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Weekend Reading: A Diverse Book Selection for Every Reader

With the mercury showing no signs of relenting, sitting in the cool confines of your home with a book might just be the best exchange for stepping out in the scorching heat.

Starting with this weekend, We will put out a curated selection of four books that cater to different sections of readers. We begin with a list that spans political history, an actual cop adventure, a spiritual retreat, and anecdotes from Bollywood of a different generation.

Prakash Singh, Memoirs of a Top Cop: Unforgettable Chapters (Rupa; Rs 395)

Dubbed an “icon” by the former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, retired BSF director-general and prolific writer Prakash Singh did much for the nation’s security in his official capacity.

“Politics without the police is impotent. Police without politics would lack a sense of direction”. With this statement, Singh offers his readers glimpses of the foundations of our police setups, before delving into other functional aspects of policing.

From uneasy equations with politicians to combating insurgency and securing the states in the northeast, to defending the borders in Punjab and J&K, to trans-border operations, the top cop’s autobiography also traces his journey as an IPS officer.

A ringside view of the engrossing world of law enforcement explained in the words of a seasoned officer, this book is an insightful account of not only combatting insurgency and executing trans-border operations in the constant effort to secure the nation, but also of treading the tight rope the connects the police system and the politicians and their interests.

With regard to introducing reforms in police and its far-reaching impact on society, Singh’s take-home message is that the person donning the uniform also powers through his personal realm, given the complexities of our citizenry.

William Gould, Santosh Dass and Christophe Jaffrelot, Ambedkar in London (Rupa; Rs 995)

Here’s a well-documented chronicle of the lesser-known time of life in London of the man hailed as the father of India’s Constitution.

B.R. Ambedkar’s political ideas have not ceased to inspire and mobilise people to this day. His views on caste, labour, women, education, and people’s rights and representation have resonated not only in the country, but also around the world.

This compilation explores Ambedkar’s London-based studies and publication in the early 1920s, allowing for a periscopic view of the global significance of Ambedkar’s ideas. William Gould concludes that Ambedkar is immortalised as a single historical figure whose “wider political significance is unmatched”.

The co-authors of the book are: William Gould, Professor of Indian History at University of Leeds; Santosh Dass, a former civil servant and human rights campaigner who has been calling for the outlawing of caste-based discrimination in the UK; and Christophe Jaffrelot, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology, King’s College, London.

Swami Mukundananda, Spiritual Secrets From Hinduism: Essence of the Vedic Scriptures (Rupa, Rs 295)

India stands out in the world map as the land of spirituality and divinity, sparking curiosity and fascination for its ancient knowledge system, especially Hinduism.

Ancient rishis and sages are said to have had wisdom revealed to them and the build-up of knowledge that thus took place has enriched the heritage of India.

Sages and scholars put together their wisdom in sacred texts, which we know as the Vedic scriptures. Also included in this body of knowledge, apart from the Vedas, are the Puranas, epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Brahma Sutras, and similar texts.

In the quest for the ultimate reality and “absolute truth”, many have been drawn to India and several people even dedicated their lives to this land. The understanding of ‘Hinduism’ that seems to largely prevail among the masses, however, is arguably vague. Bringing clarity to the discourse, this book helps one understand the essence of the Vedic scriptures.

The author, Swami Mukundananda, a product of IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta, is a globally acclaimed spiritual guru and authority on mind management. He renounced his earlier life of social and material success and embraced monkhood.

Sameer Anjaan and Shuja Ali, Lyrics by Sameer: Stories Behind the Iconic Songs (Rupa, Rs 295)

For an entire generation, Sameer Anjaan is synonymous with popular Bollywood numbers, most notably the title track of ‘Dhoom’.

But who knew that Shravan (of the music director duo Nadeem-Shravan) had first refused to let a debutant Ajay Devgn enter the recording studio because he was convinced that he wasn’t “hero material”. Only after Sameer intervened did Shravan relent and allow the now-acclaimed actor in.

Also, the immensely popular title track of ‘Dhoom’ would never have seen the light of day but for Sameer, because Aditya Chopra had rejected its signature tune!

As interesting as the stories of Bollywood films are, the stories behind the making of those stories are just as interesting and intriguing. With up to 50 such stories woven around some of the topmost hits of Sameer, and the recounting of disagreements between music composers and film directors, the co-authors, one of whom is the lyricist himself and the other, accomplished screenwriter and director Shuja Ali, provide exclusive glimpses of the making of some of Sameer’s most iconic compositions in over three decades.

Sameer Anjaan holds a Guinness World Record with more than 640 films and 4,500 songs to his credit, and is the recipient of multiple laurels, including three Filmfare trophies and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Award.

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Young Fans Demand Scarier Ghosts from Ruskin Bond

The author, whose latest book ‘How to be Happy’ (HarperCollins India) aimed at young readers recently hit the stands says the idea came from the publisher. In the book, he stresses that one cannot buy happiness, and you cannot get it wholesale or retail or online…writes Sukant Deepak

Crisp white sheets of paper on his dining table, a bed that serves as his chair, a window to look at the still but alive mountains, a three-legged Persian cat, who is still fast enough to chase away all the rats.

