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Book Review
From the blurb
India: Public Places, Private Spaces — Contemporary Photography and Video Art: Gayatri Sinha and Paul Sternberger; Pub. by The Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA in association with Marg Publications (National Centre for the Performing Arts), Army & Navy Building, 3rd Floor, 148, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Mumbai-400001.
For the past 25 years, a swirling mix of voices from India’s past and present has shaped Indian photography and video art. The artists’ gaze has been fixed on India’s lives, revealing, interpreting and influencing the staid, chaotic, monochrome and colourful dimensions of a country of over one billion people. Some artists have bent the strong tradition of photojournalism to explore more subjective modes of photography that still include socially and politically engaged street photography.
The artists represented in this volume provide rich insight into the dynamics shaping the contemporary Indian psyche and landscape, including deeply rooted cultural practices, violent economic and political shifts, the pervasive influence of the media and the indomitable forces of class and caste. In the process, they also investigate identity as a social construct, engage with issues of gender and sexuality and explore the effects of population migrations.
The Thiruppavai Prabandham of Mother Andal: Sambiah Chimakurty; Sri Ram Sai Apartments, 16-2-836/6, Madhavanagar, Saidabad, Hyderabad-500059. Rs. 90.
This is an elucidation of the Tiruppavai of Andal on the basis of the commentaries which will be a handy guide to appreciate its meaning.
The text is given in transliteration in English and Telugu and the explanation in English. There are brief sketches of the Azhwars in the appropriate verses which are interpreted to refer to them by the commentators.
Beyond the Dunes — Journeys in Rajasthan: Juhi Sinha; Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 275.
An account of the author’s rendezvous with Rajasthan as a starry-eyed tourist, harried producer of documentary films, lover of music and someone who realises that there is more to the desert province than picture-perfect palaces.
Juhi Sinha travels to forgotten towns and cities, while also discovering unseen facets of familiar destinations. What emerges is an affectionate portrait of a land and people who simultaneously live in the past and the present. Erstwhile royalty, feisty actors, colourful guides, friendly shopkeepers and obstinate bureaucrats come together in the part travelogue part personal memoir.
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