New books on the shelves

A Touch of Salt

Anita Agnihotri, translated by Arunava Sinha

Penguin India

Rs.399

This is the story of the Agariyas, the salt-harvesters in the Rann of Kutch. They have had no water, homes or schools ever since the entire Rann was declared a reserved forest. So, like Mahatma Gandhi before them, they take up the fight for salt against the government, this time in independent India.

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Across the River

Bhaichand Patel

Speaking Tiger

Rs.499

Two young women from Old Delhi belonging to different faiths are the best of friends. Both are expected to marry early, within the same caste and faith, to men chosen by their families. Their lives take an unexpected turn when they start working in a Noida factory. 

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Song of the Day

Preet Modi

Westland

Rs.250

In these stories, young people navigate the complexities of love, loss, and life in a changing world. While everything shifts madly, what remains are the fleeting moments—stolen glances, unsaid words, songs that become earworms.

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Revolution Within

Nampudiri Women as Agents of Social Reform in Kerala

T.K. Anandi

Tulika Books

Rs.850

The Nampudiri reform movement of Kerala was unique for how it addressed the gender question. T.K.Anandi explores how this resistance against Brahminical patriarchy, initiated by women and youth in the turn of the 20thcentury, contributed to the growth of progressive democratic movements in the State.

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This Too Is India: Conversations on Diversity and Dissent

Edited by Githa Hariharan

Context

Rs.599

Originally published in the Indian Cultural Forum, these discussions between Githa Hariharan and a cross-section of academics, activists, and artists reflect on a range of ideas about Indian society, culture, and politics, from caste and contested texts to the silences that surround dissent.

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Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity

Production, Representation, and Reception

Nadira Khatun

Oxford University Press

Rs.1,295

In popular Hindi cinema, Muslims have traditionally been portrayed through the lens of religion. Focussing as she does on Bollywood through a postcolonial feminist lens, Nadira Khatun seeks to understand how narratives about Muslims have changed with changing times over the last seven decades.

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Fiction

She’s Always Hungry

Eliza Clark

Faber & Faber

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All the Colors of the Dark

Chris Whitaker

Crown

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The Fate of Mary Rose

Caroline Blackwood

Virago Modern Classic

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All My Precious Madness

Mark Bowles

Galley Beggar Press

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Non-fiction

Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox

Naila Kabeer

LSE Press

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The Nazi Study of India and Indian Anti-Colonialism: Knowledge Providers and Propagandists in the ‘Third Reich’

Baijayanti Roy

Oxford University Press

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Forests of Refuge: Decolonizing Environmental Governance in the Amazonian Guiana Shield

Dr Yolanda Ariadne Collins

University of California Press

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Something in the Woods Loves You

Jarod K. Anderson

Timber Press