Songs from Social Movements in Several Dialects and Languages
There are several collections available of songs from social movements and some of these are much sought after. However the collection of songs being discussed here is one of its…
Book Review
At the Lost and Found
The following is the Introduction to my new book, At the Lost and Found (Clarity Press). My dear mother, who had an artistic temperament that tended at times toward the sentimental, liked…
Fascinating Narrative on Mahatma Gandhi’s Travels and Public Meetings
Sunil Bhatt’s recently published book on travels and public meetings of Mahatma Gandhi in Hindi, titled Uttarakhand Mein Gandhi—Yatra aur Vichar’ provides a fascinating narrative on his ability to achieve…
A book on Kutch, its history, culture, desert
Some people seem to have a charmed life. Mariam Dossal is one of them. She is the author of a number of books on history, has had a good academic…
A Review of Northeast India: A Political History by Samrat Choudhury
There are very few books that have attempted to engage with the Northeast as a whole—each of its eight states. Samrat Choudhury’s “Northeast India: A Political History” published by Harper…
Careless People, Meta and Restricting the Digital Town Square
There is much talk in this age of heaving tech behemoths about the digital town square, where views can be aired with confidence, impunity and, at stages, disconcerting stupidity. Tech…
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Life, Politics, and Struggle
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was one of the most well-known independence fighters in India. He was also an influential figure whose ideas still inspire and guide many people today. Based…
He Who defied Death- A tribute to the life and times of Professor G N Saibaba
‘He Who defied Death- Life and times of Professor G N Saibaba’, comprises a series of tributes to late Professor Saibaba. In this book, the reflections on Saibaba’s martyrdom have…
‘A Sudden Golden Smile’: A Testament to the Enduring Power of Thoughtful Prose
Amit Sengupta's A Sudden Golden Smile, arriving with the season of spring, is a prudent collection of contemporary and old essays, a carefully curated selection drawn from his pen's vast…
The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Spiritual Collaborator
The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Spiritual Collaborator, Peter Heehs. Haryana: Harper Collins, 2025. Pp337. Often we don’t know what we have come here to do. Ultimately it hardly…
Rajnarayan is not a name but history
After reading the 512 page book titled "Rajnarayan is not a name but history" edited by my Lucknow friend Shahnawaz Ahmad Qadri, I am writing this article as a self-confession…
Dispossession, Displacement, and the Making of the Neo-Liberal India: A Counter-Narrative of Development
A Review of the book ‘The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian’ (2024) by Neha Dixit “Thank God for women, humanity is alive!” Neha Dixit’s…
Interview with Neeta Kolhatkar, author of The Feared
“We have seen the prison reforms in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, in some other states, apart from that, let me tell you, it makes no difference in this country, whichever government…
An Inspiring Portrayal of the Spirit of Voluntary Work in Indigenous Community Life in Ecuador
The book under review here, very simply titled ‘Mingas+Solidarity’ is a rare and invaluable book. It is rare because such books are seldom seen in print. It is invaluable because…
An Attempt at Debunking a Key Zionist Myth by an Israeli Academic
Zionists cling to and ceaselessly trumpet the belief—reflected in global media—that Jews form a distinct ethnic group, that Israel is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, and that the…
Two books but one message
State, capitalism, Hindutva, and imperialism are no longer merely academic debates confined to seminar halls or distant wars and conflicts affecting unknown faces and destroying homes and habitats. These issues…
History’s Present
A Review of “Gaza Faces History” by Enzo Traverso. Other Press, 2024. As I write this review in February of 2025, the world is not what it was just 16…
Make Art, Not War
The world is in danger, mind-numbingly so, from a combination of crises: disease, hunger, mass displacement, racial and economic inequality, war and the threat of more war, a rampaging climate…
Palestine Hijacked: How Zionism Forged An Apartheid State From River to Sea By Thomas Suárez
A Review Much has been written in the alternative press over the past year about the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians and its other war crimes in Lebanon, Syria, Iran,…
