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About the Book : - One of the great icons of our time, Khushwant Singh, 95, is a man of contradictions. An agnostic who's well-versed in the holy scriptures; a vocal champion of free speech who supported the Emergency; a dirty old man who sees the world in a grain of sand and beauty in a wild flower. Born in 1915 in pre-Partition Punjab, Khushwant Singh has been witness to almost all the major events in modern Indian history and has known most of the figures who have shaped it. In a career spanning over six decades as writer, editor and journalist, his views have been provocative and controversial, but they have also been profound, deeply perceptive and always compelling. Khushwant Singh has never been less than honest.In Absolute Khushwant, India's grand old man of letters tells us about his life, his loves and his work. He writes on happiness, faith and honesty. And, for the first time, about his successes and failures, his strengths and weaknesses, his highs and lows. He tells us what makes him tick and the secret of his longevity; he confesses his deepest fears and what he holds dear. He writes about sex, marriage, worship and death; the people he's admired and detested.
Kashmir, burdened with an unending humanitarian tragedy and rampant violence, craves for a peaceful settlement. Its reality is the Elephant in the room, with India pretending to sleep. As the country hosts empowerment symposiums, the Valley awaits a political dialogue to take off. The place once considered as a paradise on Earth, is now reduced to being a region fraught with terrorism, hatemongering and blatant human rights abuse. This timely book opens a window into ground realities that most of us are unaware of.
On the socio-economic conditions of Jammu and Kashmir as a result of political turmoil.
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Dhrupad is one of the earliest and most dominant streams that has contributed to Hindustani classical music. According to Faiyazuddin Dagar (1934-1989), " In the two parts of the dhrupad, the alap [the improvised section of a raga, forming a prologue to the formal expression] is sung in free rhythm over drone, and the pada [word or phrase that signifies the concept of a raga] is more a rhythmic poem accompanied by drumming over the two-headed pakhawaj [the standard percussion instrument used in dhrupad]. It is a devotional and spiritual type of music - and though the basic style has not changed right from the earlier times 15 centuries ago individuality does come in and find its place." The book traces the history of the illustrious Dagar family through 20 generations of dhrupad singers and highlights their distinctive approach to this unique form of music. Rare photographs make the book all the more special. Contents: What is Dhrupad?; Generations of Performers; Conversing with the Dagar Brothers; Death of a Legend; Passage of Time; Carrying on the Legacy; Wasifuddin Dagar Writes...; The Dagar Disciples.
In the course of almost a century of living, Khushwant Singh has been witness to the making of more public and private histories than most of us have read about. He has encountered, and frequently crossed swords with, many of the men and women who have been central to these histories-and he has written about them with glorious candour. This collection brings together the very best of these pen portraits, some of which have never before appeared in a book. Among those profiled are Jawaharlal Nehru, Krishna Menon, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Amrita Sher-Gil, Begum Para, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, M.S. Golwalkar, Mother Teresa, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dhirendra Brahmachari, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, General Tikka Khan, Phoolan Devi, Giani Zail Singh and Bhagat Puran Singh. Insightful, provocative and unabashedly entertaining, The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous is, in many ways, an intimate, irreverent modern history of the subcontinent by one of India's most celebrated literary and cultural icons.
‘I thought the nation was coming to an end’ When Khushwant Singh witnessed the violence of Partition nearly seventy years ago, he believed that he had seen the worst that India could do to herself. But after the carnage in Gujarat in 2002, he had reason to feel that the worst, perhaps, was still to come. Analysing the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002, the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the burning of Graham Staines and his children, the targeted killings by terrorists in Punjab and Kashmir, Khushwant Singh forces us to confront the absolute corruption of religion that has made us among the most brutal people on earth. He also points out that fundamentalism has less to do with religion than with politics. And communal politics, he reminds us, is only the most visible of the demons we have nurtured and let loose upon ourselves. A brave and passionate book, The End of India is a wake-up call for every citizen concerned about his or her own future, if not the nation’s.
The extraordinary story of an Englishwoman who became Indian; a person born and raised at the heart of Empire who went to jail because she believed in a free India; a Christian girl who became a world renowned Bhiksuni, a Buddhist nun. From the moment she married a handsome young Sikh at a registry office in Oxford in 1933, Freda Bedi, née Houlston, regarded herself as Indian, even though it was another year before she set foot in the country. She was English by birth and upbringing--and Indian by marriage, cultural affinity and political loyalty. Later, she travelled the world as a revered Buddhist teacher, but India would remain her home to the end. The life of Freda Bedi is a remarkable ...
Political Hinduism was once considered a sort of fringe ideology, shadowy and even misunderstood. Its ideas and narratives seemed, in popular discourse, to lack analytical rigour and were easily dismissed. But history shows that political Hinduism as an intellectual idea was a pioneering theme in India’s nationhood. In fact, it precedes the Indian republic and has been one of the most resilient political theories of India, which survived many bans, boycotts and decades out of power to become, in the twenty-first century, the predominant political force of India. The adherents of political Hinduism are as determined as its detractors—one complains about facing relentless prejudice; the ot...