BOOKS OF THE WEEK - SATURDAY, 15 DEC. 2018

The Line of Control 

Travelling with the Indian and Pakistani Armies

About the Book

Happymon Jacob was given the unique opportunity to see the border between India and Pakistan from both sides. He travelled with the armies of both countries and could study what is effectively the ground zero-the location where entrenched animosities as well as sudden surges of comradeship are enacted. This is one of the most fortified places on the planet.
Jacob writes, 'I was keen on getting into their world, the world of men in uniform, fighting each other and yet respecting each other. It was a curious world. It had breath-taking adventure, mind blowing stories and unforgettable heroism. I loved it, and I was welcome.'
This vividly told, fast paced narrative brings the border area to life. Jacob was given unprecedented access by the Indian and Pakistani armies and he explores how the border is seen-both in the popular imagination and by those who exist in its shadow. He chronicles the lives of civilians and soldiers, their courage and resilience in the face of constant danger and the extraordinary similarities between the two sides.

About the Author

Happymon Jacob is an associate professor of disarmament studies at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is a columnist with The Hindu, and hosts a weekly show on national security at the Wire. He has been a participant in several India-Pakistan track-two dialogues, and directs the Chaophraya India-Pakistan Dialogue (India Chapter). He was former visiting professor at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris and a senior global challenges fellow at the Central European University in Budapest. Jacob is the author of Line on Fire: Ceasefire Violations and Indo-Pak Escalation Dynamics (Oxford University Press, December 2018).

ISBN : 9780670091270   Price : Rs. 599.00

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK

AROUND INDIA IN 80 TRAINS

By - MONISHA RAJESH

About the Book : 

In 1991, Monisha's family uprooted from Sheffield to Madras in the hope of making India their home. Two years later, fed up with soap-eating rats, stolen human hearts and the creepy colonel across the road, they returned to England with a bitter taste in their mouths. 

Twenty years later, Monisha came back. Taking a page out of Jules Vernes classic tale, Around the World in 80 Days, she embarked on a 40,000km adventure around India in 80 trains. Travelling a distance equivalent to the circumference of the Earth, she lifted the veil on a country that had become a stranger to her.

As one of the largest civilian employers in the world, featuring luxury trains, toy trains, Mumbai's infamous commuter trains and even a hospital on wheels, Indian Railways had more than a few stories to tell. On the way, Monisha met a colourful cast of characters with epic stories of their own. But with a self-confessed militant atheist as her photographer, Monisha's personal journey around a country built on religion was not quite what she bargained for...

Around India in 80 Trains is a story of adventure and drama infused with sparkling wit and humour.

About the Author :

Monisha Rajesh was born in Kings Lynn in Norfolk and grew up all over England. She read French at the University of Leeds and taught English at a high school in Cannes before studying postgraduate journalism at City University London. She has written for the London Evening Standard, The Guardian, TIME magazine and The New York Times. Monisha now works at The Week magazine and lives in London. This is her first book.

 ISBN : 9788174369130                                                                  PRICE : Rs. 295.00 

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

THE HANGING OF AFZAL GURU

BY - ARUNDHATI ROY

About the Book : 

On 13 December 2001, the Indian Parliament was attacked by a few heavily armed men. Eleven years later, we still do not know who was behind the attack, nor the identity of the attackers. Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India have noted that the police violated legal safeguards, fabricated evidence and extracted false confessions. Yet, on 9 February 2013, one man, Mohammad Afzal Guru, was hanged to ‘satisfy’ the ‘collective conscience’ of society. 

This updated reader brings together essays by lawyers, academics, journalists and writers who have looked closely at the available facts and who have raised serious questions about the investigations and the trial. This new version examines the implications of Mohammad Afzal Guru’s hanging, and what it says about the Indian government’s relationship with Kashmir. The writers show how there is hardly a single piece of evidence that stands up to scrutiny and emphasize the urgent need for an impartial, transparent inquiry into the Parliament attack and its aftermath.

About the Author :

Arundhati Roy is a world renowned Indian writer in English. She was born on November 24, 1961 in Shillong, Meghalaya.

She spent her childhood in Aymanam in Kerala, and did her schooling from Corpus Christi, Kottayam, followed by the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then went on to study architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. She married twice and presently lives with her second husband. She played a village girl in the award winning movie Massey Sahib, directed by her second husband Pradip Krishen in 1984.

The super success of her novel The God Of Small Things put her on the global platform and brought in a sense of financial stability. She worked various jobs before the critical and commercial success of her novel. Having spent her childhood in Kerala, there are imageries of the lush green place in 'The God Of Small Things'.

She has written novels, essays and is more of a social activist. She is actively involved in the Narmada Dam project, Sardar Sarovar project, the war against terror  and India's nuclear weaponization. She has voiced her support for the Kashmiri separation and received criticism from the Indian National Congress and BJP for her remarks.

She  is also a winner of many coveted awards like Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Things, National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1989, for the semi-autobiographical screenplay of 'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones'. She was also awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and her advocacy of non-violence. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for her collection of essays on contemporary issues, The Algebra of Infinite Justice which she refused to accept.

Among her literary works are books like The God of Small Things, The End of Imagination, The Greater Common Good, An Ordinary Person's Guide To Empire, Public Power in the Age of Empire Seven Stories Press, The Shape of the Beast and Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy to  list a few.

 ISBN : 9780143420750                                                                PRICE : Rs. 299.00