Vikram Seth’s Hanuman Chalisa: A Modern Translation of a Timeless Hymn
Amritesh Mukherjee reviews The Hanuman Chalisa by Tulsidas, translated by Vikram Seth (published by Speaking Tiger, 2024). भूत पिसाच निकट नहिं आवै। महाबीर जब नाम सुनावै॥२४॥ bhoota pisaacha nikaTa nahi(n) aawaimahaabeera jaba naama sunaawai Those who recite your name and your meritFend off every ghost and malevolent spirit. – Tulsidas, Hanuman Chalisa, translated by Vikram […]
A Journey Through Bhakti and Sufi Wisdom in Shabnam Virmani’s Burn Down Your House: Provocations From Kabir
Kaustav Das reviews Burn Down Your House: Provocations From Kabir by Shabnam Virmani (published by Speaking Tiger, 2024). In all places, I find my kinIn all places, I meet my ownI’m in all, all are in meI’m so many, and yetAlone – Kabir, Burn Down Your House by Shabnam Virmani Drawing on the rich oral […]
Why You Must Read Nanak Singh’s A Game of Fire After Hymns In Blood
Jainand Gurjar reviews A Game of Fire by Nanak Singh, translated from Punjabi by Navdeep Suri (published by HarperCollins India, 2024). A Game of Fire by Nanak Singh, translated by Navdeep Suri, is a sequel to Hymns In Blood. It advances the story of Hymns In Blood and introduces the reader to the wave of […]
Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh by Shrayana Bhattacharya Review: The Impact of SRK on Indian Women’s Lives
Sakhi Gundeti reviews Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India’s Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence by Shrayana Bhattacharya (published by HarperCollins India, 2021). The title of the book, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh, makes it sound like an SRK fan wrote about his films and his characters, which is somewhat true. But it’s […]
The Complexity of Immigrant Life and Marital Woes in Still Lives by Reshma Ruia
Sneha Pathak reviews Still Lives by Reshma Ruia (published by Speaking Tiger, 2024). The Online Cambridge Dictionary defines still life as “a type of painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects that do not move.” This definition is a pretty accurate description of the main characters in Reshma Ruia’s novel Still Lives. Still Lives […]
Mallar Chatterjee’s Shakuni: A Fresh Perspective on the Mahabharata
Anshika Jain reviews Shakuni & The Dice of Doom by Mallar Chatterjee (published by Readomania, 2019). Har koi kahin na kahin naach hi raha hai, Sachiv Ji. This 21st-century Panchayat dialogue perfectly sums up the ancient Mahabharat in a way. Every character did what they did because it felt the right and just action for […]
A Deadly World for Brave Women in A Matrimonial Murder by Meeti Shroff-Shah
Rahul Vishnoi reviews A Matrimonial Murder by Meeti Shroff-Shah (published by Bloomsbury India, 2024). The imaginary, affluent township of the ultra-rich Jain community in Mumbai—Temple Hill is rattled by another murder. When did the first one occur? Well, for that, pick up the first novel in the internationally published Temple Hill series: Death of Kirti […]
The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises by Shehan Karunatilaka: A Fertile Soil for Speculation
Rahul Vishnoi reviews The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises by Shehan Karunatilaka (published by Hachette India, 2022). The imaginative ground on which Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises is based could not be more different from the ground reality of Sri Lanka today. The technological marvels of self-driving cars (with surrounding airbags) and […]
Provincials by Sumana Roy: A Love Letter to All Frogs Who Jumped out of Their Proverbial Wells
Rahul Vishnoi reviews Provincials by Sumana Roy (published by Aleph Book Company, 2024). In the creative industry, print or electronic, there is no dearth of metaphorical love letters to the charm that small towns exude. It is, however, utmost curious that most of the strongest purveyors of such provincial towns come back to bathe in […]
Indian Writing in Translation: How Women Translators Are Changing the Concept of ‘Word’
Language empowers, but it alienates as well. Translators are literary archaeologists who empower the languages and enable the readers. They round off the sharp edges of a foreign language and impart it a ‘home’, bringing it to those who don’t know any other language apart from their own. Translation is one of the most noble […]