The fact that he still writes by hand. Almost a ceremony of rugs in his flat… There is almost as much to observe as to speak when one is at India’s most popular writer Ruskin Bond’s house in Landour, Mussoorie

And the best part about any conversation with this Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan recipient author who recently turned 90 years old, is the fact that it is never linear.

One can talk about ghosts, and he would not hesitate to tell you that when his publishers threw a party for his birthday, which carried on for a week, he needed a steady supply of Digene and Ranitidine

The author, whose latest book ‘How to be Happy’ (HarperCollins India) aimed at young readers recently hit the stands says the idea came from the publisher. In the book, he stresses that one cannot buy happiness, and you cannot get it wholesale or retail or online.

“It inhabits a small space in your mind, and you must look for it there. This is a book that carries decades of experience on how to be content, how to lead a fulfilling life, how to inhabit the delightful world of books and stories, and most of all on how to be happy,” Bond asserts.

The first book in the series was ‘How To Be A Writer’ followed by ‘How to Live Your Life’. “This latest one was suggested by my publisher Tina Narang of Harper Children’s Books. They now want me to do another. So, as I am becoming a ‘How To’ person. Of course, I am a storyteller and this gives me a break from writing fiction,” says the author, over whose writings films like ‘Junoon’, ‘The Blue Umbrella’ and ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ have been made.

Talk to him about his famous ghost stories, and he smiles as he has yet to see any, he prefers the mischievous ones. “But nowadays, it is not easy to get the children scared. One young reader wrote to me that I should make my ghosts scarier.”

Living in Mussorie (Landour) for decades now, he says the hills keep him alive. Bond, who lived in Delhi for five years during the 1960s doubts he would still be alive if he had continued being there.

“They (hills) let me breathe, and not just in the physical sense of the word but also spiritual and mental. Trees, wildflowers, and small creatures – impart me matter to write about, a reason to smile. The simple people here are a delight to talk to. I may not like the extreme cold very much, but it is definitely better than the torturous heat of the plains.”

For someone who has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and novels which includes 69 books for children, Bond admits to never running out of stories.

“I have a good memory for people. Looking back over the years, including my childhood provides enough fodder. Every individual offers something interesting about him/her, which can be extracted.”

Adding that his interest in the natural world always gives him something to pen down, he reveals: “Sometimes I just stand. I think a writer needs a room with a window. You cannot live in a shut and closed space. So, if you have a window, you are looking out at the hills, at the sky, at the road beneath you, at people coming and going. Even if you are not doing anything, you are a witness to continuous activity — and something might just stand out.”

Not obsessed with penning a set number of words every day, he smiles that he is yet to figure out his ‘process’. “I think there are no mechanics involved, everything flows just naturally.”

Ask him about his favourite book (his own) and he immediately cites ‘The Room On The Roof, which he wrote at the age of 17. It took him two years to find a publisher and he had to write three drafts.

“I have never worked on anything so hard before, though it did not sell too well at that time,” he smiles. However, after 70 years, it was recently on the bestseller list in India.

“So, you never know with books. Sometimes you expect a lot from work, yet it never takes off. Many times, the opposite happens.”

Believing that writing is no less than an adventure for him, right from his teens, he admits that there have been ups and downs, good and low periods, but the very act of putting pen to paper has been worthwhile.

“It has always kept me going and taken me along with it on unforgettable voyages.”

Even at the age of 90, the process of ageing does not scare the author. “I live from one day to the next and try not to look too far ahead. The best part is, I am still working and writing, and reading two to three books a week.”

For the past year, Bond has been keeping a journal about living in the hills. “So that might be published too. Besides, HarperCollins wants me to do another title — ‘How to be What You Want’.”

Now it is time for Bond to stop talking. He will now look out of his window at the mist-enveloped road and valley. He is bound to find someone/something.

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Chetan Bhagat’s Audio Drama: A Journey into Modern Storytelling

I always tell people to read and reading allows for a lot of absorption, but next to that, or almost the same as that, is listening to an audio format. Whether it is a podcast, audiobook or an audio drama, because that also allows you to absorb content better…N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

Looking back at his childhood, Chetan Bhagat remembers the time when the radio was the primary source of entertainment. He recounts the sense of anticipation with which people awaited simple yet captivating audio dramas that held their listeners spellbound.

Modern audio dramas, according to the best-selling author, have undergone a remarkable transformation, benefiting from advances in music production technology and heightened creative efforts. He contends that productions today are exponentially richer in content compared to audio dramas of the past.

Bhagat, who recently launched an audio drama adaptation of his acclaimed book ‘The Girl in Room 105’ on Audible, told that the forthcoming rendition of the novel isn’t just a typical audiobook with a single narrator. Rather, it resembles a cinematic experience without visuals.

