BOOKWATCH
By Anita Joshua
An Angel in the Cockpit: The True Story of a Death-defying Flight Across 5000 Miles of Land and Sea, Dr. Vijaypat Singhania, Roli, Rs. 395.
AT a time when he is planning to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in a hot air balloon, industrialist Vijaypat Singhania comes out with a narrative of his maiden entry into the records book way back in 1988. Only, that time he flew in a microlight; a twin-seater aircraft so small that, by his own account, it "felt less like being in an aircraft than wearing one".
This month, 67-year-old Singhania will attempt to fly over 70,000 feet in a hot-air balloon that is apparently the largest balloon ever built. A recent convert to hot air ballooning, the Chairman Emeritus of Raymond Group is confident that he will notch up a hat trick and shows none of the last-minute doubts that he confesses to have been plagued with on the eve of his microlight flight from England to India.
Scheduled to set out on August 18, 1988, Singhania developed cold feet and was hopeful that the death of Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq on August 17 would result in the cancellation of his permission to fly over that country; thereby giving him a face-saving reason to call off the venture. Destiny had other plans for him and he covered the distance in 22 days; breaking the existing record of 34 days.
Thereafter, there was no stopping Singhania — the only civilian other than the founder of Indian aviation himself, J.R.D. Tata, to become an honorary air commodore in the Indian Air Force — as he grew wings; logging more than 5,000 hours of flying. The 1990s saw him make it to Guinness yet again; this time winning the coveted award in aviation sports, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale Gold Medal. Will this decade see him make another entry? Well, the countdown has begun...
Torchbearers
Writing the Women's Movement: A Reader, edited by Mala Khullar, Zubaan, Rs. 595.
WOMEN'S studies in India having developed outside the university system, here is an attempt at drawing up the contours of its curriculum, as gender studies gains currency. Edited by Mala Khullar, a freelance consultant who has worked with many an institution involved in women's studies — including the Asian Centre for Women's Studies, Ewha Women's University, Seoul, and the Centre for Women's Development Studies — this publication puts gender studies within the broader canvas of the women's movement which served as the fount for most of the articles included.
The book brings together the voices of several leading Indian women who made their mark in different walks of life; featuring as it does articles by Vina Mazumdar, Lotika Sarkar, Flavia Agnes, Nandita Haksar, Zoya Hasan, Malavika Karlekar, Urvashi Butalia, Patricia Uberoi, Devaki Jain, Anita Rampal...
While an attempt has been made to trace the evolution of women's studies in India in the introduction, the Reader — as the book has been consciously christened — puts together major contributions to research and analysis of significant issues and concerns in the contemporary context. The subjects covered include "Changing Terms of Political Discourse", "Law and Gender Inequality", "Forced Identities" — which looks at the State, communalism and women in India — the women's movement's responses to violence against women and legal frameworks.
Speaking of Films, Satyajit Ray, Penguin, Rs. 275.
PENGUIN marks "Pather Panchali's" golden jubilee with the first-ever translation of Bishay Chalachitra — a collection of essays on cinema penned by India's most respected name in international film circles, Satyajit Ray. Translated by Gopa Mazumdar, the collection spans a quarter of a century; beginning with 1955 when Ray announced his arrival in the celluloid world with "Pather Panchali".
While the essays touch upon an entire array of subjects including the changing language of cinema, Soviet cinema, dialogue in films and has Ray dwell on a couple of his own works at length — "Apur Sansar" and "Charulata" — three articles stand out. In "My Life, My Work" — the text of the Amal Bhattacharji lecture he delivered in 1982 — "A Critic in the Eyes of a Director" and "A Quarter of a Century", Ray turns his gaze on himself.
As the title suggests, "My Life, My Work" is biographical, in which Ray admits that he never harboured ambitions of becoming a film-maker till a couple of years before he took the plunge. Also, there is an interesting account of his tryst with Shantiniketan — the much sought-after institution of Rabindranath Tagore — which he left mid-way through his course.
"A Critic in the Eyes of a Director" is a must-read for film critics; particularly those who believe they can make or break a film with their comments. Here, Ray — having learnt first-hand with "Pather Panchali" that the audience very often has a mind that is independent of reviews — offers a critique on the business of film-reviewing. And, in "A Quarter of a Century", Ray dons the mantle of the critic; reviewing his own work.
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