Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Author - B K S Iyengar

Publisher -Harper Collinsi

Pages - 337

Price - 295

What is yoga? Is it a merely a system of improving ones health or does it subsume a whole way of life? In his book B K S Iyengar seems to be verging towards the second conclusion. He begins the preface to his book with these words, “Yoga is an art, a science and a philosophy. It touches the life of man at every level - physical, mental, and spiritual. It is a practical method for making one’s life purposeful, useful and noble.” The development of the science of yoga easily ranks amongst one of the greatest achievements of the Hindu civilization. Though not many of us are conversant of its true benefits because most of the texts on yoga are in Sanskrit.

The bulk of what we call yoga stems from pithy aphorisms first written down by the Indian sage Patanjali some eighteen hundred years ago. There was yoga even before Patanjali; we know that because there are references to the practice of yoga in the Upanishads and of course in the Bhagavad Gita. But before Patanjali’s codification there was no systematic text to guide to the way yoga was supposed to be practiced. The book under review presents a very systematic and comprehensive translation of Patanjali’s sutras on yoga. For each aphorism B K S Iyengar gives first the Sanskrit version and then the transliteration form Sanskrit to English.

The importance of the book lies in the feeling of authenticity that it can conjure in the mind of the reader. Iyengar goes to great lengths to make it possible for the reader to judge the fidelity of his translation. He breaks down each aphorism into its individual words and gives an English translation of each word. Indeed he often gives several possible English equivalents for each Sanskrit word. Then he gives his English translation of the aphorism. This is followed by his lengthy explanation of the verse. Iyengar says, “As honey is sweet from any part of the honeycomb, so is yoga.” The same can be said about his book, which is as sweet and authentic throughout.

The book itself is divided into four chapters or padas – Samadhi Pada, Sadhana Pada, Vibhuti Pada and Kaivalya Pada. The Samadhi Pada deals with issues of contemplation, the Sadhana Pada deals with the issues of practice, the Vibhuti Pada is about properties and powers, and finally the Kaivalya Pada is about emancipation and freedom. Clearly Iyengar has given more in his book than can be assimilated by most persons interested in yoga. Even the most sincere practitioners of yoga will find the Iyengar’s interpretation of Patanjali’s aphorisms on yoga daunting to imbibe and incorporate in their lives.

But while the integrity of Iyengar’s translation of Patanjali’s sutras are beyond reproach, the influence that his book may have in disseminating the theory of yoga is debatable. After all, we live in the times when televangelists of all hues rule the roost. Yoga it seems has become a big business on TV. All sorts of saffron clad yoga gurus are ruling the airwaves and are busy proclaiming themselves as the last word on yoga. Where does that leave a genuine yoga practitioner like Iyengar? To be candid, these fly by night yoga practitioners we see on TV are likely to outdo Iyengar in popularity with their slickly packaged juvenile interpretation of yoga.

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Title - Women are from Bras, Men are from Penus

Author - Anna Collins, Elliot Sullivan

Publisher - Srishti

Pages - 114

Price - 95

If the information age has already dawned, then why do we have such a surfeit of self-help books in the market? Does that question sound like an oxymoron to you? It does to me. After all in an information age society, people are expected to be so well informed that they can hardly feel the need of any self help book; all they need is a computer with a Internet connection. Voila! Let the high priests of Google answer every query that arises.

Sadly though life isn't that simple. All the issues, and the conundrums that may plague any typical human life can ever be reduced to a click of the mouse on the Google screen. There will always be some issues that need mature solutions of the kind that can only be garnered through personal experience. But people no longer have the time to go through the rigmarole of experience. They want instant answers. Well, then they have to live life second hand.

That is what the genera of self-help books are all about? They provide you with the luxury of living life second hand. You don't have to go through a welter of relationships in order to find out what the opposite sex is all about. You can choose the easy of option of lounging in your living room and flicking through the pages of any self-help book on the subject. The book under review for example, offers some interesting insights on what makes the sexes tick.

Don't read this book if it is political correctness in the matter of relationships that you are looking for. For it is the politically incorrect bits of information that Women are from Bras, Men are from Penus, comes loaded with. Written by Anna Collins and Elliot Sullivan, this book claims to be a survival guide for bypassing communication and getting even in your relationships. Looks like many have been baited by the highfalutin claims; the book has notched the cult status of a New York Times bestseller.