Bhagat explained the intricacies of producing the audio drama adaptation and the future of the audio drama business. Excerpts from the interview:

Q. What inspired the decision to adapt ‘The Girl in Room 105’ into an audio drama format?

Chetan: I try to always stay connected to the youth of India. I think the young are continually evolving. They have different ways in which they consume their stories. Human beings have always consumed and liked stories, but the medium has changed. I want to be in the most modern medium possible and audio dramas are the future.

Audio dramas have wonderful spaces where you can listen to them anytime and anywhere with a lot of flexibility. You can listen to them while folding your clothes or taking a walk and at the same time they give you almost a movie-like experience.

I wanted to be in this space. I do not want to limit myself to being a writer, but to move on to movies, television, newspapers and motivational talks on stage.

Audio books is another fascinating area that is coming up. I wanted to be the early ones doing this, so I grabbed the chance Audible gave me.

Q. How do you assess the effectiveness of conveying messages through reading versus listening?

Chetan: I always tell people to read and reading allows for a lot of absorption, but next to that, or almost the same as that, is listening to an audio format. Whether it is a podcast, audiobook or an audio drama, because that also allows you to absorb content better.

Sometimes what happens with videos is that while you get absorbed in watching, it doesn’t retain very well.

For example, you may have watched half an hour of Instagram reels today, but do you remember any of them? You probably don’t! But you’ll remember a good speech or good audio instructions; you’ll also remember if you read something.

Reading as well as audio are two excellent ways to learn things and that’s how, if you have noticed, we are taught. We are taught to read books and listen to lectures. These are the two ways how maximum learning and absorption of information happens and it’s a fantastic medium for that.

Q. What trends do you think are shaping the audiobook industry? How are authors like you adapting to it?

Chetan: I realised quickly that I’m not in a paper business or the ink business, I am in the storytelling business. The more new ways and new technologies enable the telling of these stories, the more we need to try and become a part of them. I think this is a very important part for writers who share their ideas with the world and this is an excellent way to do so.

Q. Can you walk us through the production process of the audio adaption of ‘The Girl in Room 105’? What role does Chetan Bhagat play in it?

Chetan: The book itself has a small cameo if you can see by Chetan Bhagat, although it is a work of fiction. I often do this cameo situation where the hero of the story or the protagonist needs the author and the book is written to enable that to happen.

So I played myself, I did a little bit of that, but otherwise, there is a whole cast here. This is not just an audiobook that one person narrates. It is pretty much the same process as making a movie. The only difference is that there is no camera and make-up and all that because you’re not seeing them.

But other than that there’s a whole casting process, there’s scripting, shooting, editing, background sound, music, everything. There’s a full team and that is why the experience is going to be very wholesome or maybe unlike anything you may have experienced before.

Q. In what way does the audio drama explore stereotypes and political issues of contemporary India because that’s something which is always a part of your stories?

Chetan: Although this book is a murder mystery, it is about somebody who is in IIT but not very happy with his career. He is teaching in coaching classes and he is trying to solve the mystery of the death of ex-girlfriend, with whom he is still in love with.

So it brings out the frustration that people experience when they don’t have anything meaningful in their job, nor see a purpose in it. For someone like Keshav, he finds the true purpose of solving this mystery, he believes that nothing absorbs him like trying to solve this case, even though he is not a detective.

The second thing is that it brings out the Kashmir issue, it brings out the stereotypes that exist in our heads and how that confuses the story. I do not want to reveal too much because we have a preconception about Kashmir and the girl is Kashmiri. The mystery hits a certain path, which is often realised as a stereotype. It is often called an unloved story.

We have so many love stories out there, but it is important to learn to unlove because love doesn’t often last forever. People break up and sometimes don’t even get words, and this is pretty much the case in contemporary India and the world. How does one learn to unlove somebody that’s never discussed so I think this book also brings that out.

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‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’ Set to Challenge Standard Narratives

Sharma, a Shri Ram College of Commerce alumnus, first drew attention to the breadth of his vision with his debut book, Breakout Nations (2012), which made the journal ‘Foreign Policy’ rank him as one of the top global thinkers…reports Asian Lite News

The ‘New York Times’-listed bestselling author and head of the Rockefeller Capital Management’s international business, Ruchir Sharma, will be out with his new book, ‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’, on June 16.

It will be the ‘Financial Times’ columnist’s fifth book after ‘The 10 Rules of Successful Nations’, published in 2020.

Making the announcement, the publishing house, Penguin Random House UK, said that in the upcoming book, Sharma “rewrites the standard histories, which trace today’s popular anger to the anti-government rebellion that began under Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.”

A book that promises to help us understand the growing popular anger in the capitalist world (at the moment expressing itself in the protests raging across US campuses), its fundamental argument, according to the press statement from the publisher, can be summed up in this statement: “Four decades of downsizing government — cutting taxes, spending, and regulations — left the financial markets free to run wild, fuelling inequality, slowing growth — and alienating much of the population.”

Sharma, a Shri Ram College of Commerce alumnus, first drew attention to the breadth of his vision with his debut book, Breakout Nations (2012), which made the journal ‘Foreign Policy’ rank him as one of the top global thinkers.

