Freny Manecksha is an independent journalist, published in Himal Southasian and The Times of India: Crest Edition, among other publications, who has reported extensively from Kashmir, covering human rights and development issues. She has also worked with The Times of…
Book Review: The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon: From Moksha To Market Author: Kaushik Deka Publisher: Rupa Rating: 3/5 Book Blurb: Patanjali Ayurved has turned out to be the most disruptive force in the Indian FMCG market..it witnessed a whopping annual growth…
Book Review: The Indian Spy Author: Mihir Bose Publisher: Aleph Book Blurb: Bhagat Ram Talwar, a Hindu Pathan from the Northwest Frontier Province of British India, was the only quintuple spy of World War II, spying for Britain, Italy, Germany,…
Book Name: Behold, I Shine Author’s Name: Freny Manecksha Rating: 5/5 Publisher: Rupa Book Blurb: Set in the once-fabled land of Kashmir, Behold, I Shine moves beyond male voices and focuses, instead, on what the struggle means for the Valley’s…
Book Name: Don’t Look Down Author’s Name: Karishma Attari Rating: 4/5 Publisher: Penguin Book Blurb: What if the one to betray you was you? Alia may be turning eighteen, but (epic birthday parties aside) age is just a number to…
In the cozy nest that you build often, lying beneath you, my cerebral cortex wanders, waits for the game to be over. That one question plays hide–and–seek through my giving in. Am I of so little worth? Amid the glory…
Book Name: Dvarca Author’s Name:Madhav Mathur Rating: 3.5/5 Publisher: Fingerprint Book Blurb: One Nation, One Religion, One Way of Life Welcome to a land called Dvarca. At the turn of the 22nd century, the world is a mess of warring…
On Singapore’s urban redevelopment policy In London, they keep six ravens captive to the superstitions of the Crown. Imagine being born with wings only to find them clipped and useless for flight, only intermittent perching, handicapped on a well-manicured lawn,…
Book Name: The Jeera Packer Author’s Name: Prashant Yadav Rating: 3/5 Publisher: Fingerprint Book Blurb: I once changed the history of this Uttar Pradesh with a gun and a finger. One shot, one man. Right man, wrong man. But that was…
Book Name: Jaffna Street Author’s Name: Mir Khalid Rating: 5/5 Publisher: Rupa Book Blurb: In 1989, an adolescent schoolboy from downtown Srinagar watched as his elders extricated themselves from university campuses, high-school grounds, handloom machines and farms to bear arms and…
Book Name: The Trail of four Author’s Name: Manjiri Prabhu Rating: 4/5 Publisher: Bloomsbury Book Blurb: Max Reinhardt, Europe’s most famous theatre director, once adopted the town as home. As the Nazis advanced on his beloved city, he- like many…
The underwater coal mines closed in 1974, but the tortured souls of Korean and Chinese slaves still linger like smoke among the tumbled apartments, tea rooms, and temples; as I step over broken sake bottles and around an overturned tv,…