The book begins with these humorous but incisive words, "Not that long ago in a galaxy not that far away, lived two opposite civilizations. One lived on the planet Bras and the other on the planet Penus. Little did they know they were headed on a collision course for each other. Everybody was doomed to disaster except the planets' lawyers who, through personal injury lawsuits, financed their escape while all their clients went straight to hell."

The whole idea behind the book is that men and women develop differently, yet they are meant for each other. And the only way they can fruitfully come together is by boldly acknowledging their differences and molding their lives accordingly. On that note here is another great line from this book, "Men will never understand women and women will never understand men - and that is the one thing that men and women will never understand." Have you understood your spouse yet, or are you guys still living on different planets?

Title - The Second Time Around

Author - Mary Higgins Clark

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Pages - 302

Price - Rs 350

The story revolves around a spate of murders but a perfectly sanitized prose from Mary Higgins Clark goes a long way in exorcising the narrative of all traces of blood and gore luridness. But that should come as no surprise; gentleness is after all a characteristic of all Mary Higgins Clark novels. The Second Time Around is a book about high stakes rivalry in a blue chip US Corporation called Gen-Stone that is involved in researching for a cure for cancer. The trouble begins when a private plane carrying Nicholas Spencer, the President and CEO of the company, crashes on its way to San Juan. There are no survivors.

Soon after the announcement of Nicholas's death it comes to light that there had been numerous setbacks in the experiments with Gen-Stone's cancer vaccine and that the drug could not be submitted to the FDA for approval in the foreseeable future. Most chilling is the news story that tens of millions of dollars had been looted from the company, apparently by Nicholas Spencer. Thousands of stockholders who had invested their lives savings in Gen Stone saw their investments turn to zilch and since Spencer's body was never recovered many started believing that he had orchestrated his own death and that he was cavorting on a beach in some country with no extradition laws.

The story is told partly from the third-person perspective of the killer, and partly from the first-person point of view of a Wall Street Weekly correspondent Carley De Carlo, who has been assigned to do an article on the life and death of Nicholas Spencer. As Carely De Carlo digs deeper into the affairs of Gen Stone and that of Nicholas Spencer, she starts uncovering a series of startling clues that point to a conspiracy of mounting greed and savage vengeance. As she follows many loose ends she is struck by the possibility that the cancer cure could have worked after all. But she soon realizes that her relentless pursuit of truth might have put her life into danger.

Even in a suspense novel it is just not Mary Higgins's style to keep too many secrets from the reader. So you don't have to wait til the last page to find out what is the truth behind Nicholas Spencer's death. Most readers will be able to guess the ending by the time they have finished reading half the book. There is no adrenalin pumping anxiety flowing from the pages of this novel, the narrative is rather staid, but the chapters are remarkably small, all of which makes for an easy reading. The Second Time Around is Mary Higgins Clark's twenty-seventh novel, so most of her readers already know what to expect. No surprises out here for the 27th time around!

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Title - Delhi - A Thousand Years of Building

Author - Lucy Peck

Publisher - Roli

Pages - 308

Over the last ten years or so the transformation that Delhi has undergone is simply amazing. From all over the world people throng to Delhi for fashion shows, celebrity book launches, painting exhibitions and exposes on traditional arts. Aficionados of Indian culture know this is the best place to catch the true taste of India, be it in dance, music, theatre, or in cuisine. The old and the new merge effortlessly in Delhi, swanky shopping malls lie juxtaposed to old style eateries, bars and multiplex cinemas keep popping up everywhere.

Residential complexes come jazzed up with all sorts of amenities. Excellent infrastructure in form of world-class roads served by a multitude of over bridges that make driving itself a pleasure rather than a chore, a jazzy new airport that should be ready anytime soon, a rash of new restaurants where cuisine from all over the world is served, all this go on to herald Delhi's re-emergence as a world's truly great city.

But Delhi is not just a city subsuming the myriad facets of modernity; it is also the city that encompasses a past stretching back to thousands of years. One of the oldest of the world's cities, Delhi's 20,000 ruins constitute a great charm for the visiting tourists. These are the facts that come to light from Lucy Peck's evocative book Delhi - A Thousand Years of Building. The book takes the reader on a journey not only across the modern landscape of the city, but also across the mists of time, the centuries which saw the city being built brick by brick.