In his upcoming book, Sharma, according to the publisher’s press statement, “exposes the story of a shrinking government as a myth”. The statement adds: “With a historical and global sweep, [Sharma] shows that the government has expanded steadily as a regulator, borrower, spender, and micro-manager of the business cycle for a century. Working with central banks, particularly in the last two decades, governments created a culture of easy money and bailouts that is making the rich richer, and big companies bigger.”

In an observation that may explain the appeal of the left-of-centre US Senator Bernie Sanders among young Americans, Sharma says “progressive youth are partly right that capitalism has morphed into ‘socialism for the very rich’.”

Sharma notes: “The broader issue, however, is socialised risk for the poor, the middle class and the rich; the government is trying to guarantee that no one ever suffers economic pain by borrowing heavily to prevent recessions, extend recoveries, and generate endless growth.”

“The result,” he adds, “is rapidly rising debt and declining competition — exactly the environment in which oligopolies and billionaires do best.”

Says the book’s blurb, “This rare capitalist critique of capitalism offers a timely warning. To a surprising degree, politicians on both the right and left now assume that popular anger with capitalism arose in a period of shrinking government, and so offer answers that involve more government — more spending, or regulation, or walls and barriers.”

The blurb goes on to note, “If their historical assumptions are incorrect, their proposed fixes are likely to double down on what went wrong in the first place. There is no returning to the 19th century when the government did little more than deliver mail, but the balance has shifted too far towards state control, leaving too little room for economic competition.”

No matter whether your politics are progressive or conservative, Sharma argues, the answer has to be less government and more cautious central banks.

Commenting on his “most ambitious book yet”, Sharma says, “This book is a pandemic baby, conceived in that dark period when governments were both locking down businesses and spending trillions to support people shut in at home.

“Though many saw this crisis as entirely novel, what I saw was the logical culmination of all that has gone wrong with capitalism, namely, decades of increasingly interventionist government, narrowing the scope of individual freedom and initiative and economic freedom.”

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Must-Read Summer Releases to Keep You Hooked

The international best-selling author explores the revolutions, past and present, that define the chaotic, polarized and unstable age in which we live…reports Asian Lite News

As the summer heat creeps in, are you looking for a book you can’t put down as you spend your time indoors? Here’s a list of some of the latest releases that will keep you engrossed. 

An Abundance of Wild Roses by Feryal Ali-Gauhar

In the ‘Black Mountains of Pakistan’, the discovery of an unconscious, unknown man is the first snowball in an avalanche of chaos. The head of the village is beset with problems – including the injured stranger – and failing to find his way out. His daughter receives a love letter and incurs her father’s wrath. A lame boy foretells disaster, but nobody is listening. Trapped in terrible danger, a wolf-dog is battling ice and death to save a soldier’s life. Beaten by her addict husband for bearing him only daughters, a woman is pregnant again – but can this child save her?

All the while, the spirits of the mountains keep a baleful eye on the doings of the humans. In a land woven with myth, chained with tradition and afflicted by ongoing conflict and the march of progress, can the villagers find a way to co-exist with nature that doesn’t destroy either of them? 

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI

‘Co-Intelligence is the very best book I know about the ins, outs, and ethics of generative AI. Drop everything and read it cover to cover NOW,’ says Angela Duckworth, American author and psychologist. Angela Duckworth. Consumer AI has arrived. And with it, inescapable upheaval as we grapple with what it means for our jobs, lives and the future of humanity.

Cutting through the noise of AI evangelists and AI doom-mongers, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In the book, he urges us to engage with AI as co-workers, co-teachers and coaches. Wide-ranging, hugely thought-provoking and optimistic, it reveals the promise and power of this new era.

The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society

A major reappraisal, by the Nobel-prizewinning economist, of the relationship between capitalism and freedom.

Despite its manifest failures, the narrative of neoliberalism retains its grip on the public mind and the policies of governments all over the world. By this narrative, less regulation and more ‘animal spirits’ capitalism produces not only greater prosperity but more freedom for individuals in society – and is therefore morally better.

But, in ‘The Road to Freedom’ Stiglitz asks, whose freedom are we – should we be – thinking about? What happens when one person’s freedom comes at the expense of another’s? Should the freedoms of corporations be allowed to impinge upon those of individuals in the ways they now do?

Taking on giants of neoliberalism such as Hayek and Friedman and examining how public opinion is formed, Stiglitz reclaims the language of freedom from the right to show that far from ‘free’ – unregulated – markets promoting growth and enterprise, they in fact reduce it, lessening economic opportunities for majorities and siphoning wealth from the many to the few – both individuals and countries. He shows how neoliberal economics and its implied moral system have impacted our legal and social freedoms in surprising ways, from property and intellectual rights to education and social media.

Stiglitz’s eye, as always, is on how we might create true human flourishing which should be the great aim of our economic and social system, and offers an alternative to that prevailing today. The Road to Freedom offers a powerful re-evaluation of democracy, economics and what constitutes a good society―and provides a roadmap of how we might achieve it.

Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present

The international best-selling author explores the revolutions, past and present, that define the chaotic, polarized and unstable age in which we live.

Fareed Zakaria first warned of the threat of “illiberal democracy” two decades ago. Now comes Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present. A decade in the making, the book is based on deep research and conversations with world leaders from Emmanuel Macron to Lee Kuan Yew. In it Zakaria sets our era of populist chaos into the sweep of history.

Age of Revolutions tells the story of progress and backlash, of the rise of classical liberalism and of the many periods of rage and counter-revolution that followed seismic change. It begins with the upstart Dutch Republic, the first modern republic and techno-superpower where refugees and rebels flocked for individual liberty. That haven for liberalism was almost snuffed out by force – until Dutch ideas leapt across the English Channel in the so-called “Glorious Revolution.” Not all revolutions were so glorious, however. The French Revolution shows us the dangers of radical change that is imposed top-down. Lasting change comes bottom-up, like the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the United States, which fueled the rise of the world’s modern superpowers and gave birth to the political divides we know today. Even as Britain and America boomed, technology unsettled society and caused backlash from machine-smashing Luddites and others who felt threatened by this new world.

In the second half of the book, Zakaria details the revolutions that have convulsed our times: globalization in overdrive, digital transformation, the rise of identity politics, and the return of great power politics with a vengeful Russia and an ascendant China. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping see a world upended by liberalism – and want to turn back the clock on democracy, women’s rights, and open societies. Even more dangerous than aggression abroad is democratic decay at home. This populist and cultural backlash that has infected the West threatens the very foundations of the world that the Enlightenment built – and that we all take too easily for granted.

The book warns us that liberalism’s great strength has been freeing people from arbitrary constraints—but its great weakness has been leaving individuals isolated, to figure out for themselves what makes for a good life. This void – the hole in the heart – can all too easily be filled by tribalism, populism, and identity politics. Today’s revolutions in technology and culture can even leave people so adrift that they turn against modernity itself.

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Katie Kitamura Wraps Up Another Book, Reflects on Creative Process

‘A Separation’ is about a young woman, who has agreed with her husband that it is time for them to separate. As she begins her new life, he goes missing and she reluctantly agrees to go and search for him…writes Sukant Deepak

The conversation starts with her book ‘A Separation’, and the fact that unloving can be such a tragedy for the person who stops being tender, making him/her completely empty. Well-known American author, journalist, and art critic Katie Kitamura replies that starting the book, she thought it was about the end of marriage.

“However as I finished writing it, there was a realisation that it was about grief, and in many ways death. I was interested in a character who was initially playing the part of a grieving widow and then it lead to a a space in between the face and mask, and more than the wife, it is the widow’s identity…”

‘A Separation’ is about a young woman, who has agreed with her husband that it is time for them to separate. As she begins her new life, he goes missing and she reluctantly agrees to go and search for him. She is not even sure if she wants to find him. Adrift in the wild landscape, she traces the disintegration of their relationship, and discovers she understands less than she thought about the man she used to love.

In her last, ‘intimacies’, a woman is caught between many truths. An interpreter at the International Court. She gets pulled into an explosive political controversy when she’s asked to interpret for a former president, accused of war crimes. A woman of quiet passion, she confronts power, love, and violence, both in her personal intimacies and in her work at the Court.

“The guilt of the person can be carried out by another person — it’s how when people feel something for you. Like professional mourners and how someone feels something for you. And it is in many cultures,” says the author.

But in today’s world, how relevant is an institution like the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)? I think both these institutions are extremely important. Yes, they are flawed in a way that institutions are but I would like them to have some moral authority.

“ICJ’s recent ruling was non-binding and I want for them to succeed. I am not the person who is cheering the demise of these institutions.”

The author, who earned a PhD in American Literature from the London Consortium, and is currently an Honorary Research Fellow, there, admits that she had to unlearn academic writing to write fiction.

“Yes. It was a long process. And even now I do feel myself slipping into it, especially jargon in fiction can sometimes be a form of deflection or concealment. One thing is clear, you can only write fiction when you feel like being exposed. I do not think I have the skills of a journalist. And I make up the rules in some way when I write fiction. There are many things that are useful for a writer and it is important one writes in ways that you are not used to.”

Japan, for Kitamura, has always held a special place. Not just because her entire family and childhood memories reside there.

“It has a lot of contradictions, even aesthetically. They perceive it as minimal but if you go down a street there, it’s cluttered and there is tension. It is not all minimal and wabi-sabi. There is a lot of pleasure in the country. Yes, my first experiences of language are there and I have not lived there, so there is a strange sense of longing for me.”

Kitamura, who earlier in her life trained as a ballerina debuted as a novelist with ‘The Longshot’, which follows a former mixed martial arts star and his longtime coach over three fraught days as they prepare for his momentous comeback match, says a fight can also be existential in some ways.