The Heat Will Kill You First:Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell
ISBN: 978-0-316=49755-8 Paperback, 2024 Jeff Goodell’s latest book is a detailed examination of heat and its dangers on a warming planet. It deserves wide readership. Presented cogently and beautifully written…
Gaza: A History
Professor Jean-Pierre Filiu's book, Gaza: A History, which John King translated, is divided into five sections and sixteen chapters. It covers the history of Gaza from the time of the…
Refaat Alareer and the Writers He Empowered to Tell Their Stories
“If I must die, you must liveto tell my story” How do you tell the story of Refaat Alareer? For the friends of Refaat Alareer—husband, father of six, university professor, writer…
Natural Federalism or Un-natural Feminism
In the times when ‘unifying’ symbols are used as tools to homogenise, ‘diversity’ is only appropriated in the service of ‘unification’ project, the urgency of ‘pluriversality’ is felt more strongly.…
Problems, Struggles and Policy for Himalayan Region as seen in the Writings of Sunderlal Bahuguna- A Gandhian Vision of Himalayan Region
Sunderlal Bahuguna, the person most closely associated with the movements and campaigns to protect Himalayan forests, had travelled to more Himalayan villages than perhaps anyone else and was involved in…
“Kahani Mumbaichya Kamgarchalvalichi”-(Story of Mumbai’s Working Class Movement)
The story of Rise and Fall of Labour Movement of Mumbai from 1853 to 2017. It’s a historical portrayal of Movement, it’s Birth, Growth, its achievements, the significant Milestones it…
The Gujaratis—A Portrait of a Community
'The Gujaratis—A Portrait of a Community', Salil Tripathi's most recent book, aims to draw attention to the uncommon traits of Gujaratis that the outside world is ignorant of. Gujaratis are…
‘Iconoclast ‘is a path-breaking biography of B R Ambedkar by Dr. Anand Teltumbde
In 'Iconoclast', Dr. Anand Teltumbde, a prominent scholar of the Dalit movement, delivers an in-depth biography of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, examining his journey as one of the most influential figures…
Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right 1924-77
"Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right 1924-77", Abhishek Choudhary's biography of the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, captures his early years and reveals how Vajpayee handled political and…
In Pursuit of Democracy by Najma Heptulla
In Pursuit of Democracy: Beyond Party Lines, written by Najma Heptulla, is a fascinating account of her political career in India. Her remarkable career is covered in the book, including…
Organising workers is political: Trade Union Studies in UK and Kenya
Trade Union Studies in UK and Kenya, Nigel Flanagan and Shiraz Durrani. Vita Books, Nairobi 2024. History is a story of class struggles with the working classes fighting for their…
‘Caste and Revolution’ explores link of Caste with Class in Revolution
In 'Caste and Revolution' by N. Ravi, the author addresses questions raised by Dalit and Bahujan intellectuals inspired by revolutionary parties. These questions centre on caste issues and seek to…
‘The Shudra Rebellion’ by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd highlights pivotal role of Shudras as builders of Indian civilisation and productive communities
'The Shudra Rebellion', authored by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, presents a revolutionary perspective on Indian civilisation, shedding light on the overlooked contributions of Shudra nationalism. This work redefines the historical narrative…
A Tribute to the Luddites
A Review of “Blood in the Machine” by Brian Merchant George Santayana’s statement that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is quoted most-often as an…
Book Review: Decoding HATE in Indian Politics
Contextualising Islamophobia in Indian Politics The scourge of Islamophobia has increased manifold globally in the recent times. Though it started from the West, but slowly it has crept into the…
Who killed Judge Loya?
Perhaps in my reading list of books, this will have to be included in the most surprising book of the year 2024. That is why in the state level program…
Resisting Empire & Injustice Through Fiction
by Alexandria Shaner and Tamara Pearson Activist-author Tamara Pearson discusses her new novel, The Eyes of the Earth, and how storytelling as resistance can unravel discourse, confront reality, and explore possibilities Empire…
Whose Role Models Are They, Anyway?