In this delightfully compiled book you will find succinct descriptions of the landmarks through which the city evolved into a metropolis it is today. The book subsumes surprises galore. Even old city dwellers can find information on monuments that they might never have known existed. We tend to think of Delhi as a city of residential areas, government buildings, markets that are always choked with traffic. In the humdrum of life what we often forget is that this is a city moulded across the centuries by great historical forces, forces that have left indelible imprint in the sands of time.

Describing South Extension Part II Lucy writes, "Just to the south of South Extension Part II is the village of Masjid Moth, built in front of the beautiful early 16th century Moth ki Masjid. This is undoubtedly one of the loveliest mosques in Delhi. The mosque is entered on the eastern side through a handsome gateway decorated in red sandstone and white marble. Steps lead up into a raised courtyard with chatris at each corner. There are two trees and remains of graves inside the courtyard, as well as another structure that is not aligned with the well-preserved mosque."

Such are the detailed descriptions and nuances on different parts of Delhi that this book brings to the reader. Lucy Peck's descriptions of Chandni Chowk, Humanyun's tombs, etc is as exciting to read. You get to know the histories behind the monuments, how they once were and how they are today. In her introduction to the book the author says, "The book is about the growth and development in Delhi. It concentrates on the scattered remains of the earlier cities, both in terms of actual development and, in particular, the current appearance of Delhi."

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Title - The Rise & Fall of the British Empire

Author - Lawrence James

Publisher - Abacus

Pages - 714

Price - Rupees 500

A book with as ambitious a title is expected to be a thick tome filled with pages after pages of closely typed text detailing history exhumed from portals spanning across many centuries. Lawrence James delivers solidly on that promise, his narrative of what was once world's most preeminent economic, military and social power is immensely credible, detailed and it is interesting to read as well. In just 714 pages the book gives a whirlwind ride of a rich and diverse history. Lawrence James does not lose himself into describing the minutiae of the empire's history; instead he delivers a broader perspective of how the empire developed and how it dissolved into the mists of time.

The book begins with few well-written chapters that take us back by about four centuries, into an era when Britain had started establishing its first colonies in North America. While talking about North America, James conjures an interesting perspective holding tobacco cultivation responsible for rescuing the British colony in Virginia. He writes, "Tobacco rescued Virginia and made it thrive in a manner that astonished the colonists and the government. The first tentative planting of imported South American tobacco plants had been undertaken in 1617. It was a success and began a revolution that transformed the infant colony and the British economy."

What makes the book most incisive is the plethora of small songs that Lawrence James quotes from age-old magazines, newspapers and books. These short and crisp songs go a long way in shedding light on the public opinion in those times. While talking about the Anglo-French wars fought to dominate the oceans, Lawrence James quotes lines from a 1759 song titled 'Hearts of Oak' written by David Garrick.

Come cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,

To add something new to this wonderful year;

To honor we call you, not press you like slaves,

For who are so free as we sons of the waves?

The lines depict the fighting spirit and the sheer enthusiasm that large section of British population was in grip of in the era, which saw Britain's rise into an empire spanning many continents. With its superior navy Britain was able to undercut France and other European powers and establish its commercial hegemony across Asia and Africa. The British Empire in India is discussed in some detail. While describing British military successes in India, Lawrence also ponders on the concept of white man's burden of civilizing India by eliminating heathen practices such as sati and introduction of modern education and building institutions for democracy.

About Mahatma Gandhi, Lawrence James writes, "Gandhi's charisma was remarkable, although there were times when his humility seemed close to inverted arrogance. He was also capable of the most breathtaking humbug, as in June 1942, when he wrote that, 'Nazi power has arisen as a nemesis to punish Britain for her sins of exploitation and enslavement of the Asiatic and African races.'" It is interesting to compare and contrast The Rise and Fall of the British Empire with Niall Ferguson's Empire, an equally readable and somewhat more provocative account of British world hegemony.

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Title - The Simoqin Prophecies

Author - Samit Basu

Publisher - Penguin

Pages - 505

Price - Rupees 250

This book is full of all sorts of wacky characters - Centaurs, Centauresses, werewolf, Genie, hosts of rakshasas, Bali, Vanar Sena, Robin Hood, mowgli, S.P.Gyanasundaram, O.Veerappan! Thankfully the story is not as wacky. There is a city called Kol, whose streets are world famous. Describing the city Basu writes, '.magic carpets flew over the streets of Kol, like bees around a hive. The carpets could fly within the boundaries of the city, whenever the power of the ruby was strong enough to hold them in the air.'

