Three Books

Different Truths is introducing Book Club. If you are a busy corporate honcho, an executive-on-the-move, banker or homemaker, with little time to spare, you may send short book reviews marked ‘Book Club’ and email it to <different.truths2015@gmail.com>. Our Editorial Director, Arindam, gives us a glimpse of the Book Club.   

 A Gypsy in the World of Ideas, by Rajen Harshe (Pentagon Press, pp 155, price Rs 295, ISBN No: 978-81-8274-836-1), presently President, G.B. Pant Social Science Institute and former Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University. It is a paperback 2^nd edition of his earlier hardbound book.

An educationist and thinker, Harshe deals with the entire gamut of ideas as seen by a ‘gypsy’.  The author calls himself a ‘wanderer’. He recalls a Marathi poem from his childhood memories, ‘Gypsy’. He also tells us how he grappled with ideas through adolescence and youth. He deals with inspiring thinkers, dwells on traumatic historical events and takes us through the various global and anti-colonial perspectives on education.  The last section of the book deals with institution and nation building.Universities have been the social engines of change.  Harshe is a think tank one cannot ignore.

Man on Fire, by Stephen Kelman (Bloomsbury, pp 296, price Rs 499/-, ISBN No: 978-93-85436-11-6), is a delightful read. The protagonist, John Lock, comes to India to meet an unusual man, who bears extreme pain, for fame and repute. The desire of an ordinary man to become an extraordinary has been dealt with brilliantly. It’s a must read book, written in lucid and simple English. The short and pithy sentences are power packed with humour. The reader cannot help but smile leafing through its pages.

For Love and Honour, by Anand Ranganathan, (Bloomsbury, pp 353. price Rs 350/-, ISBN No: 978-93-85436-01-7). This racy book is unputdownable. It deals with insurgent North East, the presence of Army and a gripping love story in the backdrop of violence.

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