was Prime Minister of India for just about eleven months, and yet his short time in office proved immensely consequential in shaping the country. As a leader who took on a party with an overwhelming majority in Parliament, his career is also relevant in the context of the politics of today.”

“For all his achievements, V.P. Singh remains an understudied former Prime Minister. November marks the anniversary both of his death (in 2008) as well as of the fall of his government (in 1990), and this meticulously researched biography by a seasoned journalist will throw much-needed light on Singh’s extraordinary life and times,” Inamdar adds.

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Tata Lit Fest shortlists announced

The First Book (Fiction) Shortlist include ‘A Bit of Everything’ by Sandeep Raina (Westland), ‘A Death in Shonagachhi’ by Rijula Das (Pan MacMillan) and ‘Gods and Ends’ by Lindsay Pereira (Penguin Random House)…reports Asian Lite News.

The shortlists for the Tata Literature Live! Literary Awards were announced Thursday. The winners are traditionally announced at the closing session of the Festival. Since the Festival is online again this year due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony will be streamed on Sunday (November 21).

In the fiction category, the shortlisted titles include ‘Asoca: A Sutra’ by Irwin Allan Sealy (Penguin Random House), ‘China Room’ by Sunjeev Sahota (Penguin Random House) and ‘Names of the Women’ by Jeet Thayil (Penguin Random House).

In the non-fiction category, ‘Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India’ by Ghazala Wahab (Aleph), ‘The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move’ by Sonia Shah (Bloomsbury) and ‘Undercover: My Journey into the Darkness of Hindutva’ by Ashish Khetan (Westland) have been shortlisted.

The First Book (Fiction) Shortlist include ‘A Bit of Everything’ by Sandeep Raina (Westland), ‘A Death in Shonagachhi’ by Rijula Das (Pan MacMillan) and ‘Gods and Ends’ by Lindsay Pereira (Penguin Random House).

The First Book (Non-Fiction) Shortlist include ‘Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health: The Human Cost of Air Pollution and How You Can Be the Change’ by Jyoti Pande Lavakare (Hachette), ‘It’s All In Your Head, M’ by Manjiri Indurkar (Westland) And ‘Landscapes of Loss: The Story of an Indian Drought’ by Kavitha Iyer (HarperCollins)

In the Business Book of the Year category, ‘Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World’ by Sumant Sinha (HarperCollins), ‘Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy’ by Tamal Bandyopadhyay (Roli Books) and ‘Spring: Bouncing Back From Rejection’ by Ambi Parameswaran (Westland) have been shortlisted.

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HC vacates stay on Vijaypat Singhanias autobiography

Pan Macmillan India (Twitter)

The publisher said they are “delighted” with the Bombay High Court order “setting aside the injunction which had greatly aggrieved both Pan Macmillan India and our author Vijaypat Singhania”…reports Asian Lite News.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday vacated the stay on the distribution of Vijaypat Singhanias autobiography “An Incomplete Life”, saying it had been erroneously passed by a single judge bench of the court.

The publisher, Pan Macmillan India, said it would immediately start reselling the book. This, however, could not be the end of the matter as the petitioner, Raymond Limited, has been granted leave to again approach the single judge for a fresh injunction.

A division bench comprising Justice Abhay Ahuja and Justice S.J. Kathawalla ruled that the injunction order of November 4 against the book was passed “under an erroneous impression that the district court at Thane has passed the order dated April 22, 2021 granting stay/interim order against the erstwhile publisher from publishing the book was to continue until the pendency of the appeal filed by Respondent No. 1 (Raymond Ltd)”.

“We do not want to say anything more in view of the following order: i. The Order of the Learned Single Judge dated 4th November, 2021 is set aside. ii. Parties are at liberty to move the Learned Single Judge sitting in vacation today or tomorrow and renew the Application afresh which will be decided on its own merits without being influenced by what is stated in this Order. iii. The above Appeal as well as Interim Application are accordingly disposed off,” the bench ruled.

The publisher said they are “delighted” with the Bombay High Court order “setting aside the injunction which had greatly aggrieved both Pan Macmillan India and our author Vijaypat Singhania”.

“Raymond Ltd has been granted liberty to approach the Single Judge for renewing the injunction, but we are confident that we will succeed before the Ld. Single Judge as well,” the publisher said.

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