In this timeless world there is a prophecy that foretells the rise of the terrible rakshas, 'Danh-Gem' and the coming of a hero who would vanquish him. The hero turns out to be a mild mannered individual called Asvin. The forces opposed to Danh-Gem take charge of Asvin and train him for the great battle that he would have to fight for saving the world. Complications arise when Danh-Gem's followers gather and attempt to raise him, but Asvin and his supporters hinder their nefarious aims. Another potent magical force called Kirin roams the land with his deadly assistant Spikes, both trying to fulfill their destinies.

Intertwined with this overall plot are any number of other characters, some completely outlandish, as the werewolf who turns into a lovely naked maiden whenever there is full moon in the sky, but does not go beyond singing songs. And then there is Jinn, who preferred to eat girls because they were prettier, softer, smelled good and fought less, but he is not heard of beyond the first scene. One gets the feeling that the useless characters, un-sequenced events, and inconsequential dialogues are meant only to showcase the author's wit. Due to his needless digressions, Basu fails to put his novel in any particular context, and like a blind man describing an elephant there is too much detail and no whole.

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Title - Xplicit Desi Vibes

Xplicit Desi Vibes is all about encapsulating a kind of music that evokes nostalgic memories of India, its landscape, its cultural ethos. Brought into being by two stimulated individuals, Vimal Patel & Prerak Patel, their work is inspired by clear cut goals of promoting the best South Asian music that today's generation has to offer. This enterprising duo has notched several successes by giving birth to an impressive array of remixed tracks that by converging the traditional and modern create a genre of music that is entirely timeless. Now Vimal and Prerak are moving forward towards promoting and producing music alongside with some of the biggest up and coming South Asian artist such as, Ranjini, Royal Wilco, Don Revo, G-Deep, and Young Pharaoh, to name a few. Their fruitful linkage with Tiru from www.desiclub.com became a driving force behind the release of the chartbusting i-Desi, in December of 2006.

With its unique hummable quality the i-Desi album has won the hearts of numerous critics. It features artists such as Sona Family, Uzazi Productions, AKY, and Rishi Rich to name a few. The international media took note of i-Desi's success when Tiru was featured on The Jump Off, on BBC Asian Radio Show, hosted by Mr. Mak and Mentor Kolektiv. From there on, Xplicit Desi Vibes also made an appearance on NiteLife Radio, the hottest South Asian radio show on the East Coast. Traveling down south to Texas, GenerAsian Radio has featured tracks produced by DJ DesiPlaya (Vimal Patel). And their recognition doesn't end here. When i-Desi, was released, the hype was also written about in Desi NJ, one of the top-most circulated South Asian magazines in New Jersey.

With as vibrant a music company, as the Xplicit Desi Vibes happens to be, the music for the soul is never meant to stop. The talented group is already working on a series of three blockbuster albums. Their most anticipated album is going to be the The Desi Movement. This album is going to feature talented artists like, Royal Wilco, Joslyn, Ar-Sin, Sir Aah, and Ajaxxx. The musical success of the Desi Vibes group is after all easy to comprehend. A group that carries India in its soul is meant to create music that can be enjoyed by all. No matter what your color, no matter what your race, no matter what your nationality, the universal language of the Desi Vibes music will strike a chord with your heart.

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Title - The Last Song of Dusk

Author - Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi

Publisher - Viking

Price - Rs.395

Pages - 295

Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's The Last Song of Dusk is another book that reviewers, especially those in India, have been going gaga about. What for? This question has been uppermost in my mind ever since I turned the last page. Certain sections do read well, but few readable passages don't make a brilliant book? There is hardly anything in here that could merit its being labeled as the next big thing to come out of India? The story begins when the 21 years old Anuradha is leaving her native Udaipur for Bombay to marry a reputed doctor, Vardhaman.

At the time of parting her mother whispers to her, 'in this world, my darling, there is no mercy.' Though the statement primarily typifies the personal experiences of the mother, she is also counseling her daughter to remain beware of the vagaries of life. Anuradha and Vardhaman get married and they initiate their conjugal life. She sings songs, makes jolly quips about vegetable prices, learns to tolerate the idiosyncrasies of his relatives; he narrates fascinating stories, they make elegant love and their son Mohan is born. The halcyon days end abruptly and pathos creeps in when Mohan dies in a freak accident.

