Sri Lanka in his books, a biography of Akbar, readings on the spirits of Nagaland and more

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In remarkable scenes, thousands of protesters stormed the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, last Saturday. The president was escorted to safety and has since indicated he will step down, but it is clear that the people want an alternative regime to lead the country out of the crushing economic crisis. How did Sri Lanka get here? What is the output? There are no easy answers, although books, both fiction and non-fiction, have attempted to explain the complex undercurrents of a hugely diverse country, and perhaps the Famous words of former cricket captain Kumar Sangakarra show the way: “I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and bourgeois. I am a Buddhist, Hindu, follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan. Conflicts have erupted whenever there have been attempts at polarization and division. Evelyn Frederick Charles Ludowyk Ceylon’s history (1962) traces the history of Sri Lanka from its partly legendary beginnings and ancient civilization to its colonial past of Portuguese, Dutch and English reigns and events since independence. Sri Lankan-Canadian poet and writer Michael Ondaatje explored his Dutch-Ceylonese history and past in his memoir ( Family run1983) and his novel, Anil’s Ghost (2000). No one presented his bourgeois past better than Carl Muller. In his Burgher trilogy ( The jam fruit tree, Yakada Yaka and Once upon a time tender), he writes about the loves and bereavements of the Von Bloss family, descendants of Dutch, Portuguese, English and locals. The Tamil-Sinhalese confrontation and its consequences have been traced by several writers, including Samanth Subramanian ( This divided island), Nayomi Munaweera ( The island of a thousand mirrors), Rohini Mohan ( Seasons of Troubles: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka’s Civil War) and Anuk Arudpragasam ( A passage to the north). The Romesh Gunesekera Tomes ( Reef, Midday Tide Toll, Suncatcher), Shyam Selvadurai ( Funny Boy, Cinnamon Gardens, Hungry Ghosts) and Ashok Ferrey ( The unmarriageable man, the love in the tsunami, the incessant chatter of the demons) provide insight into all facets of Sri Lankan society. Amidst all this wealth, one of the most exciting books to come out of a cricket-mad country in recent times is surely that of Shehan Karunatilaka. Chinese. It tells the story of retired sportswriter WG Karunasena who spends his final months before his death tracking down Pradeep S. Mathew, an elusive spin bowler he believes to be “the greatest cricketer to step on Earth”. As WG uncovers startling truths about his country, readers join the ride to learn more about Sri Lanka, cricket and life.

Reviews include a new biography of Akbar, new fiction by Easterine Kire about the spiritual world of Nagaland, short stories by Ali Rohila, a book on schools like no other and more. We also interview Deepti Naval on his memoirs, A country called childhoodand Radheshyam Jadhav ( Tiger Trail) profiles Uddhav Thackeray, who recently resigned as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Books of the week

At Parvati Sharma Akbar of Hindustan (Juggernaut) juxtaposes two vivid but dramatically contrasting accounts left by Akbar’s contemporaries in his narrative. The stories produced by Abul Fazl and Badauni are the main sources of all human studies, but Sharma, says Manu S. Pillai in his review, skillfully places the former’s excessive adulation alongside the latter’s sour disapproval for reconstruct Akbar in its many nuances. “So if Abul Fazl’s Akbar is a divine being, who even as a toddler imparts lessons in wisdom, Badauni speaks of a man who could launch into swear words of a variety at roadside, had a megalomaniacal streak and was blessed by satanic luck, not God.” Through these two chronicles, Sharma explores how the king as an institution was projected and destined to be remembered, as suddenly the man wearing the crown struggled to balance this ideal against his own limitations, as well as the uncertainties of politics There have been at least two other biographies of Akbar recently (Ira Mukhoty’s Akbar: The Great Mughal and Manimugdha Sharma Allahu Akbar: Understanding the Great Mughal in India Today; and a work of historical fiction, Shazi Zaman’s Akbar: a historical novel.

