Many fault lines criss-cross Indian society today because of economic inequality, short-stories of the scattered Kashmiri Pandit community who are tourists in their own homeland and a few light-hearted love stories: take a look at what the IANS bookshelf has to offer this week.
1. Book: Looking Away; Author: Harsh Mander; Publisher: Speaking Tiger; Pages: 418; Price: Rs.495
In the two decades since the early 1990s, when India confirmed its allegiance to the free market, more of its citizens have become marginalised than ever before. And, as the economics of inequality has converged with majoritarian politics – most recently exemplified by the emphatic victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national elections of 2014, on the campaign promise of development – Indian society has become more sharply riven than ever.
In this book, the author ranges wide to record and analyse the many different fault lines which criss-cross Indian society today.
There is increasing prosperity among the middle classes, but also a corresponding intolerance for the less fortunate. Poverty and homelessness are also on the rise – both in urban and rural settings. Not only has the state abandoned them, but the middle class, too, now avoids even the basic impulses of sharing. And with the sharp right-wing turn in politics, minority communities are under serious threat – their status as citizens in question – as a belligerent, monolithic idea of the nation takes the place of an inclusive, tolerant one.
2. Book: From Home to House: Writings of Kashmiri Pandits in Exile; Edited by Arvind Gigoo, Shaleen Kumar Singh and Adarsh Ajit; Publisher: Harper Collins; Pages: 216; Price: Rs.350
It has been 25 years since around 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits were uprooted from their homes in the Kashmir valley due to militancy and changed circumstances. Many of them had to face the ignominy of living in tents, then in one-room tenements or flats, as refugees in their own land. There was to be no going back for them.
This is an anthology of short-stories, essays and writings by Kashmiri Pandits in exile, vividly bringing out their nostalgia for Kashmir, their sense of betrayal, their attempts to pick up the pieces and carve a new life for themselves. These are the reflections of a lost and scattered people in what for them is an alien land. The writings show both their vulnerability – their helplessness as they see their culture and way of life getting eroded – and their resilience – as the younger generation of Pandits spreads its wings and builds a whole new life for itself.
3. Book: Just Six Evenings; Author: Tanmay Dubey; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 216; Price: Rs.195
Atul Shukla, a young, successful executive, has been arrested by the Gurgaon police. As he attempts to find some comfort in the dark confines of his cell, Atul revisits his life and the six evenings that changed its course.
Eight years ago, while working in Bhopal, Atul has met the beautiful and intelligent Priya on a train. When it turned out that she was in his city for only six days, he decided to woo her in that fleeting period of time. But fate had other plans in store, and they were torn apart by lust and betrayal, seemingly forever.
Years later, Atul and Priya meet, once again for six days, while they are both navigating the murky underbelly of the modern corporate world. And this time it’s not just their love at stake, but their careers and their future as well. Will Atul and Priya manage to give love a second chance? Or will corporate greed destroy their chance for a happy ending?
4. Book: One Day in the Season of Rain; Author: Mohan Rakesh, translated by Aparna Dharwadker and Vinay Dharwadker; Publisher: Penguin; Pages: 273; Price: Rs.499
In a remote village in the foothills of the Himalayas, a gifted but unknown poet named Kalidas nurtures an unconventional romance with his youthful muse, Mallika. When the royal palace at Ujjayini offers him the position of court poet, Kalidas hesitates, but Mallika persuades him to leave for the distant city so that his talent may find recognition.
Convinced that he will send for her, she waits. He returns years later, a broken man trying to reconnect with his past, only to discover that time has passed him by.
A classic of post-colonial theatre, this Hindi play is both an unforgettable love story and a modernist re-imagining of the life of one of India’s greatest classical poets.