“I have never been a fighter. But yes, the world becomes smaller when you prepare for the fight and then it is just the ring. You enter a different reality.”

The author admits that her style changed quite substantially, when she started writing in first person and became interested in trying to find a voice that was less concerned with a kind of riddled down style, but in conveying the movement of the mind including all the repetitions.

“And with a book that is written in third person, you have a different perspective. And in first person, it has a certain looseness to it,” asserts Kitamura, who was also at the recent Jaipur Literature Festival.

And when does she ‘know’ that the idea is ready to take shape on paper?

“Well, Hillary Mantel said that you can ruin a book by writing it at the wrong time and that is so true. The early stages of a book are delicate. I sometimes stop when I feel it is not quite ready. You do feel it is opening up at some points, but that can be found out only by writing,” concludes the author, who has just finished writing another book.

ALSO READ-Bengali Translation of ‘Stalin’s Couch’ Wins 7th Romain Rolland Book Prize

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Bengali Translation of ‘Stalin’s Couch’ Wins 7th Romain Rolland Book Prize

This year’s winning title was originally published in French as Le Divan de Staline. It was longlisted for the prestigious Goncourt Prize in 2013 and later adapted for the cinema by Fanny Ardant, with Gérard Depardieu playing Stalin. ..reports Asian Lite News

The French Institute in India, in collaboration with Apeejay Trust, announces Pankaj Kumar Chatterjee’s book “Divan Staliner”, a translation of Jean-Daniel Baltassat’s Stalin’s Couch, wins the 7th Romain Rolland Book Prize. This Bengali translation has been published by New Bharat Sahitya Kutir.

Elated about his win, translator Pankaj Kumar Chatterjee said: “I am delighted as my first translation from French into Bengali has been honoured with the Romain Rolland Book Prize. I am grateful to the French Institute in India for their support during the past two years – from arranging funds under the PAP Tagore programme to my selection as the awardee. I expect that more and more French books will be translated into Bengali. I promise to do so.”

Priti Paul, Director of Apeejay Surrendra Group said “I extend my good wishes to Pankaj Kumar Chatterjee, a very deserving winner of the Romain Rolland Prize for his exceptional Bengali translation of Jean-Daniel Baltassat’s Stalin’s Couch. It is my sincere hope that his recognition inspires more translators and publishers to continue their invaluable work in introducing the richness of French literature to Indian readers. At Oxford Bookstores, we understand the vital role that translations play in enriching the literary landscape, exploring new cultures, perspectives, and ideas, and breaking down barriers while fostering a deeper appreciation for the diverse beauty of global literature. We are delighted to support the prestigious Romain Rolland Prize, a prize which not only acknowledges the efforts of Indian translators and publishers but also nurtures a love for literature that transcends boundaries.”

This is the second time that a Bengali title has received the prestigious award, following the translation of Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête as “Myorso Birudhyo Saksho” by Trinanjan Chakraborty, and published in 2022 by Patra Bharati.

This year’s winning title was originally published in French as Le Divan de Staline. It was longlisted for the prestigious Goncourt Prize in 2013 and later adapted for the cinema by Fanny Ardant, with Gérard Depardieu playing Stalin. 

The story revolves around a singular episode in the life of Stalin. With three years left to live, Stalin comes to spend several days in his native Georgia, in a decadent palace in the middle of a forest. In the ducal study where he sleeps is a couch that resembles the one Freud has in London. At night, his long-time mistress, Vodieva, plays the role of a psychoanalyst. During the day a young painter, Danilov, a prodigy of social realism, waits to be received by Stalin to present to him the monument of eternity that he has designed to his glory. Insomnia, infinite questioning, infinite waiting. Stretched out on this couch, Stalin plays with the ghosts that haunt his dreams: his mother, his wife who committed suicide, his years in Siberia, and Lenin, the greatest of the lying fathers.  

Jean-Daniel Baltassat imagines the intimate life of the Soviet ruler, and far from rehabilitating Stalin as being tender and affable, portrays him as a ruthless man who evokes terror and demands submission. He approaches Stalin as a writer with a remarkable evocative power, where imagination takes over from historical truth.

Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, Counsellor for Education, Science and Culture, Embassy of France, and the Director of the French Institute in India added, “Jean-Daniel Baltassat belongs to a tradition of French writers excelling in the art of historical fiction. With the Romain Rolland Translation Prize, we aim to bring contemporary French literature to the forefront, and award the efforts made by Indian publishers and translators to make these works available in India.”The winning publisher will be invited by the French Institute in India to the Paris Book Market in May 2024 and the winning translator will be invited to the Paris Book Fair in April 2024.

Established in 2017, the Romain Rolland Book Prize awards the finest translation of a French title into any Indian language, including English. The prize aims to promote and acknowledge the efforts of Indian translators and publishers in introducing the richness of Francophone literature and thought in all its diversity to Indian readers. Ms. Priti Paul, Director, of Oxford Bookstores supports the Romain Rolland Prize through the Apeejay Trust.