If India is all about “inclusive development”, then why the need for Muslim role models at all? An Azim Premji may be among the top philanthropists today, but has it…
Philosophy of Agriculturalism in Ancient India
When I was researching for my latest book The Shudra Rebellion I went back into ancient Indian literature to find out whether there was a philosophical school called Agriculturism around…
The Role of Muslims in India’s Independence
Our friend Syed Shahnawaz Ahmad Qadri has done a great job by publishing a 480-page book titled 'Lahoo Bolta Bhi Hain' (The Muslim Characters of the Freedom Struggle) in 2017…
India: A Linguistic Civilisation
Every language has a different way of organising the world based on how it interprets time and space. A language is a distinct way of thinking as well as a…
Techno-Feudalism or Food Sovereignty? Reclaim the Future
The control of global agriculture has long been a tentacle of US state-corporate geopolitical strategy. The Green Revolution was exported courtesy of oil-rich interests, and poorer nations adopted Western agri-capital’s…
Losing honestly and gracefully
After election defeats, political writers are quick to explain that if only the politicians had read my book and followed my advice, things would have been different for our side.…
How China Escaped the Poverty Trap – by Yuen Yuen Ang
In "How China Escaped the Poverty Trap", Yuen Yuen Ang provides a compelling analysis of China’s rapid economic transformation over recent decades. Rather than focusing on specific policies or economic…
The American food system creates chronic diseases; the medical system ‘manages’ them
The explosive growth in the use of weight-loss drugs is a supreme irony within a food system that creates the very chronic diseases that lead to obesity and a medical system that…
Scholar says Dr Ambedkar was great but we need to question him, not worship him
This was an unusual book launch in Mumbai on October 30 where the author , a prominent human rights activist, management professor, faces restrictions on his movements because of a…
Blue Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade by Jeff Schuhrke
Jeff Schuhrke begins his new book, Blue Collar Empire, with a powerful story: how the CIA, operating through the offices of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees…
Many Lives of Syeda X: A woman’s vulnerable journey over the dangerous times
Many Lives of Syeda X* by Neha Dixit tells the story of Syeda, a Muslim woman born in Varanasi, a city sacred to Hindus. The narrative spans from the 1992…
Imran Khan’s Besati O Bosoti [The Dealing and The Dwelling]: An Anthropocene Novel
Book Review: Besati O Bosoti [The Dealing and The Dwelling], a novel, by Imran Khan, Dhaka, Chandrabindo Prokashon, 2024, 310 pages, ISBN 978-984-98208-6-4 (hardcover) Bangladeshi writer Imran Khan’s second novel,…
Which Generation Will See a Free Palestine?
Romi Mahajan speaks to Visualizing Palestine’s Aline Batarseh and Jessica Anderson For anyone who cares about the lives of Palestinians, the last year has been bleak. Israel’s all-out assault on…
Echoes Of Swaraj -Upholding Traditional of Tribal Sovereignty
"Echoes of Swaraj" is an insightful and inspiring compendium that delves deep into the lives of indigenous communities across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. It brings forth the compelling stories…
What Should the Shudras Do?
This is the final chapter of Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd's, groundbreaking work 'The Shudra Rebellion' that promises to reshape our understanding of Indian civilization and culture. In this compelling book, Ilaiah…
Visualizing Palestine
For the most part coffee-table books serve only two purposes: They look aesthetic in a living room, and they lend faux intellectual credibility to their owners: The second, of course,…
The Violence of Development: New Version of the book Food, Dependency and Dispossession: Resisting the New World Order
A revised version (September 2024) of the open-access e-book ‘Food Dependency and Dispossession: Resisting the New World Order’ (2022) by Colin Todhunter is now available. A brand-new concluding chapter,…
Nehru: The Invention of India by Shashi Tharoor
"Nehru: The Invention of India", penned by Shashi Tharoor in 2003, is a nuanced exploration of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. This work serves as a compelling biography that…
Syeda’s Story: Glimpse into the lives of Home based Women Workers
Home-based workers in India represent a significant yet often overlooked segment of the labor force. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are approximately 37.4 million home-based workers in…
A New Book On Bicycle
‘The Bicycle in India: Selected Articles and Stories’ by T. Vijayendra. Hyderabad, 2024, Ecologise Hyderabad. Price Rs. 100/ This is a book about the bicycle in India in the context…
The Black Book
Published in 1974, The Black Book is not just an anthology or a historical document; it is a profound and multifaceted cultural artefact that encapsulates the African American experience from…
Chemould art gallery and the making of the modern art movement in India
A big crowd collects every day outside film star Shah Rukh Khan’s building at Bandra Band Stand near the Bandra fort in Mumbai. People come from different parts of the…
The US and Perpetual War- A critique of John D. Rachel’s eponymous book
The author, poet and essayist John D Rachel (JDR), whose political philosophy and leanings are rooted in the ideals of a world without war and anti-imperialism and militarism, published a…
“Everybody Loves a Good Drought”
P. Sainath's "Everybody Loves a Good Drought" is a landmark book that offers a searing critique of the socio-economic realities faced by rural India, especially in the context of poverty,…
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