‘History matters in contemporary debates on nationalism,’ Sugata Bose contends in The Nation as Mother. In this interconnected set of deeply researched and powerfully argued essays and speeches Bose explores the relationship between nation, reason and religion in Indian political thought and practice. Offering a subtle interpretation of the ways of imagining the nation as mother, the book illuminates different visions of India as a free and flexible federal union that have acquired renewed salience today.
Breaking out of the false dichotomy between secular nationalism and religious communalism, the author provides incisive analyses of the political legacies of Tagore and Gandhi, Nehru and Bose, Aurobindo and Jinnah, and a range of other thinkers and leaders of the anti-colonial movement. The essays question assumptions about any necessary contradiction between cosmopolitanism and patriotism and the tendency among religious majoritarians and secularists alike to confuse uniformity with unity. The speeches in Parliament draw on a rich historical repertoire to offer valuable lessons in political ethics.
In arguing against the dangers of an intolerant religious majoritarianism, this book makes a case for concepts of layered and shared sovereignty that might enable an overarching sense of Indian nationhood to coexist with multiple identities of the country’s diverse populace. The Nation as Mother delves into history on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of freedom to evoke an alternative future of a new India based on cultural intimacy among its different communities.
Catagory: Non Fiction
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Our Moon Has Blood Clots
SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION
Rahul Pandita was fourteen years old in 1990 when he was forced to leave his home in Srinagar along with his family, who were Kashmiri Pandits: the Hindu minority within a Muslim-majority Kashmir that was becoming increasingly agitated with the cries of ‘Azadi’ from India.
The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality of the Indian state, and the pro-independence demands of separatists. But there is another part of the story that has remained unrecorded and buried.
Our Moon Has Blood Clots is the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir, in which it was purged of the Kashmiri Pandit community in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist militants. Hundreds of people were tortured and killed, and about 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country.
Rahul Pandita has written a deeply personal, powerful and unforgettable story of history, home and loss.
Godsong
Born in the United States into a secularized Hindu family, Amit Majmudar puzzled over the many religious traditions on offer and found that the Bhagavad-Gita had much to teach him with its “song of multiplicities.” Chief among them is that “its own assertions aren’t as important as the relationships between its characters . . . The Gita imagined a relationship in which the soul and God are equals.” It is, he believes, “the greatest poem of friendship . . . in any language.” His verse translation captures the many tones and strategies Krishna uses with Arjuna-strict and berating, detached and philosophical, tender and personable.
The listener’s guides to each section expand on the main text and what is happening between the lines in accessible terms. Godsong is an instant classic in the field, from a poet of skill, fine intellect, and-perhaps most important-devotion.
Of Counsel
For nearly four years, Arvind Subramanian stood at the centre of economic policymaking in India. Through the communication of big ideas and the publication of accessible Economic Surveys, he gained a reputation as an innovator. Through honest pronouncements that avoided spin, he became a figure of public trust. What does it entail to serve at the helm of the world’s fastest-growing economy, where decision-making affects a population of more than a billion people?
In Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy, Arvind Subramanian provides an inside account of his rollercoaster journey as the chief economic advisor to the Government of India from 2014-18, succeeding Raghuram Rajan as captain of the ship. With an illustrious cast of characters, Subramanian’s part-memoir, part-analytical writings candidly reveal the numerous triumphs and challenges of policymaking at the zenith, while appraising India’s economic potential, health and future through comprehensive research and original hypotheses.
Charged with the task to restructure an insecure and fragile economy, Subramanian’s trusteeship has seen the country through one of the most hotly contested and turbulent periods of economic governance and policymaking in recent decades-from the controversial recall of 85 per cent of circulated currency during demonetization to a complete overhaul in taxation with the introduction of the GST. Subramanian also addresses the overleveraging of public-sector banks, the fraught links between the state and private sector (‘stigmatized capitalism’), the changing relationship between the state and the individual, and the ever-pervasive, life-threatening issues surrounding climate change.
