scorecardresearch
Friday, April 26, 2024
HomePageTurnerBook Excerpts

Book Excerpts

How ‘portable’ Kavad shrines of Rajasthan tell stories of gods & epics

The tradition of kavad banchana involves carrying the kavad to different places, mostly homes of the patrons, and narrating stories from epics such as the Mahabharata or Ramayana.

How a Kannada actress’ confession kicked off legal battle for Sabarimala in Kerala

In 'The Battle for Sabarimala', Deepa Das Acevedo details one of contemporary India's most contentious disputes.

Gujaratis dominated Malaysia trade in 16th century. Cambay & Malacca were interdependent

Radhika Seshan's 'Empires of the Sea: A Human History of the Indian Ocean World' sets out to map our age-old connections with the seas, tracing maritime linkages from the Harappan period all the way to the long colonial era.

Negative thoughts can increase bodily pain. Regulate your emotions to truly heal

In 'Managing Chronic Pain', experienced clinicians Dr Vandana V. Prakash and Dr Mary Abraham uncover the mind-body connection of chronic pain and show us how its mental and social processes cannot be separated from the physical.

JC Bose didn’t invent the radio. But Bengalis think he did way before Marconi

In 'Jagadish Chandra Bose', Sudipto Sen delves into the life of a reluctant, forgotten physicist.

Harriet Brooks transformed nuclear physics. But Barnard College fired her for getting married

In 'Her Space, Her Time', award-winning quantum physicist Shohini Ghose delves into the stories of remarkable women who transformed science.

Romulus Whitaker’s colour blindness was an advantage. It helped him spot snakes easily

In ‘Snakes, Drugs And Rock ’N’ Roll’, Romulus Whitaker and his wife Janaki Lenin write about Whitaker’s childhood and his adventures before setting up the famed Chennai Snake Park.

One thing all education ministers under Nehru aimed to do—make Indians doubt ancient values

In 'Modian Consensus', Swadesh Singh talks about how the Nehruvian Consensus demolished the ideas of the Civilisational Consensus that had spiritualism at its core.

‘Bread, work, liberty’—when Chilean women sewed quilts with messages to oppose Gen Pinochet

In 'Audacious Hope', Indrajit Roy talks about how hope is expressed through ordinary people’s resistance in the face of brutal, unrelenting repression.

Sudha Murthy is a rebel disguised as a traditionalist

In 'An Uncommon Love', Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni tells the story of how Sudha and Narayana Murthy met and how their love changed each others lives.

On Camera

Modi’s speech rightly questions politics of appeasement. Wrongly targets all Muslims

The PM did make a valid point when he criticised the Congress for categorising the entire Muslim community in Karnataka under the Other Backward Classes. It is pure appeasement of Ashraaf Muslims and discriminates against Pasmandas.

Foreign policy resonating among more Indians in 2nd & 3rd tier towns of India, says EAM Jaishankar

Speaking at launch of economist Surjit Bhalla’s book, S Jaishankar also highlights Gen Z’s engagement with ‘reel culture’, which has 'promoted awareness, created interest in many subjects'.

Terror commander Masood Azhar resurfaces to launch celeb-style ‘ask me anything’ online service

The announcement, made by JeM’s Maktab-ul-Rabita, or office for communication, comes 2 yrs after Pakistani officials claimed the militant was living under Taliban protection.

These 6 states are key for Modi’s ‘400 paar’ target. They’re also where Opposition can stop him

While this contest looks so predictable in large swathes of our political landscape, it is also more keenly contested than 2019 in some states.