Page 69 - Book Review
Riddled with contradictions
Navayana's latest anthology of B R Ambedkar's work, Riddles in Hinduism, is yet another reminder in these fraught times of the necessity to critically examine the basis of Hinduism
Insider's view of Telangana's creation
Jairam Ramesh's new book Old History New Geography is a fascinating chronicle of the why and the how of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into two states
Modinomics revisited
Rajiv Kumar is a familiar face as economist and columnist, with impressive academic credentials. He is currently with Centre for Policy Research. He is also a personal friend.In terms of the structure, Mr Kumar has produced a most unusual book. The table of contents mentions the chapters but does not number them. Spread over 317 pages, there are five chapters. We can ignore the first chapter, because that is a brief introduction on the May 2014 electoral outcome. After Chapters 2, 3 and 4, we have an appendix, roughly in the middle of the book, that comprises a listing of what various ministries have done since May 2014. I didn't quite understand why it is located there, perhaps to indicate a clean break between Chapters 2, 3 and 4 and what comes thereafter. You almost get the feel of reading two different books.The second half of the book has Chapter 5 and an epilogue, followed by another appendix. This second appendix is a compilation of Mr Kumar's newspaper articles on the 2016-17
An endless round of books
These new books will help younger readers understand just what a long strange trip Muhammad Ali's life has been
Bodyguard who walked beside history
The book, an account of Clint Hill days as a Secret Service agent under Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford, is also free of self-congratulation or prurient gossip
Mr Piketty's world views
Thomas Piketty's critically acclaimed Capital in the Twenty First Century was majestic in its sweep
'Nude models wanted...'
There is no shortage of books on Indian advertising, but Nawabs, Nudes and Noodles stands out for offering a glimpse of the transformation of Indian society
The place of religion in a capitalist society
The book sounds refreshingly new. For Chris Lehmann has shown us why religious history is the mainstream of American history
Nike's founder finally tells his story
Shoe Dog is a brave attempt by Phil Knight at unveiling himself to the world
POTUS and parenting down the ages
When it comes to parenthood, the most intelligent and powerful men on earth seem to flounder and fail even more than the rest
The management trinity
Vijay Govindarajan's The Three Box Solution is a modern presentation of an ancient Indian concept
That 60s' show
The book also features an excellent chapter on women's liberation, with comments by, among others, Robin Morgan, the author of the article Goodbye to All That
The perils of being Pakistan
Pakistan might be heading towards an unstable equilibrium... in which formal civilian supremacy becomes a euphemism for the military's participation in politics
'Kejri' between the 'fundas'
Pran Kurup concludes that Mr Kejriwal is conducting himself not out of personal ambition or drive, but is driven by forces beyond himself!
A macro-economist in real time
Papers written carefully, age splendidly. Newspaper columns also age but not so well. But Professor Indira Rajaraman has taken care to carefully annotate this collection of columns that she wrote from 2010 to 2015, making many of them well preserved.This is particularly true of the set of columns the former RBI chair professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) has written on the annual Budgets and those on the two Finance Commission awards. Considering even finance ministers are apt to forget what they spoke about a year ago, this is an interesting exercise. It is worth wondering, however, if it is fruitful one since one of India's premier economists remains careful in her introductions not to offer any comments on the relative importance of any year's Budget against what passed before or after. She is far more painstaking, though, in the updating exercise on the columns she wrote about the Finance Commissions. Her experience as the key member of the 13th F
In Syria: too close for comfort
The title of Janine di Giovanni's devastating new book, The Morning They Came for Us, refers to those terrible moments in ordinary Syrians' lives when the war in their country becomes personal
The origin of genetics
The essential you, the essential me and the essential chimpanzee are near-identical genetically. Any two humans share 99.9 per cent of DNA. A human being and a chimpanzee share 98.9 per cent. Those tiny genetic differences create distinct individuals (and make the chimp a member of a different species).How do genes do this and what do we understand about the processes? This book traces the history of genetic research, from its origins to the (nearly current) state of the art. It is magisterial in scope, and beautifully written as well. As is inevitable, it leaves out detail in certain areas. For example, the new genetic editing technique, CRISPR, is not dealt with.It has also generated some controversy because some scientists disagree with its representation of epigenetics (the study of heritable characteristics). Mr Mukherjee is also such a facile writer that a reader may not realise the monumental difficulties involved in genetic research and the clever techniques developed for it.In
Indira Gandhi in glimpses
In The Unseen Indira Gandhi, an eminent physician K P Mathur, offers yet another bunch of anecdotes and tales from the life of Mrs Gandhi
The revolutionary impulse
Serious writing on the history of India is always welcome because so many myths and mythologies are in vogue
Censorship and sensibility
Defending free speech, alas, takes more than standing up for science, sound argument and brave eloquence