Parvati Sharma’s Akbar of Hindustan Review: Akbar in Different Shades

Easterine Kire Spiritual Nights (Simon & Schuster) is set in a village of animists, farmers and hunters in the hills of Nagaland. It begins with the warm bond between a woman, Tola, and her grandson, Namu. Spiritual beliefs govern the daily life of the villagers, who at all times remember and respect the taboos that guide the actions of the Nagas and also bind them as a community. In her review, Radhika Santhanam writes that Kire effortlessly weaves bite-sized fables and age-old folklores into a well-paced work of fiction. “In Spiritual Nightsit takes us into their [Naga] world of spiritual struggles through wisdom, imagination, magic and adventure. She breathes new life into the ancient wisdom, the truths we preach but don’t practice through a powerful female protagonist in a patriarchal setup.

A History of Darkness: Easterine Kire Review “Spiritual Evenings”

In The Whispering Chinar (Vintage), Ali Rohila writes a series of interconnected stories related to the fictional village of Charbagh in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Some are settled in the village and others in Rawalpindi and even Muscat. In her review, Ranjana Sengupta says Rohila tackles themes of power, family dynamics, lust, bigotry, and the unfathomable ways of love. The stories are “plausible portraits of life among Pakistan’s urban and rural elite”.

Tears under a tree: book review by Ali Rohila The Whispering Chinar

by Ashwin Prabhu Classroom with a view (Tara Books) explores educational tropes in a group of schools in India seeking to put into practice what the philosopher J. Krishnamurti spoke about in his transformative vision of education. Widely respected and yet considered “alternative schools” and “bubbles,” these schools tend to be perceived as elitist. Prabhu, according to reviewer R. Ramanujam, offers insight into daily practices in these schools – like nature walks, culture classes, question time – that have relevance to the system as a whole.

Classroom with a View review: Nature walks, culture lessons, question time – from different schools

Projector

Why was Uddhav Thackeray forced to resign as Chief Minister of Maharashtra? What is its policy? Was he disconnected from the base? In his article, Radheshyam Jadhav, who traced Uddhav Thackeray’s journey in his book, Tiger Trail (Bloomsbury), writes that Uddhav’s leadership style has appalled many who believe in his father Bal Thackeray’s modus operandi. “Unsurprisingly, the BJP is courting Shiv Sena executives saying that Uddhav has compromised Bal Thackeray’s principles. It would be interesting to see if Uddhav returns to his father’s politics to save the party or continues to build the new Shiv Sena according to his vision.

The Reluctant Sainik: The Rise and Fall of Uddhav Thackeray

Deepti Naval’s new book, A Country Called Childhood (Aleph), is an autobiography and essay on Amritsar, and an Indian society that was. In an interview with Ziya Us Salam, the famous actor said the book was a “tribute to the city of the Golden Temple”. In a way, I recognize the city and everything it gave me, which shaped what I would later become. I think those 19 years had a lot to contribute. The partition weighed heavily on the inhabitants of the city, for a time she even thought that the Muslims were “cruel people” until someone corrected her by saying that there were massacres and atrocities on both sides, and that “no one spared, it was a bad time.” In the interview, she talks about how she ended up in the cinema despite being told that “girls from good families don’t go to the cinema”.

With Amritsar in her heart: Deepti Naval on her book, “A Country Called Childhood”

Navigator

In a manifesto for our troubled times, Undermining the idea of India (Seagull Books) by Gautam Patel outlines the “constitutional” idea of India, arguing that decentralization of power is necessary for the survival of any liberal democracy, and stressing that “the right to choose one’s own government is the right to dissent. ”
With photos and texts, Migrant Lives (Penguin), edited by Radhika Chopra, shines the spotlight on India’s migrant workers and their precarious daily lives. Shot in the aftermath of the 2020 lockdown due to COVID-19, the book captures their utter helplessness as they lost their jobs, food and shelter.
At Debarati Mukhopadhyay Chronicles of the Lost Girls (Harper), translated by Arunava Sinha, a drama descends on a widow while a young rebel is carried away by the new ideals of an organization. With historical figures also making an appearance, it follows a family torn apart by betrayal.
by Lisa Taddeo ghost lover (Bloomsbury) is a collection of nine fearless short stories centered on how women deal with obsession, love and heartbreak. As Esquire puts it, Taddeo captures “the heterosexual female psyche at its best and its grueling, indescribable worst”.