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Dr. Alka Pande’s ‘108 Portraits’ Book Collection Launches

The set of books features historical, cultural, and visual exploration of subjects ranging from Objects, Dance, Food, Architecture, Printmaking, Crafts, and Music to Photography, Sculpture, Design, Traditional Art, Textiles, Modern & Contemporary Art, and Vernacular & Indigenous Art…reports Asian Lite News

Art historian and curator Dr. Alka Pande has written a set of 14 collectable books titled “108 Portraits of Indian Culture and Heritage” that puts the spotlight on 14 disciplines ranging from art, architecture, objects, crafts, and more. The immersive collection set is an encyclopedic work looking at the development and history of Indian visual culture through various eras of history to the contemporary world.

Complete with anecdotal personal stories, the author has employed the lens of Indian art and aesthetics to unpack the rich cultural history of the country’s illuminating art, architecture, and cultural landscape. The subject of each book unfolds in a visual and textual story of 108 narratives. Since the number 108 is of immense significance in Indian art and it also emerges from the Upanishadic tradition of Indian philosophy, it has emerged as a connecting thread among the set of books through which images and histories of the subject engage with each other.

The set of books features historical, cultural, and visual exploration of subjects ranging from Objects, Dance, Food, Architecture, Printmaking, Crafts, and Music to Photography, Sculpture, Design, Traditional Art, Textiles, Modern & Contemporary Art, and Vernacular & Indigenous Art.

Each book begins with a personal story by the author who reflects on how her childhood impressions and exposure have been pivotal in introducing her to the rich and myriad cultures of India. She reminiscences about her first brush with ‘Kumhaars’ (potters) at her maternal grandmother’s house in Meerut in the ‘108 Portraits of Indian Crafts’ book which soon delves deeper into the beauty of glazed pottery of the Indus Valley Civilisation and eventually takes readers through the craftsmanship of varied Indian states.

In the book ‘108 Portraits of Indian Objects’, the author delves into the designs of utilitarian objects and examines how they are both functional and pieces of aesthetic art. The ubiquitous pot or lota is a recurring motif in this book.

The cultural significance of food in the form of prasad, customs, or rituals is documented in ‘108 Portraits of Indian Food’. The reader is taken through a journey of food in literature, and painting before taking a deep dive into examining the broader culture of food across the globe. Archaeology of raw and cooked food is looked at, and the reader gets inside the heart of royal kitchens and regional Indian cuisines before illuminating the modern version of fusion cuisines.

Indian textiles have a long, rich, and layered history. The reader is taken on a fascinating exploration of the complex warp and weft techniques in ‘108 Portraits of Indian Textiles’ but also delineates costume styles. Finer points of draped clothing and the stitched costumes of stylish ‘Chooridars’ and Mughal Angrakhas, luxurious silks and cotton, natural pigments and dyes, brocades, and zardozi, complemented with a finely curated selection of visuals of ancient sculptures, paintings, and textiles are discussed.

In ‘108 Portraits of Indian Music’, various styles including the contributions of Amir Khusro to qawwali; Swami Haridas and Tansen to dhrupad; ancient Sanskrit and Tamil treatises, Purandaradasa, and the renowned “Trinity” to Carnatic music; Pandit Bhatkhande’s treatise on Hindustani classical music; and Rabindra Sangeet are discussed. This fascinating story is richly complemented by descriptions and images of performers and instruments.

“Indian culture and heritage are vast, diverse, and deeply rooted in history, spirituality, traditions, and art forms. Attempting to encapsulate the entirety of Indian culture within a single book has indeed been a monumental task. But it has equally been enriching to see how the set of 14 books encapsulates the enriching historical and contemporary journey of each discipline succinctly. This set of books is my humble attempt to create an encyclopedia for each discipline to help readers understand the development of a particular subject from its beginning to the present,” says the author who was at the recently held Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival.

Additionally, each book comes with a takeaway –it could be in the form of a recipe (Food), a masterclass in making your Jama (Textile), or an insightful read on different types of Aipan and creating your own (Traditional Art). The idea of including these nuggets of information and activities at the end of each book is to drive engagement and learning.

The books have been published by the Artshila Trust and will be launched on February 18.

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Asia After Europe: Sugata Bose’s Insights on Japan-China Conflict

Bose avers that during the 1910s, Tagore and fellow poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal had been shocked by the carnage triggered by European rivalries fuelled by intense nationalism. The decade of the 1930s showed that Asia was by no means immune to the virus of nationalism…reports Asian Lite News

Celebrated historian Sugata Bose, who holds Harvard University’s prestigious Gardiner Chair of Oceanic History, has said in his latest book that the “Asian Dream” remained unfulfilled because of two major events that unfolded in the last century.

The first was Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 and the second, China’s incursions into India that led to the 1962 War.

In his new book titled ‘Asia After Europe: Imagining A Continent In The Long Twentieth Century’ (HarperCollins), Bose, who also served as a TMC MP in the Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019, writes: “Japan’s invasion of China undermined the idea of Asia as never before.”

