Food for thought on weekend book shelf

Enrich your intellect with a thinking book cart this weekend. Browse with IANS…

1.Book: "Patriots & Partisans"; Written by Ramachandra Guha; Published by Penguin India; Price: Rs.699

An anthology of essays and opinions, the book covers a wide range of topics of contemporary political, social and cultural relevance. "I am a person of moderate views, but these sometime express in an extreme fashion," writes Ramachandra Guha in his new book.

Guha defends the liberal centre against the dogmas of left and right. The book begins
with an article on the major threats to the Indian republic. Other essays critically analyse Hindutva, the Communist party and the dynastic composition of the Congress party.

2.Book: "Nobody can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District"; Written by Mayank Austen Soofi; Published by Penguin/Viking Books India; Price: Rs.399

The sex workers of Kotha no.300 cook for their children, visit temples, shrines and mosques, complain about pimps, listen to songs, watch movies and entertain. By following the residents of one of the kotha, and after having virtually lived with them in the capital, as the writer confides, the portraits of their daily lives come across intimate and detailed.

For these women, sex is a way to work, a means to earn a living. Soofi captures the women living on the margins of the society with haunting photographs and narrative sketches.

3.Book: "The Youngest Suspect"; Written by Peggy Mohan; Published by Harper Collins-India; Price: Rs.299

Set in the tense post-riots years, the book tells the story of Adil and of Gujarat.

Adil and 17 young men are arrested in Ahmedabad, and charged with terrorism. Adil’s lawyer, Ramya, enlists Deepa, a linguist, as an expert witness to discredit their ‘confessions’. But Deepa is only one of a number of unlikely people who stand between Adil and the state, among them a rebel police officer, comrades in jail, and others he doesn’t even know.

A courtroom thriller and a love story, and a vivid portrait of family and friends ranged against the darkness that clouds their once ordinary lives, "The Youngest Suspect" lays bare the underbelly of a world where ‘home’ has very little meaning.

4.Book: "Sons of Sita"; Written by Ashok K. Banker; Published by Wisdom Tree, Price: Rs.345

The book is one of the author’s "Ramayana" series. Ten years have passed since Rama did the unthinkable and banished Sita. Now, she spends her days in the remote forest ashram of Maharishi Valmiki, training her sons at the arts of war, turning them into peerless warriors of exceptional acumen and prowess. To the sorrow of many, they seem unlikely to ever cross paths with their estranged father.

Yet destiny works in unexpected ways. Rama’s growing ambitions and his war-mongering advisors motivate him to launch the Ashwamedha yajna.

The army follows the sacred stallion in a campaign of conquest that seems unstoppable until a pair of improbable obstacles arises. Defying the military might of Ayodhya and the emperorship of Rama himself, two young striplings capture the Ashwamedha horse and challenge the great army.

To Rama’s chagrin, the challengers turn out to be none other than his own estranged offspring: the Sons of Sita! The portion from the epic becomes a contemporary story in Banker’s stylish prose.

5.Book: "Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Brand or Business Against Online Attack"; Written by Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davies; Published by Pan Macmillan; Price: Rs.399

From false Wikipedia entries to fake YouTube videos, to Facebook lynch mobs, everyone from CEOs to fashion models, journalists to politicians, restaurateurs to doctors, is now open to character assassination in the burgeoning realm of digital media.

Two top media experts recount vivid tales of online character attacks, provide specific advice on how to counter them and how to turn the tables on the attackers.