Tamil Tigress

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(My story as a child soldier in Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war)
Author: Niromi De Soyza
Publisher: Mehta Publishing House, Pune
(Pp 308, ISBN 978-81-8498-391-3, Rs 395)

A spirited teenager living in Sri Lanka, Niromi De Soyza – the author of Tamil Tigress - grew up having strong ideas about freedom and communal bonding. However, her idealisms received a serious jolt in 1977, when the disgruntle amidst the Sinhala and Tamils of Sri Lanka started escalating after a Tamil political party got elected to power for the first time. She decides to take up the cudgels and bring justice to her Tamil brethren. The only way she could see to achieve this aim was to join the militant group LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) or Tigers as they were colloquially known!

Thereafter, her life changes dramatically – with books and schools getting replaced by rifles and training camps! Niromi experiences a world far beyond her hitherto sheltered existence. Niromi braves this maniacal existence for two long years, on account of her belief in the cause and trust in their leader Prabhakaran. However, later on, certain incidents begin to raise doubts in Niromi’s mind about the rationality behind the ongoing civil war and the credibility of the people master-minding it. Finally, after a long, practical deliberation, Niromi decides to quit the LTTE and goes onto make a successful, strife-free life for herself in Australia.

An account of those two surrealistically twisted years of Niromi’s existence is what Tamil Tigress is all about. Written in the first person with heart-catching honesty, the book mirrors all the angst, fire and despair that Niromi goes through – thus making it an absorbing read. All in all, the book makes you understand how a tiny fiery seed can throw up the most towering life-experiences ever!

-Reshma S Kulkarni

The Lotus Sutra Saddharma Pundarika

-The Bible of Mahayana Buddhism
Translator: H Kern
Publisher: Lotus Press, New Delhi
(Pp 303, ISBN 978-81-8382-284-8, Rs 250)

The invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo was established by Nichiren Daishonin on April 28, 1253. Having studied widely among all the Buddhist sutras, he had concluded that the Lotus Sutra contains the ultimate truth of Buddhism: that everyone without exception has the potential to attain Buddha hood. The title of The Lotus Sutra in its Japanese translation is Myoho-renge-kyo.

The phrase NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO is taken from the title of the greatest teaching of the first historically recorded Buddha, known as Siddhartha Gautama or Shakyamuni Buddha, who lived in India around 500 years before Christ was born. This teaching, called the Lotus Sutra, declares that all living beings, regardless of gender or intelligence (that means everyone - including you and me!), have the potential to attain Buddha hood.

The present publication is a revival of already published works of great quality by Western scholars over a century age. The present rendering is claimed to be thoroughly edited keeping “in mind the mindset and requirements of the present day fast progressing youth …” The cover of the book proclaims it to be the Buddha for modern times.

–GS Jolly

Drip Irrigation

Author: TBS Rajput, Neelam Patel
Publisher: The Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
(Pp 356, ISBN 978-81-7164-110-9, Rs 600)

The agriculture sector of India has occupied almost 43 percent of India’s geographical area. There is same amount of water on earth today as there was when earth was formed. However, with increase in human and cattle population, the demand for food, fiber and fodder has been increasing. As a result, water resources are progressively getting exhausted and competition for available water between agriculture, the domestic and industrial sectors is increasing day-by-day. Traditional agriculture is not economical in India because not only the yields are low but the crop also takes longer time to mature. It has been observed that there is a drastic improvement and change in the yield and quality of crop production by adopting micro-irrigation practices like drip irrigation. Drip irrigation also improves the quality of produce and reduces the incidence of pests and diseases. It is effective for utilizing even poor quality water, which is otherwise unfit for growing of crops.

This book contains types of drip irrigation system, its components, design, hydraulics details, regular repair and maintenance along with the details about fertilizer application through drip irrigation, economics of drip irrigation system and standards in drip irrigation industry

- Dr VK Bharti

Zohra Segal ‘Fatty’

Author: Kiran Segal
Publisher: Niyogi Books
(Pp 164, ISBN 978-93-81523-35-3, Rs 1,250)

What thoughts come to your mind when you hear the name Zohra Segal? Naughty, full of life, a versatile and finesse actor and dancer – she has made even the role of grandmother look so classy and zestful. Here’s a book on this 100-year-old actress who has been a part of the cinema for so many years. This book actually commemorates the 100th birthday of Zohra Segal.

Beautiful black-and-white (and some colour) pictures and crisp text describe her life’s ups and downs and the people who were an integral part of her life. Truly a collector’s edition for all those who wish to know more about Zohra or about the Indian cinema.

- Varsha Verma

Handbook of Agricultural Extension and Communication

Authors: Dr BS Hansra and Dr VK Bharti
Publisher: U-Day Publishers and Advertisers, New Delhi
(Pp 536, ISBN 978-81-908641-5-2, Rs 1,000)

This important handbook adapts the insights and conceptual models of value today, while reflecting many new ideas, angles and modes of thinking concerning how agricultural extension and communication plays vital role in dissemination of information to masses. Communication is a force for change. Information for farmers can help them increase the quantity and improve the quality of the food they produce. The main aim of agricultural extension is to develop systems of communication that focus to change the behaviour and knowledge of farming community. The extension of technologies and knowledge helps rural people to make their own decisions regarding farming practices, to identify and analyse their production problems and become aware of the opportunities for improvement.

The Handbook of Agricultural Extension and Communication is extremely useful for process facilitators, communication division personnel, and knowledge managers, training officers, consultants, policy makers, extension specialists and managers of agricultural extension or research organizations. This handbook is first-of-its-kind having chapters from eminent professionals and subject matter experts from agricultural extension and communication field.

