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On the novels of Nayantara Sahgal (Pandit), b. 1927, Indo-English woman novelist.
On a train journey home to north India after long months of travel abroad, the playboy Bhushan Singh, son of the Raja of Vijaygarh, is arrested and thrown into jail. Charged with treason, Bhushan finds himself in a filthy prison cell surrounded by elderly trade unionists as innocent of any political crime, and a jittery government sees sedition under every stone.As they wait for the trial that never seems to come, Bhushan takes up the role of Scheherazade, enthralling his cell-mates with stories from his colourful past. He tells them of his boyhood affair with a beautiful Muslim girl that sparked off two murderous riots and led to his banishment abroad. He tells them of his life in the Ameri...
'Seldom does one get a chance to become acquainted with India's great leaders through a young woman so intimately associated with them.'-New York Times Book ReviewA dramatic portrait of the spirit of sacrifice that carried India through the years of the struggle for independence, this evocative memoir of an unusual childhood ends with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.Nayantara Sahgal describes what it was like growing up in Anand Bhavan, Allahabad, the home of her parents shared with her maternal uncle, Jawarlal Nehru, during the years when Gandhi was leading the movement for independence. It describes in loving detail the lives of a family for whom the country's fight for freedom was more important than anything else, certainly coming before comfort and riches.The book is particularly delightful for its picture of Nehru who springs from these pages as a man of friendly humanity and a joy in life that made him a beloved uncle, yet with an inborn greatness that inspired awe and admiration in the little girl who played with him.'She is brilliant...complex and questioning.' - Pearl S. Buck
New Delhi, one month after the declaration of the Emergency, is the setting for Nayantara Sahgal's novel Rich Like Us, an ironic, tender and exquisitely crafted study of India and its people in the aftermath of Independence.The Emergency in India meant many things to many people - profit and power for some; jail for others; mobile vasectomy clinics for thousands more. For idealistics like Sonali it meant the end of a dream, the extinguishing of a bright flame of promise for the country's future that had burned since Independence. An unmarried woman, proud of her senior ranking in the civil service, she finds herself demoted and humiliated through a corrupt deal at governmental level. For opp...
How did Indira Gandhi reach the pinnacle of Indian politics? Did India move away from freedom under her leadership? What kind of woman was she? Indira Gandhi made unorthodox use of power and possessed a highly individual style of functioning. In this book, Nayantara Sahgal persuasively argues that authoritarianism was the inevitable outcome of Indira’s personality and temperament. Her leadership marked a drastic break with the democratic tradition of her family and of Indian politics. During her regime, the political landscape of India underwent profound changes.The Emergency of 1975–77 was used to promote her son Sanjay as her ultimate successor. The entry of her elder son, Rajiv, into politics after Sanjay’s death, and his immediate political prominence showcased Indira’s essential belief in her family’s right to rule. Nayantara Sahgal’s personal knowledge of her cousin, in combination with her unparalleled access to letters exchanged between Nehru and her mother,Vijaylakshmi Pandit, makes for an unusually penetrating psychological and political portrait from an intimate family viewpoint.
&Lsquo;She Missed The Sense Of Values Shivraj Had Planted Like Roses With His Two Hands. It Was Their Fragrance, Something As Ephemeral As That, That Had Bound The Country Together In A Unity, Not Any Hidebound Principle Or Rule From A Book.&Rsquo; Shivraj Is Dead And With Him The Values With Which He Had Governed The Country For Over A Decade. While His Successors Destroy The Idealistic World He Had Built, Shivraj&Rsquo;S Circle Of Intimate Friends&Mdash;His Sister Devi, The Education Minister; Usman Ali, Vice Chancellor Of Delhi University; And Michael Calvert, An English Writer&Mdash;Struggle To Find Order In The Chaos, Even As Rishad, Devi&Rsquo;S Son, Loses Himself In It. Juxtaposing The Conflict Of Personal Relationships With The Larger Canvas Of Corrupt Politics In A Situation In New Delhi, Nayantara Sahgal Masterfully Weaves A Tale That Grips The Reader From Start To Finish. &Lsquo;A Brilliant And Provocative Piece Of Fact-Based Fiction&Rsquo;&Mdash;Financial Times &Lsquo;A Moving, Even Inspiring Novel&Rsquo;&Mdash;Sunday Times
Contributed articles presented at a seminar hosted by Andhra University on 20th century women authors from India.
Contributed essays.
Summary: Study of Nayantara Sahgal, b. 1927, Indic writer in English.
Contributed essays.