In search of lost glory

Going the bounteousness of her ancient educational traditions India should have been the most advanced country in terms of education today, but reality is completely different. Despite its rich tradition, education in our country is in a mess. What went wrong and where? And most importantly, what can we do about it and how?

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 Understanding India

An intriguing title for a book. Coming as it does from a columnist, advertising and marketing professional, you know this is just a teaser. The book is a collection of articles by the author carried in the column 'City City, Bang Bang' of the Times of India and in the Brand Equity supplement of the Economic Times.

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 The Avenue of Kings: Angst amidst violence

it is not about Delhi's kings or their modern democratic avatars. It is, in a sense, about the consequences of their actions; consequences for the common man ranging from the 1984 anti-Sikh violence to the post-Babri Masjid scenario, among other things. The story opens with the burning of a Sikh who had, foolishly, ventured out to buy vegetables

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 An Engaging Read

It is about Samrat Ratan, a Yale valedictorian (That word was new to me, though I did know the words 'valediction' and 'valedictory') and a hotshot investment banker earning half a million in Wall Street, fed up with the money hungry, power hungry environment.

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 Climbing the pyramid to recovery

Corporate bosses often resort to turnaround strategies through restructuring the company’s business methods and culture among other things. There have been many success stories regarding turnarounds in the corporate world...

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 Demystifying William Shakespeare

Dr. Dahiya has systematically presented the persona and life of William Shakespeare in a lucid language, providing contexts from the poet’s life as well as political, economic and social conditions and/or incidents of those times. We get glimpses of the England of those times...

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 Leela Naidu: an ethereal beauty

Written in a light-hearted, but not frivolous, tone Leela reveals the obverse sides of various celebrities who have been painted in glowing hues by the media.

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 Media's role in chronicling India's Partition

Could the tragedy have been averted? Tanwar appears to think so. He points out, how, several thinking people including the then editor of The Tribune, appealed to Nehru to go in for systematic exchange of populations spread over a period of about three years. Nehru not only dismissed the suggestion airily but also...

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 Ravana Redux: A thriller for young adults

This novel for young adults skillfully depicts a riveting love-tangle caught in an action packed tussle between the good and the evil that has no beginning and no end.

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 Bimal Roy: He gave new sensibility to Indian Cinema

Bimal Roy sometimes has an almost Dickensian touch, using pathos directly and unaffectedly, finding humour and kindliness amongst pickpockets and street urchins and mocking the pomposity and thoughtlessness of the wealthy

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 A parable in smart prose, wrapped in enigmatic magic realism

The story barges through all barriers of time...

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 Khushwant Singh: A haloed visage with warts and all

He changed the face of journalism in India

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 Adoor Gopalakrishnan: Ambivalent, silent endings are his forte

He changed the language of cinema, nay, the cinematic paradigms...

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 Understanding Guru Dutt through Abrar Alvi's Eyes

When a cinematic genius teams up with a talented writer and ideator a series of masterpieces is created.

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 A review of Noam Chomsky's Hopes and Prospects

A trenchant critique of Uncle Sam’s duplicity

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 Time Riders: A thrilling ride across time

In Time Riders - first in new sc-fi thriller series - Scarrow has skillfully merged the concepts/imaginations related to modern as well as futuristic technologies with the conventional time travel narrative ideas - going back in past or visiting the future. This novel for young adults has a very exciting plot which is pegged on the notion that if one could change the past it would affect the present and future conditions.

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 A role model for wannabe winners

Bhawani Cheerath reviews a "Splendid Biography" which can inspire the eannabes and impress them with the author's remarkable candour.

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 Straddling Identities

Bhawani, a Trivandrum based freelance journalist and book critic, has provided an insightful and comprehensive review of Aatish Taseer's "A Stranger to History". Her conclusions are thought provoking.

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 Sanskrit love story: keeping the flavor intact

In fact, like most of the classic Sanskrit stories, Kadambari too is a multi-layered narrative with story-within-a-story format. Everything connects eventually even as you enjoy the surfeit of alankaras, i.e., ornate metaphors and similes peppered with hyperbolic descriptions of valour, beauty, wisdom and other qualities of various persons, places and things.

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 The absorbing parable on self-discovery

The narrative is absorbing. The gradual manner in which Diana sheds her ego ("kills" her "self") and rediscovers her true self impels one to read the book from first page to the last.

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