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Book Excerpts

Bollywood villain Pran sold wife’s bangles to survive in Bombay—then landed 4 films in 3 days

Gulshan Grover, Danny Denzongpa to Pran, Roshmila Bhattacharya's 'Bad Men' reveals the human beings behind Bollywood's most iconic villains.

This Indian artist painted Madonna in a sari and angels in dhotis. It outraged Christians

In ‘The Big Book of Indian Art’, Bina Sarkar Ellias gives the reader an illustrated history of the country’s art movements and influential artists.

Haseenain-e-Lucknow—a photographic record of tawaifs and what it tells us about Awadh

The album was produced as a luxury item, with no more than a few copies, and suggests an aesthetic link to the Mughal 'muraqqa' tradition of illustrated albums.

Lord Curzon didn’t support Jamsetji Tata’s vision for IISc, so he took the case to London

In 'Jamsetji Tata', R Gopalakrishnan and Harish Bhat monumentalise the business philosophy of the visionary that has been retained by Tata leaders for over a century.

No contradiction between Christ, Bhakti, Tulsidas—a missionary’s cultural campaign for Hindi

In 'Camille Bulcke: The Jesuit Exponent of Ramkatha', Ravi Dutt Bajpai and Swati Parashar recall the fascinating life of a Christian missionary in India.

India has wisely avoided committing a folly by not joining the West against Russia

In ‘Global Tumult: India As A Pole Star’, Sujan Chinoy delves into India’s foreign and defence policies, and its achievements, from his vantage point as Director General of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

‘Strategic realism’ with ‘economic pragmatism’ — a former diplomat on ‘creative’ economic diplomacy

'Economic Diplomacy', edited by Pradeep S Mehta, Anil Wadhwa and Advaiyot Sharma, brings out the experiences of practitioners of Indian economic diplomacy with essays and case studies.

JD Vance’s adventure with ‘real’ Christianity—‘I felt like a persecuted minority’

'Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis' is a memoir by JD Vance about his upbringing, family values, and the issues of his hometown in Ohio.

Insurgency blurred the line between protester and militant in Kashmir. Both met the same bullet

In her book 'City as Memory', Sadaf Wani explores Srinagar through personal remembrance, examining questions of the Kashmiri identity.

Why Article 370 abrogation won’t remove ‘disputed territory’ tag from J&K

In 'Unravelling the Kashmir Knot, author and senior advocate Aman Hingorani uses a legal perspective to examine the ongoing debates around J&K.

On Camera

SC’s stray dog order lit a match in Delhi. Are they a menace or companions?

The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.

Modi’s ‘Diwali bonanza’ for the common man—next-gen GST reforms, lower tax on daily-use items soon

Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.

What is Project Sudarshan Chakra, announced by Modi from ramparts of Red Fort

The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.

War of IAF, PAF doctrines: As Pakistan obsesses over numbers, India embraces risk, wins

Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?