- Vasu V

KN Panikkar: The Theatre of Rasa

Editor: Udayan Vajpeyi
Publisher: Niyogi Books
(Pp 272, ISBN: 978 -93 -81523- 30-8, Rs 495)

Kavalam Narayana Panikkar is one of India's most revered theatre directors. He has been writing and directing plays for the last four decades and even today, remains as energetic and as creative as ever.

The editor of the volume, Udayan Vajpeyi is a Hindi poet, fiction writer and critic who has been engaged for long with cinema, theatre, and other performing arts. The material in the book carries many traces of a multilayered dialogue between a master and a younger inquisitive and sensitive mind.The contributors to this volume have essayed to comprehend the contribution of KN Panikkar to the contemporary Indian theatre.

The book is divided into two parts: part one consists of writing by Panikkar’s contemporaries assessing the importance of his life and works while part two is a discussion by various people including literary critics, scholars, novelists actors and KN Panikkar himself on his play Ottayan. This is followed by a long conversation with Udayan Vajpeyi. The five appendix at the end of the book give an idea of the great and immense contribution of KN Panikkar in the field of theatre, poetry, literature and the recognition by way of awards and fellowships which KN Panikkar received. A story of life, full of inspiration for one and all!

–GS Jolly

Lighthouse in the storm

Author: Members of AWIC, New Delhi
Publisher: Ponytale Books
(Pp 256, ISBN 978-93-80637-05-1, Rs 225)

This is a collection of two dozen heartwarming stories on love and loss, disaster and personal grief, abuse and aggression. These stories are sensitively written by well-known children authors like Paro Anand, Dipavali Sen, Ira Saxena, Manorama Jafa, Nita Berry, to name a few. Each story strikes a chord somewhere and radiates hope in disasters like tsunami, terrorism, earthquakes, riots, etc.

Each story is written from a child’s perspective – what the child goes through and how he overcome that grave situation. It is a must read book for people of all ages.

- V Verma

The Silent Monument

Author: Shobha Nihalani
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House, Mumbai
(Pp 332, ISBN 978-81-8495-306-0, Rs 250)

A journalist sets out to find what lies beneath the India architecture marvel – Taj Mahal. He finds ancient artifacts and some secret which could rock the nation. He is brutally murdered at the site and his wife Manzil is suddenly burdened with the deadly secret. She is a chartered accountant by profession but resigns from her job and sets out to complete the unfinished task her husband had started. Soon, she becomes the most wanted person in the country – the fanatics, the archaeologists, the police and the political parties – all are looking for her.

The novel is written in a lucid language, you just can’t put the book down. The mysterious setting in the plot keeps you glued to the book. Readers looking for thriller and suspense story would find the book engaging and intriguing.

- Varsha Verma

The BRICS Report

Publisher: Oxford University Press, New Delhi
(Pp 180, ISBN 978-0198-085386, Rs 525)

The book is a study of BRICS -Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -with special focus on synergies and complementarities. These countries have weathered the global financial crisis rather well and emerged relatively unscathed.

The report highlights the role of BRICS as the growth drivers of the world economy. It analyses the structures of these economies, their recovery processes as well as the best practices and institutions that have provided socio-economic resilience to these countries.

It is a helpful tool for policymakers, analysts and researchers in the fields of development policy and international economics. It would also be helpful to the general readers interested in the working of the contemporary global economy.

- Vasu V

Folklore and Alternative Modernities (2 vols)

Author: Dr Nandini Sahu
Publisher: Authors Press, New Delhi
(Pp 518, ISBN 978-81-7273-622-4, Rs 1,500)

The book under review, consisting of two volumes by Dr Nandini Sahu, is a collection of forty erudite and scholarly articles on folklore and oral traditions and their relevance to and influence upon modern, postmodern and contemporary culture studies. In the preface, Dr Nandini Sahu has made her intentions clear by making a bold attempt in striking out a balance between the mainstream literature and the marginal folk traditions.

The two volumes give us glimpses of our own traditional and more importantly obliterated oral cultural heritage. They open our eyes to our endangered folk traditions and culture. Oral tradition, tribal hero worship, diverse cultural moorings and above all the myth and facts—all these elements have been brought under the purview of the two volumes. Dr Sahu has done a commendable job in bringing out forty well researched articles in two volumes.

-Gagana Bihari Purohit (Deptt. Of English (RN College, Dura), Behrampur (Odisha))

Effective Editing

Author: Rashmi Sinha
Publisher: Lotus Press, New Delhi
(Pp 215, ISBN 978-81-8382-268-8, Rs 125)

This book is a ready-reckoner for those who wish to hone their editing skills. It covers important aspects of editing for written materials. It starts with a brief introduction about editing and goes on to cover other related topics like writing process, effective writing, structure of a sentence, punctuation, understanding the audience and getting feedback, effective editing, proofreading, copyediting, etc. It also has a chapter on confusing words and common mistakes in English. Finally, there are a few editing samples to show how to make an article look impressive.

- Vasu V

The Jamun Tree...

and Other Stories on the Environment
Author: Pamela Chatterjee
Publisher: TERI Press, New Delhi
(Pp 181, ISBN 978-81-7993-440-1, Rs 295)

The author Pamela Chatterjee worked with Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD) in Delhi, which gave her an opportunity to spend long periods in villages in Uttar Pradesh, where she worked for the reclamation of alkaline soils, and in Gujarat villages, where the need was water conservation.

The book describes the work carried out in the field, as well as socio-economic aspects of the lives of farmers involved in reclamation work. It provides an insider’s view – from the villages of work related to natural resource management. It describes the process by which farmers were motivated and involved in the work to be done on their own. It is a narration of the personal experience of people in village areas where the author worked.

The book is a useful manual for all interested in rural development.

- Varsha