Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Print Pick
Going to the poll
THE ELECTIONS in Jammu and Kashmir in September-October 2002 were remarkable for several reasons - the tensions along the LOC with Pakistan, the violence and security threat posed by militants and the sheer logistics involved in conducting a free and fair election. The other factor going against a free and fair election was the past record of elections in the State.
The then Chief Election Commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh tells us the story behind the elections. In the process, he gives a fascinating preview of an extraordinary institution — the Election Commission.
Title: Chronicle of an Impossible Election
Author: J.M. Lyngdoh
Publisher: Penguin
Price: Rs. 350
Shifting sands
FROM THE ritual bound household of an orthodox scholar in a small village in Bengal in 1897 to Germany and Mumbai at the turn of the millennium, the book follows the life patterns of a family through a melange of narratives, memories and characters.
The author draws upon history and myth, religion and folklore, rituals and culinary practices to create a vivid portrait of a community of Vaidic Kulin Brahmins.
Sharma drives his daughter to insanity, his grandson tries to break free from the generations of adherence to tradition, Giribala voices her resentment through silence while her daughter is a tragic victim of her husband's sexual perversions. Each generation tries to liberate itself, setting the stage for the eternal conflict between tradition and change, between a legacy and its inheritors.
Title: The Inheritors
Author: Aruna Chakravarti
Publisher: Penguin
Price: Rs. 295
Voices in exile
IT IS 1953 in colonial Kenya and 8-year old Vikram Lall witnesses the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's coronation even as the Mau Mau war challenges British rule. Vic and his sister Deepa find themselves among newly acquired playmates - British Bill and Annie and the African Njoroge, and a place in this uncertain world of violent upheavals and conflicting ideologies.
The book follows Vic into the 1960s a time of great promise but deepening corruption in Africa into which Vic is hopelessly drawn. Njoroge on the other hand can abandon neither the idealism of his youth nor his love for Deepa. Acute and bittersweet the story is told by Vic from the shores of Lake Ontario where he lives in exile.
Title: The In-between World of Vikram Lall
Author: M.G. Vassanji
Publisher: Penguin
Price: Rs. 425
Homeward bound
RUSTY COMES home never to leave again. A lonely and sensitive boy who grows up with relatives and runs away to London to be a writer, Rusty explores Delhi and Dehra before finally settling down in Mussorie revelling in the hills that have always fascinated him. The book captures many captivating stories about Rusty's friends and fleeting acquaintances about human nature and the supernatural. Full of charming and idiosyncratic characters, these stories of love, loss and adventure will appeal to young readers of all ages.
Title: Rusty Comes Home
Author: Ruskin Bond
Publisher: Penguin
Price: Rs.199
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