Recognized as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers according to Foreign Policy magazine, Arvind Subramanian’s Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy is a deep-dive into the man, the moments, the measures and the means.
Sitayana
Countless retellings, translations, and reworkings of the Ramayana’s captivating story exist-but none are as vivid, ingenious and powerful as Amit Majmudar’s Sitayana.
Majmudar tells the story of one of the world’s most popular epics through multiple perspectives, presented in rapid sequence-from Hanuman and Ravana, down to even the squirrel helping Rama’s army build the bridge.
However, above all, Majmudar focuses on the fierce resistance of Sita, letting us hear her voice as we have never heard it before.
99 Not Out!
We live in unprecedented times, and it has become startlingly clear that our health and the well-being of our loved ones matter more than anything else in the world. There is much we can do to help ourselves, and our loved ones, build mental and physical immunity. There are evidence-based wellness practices that can fortify our mind and body’s natural immunity, which can otherwise wear thin in times of crisis.
99 Not Out! shares over twenty such practices from the field of Ayurveda and Western medicine. If just a handful of these are consciously woven into our day, they can strengthen the very fabric of our lives.
This new and expanded edition of 99 Not Out! has an additional chapter on managing stress and building resilience.
Instant Word Power
Express yourself clearly and forcefully!
This surefire method of building a better vocabulary was created by bestselling author Norman Lewis, whose unique and effective programme has taught countless people how to make word power work for them. With the aid of easy-to-follow, step-by-step instruction, you will:
Learn the Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes that unlock the meanings of thousands of words
Master spelling, pronunciation and grammar skills
Convey your ideas more clearly and convincingly
Become a confident speaker, comfortable in both social and business situations
Never be embarrassed by using a word incorrectly
30 Days to Better English
Does your English work for you or against you?
What you say is important, but so is how you say it.
If you find yourself using the same words over and over again . . . making embarrassing mistakes in grammar . . . misspelling and mispronouncing words of average difficulty . . . you may be hurting your chances of success in school or on the job without even knowing it!
If you’re not satisfied with what your English says about you, test your problem areas with this popular, remarkably effective handbook. Each of the thirty short chapters zeroes in on a different aspect of grammar, usage, spelling and pronunciation, with challenging and often amusing exercises to help you monitor your daily progress. Your vital communication skills can improve with Thirty Days to Better English.
Caste Matters
In this explosive book, Suraj Yengde, a first-generation Dalit scholar educated across continents, challenges deep-seated beliefs about caste and unpacks its many layers. He describes his gut-wrenching experiences of growing up in a Dalit basti, the multiple humiliations suffered by Dalits on a daily basis, and their incredible resilience enabled by love and humour. As he brings to light the immovable glass ceiling that exists for Dalits even in politics, bureaucracy and judiciary, Yengde provides an unflinchingly honest account of divisions within the Dalit community itself-from their internal caste divisions to the conduct of elite Dalits and their tokenized forms of modern-day untouchability-all operating under the inescapable influences of Brahminical doctrines.
This path-breaking book reveals how caste crushes human creativity and is disturbingly similar to other forms of oppression, such as race, class and gender. At once a reflection on inequality and a call to arms, Caste Matters argues that until Dalits lay claim to power and Brahmins join hands against Brahminism to effect real transformation, caste will continue to matter.
Hymns of the Sikh Gurus
The vision of Guru Nanak, the fifteenth-century founder of the Sikh faith, celebrated the oneness of the Divine that both dwells within and transcends the endless diversity of life. Guru Nanak’s immaculate vision inspired the rich and inclusive philosophy of Sikhism, which is reflected in this exquisite and highly acclaimed translation of poems from the religion’s most sacred texts: the Guru Granth Sahib, the principal sacred text of the Sikh religion, which consists of poems and hymns by Guru Nanak, his successors and Hindu and Islamic saints; and the Dasam Granth, a collection of devotional verses composed by the tenth Sikh Guru.
Poetry from these highly revered texts is heard daily and at rites of passage and celebration in Sikh homes and gurudwaras, carrying forward the Sikh belief in the oneness and equality of all humanity.