Anuradha, blessed with a bewitching beauty, is also a gifted singer, while the handsome Vardhaman is an excellent raconteur along with being an eminent doctor. In so many ways they present a picture of being a perfect couple, but it is their seeming perfection that makes it difficult for the reader to empathize with them. Their actions, thoughts and the lines they speak seem contrived, almost as if they were playacting for those sitcoms that we see on TV. And for that the fault must lie with Shanghvi's stilted prose, he goes over the top with his grandiloquent words and phrases. The emotions get lost in a welter of pretentious verbosity. What is Shanghvi playing for? Narcissistic infatuation with his own writing!

After Mohan's death, the narrative veers off the tangent. Unable to bear living in the house where her son had died, Anuradha goes back to Udaipur and there she meets a young girl called Nandini Hariharan, a sensuous orphan, who befriends panthers, paints people as they are, not in features but in disposition. Nandini's fascinating portrayal comes as a breath of fresh air in a story, which is otherwise chocked by gorgeous dullards of the Page 3 variety. Her interactions with Virginia Wolf and Mahatma Gandhi might be the author's feeble crack at iconoclasm, but nevertheless all the passages where Nandini is present are somewhat readable.

The Last Song of the Dusk might have turned out to be a better book if the fun-filled and enigmatic Nandini had a larger role to play, rather than Anuradha, who comes out as nothing more than a pretty face that stores a dull mind.

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Title - Babur Nama

Author - Zahir Uddin Muhammad Babur

Publisher - Penguin

Pages - 385

Babur has been an unlikely victim of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement. There is no dearth of Indians who would like to hate him for being the despot who “might have” demolished the Ram temple at Ayodhya. But should the issue of one temple be allowed to become the sole cause celebre for an historical figure like Babar? He was the founder of the Mogul Empire of India, and so Babar is expected to have a certain degree of Muslim bigotry. There is another side to his personality; he was also a poet, an inspirational leader, and a man with a deep appreciation of beauties of nature. In fact he was the first ruler to keep record of his day-to-day activities.  

The Babur Nama as Babur’s record is popularly known has innumerable chronicled instance of the young king’s involvement in diverse escapades. The book is a wonderful historical narrative containing interesting details about the mindset of a Muslim ruler who was driven by the passion of winning wars and extending his province. Dilip Hiro has done an excellent editing job. There are maps, illustrations in the form of a family tree, Islamic Calendar, a glossary of Islamic terms and a long introduction. These features make reading the book a lot easier task even for those who are not conversant with the history of that period.

With unstinting and engaging honesty, Babur talks of his early struggles, his constant setbacks, and his lifelong desire to hold Samarkand, glorious seat of his ancestor Timur (Tamerlane). For Babur, India is only the consolation prize after his failure to take the lands of his birthright; India is rich, yes, astoundingly so, but it is not sufficient compensation for the nostalgia of home. Along the way, reports of skirmishes with his enemies, and the constant betrayals of his allies, share the page with descriptions of local flora and fauna, and fascinating observations on everyday life in the cities and towns that he spends time at - and it is here that the work’s true enjoyment lies.

The historical importance of the text can be made out from the fact that Babur started writing his dairy when he was barely 12 years old and he went on writing till about three months prior to his death. The book is divided into three parts for a better understanding of the monarch’s life. The first part is devoted to his life in Fergana and Samarkand (Uzbekistan) from 14 February AD 1483 to 7 July AD1502. In the second part, his life in Kabul from 14 June AD 1504 to 12 December AD 1520 is recorded. The third part is devoted to the last phase of his life in Hindustan (India and Pakistan), from 18 October AD 1525 to 12 August AD 1530.

Interspersed in the book are his comments on subjects like history, geography, ecology, flora, fauna, sociology, and every other issue that he thought about. But there is nothing on wine or women. Being a puritan, Babur did not like his own indulgence in wine. Hence, he gave it up later in his life as an act of repentance. Babur’s descriptions of the Battle of Panipat are particularly interesting. Talking of the battle at one place he writes, “During the seven or eight days we camped in Panipat, small bands of our men used to go close up to Ibrahim Lodi’s camp, rain arrows down on his massed troops, cut off and bring in heads. Still he made no move, nor did his troops sally out.”

