BOOK REVIEW- Scarred Earth by Bhaswar Mukherjee

 

BOOK REVIEW

 

Scarred Earth

 

A Novel

Bhaswar Mukherjee

     (Petals Publishers, Ludhiana, First Edition, August 2023, 273

Pages Rs.350/-)

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     Scarred Earth is the third work of Bhaswar Mukherjee who earlier wrote an anthology of short stories, It happens and a non-fiction work on the life of Abdul Karim Telgi, The Counterfeiter. I have been following his interviews ever since I fell for his short stories. He described his methodology as ‘research, conflict &  a sledge-hammer ending’. It is the ending which had indelible impact on the mind of the reader so I fairly knew what to expect from his latest contemporary fiction.

Book Summary- The Professional by Subroto Bagchi

The Professional

By

Subroto Bagchi

(Portfolio/Penguin, New Delhi, 2009, 217 pages)

The world is increasingly getting professional.  But, the author states that the term, “Professional”, is not merely a means of “earning a livelihood, just another way to get ahead in life, build and seek further material comfort to eventually enjoy retired life”, but actually “nothing short of a religion”, while, the capacity to serve was “a blessing of life”.

Book Summary- The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

Publication Details:

“The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox; Productivity and Quality Publishing Private Limited, Madras; Special Edition, 2013 (First Published 1984); Rs. 495; 342 pages (299 pages of the novel per se).

Introduction:

          “The Goal” is a physicist- turned- management guru’s explanation of his Theory of Constraints (TOC) in the physical transformation process of manufacturing, through the medium of a business novel. This book also inaugurated a trend for his subsequent novels, which applied and extended this theory. It doesn’t need an intellectual to read and understand this book- it is written for the layman, and therein lies its biggest advantage. This eight million copy best seller is said to be widely used as a case study in Operations Management, and in helping students grasp the importance of strategic capacity planning and constraint management.

BOOK SUMMARY-The Underachiever’s Manifesto by Ray Bennett

The Underachiever’s Manifesto

The Guide to accomplishing little and feeling great

            By Ray Bennett, M.D., 2006, Chronicle Books 96pp. (85 pp. effective), $9.95(Rs.539 by Homeshop18)

            Underachiever? What does this writer want me to do? Does he want me to be a loser then? If that’s not the case, am I to be a pretender by feeling great without achieving greatness? If I had come across this book by myself, some of these reflections would have definitely crossed my mind. Thankfully, I have been spared of this natural thought process this time round, since the recommendation came from one of the serious readers of this page, Nanda. Thank you, Nanda, for the book suggestion.

Book Review - NITYASUMANGALI : DEVADASI TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA by SASKIA. C. KERSENBOOM

NITYASUMANGALI :  DEVADASI TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA 

by  

SASKIA. C.  KERSENBOOM

[Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi, 1998 Reprint, pp. 226,  price: Rs 295]

This was a book reviewed by me ages ago. 

INTRODUCTION

Who was the Nityasumangali (ever-auspicious woman) the author was dealing with?  The Devadasi.  How can the devadasi, one of the most despised women, be an ever-auspicious person? Is it just another foreigner’s attempt to love Indian culture so much as to admire the seemingly anachronistic tradition?  Does she justify it?  These are the questions which strike any reader’s mind when she comes across this book and this reviewer is no exception.  A study of the book answers them.

Book Review- Candide by Voltaire (First published 1759)

(Details of Publication: First Published: 1759. E- reprint: 1998, Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, http://www.esp.org. 98 pp, available free for scholarly and educational purposes, subject to statement of copyright (reproduced in the screenshot below)).

                Candide is considered to be the magnum opus of Francois- Marie Aruoet, a.k.a. Voltaire (1694-1778), a French writer, historian and philosopher of the Enlightenment Era. This novel is said to be the most taught piece of French literature.

            The introduction of the author itself is an indication of what to expect of his book. Yes, the reader can expect attacks on the established arbitrariness of that age. An add- on is a feel of the society of that time. The means by which this task of injecting modern and progressive ideas into the minds of the people is done classifies this book as one to be chewed and digested, despite the chill it sends down the spine of the reader.

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma

by R.K. Narayan

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

27^th Reprint 2012, 256 pp, Rs. 125/-

          This is not one of wait to see the emancipation of one’s lot, rather it is of how a selfish individual waits for the Mahatma’s clearance to get married to the girl of his choice.

         

          The protagonist, Sriram, is an insipid person who can be easily influenced by anyone.  He grows up under the loving care of his grandmother, after the early death of his parents.

          When he is twenty, his grandmother hands over the fat sum of money she had been saving in his name.  His irresponsibility  is known immediately, when he wants to withdraw a huge sum of Rs. 250/-, but his watchful grandma restricts it to a decent Rs. 50/-.

Book Summary- A River Sutra by Gita Mehta

A River Sutra

                                      by Gita Mehta

Viking – Penguin Books India, 1993 282 pp,  Rs. 299/-

          This is an interesting book made up of stories either experienced or told on the banks of the River Narmada.  There is a narrator (Sutra-dhar), an ex-civil servant, who takes up the job of the Manager of the Narmada Rest House, a Mughal vintage building deep inside the forest on the banks of the Narmada, as if only to symbolise his entering the Vanaprastha stage of life.  One finds vivid descriptions of the building and its neighbourhood but the thread (Sutra) that runs the book is the River Goddess herself.