New books on the shelves

A “space opera”, a food safari, an insight into the history of hate speech, and much more.

The Garden of Tales: The Best of Vijaydan Detha

Vijaydan Detha; translated by Vishes Kothari

Harper Perennial

Rs.499

This is a definitive selection of the works of Vijaydan Detha (1926-2013), one of the most important writers of Rajasthani prose. He draws the reader into the complex and quirky world of the common folk of Rajasthan, while bringing alive the magic of folklore and fable. The tales are populated by trees, animals, gods and goddesses, even ghosts.

Coorg: Stories and Essays

C.P. Belliappa

Rupa

Rs.395

Through essays and stories starting with prehistoric relics found in Coorg, the book traces the progress of the land during the Haleri rajas; the British annexation and their administration of the territory that culminated in Coorg becoming a part of Karnataka. There is an illustrated story of Princess Victoria Gowramma, the “lost princess” of Coorg.

Red Queen

Juan Gómez-Jurado

Macmillan

Rs.750

Antonia Scott, the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother, has a gifted forensic mind, but she rarely leaves her attic in Madrid. Jon Gutierrez, a disgraced police officer, is offered a chance to salvage his career if he can convince Antonia to come out of her self-imposed retirement and investigate a case of ritualistic murder.

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Meru

S.B. Divya

Hachette India

Rs.499

In this space opera, one woman and her pilot are about to change the future of the species. For five centuries, human life has been restricted to Earth, while posthuman descendants called alloys explore the galaxy. When the Earthlike planet of Meru is discovered, two unlikely companions venture forth to test the habitability of this unoccupied new world.

Hurt Sentiments: Secularism and Belonging in South Asia

Neeti Nair

‎Harvard University Press

Rs.699

An insightful history of censorship, hate speech, and majoritarianism in post-partition South Asia, which examines case studies in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to illuminate how claims of “hurt religious sentiments” have been weaponised by majorities.

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A Boundless Fear Gripped Me: How the Other Half Lived in the Pandemic’s Shadow

Pamela Philipose

Yoda Press

Rs.399

This is the story of how the most vulnerable sections of India’s population disproportionately bore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic as well as the terrible inadequacies and inequalities that marked the state’s response: a moment of intimate recall that India cannot afford to forget.

Japanese Management, Indian Resistance: The Struggles of the Maruti Suzuki Workers

Anjali Deshpande and Nandita Haksar

Speaking Tiger

Rs.499

This recounting of the violent confrontation between the workers and the management of India’s biggest car manufacturer in 2012 at Manesar from the workers’ perspective is not only the story of a union fighting for workers’ rights but also a glimpse into an India that has steadily transitioned from a welfare state into a corporate state.

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