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Title - The 33 Strategies of War

Author - Robert Greene

Publisher - Viking Adult

Pages - 496

Reading a typical Robert Greene book the first thought that comes to mind is – are human beings so cynical and so perverse that we can only survive by mastering the art of backstabbing? Robert Greene’s world is a typical dog-eat-dog world, where everyone is out to get you, you have to continuously outsmart your rivals or you lose. Lets say that you prove yourself to be the most cunning, and you succeed in outsmarting all your rivals. You achieve considerable material success and then what. Will such a success bring you peace and happiness? It is more likely that the constant tension ensuing from endless rivalries will give you a bad case of ulcer and maybe even a stroke.  

In his book The 33 Strategies of War Robert Greene is taking his cynicism to a much higher level from his earlier book, the best-selling 48 Laws of Power. Robert Greene’s point of view is that human beings can only be successful if they incorporate war like strategies in their dealings with each other. In other words in order to survive we have to play a constant game of war, a war in which our role model will be Sun Tzu. You have to be at war with not just your enemies, but also against the unknowing, naive and innocent.

In usual Robert Greene style the book takes off immediately with a chapter boldly titled “Declare War on Your Enemies”. But who are these enemies? Is everybody around us a potential enemy? Greene writes, “Life is endless battle and conflict, and you cannot fight effectively unless you can identify your enemies. People are subtle and evasive, disguising their intentions, pretending to be on your side. You need clarity. Learn to smoke out your enemies, to spot them by the signs and patterns that reveal hostility. Then, once you have them in your sights, inwardly declare war.”

That is the kind of unflattering picture of the world that the 33 Strategies of War will paint for you. Where you are not tough enough to fight an open battle, you will be required to take care of your purported enemies by what is called a Guerrilla war of the mind strategy, where you wage a debilitating war on the heart and minds of your enemies allowing them no static lines of defense, making everything fluid and mobile. But isn’t this how criminals think? The strategies of war are best suited for someone whose only ambition is to become mafia don or even a dictator. An Attila the Hun would be constantly at war with his people. He has no alternative. The only way a dictator can survive is by heaping on his people one form of war after another. But most of us are not versions of Attila. The so called 33 strategies of war are definitely not for us.

However, that is not to say that the book is not interesting to read. Replete with numerous examples from history and from the more contemporary world, it is very well written and is quite interesting in fact. From Alfred Hitchcock to Joan Crawford, from Napoleon to Cortez – there are examples from the lives of a wide range of interesting characters. Robert Greene draws heavily from the shenanigans and the stratagems of the rich and the famous. If this book is used solely for entertainment purposes you will definitely enjoy it. If you ever try to apply these strategies at your home or even at your office then you are in for a bad case of ulcer.

Price - $17.13 USD

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Title - An Angel in the Cockpit

Author - Dr. Vijaypat Singhania

Publisher - Roli Books

Pages - 288

On August 18, 1988, Singhania took off from Biggin Hill in England in a microlight weighing little over 150 kgs, and with a cockpit so small that he was forced to lose weight by 11 kgs so that he may fit in. But even with a toned down body it was a tight fit inside the cockpit, with hardly any space left for maneuver. The book gives a day-by-day breakup of his adventure that lasted for 22 days. The first day’s flight brings Singhania to France, from there the next stop is Italy and then Greece, day eleven sees him leaving Europe and flying into Egypt.

The Egyptian experience does not go down well with Singhania and he minces no words in making clear his disappointment – the corruption, the red tape and the general mismanagement that Cairo airport is mired with. He is only too relieved when Egypt is left behind and he flies into Jordan, where the hospitality is great and he faces no bureaucratic hassles. Next on Singhania’s itinerary is Saudi Arabia. He quotes from an interesting conversation that he had with a powerful Saudi prince. The prince wanted Singhania to appreciate the notion that every basic necessity in his nation was subsidized.

Singhania counters the Saudi prince with a terse point of view. He writes, “I then explained to him that he could not expect to build a nation composed of people who were forever obliged to the state, and accustomed to living on charity. Surely, I said, it was moral character that the state was seeking to build? Would it not be better to help them stand on their own feet instead of continually propping them up?” That is something that the India’s ruling elite need to hear- that nations cannot be built on shoulders of beggars. 

