Books of the Week - Saturday, 30th October, 2021

The Fractured Himalaya: India Tibet China 1949-62
by - Nirupama Rao

About the Book
Why did India and China go to war in 1962? What propelled Jawaharlal Nehru's 'vision' of China? Why is
it necessary to understand the trans-Himalayan power play of India and China in the formative period
of their nationhoods? The past shadows the present in this relationship and shapes current policy options, strongly influencing public debate in India to this day.
Nirupama Rao, a former Foreign Secretary of India, unknots this intensely complex saga of the early years of the India-China relationship. As a diplomat-practitioner, 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, where she served as India's Ambassador. 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 Fractured Himalaya looks at the inflection points when the trajectory of diplomacy between these two nations could have course-corrected but did 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.

About the Author
Nirupama Menon Rao is a former Indian Foreign Secretary (2009-2011) and was Ambassador of India to China (2006-2009) and to the United States (2011-2013). She was High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2006 and also served as Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs from 2001 to 2002. During her diplomatic career, she spent significant time working on the bilateral relationship between India and China and specialized on the history and problems concerning the India-China border, and the question of Tibet. In retirement, she has taught at Brown and Columbia Universities, and was a Pacific Leadership Fellow at the University of California at San Diego. She is currently a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. Rao is also the founder of the South Asian Symphony Orchestra, a project to promote dialogue and habits of cooperation among young South Asians and the South Asian diaspora, through music.
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Books of the Week - Saturday, 23rd October, 2021

The Nutmeg's Curse:
Parables for a Planet in Crisis
by Amitav Ghosh 

About the Book
Before the 18th century, every single nutmeg in the world originated around a group of small volcanic islands east of Java, known as the Banda Islands. As the nutmeg made its way across the known world, they became immensely valuable - in 16th century Europe, just a handful could buy a house. It was not long before European traders became conquerors, and the indigenous Bandanese communities - and the islands themselves - would pay a high price for access to this precious commodity. Yet the bloody fate of the Banda Islands forewarns of a threat to our present day.
Amitav Ghosh argues that the nutmeg's violent trajectory from its native islands is revealing of a wider colonial mindset which justifies the exploitation of human life and the natural environment, and which dominates geopolitics to this day.
Written against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, and interweaving discussions on everything from climate change, the migrant crisis, and the animist spirituality of indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg's Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society, and reveals the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.
About the Author
Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He grew up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. He studied at the universities of Delhi and Oxford and published the first of eight novels, The Circle of Reason, in 1986. The first novel in his Ibis trilogy, Sea of Poppies, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He received the Jnanpith Award in 2018.
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Books of the Week - Saturday, 16th October. 2021

Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition
by Uday Mahurkar  & Chirayu Pandit 
About the Book
If India looks forward to its 75th year of Independence, it is also looking at 75 years of the country’s partition. Perhaps the biggest human tragedy of the twentieth century, it was marked by unparalleled violence that was suppressed by interested parties for their own political and ideological reasons. In the analysis of the real factors that led to Partition lies the lesson to protect India’s unity and integrity, as exemplified by the relentless but unsuccessful attempt by Veer Savarkar to prevent the birth of Pakistan.
Arguably the greatest symbol of India’s national integration, Savarkar’s warnings on the threats to India’s security have come true in the past seven decades. Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition uncovers Savarkar, the thinker and the father of India’s national security who has shown the best possible pathway towards one nation that rises above religious, caste and regional feelings. It also proves the falsity of charges levelled against Savarkar from time to time and exposes the motives behind them. It reveals, for the first time, the manner in which the Narendra Modi-led government has implemented Savarkar’s national security and diplomatic vision.
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Books of the Week - Saturday, 09th October, 2021

India vs UK: The Story of an Unprecedented Diplomatic Win
by - Syed Akbaruddin

About the Book
From the revolt of 1857 and the freedom movement to duels on the cricket pitch, India and the United Kingdom have been on opposing sides on numerous occasions. A less known instance when this dynamic played out was the 2017 election for a seat on the International Court of Justice.
Unwilling at first, India was prompted to enter the ring in the wake of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The contest that followed proved to be a 'second war of Independence' in the words of then foreign minister Sushma Swaraj - and a David-and-Goliath fight against the permanent members of the Security Council, who all put their might behind the UK.
Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the UN at the time, presents a behind-the-scenes account of India's coming-of-age in world affairs through the prism of this momentous election.

About the Author
Syed Akbaruddin has been amongst the most visible faces of Indian diplomacy in recent times. In a diplomatic career spanning thirty-five years, he spent more than a decade engaged in multilateral diplomacy―both as an Indian diplomat and an international civil servant. He served as India’s Permanent Representative to the UN from 2016 till his retirement from the Indian Foreign Service in 2020. Now the Dean of the Kautilya School of Public Policy, he lives in Hyderabad with his wife, Padma Akbaruddin.
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Books of the Week - 2nd October, 2021

My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future 
by Indra K. Nooyi 

About the Book
An intimate and powerful memoir by the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo
For a dozen years as one of the world's most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman of colour and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company – and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time – she transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humour, My Life in Full offers a first-hand view of Nooyi's legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.
Nooyi takes us through the events that shaped her, from her childhood and early education in 1960s India, to the Yale School of Management, to her rise as a corporate consultant and strategist who soon ascended into the most senior executive ranks. The book offers an inside look at PepsiCo, and Nooyi's thinking as she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile, despite resistance at every turn. For the first time and in raw detail, Nooyi also lays bare the difficulties that came with managing her demanding job with a growing family, and what she learned along the way. She makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave and work flexibility, and a convincing argument for how improving company and community support for young family builders will unleash the economy's full potential.
Generous, authoritative, and grounded in lived experience, My Life in Full is the story of an extraordinary leader's life, a moving tribute to the relationships that created it, and a blueprint for 21st century prosperity.

About the Author
indra K. Nooyi served as CEO and chairman of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2019. Her prescient strategic thinking, insight into consumer behaviour, and wisdom on managing a vast, global workforce make her one of the world's most sought-after advisors to entrepreneurs, executives, and governments. She is also revered as a role model for women and immigrants, and celebrated for her empowering messages on inclusivity. She is also the first female independent director of the International Cricket Council. Nooyi has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, and the U.S. State Department's award for Outstanding American by Choice, and has received 15 honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Yale University in 2019. She is married to Raj Nooyi and has two daughters, Preetha and Tara.
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