The Hindu :Sunday, July 04, 2004

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Sunday, July 04, 2004

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`Politics emerges out of stories'
Three years ago, Hari Kunzru caught the world's attention with his first novel The Impressionist — a rambling, funny, extravagant and seemingly chaotic tale about an Anglo-Indian's quest for identity in colonial India. Now he's back with Transmission, a novel in a somewhat different genre and set firmly in the present. Kunzru's narrative, which centres on a young Indian software engineer's travails in Silicon Valley, has confirmed his reputation as one of the most promising novelists of his generation. MUKUND PADMANABHAN caught up with the writer whose name figured recently in the Observer's list of British citizens who will define the country's politics and culture for the next generation.

Book Review

AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Confessions of a President
Though anecdotal, far too many details wean the reader away, giving the impression that My Life is without focus, says M.S. NAGARAJAN.

Spotlight

In a debt trap
With the prices of areca nut falling owing to the lifting of import restrictions, small and marginal farmers find their sole source of livelihood does not sustain them any longer. In the first of a two-part article, PARSHURAM RAY surveys the extent of the crisis.

REFLECTIONS
Oxford — `24/7'
It was a fusion of `body and spirit, reason and emotion and architecture and scenery'. SHELLEY WALIA describes his first week at Oxford.

Land & People

IN CONVERSATION

Magic in dance
`Dance is not about external perfection. It's something that comes from within,' says danseuse Priyadarshini Govind, who has just performed in The Montpellier festival of dance and music in France, as she talks to GOWRI RAMNARAYAN.

Issues

LIFE

Take me home
Most often, it is internal strife and persecution that cause people to flee their countries. Reflecting on World Refugee Day that was observed on June 20, AUNOHITA MOJUMDAR looks at the work of the UNHCR in finding three such persons homes.

Environment

ECO-WATCH
Uneasy neighbours
Bhitarkanika is a reptilian refuge, but its human neighbours aren't too comfortable with the inhabitants. Who is to blame, asks BIBHUTI MISHRA.

Cinema

IN THE NEWS
Temperatures soar
GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN looks at the controversy surrounding Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11".

Columns

By Ramachandra Guha Vignettes of Vajpayee		THE SHASHI THAROOR COLUMN Yeast is yeast, west is waist

MEDIA MATTERS By Sevanti Ninan Media as peacemaker		Ask the Doc...

Sightings

Kunzru speak

Lessons from Madonna

What fascinates Javed

Lifestyle

PLACES
Dales of rural charm
Yorkshire is a land of many faces — from the plains and windswept moorlands to tranquil fishing villages. EDWARD HAWKSWORTH takes a trip.

CUISINE
Vegetarian and South Indian
SABITA RADHAKRISHNA looks at a new collection of recipes, which `aspiring cooks would enjoy'.

GARDENING

Splendour ... inside
INDOOR plants are beneficial, purifying stale air indoors. Although it should be safe to presume that all plants are capable of removing toxins from the air, recent studies have shown that indoor plants are more efficient in filtering out toxins ...

Health

MEDICARE

'The aim is to save lives'
In medicine, doctors in developing nations, including India, usually ape the West. An article in a foreign journal becomes a touchstone and then a norm, unless it is torn asunder by some path-breaking discovery. Therefore Indian physicians and surgeons who are academics prefer to publish their essays in foreign journals. As the resource base of medical institutions in the West is large and the accounting practices as well as the patient data recording system have been refined over time to meet the needs of research, data from these institutions are accepted almost blindly, even in India where medical database is still a far cry from the legally tight data systems in the West (where negligent doctors may be taken by aggrieved patients

HEALTHWATCH

Wrinkle-free
Endoscopic surgery, otherwise known as keyhole surgery, has come into its own only recently. Dr. R. MURUGESAN writes about its uses in cosmetic surgery.

Miscellany

Flying out of Munich?

Astrology

MOON SIGNS
By Khousikan
Queries Answered

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