scorecardresearch
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
HomePageTurnerBook Excerpts

Book Excerpts

Asomiyas to loyal fighters to outsiders — The story of Sikhs in Assam

In ‘The Sikh Next Door’, Manpreet Singh writes that the Sikh connection with Assam goes back to the time of the gurus.

How chanting Ram and Bhagavad Gita gifted by a Sufi dacoit helped a Chambal bandit in prison

In ‘The Punished’, Jahnavi Misra explores nineteen stories of men and women facing death row in India, and how they navigate the justice system.

How Durga images and sculptures showed up in Ghazni, Afghanistan

In ‘Buddha in Gandhara’, Sunita Dwivedi writes about how Durga sculptures and paintings were found in Buddhist monasteries.

Power centre for kings, melting pot for art — How Nathdwara in Rajasthan rose for 300 yrs

In ‘Nathdwara Paintings from the Anil Relia Collection’, Kalyan Krishna and Kay Talwar write about a town in Rajasthan that completely revolved around Krishna.

Not really Nehru, it was Gandhi and Congress ‘Right’ who made Bose resign as party president

In ‘Nehru & Bose’, Rudrangshu Mukherjee writes about how Subhas Chandra Bose had no choice but to resign from Congress in his second term as president.

Boiled spinach, stewed fruit, haricot soup — Gandhi’s experiments with vegetarianism

In ‘Restless as Mercury’, Gopalkrishna Gandhi reconstructs Gandhi’s own words about the struggles, experiences, and philosophies that influenced his younger self.

Modi told Hamid Ansari that the Rajya Sabha TV wasn’t favourable to the government

In ‘Many A Happy Accident’, former vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari writes about the time PM Modi told him, ‘You aren’t helping me’.

The underground Congress radio during freedom struggle and 22-yr-old woman behind its voice

In an essay in ‘Our Freedoms’, Aanchal Malhotra writes about Usha Mehta and the Congress Radio set up in 1942 to counter the British-controlled AIR.

They’re not all bad — A former police officer writes on how to deal with Indian politicians

In ‘Stepping Beyond Khaki’, former police officer K. Annamalai writes about the one hour with an MLA that changed his view of politicians and public service.

Calcutta changed Ghalib forever — from humiliation and grammar errors to his pension plea

In ‘Ghalib’, Mehr Afshan Farooqi writes that the Calcutta chapter in Ghalib’s life planted the seeds for his prolonged clashes with critics.

On Camera

Xi Jinping is courting France. India must make sure its European partner isn’t seduced

Xi won’t be walking away from Europe with a win in hand, but his visit will almost certainly ignite arguments about the continent’s geopolitical future.

Air India reduces baggage allowance by 5-15 kg, bringing it in line with rest of industry

Air India’s new policy, effective from 2 May, introduces new weight limits for tickets in each of the different 'fare families' — Comfort, Comfort Plus, and Flex.

Three Indian Navy ships deployed to South China Sea

Deployment comes at a time when Yuan Wang 03, a Chinese missile and satellite tracking vessel, has entered Indian Ocean Region.

Frontrunner is letting the challenger define this poll campaign. Modi still hasn’t found a big theme

A theme has not yet emerged for BJP & people see lack of a contest, which makes it unexciting. For all these reasons, 2024 is turning out to be an unexpectedly theme-less election.