He notes that Rabindranath Tagore, who kept a close watch on Japan, was dismayed because of the invasion and in his correspondence in 1937 with the Japanese poet Yone Noguchi — who had visited him in Santiniketan in 1935 — revealed the chasm in their interpretations of the Sino-Japanese conflict.

Bose, who’s also Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grand nephew and director of the Netaji Research Bureau, Kolkata, writes that although the Congress, then led by Netaji, sent a medical mission to China under Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis as a gesture of Asian solidarity in the face of Asian aggression, the Japanese invasion was the first big crack in Asian cohesion that did not heal.

Bose avers that during the 1910s, Tagore and fellow poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal had been shocked by the carnage triggered by European rivalries fuelled by intense nationalism. The decade of the 1930s showed that Asia was by no means immune to the virus of nationalism.

He writes that one of the most dramatic manifestations of this trend was the dissolution of the bonds of the much-trumpeted brotherhood between India and China that culminated in a brief but bitter border war between the two countries in the autumn of 1962.

“Yet, even at that moment of rivalry and conflict between Asian nation-states, an intellectual quest began to discover what a Japanese scholar of modern Chinese literature, Takeuchi Yoshimi, evocatively called in a 1960 lecture ‘Asia as method’,” Bose notes.

Given all the faultlines between Asian nations, economic interdependence among Asian nations has grown rapidly between 1979 and 2019 with East, Southeast and South Asia conducting more than half of their international trade among themselves in the 2010s, compared with one-third in the 1980s.

“Cultural flows have been enhanced contributing to fresh synergies in the domains of Asian arts and humanities, the pace of intra-Asian migration quickened with people on the move across the vast continent in numbers unimaginable between the 1940 and the 1980s,” Bose writes.

He writes that the dream of Asian universalism had been shattered in the twentieth century by the conflict between Japan and China. “Its fate in the twenty-first century will depend to a significant extent on the ability of China and India to peacefully manage their simultaneous rise,” Bose says.

He writes that both Asian giants are beset with internal problems of inequity and their ability to address those may be just as important as the state of their mutual relations.

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Amish Tripathi on His Multifaceted Writing Journey

Talk to him about fascinates him about mythology, and he asserts it is India, its traditions and culture that fascinate him no end…reports Asian Lite News

Ask author Amish Tripathi about what he has been working on lately, and the list seems almost endless.

Even as his latest ‘Idols: Unearthing the Power of Murti Puja’ (HarperCollins India) which he authored with sister Bhavna Roy released recently, he adds, “My non-fiction one which was released a few months ago is doing well. I am currently working on a book on Emperor Rajendra Chola which will be published this year, besides the fifth and final book of the Ramachandra series, which I will start writing this year. I also host and produce documentaries now, and did two for Discovery TV. We just finished one on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.”

The fastest-selling author in Indian publishing history, known best for ‘The Shiva Trilogy’ and ‘Ram Chandra Series’, says there is a lot inside him, and he just cannot wait to write more. “The first fiction I wrote was ages ago and all of my books are thick. There is a lot of research involved. Sometimes I feel it would be unfair to take credit for all I have written as it is only owing to Lord Shiva’s blessings that I have managed to achieve all this. I cannot credit my creativity for that.”

Talk to him about fascinates him about mythology, and he asserts it is India, its traditions and culture that fascinate him no end. “And I am extremely proud of them. My effort is to present them in a way that they resonate with the young,” he tells during the recently concluded Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), Asia’s biggest literary event.

Tripathi finds it unfortunate that those who talk and write about Indian culture and its magnificence are immediately branded as right-wing. “I find it unfortunate. Frankly, this (right and left-wing) debate does not apply in India considering every party now supports welfarism. The real difference is between those who are globalists and the ones who are rooted. But let me be clear here, I am not against the West — there is so much to learn from there. However, my core is rooted. In my heart and outlook, it is Indianness that I relate to most,” says this IIM-Calcutta graduate who worked for 14 years in the financial services industry.

While there is a tendency to take writers working on mythology casually, Tripathi feels that it is best to remain unaffected by people who do that. Stressing that some may look down while others may look up to authors writing in this genre, the author, who served as Director of the Nehru Centre, London and Minister (Culture & Education) at the High Commission of India in the UK from October 2019 to October 2023 adds, “Frankly, I prefer not to react at all. For me, it is important to be respectful and polite, even with those criticise me.”

Believing that it is important for an author to pay attention to marketing his/her book, Tripathi opines that many books could have done exceptionally well had they been marketed better.

“But remember, no matter how good your marketing skills are, a bad book would not work. So, you need both solid writing and good marketing. It cannot be either of the two,” says the author whose books have sold seven million copies and been translated into 20 Indian and international languages since 2010.

Tripathi feels that literature festivals are important for writers as they get to meet their readers as these gatherings are also about coming together of diverse writers. “I need to listen to different points of view. It does not matter if you agree or disagree with their thoughts,” concludes the author who will next work on ‘Rise of Meluha’ with his sister Roy.

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