Bookshelf | New books on the shelves (June 28 2024)

New books on the shelves

An astute fictional analysis of loneliness, first-hand accounts by intrepid Muslim women travellers from the 17th century onwards, and much more.

Published : Jun 26, 2024 11:00 IST - 2 MINS READ

1990 Aramganj: A Novel

Rakesh Kayasth, translated by Varsha Tiwary

Eka

Rs.499

The protagonist is Ashiq Miyan, a Muslim tailor and Ram devotee who performs incredible feats at the annual Dussehra festival. He belongs to the mohalla of Aramganj, home to high- and low-caste Hindus, and Muslims. As L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra is announced, Ashiq finds himself caught in a deadly web of politics and communal tension.

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A Perfect Day to Be Alone

Nanae Aoyama, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

MacLehose Press

Rs.499

This astute analysis of loneliness won the Akutagawa Prize, Japan’s most prestigious literary award. It is about 21-year-old Chizu forging her identity through encounters with unsatisfactory relationships, part-time jobs, and solitude.

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The Collected Short Stories of Kazi Nazrul Islam

Edited by Syed Manzoorul Islam and Kaustav Chakraborty

Orient BlackSwan

Rs.805

Kazi Nazrul Islam, the Bengali rebel poet whose verses spell action, wrote short stories too. With 20 of Kazi Nazrul Islam’s short stories translated into English for the first time, this collection evokes the poetry, folktales, music, and the lush landscape of Bengal.

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Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women

Edited by Daniel Majchrowicz, Sunil Sharma, Siobhan Lambert-Hurley

Zubaan

Rs.1,400

The first-hand accounts in this collection, translated from ten different languages, upend preconceived notions of intrepid travellers in the 17th to 20th century. Three editors have worked together to recover, translate, annotate, and provide historical and cultural context for how these daring women experienced the world—in their own voices.

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The New Experts: Populist Elites and Technocratic Promises in Modi’s India

Anuradha Sajjanhar

Cambridge University Press

$105

The New Experts analyses how political leaders in India strategically use modes of populist spectacle and established technocratic institutions to produce shared visions of a glorified technological and hyper-nationalist futures.

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This Land We Call Home: The Story of a Family, Caste, Conversions and Modern India

Nusrat F. Jafri

Penguin eBury Press

Rs.699

Tracing the roots of her nomadic forebears who belonged to the Bhantus of Rajasthan, the cinematographer Nusrat F. Jafri writes about a tribe that tried hard to fit into a caste society only to be disappointed, eventually choosing alternative faiths in pursuit of acceptance.

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