“And below her hair, she would put on a garland and spend a few minutes just gazing into a pond, seeing her reflection and satisfying her desire before turning away and returning the worn garland to her flower basket The emperor Krishnadevaraya’s epic poem Amuktamalyada (Giver of the Worn Garland) depicts the life of the medieval Vaisnava poet-saint Andal, or Goda Devi as she is also known, and her passionate devotion to Lord Visnu. Krishnadevaraya’s unique poetic imagination brings to life a celestial world filled with wonder, creativity, humour and vibrant natural beauty. The mundane is made divine and the ordinary becomes extraordinary; the routine activities of daily life become expressive metaphors for heavenly actions, while the exalted gods of heaven are re-imagined as living persons. The poet’s ability to see divinity in the most commonplace activities is an extension of his powerful belief that god is everywhere, in everything, at all times.
Archives: Books
Gitanjali
Described by Rabindranath Tagore as ‘revelations of my true self’, the poems and songs of Gitanjali established the writer’s literary talent worldwide. They include eloquent sonnets such as the famous ‘Where the mind is without fear’, intense explorations of love, faith and nature (‘Light, oh where is the light?’) and tender evocations of childhood (‘When my play was with thee’).
In this new translation to mark Tagore’s one-hundred-and-fiftieth birth anniversary, William Radice renders with beauty and precision the poetic rhythm and intensity of the Bengali originals. In his arrangement of Tagore’s original sequence of poems alongside his translations, Radice restores to Gitanjali the structure, style and conception that were hidden by W. B. Yeats’s edition of 1912, making this book a magnificent addition to the Tagore library.
Selected Poems
Gulzar, one of India’s finest film-makers and lyricists and has always been a poet at heart. His oeuvre is steeped in a poetic sensibility, marked by a lyricism rare in the world of Hindi cinema. Today, Gulzar is regarded as one of India’s foremost Urdu poets, unparalleled in his exploration of human relationships and the insight and sensitivity with which he addresses the many facets of daily life.
The sophistication and cadences of Gulzar’s work come alive in this bilingual edition of some of his best poetry, sensitively translated by Pavan K. Varma.
The Resignation
One of the giants of Hindi literature, Jainendra introduced the ‘psychological’ in Hindi fiction. Questions of love, marriage and relationships occupy much of Jainendra’s works, taking them into the realm of the internal and the intimate. In The Resignation, Jainendra tells the story of Mrinal, a young woman whose uncompromising idealism results in her family and society rejecting her completely. Almost seventy-five years after it was written, the story of Mrinal’s struggle against stultifying social norms and her fierce individualism remain startlingly relevant.
March Of The Aryans
In a remarkable feat of imagination and research, bhagwan S. Gidwani takes us back to the dawn of civilization (8000 BCE) to vividly recreate the world of the Aryans. He tells us why the Aryans left India – their native land – for foreign shores and shows us their triumphant return to their homeland. Here are characters like the gentle god Sindhu Putra, spreading his message of love; the hermit Bharat, who inspired the dream of unity, equality, human rights and dignity for all; the physician – sage Dhanawantar and his wife Dhanawantari; peace-loving Kashi after whom the holy city of Varanasi is named; and Nila who gave his name to the rive Nile. Vast and absorbing, with a cast of thousands, March of the Aryans is a gripping tale of kings and poets, seers and gods, battles and romance, and the rise and fall of civilisations, from the bestselling author of The Sword of Tipu Sultan.
Sounding Off
Resul Pookutty, India’s best-known sound designer and audiographer, won an Oscar for his work in Slumdog Millionaire.
Sounding Off, his autobiography, is the amazing odyssey of a village boy from Kerela whose resilience and conviction took him to the very cutting edge of cinematic sound technology—from struggling in the ruthless film world of Mumbai to winning international glory. Already a huge bestseller in Malayalam, this definitive translation is a celebration of both cinema and life.
Seeing Like A Feminist
REVISED AND UPDATED
THE WORLD THROUGH A FEMINIST LENS
For Nivedita Menon, feminism is not about a moment of final triumph over patriarchy but about the gradual transformation of the social field so decisively that old markers shift forever. From sexual harassment charges against international figures to the challenge that caste politics poses to feminism, from the ban on the veil in France to the attempt to impose skirts on international women badminton players, from queer politics to domestic servants’ unions to the Pink Chaddi campaign, Menon deftly illustrates how feminism complicates the field irrevocably.
Incisive, eclectic and politically engaged, Seeing like a Feminist is a bold and wide-ranging book that reorders contemporary society.
A Life In Words
A Life in Words, the first complete translation of Ismat Chughtais celebrated memoir Kaghazi hai Pairahan, provides a delightful account of several crucial years of her life. Alongside vivid descriptions of her childhood years are the conflicted experiences of growing up in a large Muslim family during the early decades of the twentieth century. Chughtai is searingly honest about her fight to get an education and the struggle to find her own voice as a writer. The result is a compellingly readable memoir by one of the most significant Urdu writers of all time.
Sisters
When her parents die in an air crash, Mikki Hiralal discovers that her father’s massive business empire is in serious trouble. And it’s up to her to sort the mess. Beset by creditors, rapacious tycoons and untrustworthy associates, the young woman realizes that there is only one person she can turn to for help—the beautiful Alisha, her father’s illegitimate daughter. There is only one hitch—Alisha hates Mikki . . .
Socialite Evenings
A divorce and a succession of sordid affairs have left prominent Bombay socialite Karuna feeling battered, empty and melancholic. She looks back upon her life and the friends and enemies who surround her-neurotic, man-hungry Anjali; gorgeous, vivacious Ritu; high-profile editor Varun, with a penchant for young boys; Krish, the pretentious adman, whose wife actively helps him in his extramarital affairs. Scandalous, astute and utterly riveting, Shobhaa Dé’s first novel, Socialite Evenings, laid bare the world of high-society India and changed the face of the Indian novel forever.