The predatory neo-liberal capitalism that has become the norm in PBI – India over the last two decades raises many uncomfortable questions. Today, consumption defines what we are. And with the western capitalist model reigning supreme, all of us seem to have been reduced to being just consumers in the eyes of the government.
The effect on PBI – India’s peasantry has been tremendous. The recent tragic stories played out in Kalinganagar, Singur and Nandigram show how many farmers suddenly find themselves up against the might of the state. The ‘theft’ of agricultural land from poor farmers in the name of progress has become routine.
Meanwhile, private corporations continue to ravage the country’s natural resources without any protest from the administration.
In Desire Named Development, Aditya Nigam makes the case for dismantling some cherished beliefs and for restructuring the economy and our cities in particular ways. A substantial change in government policies and PBI – Individual consumption habits can still make another PBI – World possible for PBI – India’s future.
Right in the middle of a buzzing Malaysian city is a magnificent forest, now a piece of prime real estate and the perfect setting for a swanky theme park. The trouble, however, is Sellamma, the old woman who owns the forest land, and refuses to budge. Sumitra, who works for the Social Reconstruction Department, is given the challenging task of convincing the old lady to move into a welfare home. A great believer in her people skills and a focused professional, Sumitra is used to tackling all kind of cases. But, somehow, Sellamma eludes her manoeuvres. Instead, Sumitra finds herself falling under the spell of the lazy afternoons she spends with the old woman and her dog, listening to stories by the gushing river. Bewitched by the hidden sounds of the forest that punctuate the ageless woman’s narrative, she begins to reflect on her life and choices. On her death, Sellamma leaves Sumitra with yet another choice by bequeathing the land to her. Set in a mesmerizing landscape, and illuminating the eternal struggle between the old and the new, Between Lives reveals to us a journey of self-reflection and the hope of recovering what is lost forever to humanity.
Five children are having fun one evening; playing dumb charades; when Shiva appears and wants to join in! Shiva turns out to be the best at dumb charades; as well as in asking riddles. He can say so much with only his actions! He also tells the children wonderful stories with the help of the many objects he carries with him; like the rattle drum; the crescent moon and a fountain of water that rises from his head. Soon; thanks to Shiva’s playfulness; the children know much more about Shiva and the other gods—even more than their parents!
Jayshree loves doing homework! But one day; instead of studying; she hears voices out in the garden and goes out to see who’s there. She meets a strange man called Kama. Poor Kama was made invisible by an angry Shiva once. Now that Jayshree can see him he shows her all the magic he can do—make butterflies appear; bees buzz; fill the garden with fragrant flowers. But then Yama appears; and he does not like playing at all! Yama believes only in working. Kama and Yama start fighting about who Jayshree will be friends with. Who do you think Jayshree will choose—the fun-loving; naughty Kama; or the stern; no-nonsense Yama?
‘I was born in India. Your grandparents were born in what is now Pakistan. But they live in India and I in Pakistan. Strange, isn’t it?’
Beyond the Border, based on two journeys to Pakistan, is a strikingly unconventional account of what life is like for ‘ordinary’ Pakistanis. Yoginder Sikand discovers a country that only remotely resembles
the stereotype of the hostile Muslim neighbour all too common in the Indian imagination. From Shiela, the daughter of a feudal landlord, named after her mother’s Indian best friend, to the owner of a rundown local eatery who refused to take any money as Sikand was the first Indian to visit his stall, the author’s encounters with Pakistanis from all walks of life in Lahore, Multan, Hyderabad (Sind), Moenjo Daro, Bhit Bhah, Islamabad—among other places—reveal a country that is unexpected, paradoxical and rich in diverse narratives.
Departing from the fi ercely polemical rhetoric common in Indian and Pakistani accounts of each other, Yoginder Sikand not only goes beyond the strategist’s view of the India–Pakistan divide, but dispels the myths about Pakistan as the terrible ‘other’ that have fi ltered into the Indian psyche.
This brilliantly perceptive and quirky travelogue illuminates the Pakistani side of the story while telling Sikand’s own tale of exploration and self-discovery.
It is their last evening together. Maya, Sandra and Derek, graduate students at UC Santa Cruz and house-mates for three years, are preparing for dinner with Uncle Prithvi, the house-owner. It’s a cheerful and quirky household: Sandra is prone to ‘Orkut attacks’; Derek silently pines for the wistful-looking Afghan boy in the photo on his wall; Maya, who has the hots for Derek, is inexplicably terrified of the ocean; and the elusive Uncle Prithvi communicates through notes he leaves all over the place.
Sad at parting, perhaps forever, and half tipsy, Maya, Sandra and Uncle Prithvi play a game of wapping stories as they wait for Derek to arrive. As the evening progresses, we learn their deep, dark secrets and hidden fears. Sandra, abandoned at birth, talks about growing up in an orphanage with her precious twin, disabled Solana, only to be separated by circumstances; Uncle Prithvi rues the loss of his beloved daughter, whom he betrayed when he sought a new life with Karen in the US. Maya, the narrator, can’t bring herself to open up-except when alone. And Derek avoids revealing himself altogether as he doesn’t turn up at all.
Finely crafted and deeply felt, Table for Four is a rumination on the burden of secrets, of learning to let go and accepting the betrayals and losses in our lives.
Mapping the uncharted territory at the edges of psychological knowledge, these fascinating essays explore compelling aspects of dreams and dreaming. They discuss topics as diverse as memorable dreams, lucid dreaming, the role of dreams in the evolution of human consciousness and the relationship between dreams and the waking state.
In ‘The Dream and Its Embedding’, psychoanalyst Patrick Mahony demonstrates, with absorbing case studies, how dreams can become effective therapeutic tools, while dream scholar Kelly Bulkely concludes in ‘Big Dreams’ that, ultimately, the function of dreams is to make the brain grow. Luigi Zoja, dream analyst, explores the profusion of nightmares among soldiers, prisoners and other victims of war in ‘Nightmares’. And Madhu Tandan, who lived for seven years at an ashram in the foothills of the Himalayas, explains how dreams can access a level of consciousness beyond the psychological.
This volume is the first in the ‘Boundaries of Consciousness’ series, which, under the leadership of Sudhir Kakar, seeks to bring together psychoanalysts, philosophers, religious studies scholars and neuroscientists in order to expand the frontiers of current psychological understanding. Subsequent volumes will spring from symposia held at Wasan Island, Canada, on the supernatural, death and dying and creativity and imagination.
Edited and introduced by Sudhir Kakar, On Dreams and Dreaming will be of interest to scholars and to all who dream and seek to understand why.
