I watched Satluj a few weeks ago and was disappointed by its overall treatment of a complex subject like Punjab’s militancy. Until the movie hit the headlines, I knew next to nothing of Jaswant Singh Khalra. This full-page profile by the Indian Express was one of the best introductions to the case and Khalra’s life. … Continue reading ‘Satluj’
I thought that the 250th anniversary celebrations may be a good time to read up on the Revolution and get a better handle on the event. Gordon S. Wood’s ‘The American Revolution: A History’ and the great Ken Burns’ 12 hour, six-episode documentary which came out last year were two excellent points to start. Despite … Continue reading The American Revolution
Jane Eyre was written in 1847, when India was on track to becoming the crown jewel of the Raj. So the references to India in Bronte’s novel, though a surprise to me, were very much with keeping up with the world she inhabited. Towards the end of the novel, Eyre is proposed by the clergyman … Continue reading ‘India’ in ‘Jane Eyre’
Romila Thapar’s ‘History of India’, published in 1966 begins with: For many Europeans, India evoked a picture of Maharajas, snake-charmers, and the rope-trick. This has lent both allure and romanticism to things Indian. The introduction of photography in India in the 1840s coincided with a critical phase of British colonial expansion and consolidation. What emerged … Continue reading Photography and the Colonial Gaze
I embarrassingly realised that I knew next to nothing about the workings of the District judicial system in India until I picked up Prashant Reddy Thikkavarapu’s and Chitrakshi Jain's ‘Tareekh Pe Justice’ - Reforms for India's District Courts'. I came across their work when I saw it featured in the Ideas for India podcast. Article … Continue reading The Tragedy of the District Judiciary
I return to Delhi as I return to my mistress Bhagmati when I have had my fill of whoring in foreign lands. Delhi and Bhagmati have a lot in common. Having been long misused by rough people they have learnt to conceal their seductive charms under a mask of repulsive ugliness. It is only to … Continue reading The Khushwant Singh of Our Times
You can land up in trouble if you publish a map of India that doesn’t represent the ‘official’ borders of the country. While we often take our present borders for granted, few of us realize how different ‘India’ looked less than a century ago. Sam Dalrymple's 'Shattered Lands : Five Partitions and the Making of … Continue reading Shattered Lands
When the Russians entered Berlin in 1945, the most feared words for a woman in Berlin were ‘‘Frau, komm’ (Woman, come)! For Antony Beevor, the occupation of Berlin by the Russians resulted in the ‘greatest phenomenon of mass rape in history’. Close to 100,000 women in the city were raped irrespective of their age. Frederick … Continue reading ‘Frau, komm’, the Berlin Airlift and the Himalayan Hump of WWII
Whatever little Hindi I knew as a child came from the Bollywood movies of the 90s. When SRK’s ‘Baazigar’ came out in ’93, the ten-year-old me learnt a new word which I then thought meant ‘Magician’. It was only when 32 years later, that I discovered that the word was far more layered than I … Continue reading Baazigars & The Brits
Mark Twain kept me busy for the last two weeks. Tom Sawyer was a fun read but I found the going hard with Huckleberry Finn. The bulk of the book employed the dialect of the blacks of late 19th century America. I followed up the books with Ken Burns’ 2001 documentary on Twain. In it, … Continue reading Twain in India