Singhania’s account of his trip through Pakistan comes replete with a sarcastic sense of humor. At the Pakistani airport he is asked to pay whooping $1000 for 85 liters of aviation gas. Singhania writes about the experience, “at that point, I probably had a better chance of making the Guinness Book of World Records as the man who bought the most expensive fuel in the world, than as the man who arduously flew his way by microlight into its hallowed pages!”

The Pakistani part of the saga is not over with exorbitant fuel; it flows into many more pages filled with accounts of seedy hotels, cutthroat pathans, and the experience of using outdoors as toilets. Finally on day twenty-two Singhania makes a touchdown in India and becomes the first person in the world to fly a microlight from England to India in only 19 days.

But a book by someone like Vijaypat Singhania can hardly be expected not to dwell on the achievements of his illustrious ancestors. He frequently digresses into lengthy passages that throw some interesting light on the history of the Singhania family. And the angel in cockpit! Who is she? Who else but Singhania’s granddaughter Ananya, whose photograph he keeps in the cockpit as a token of good luck.

Price - $37.54 USD

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Title - The Last Juror

Author - John Grisham

Publisher - Arrow Books

Pages - 505

The time frame of the book under review is between 1960's and the early 1970's, and the locale is set in semi-rustic Ford County, Mississippi. In 1970 the main protagonist of the novel, Willie Traynor, joins the Ford County Times, a weekly newspaper, with very small circulation. The newspaper soon bumbles into bankruptcy and Traynor ends up purchasing the whole setup, courtesy the $ 50,000 that his grandmother Beebee loans to him. The previous owner devoted considerable part of his time and the paper's space in printing obituaries, while Willie continues with the obituaries, in effort to increase the circulation, he also sets his eyes on catching some other eyeball grabbing happenings.

The county is virtually ruled by the criminal family of Padgitt's. They carry the police officials, and politicians in their pocket as so many nickels and dimes. Despite being involved in all sorts of black deeds ranging from, bootlegging, drug running, murder, extortion, prostitution, etc, no Padgitt has ever been arrested. But all that changes when one of their scions, a psychopath called Danny Padgitt, rapes and murders a young woman.

Danny Padgitt is caught red-handed and there is a trail. There is some scintillating courtroom drama and the debate between the prosecution lawyer and the defendant lawyer is finely presented. But it is not the efficiency of the prosecution that finally nails Danny. What does is the relentless zeal of the young newspaper proprietor and editor, Willie Traynor. At grave risk to himself, Willie launches in his newspaper a virtual campaign against the Padgitt family. He stumbles through a minefield of legal reporting and makes a name for himself as a fearless editor.

His campaign strikes a chord with the local population and the circulation of Ford County Times jumps up by several notches. Danny is found guilty but due to hung jury he escapes death sentence and gets life instead. However, his saga continues, as he is seen roaming in the county despite being under jail sentence. Then after serving fraction of his sentence he is released on parole. Shortly after his release, the jurors who found him guilty start getting murdered. 

The Last Juror would have been a fascinating book had it kept itself confined to its central theme. But there are too many digressions, which eat into the pace of the novel and the characterizations appear to be shoddily done. The denouement of Danny Padgitt comes only in the last few pages, much of the middle portion being devoted to issues that have little relevance to the central theme. It is almost as if while writing the novel the author got confused whether he should write a social novel or a thriller and ended up creating a hotchpotch of both. In this rare instance John Grisham has definitely let his fans down.

Price - $27.95 USD

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Title - Butcher of Amritsar
Author - Nigel Collett
Publisher - Rupa

On 13 April 1919, hundreds of men women and children gathered for a peaceful demonstration at Jallianwala Bagh were cut down under a hail of bullets when General Dyer ordered his troops to fire. As a consequence of his barbaric act Dyer was made a hero by his British supporters, who eulogized him as the savior of British Empire in India. The arch ideologue of imperialism, Rudyard Kipling, shrugged off the massacre with a cryptic comment, 'Dyer did his duty as he saw it.'

Yet who was Dyer, the man? Was he motivated by racist tendencies when he ordered the massacre? What about his family and friends? These and many other largely unknown facts come to light in Nigel Collett's well-researched biography, which he aptly calls 'The Butcher of Amritsar'. The title in many ways subsumes history's judgment on Dyer, his whole life encapsulated in one small phrase, 'the butcher of Amritsar.' However, the overall picture of Dyer that develops from the book is of anything but a butcher.

Nigel Collett, puts his own opinion on Dyer very succinctly in his introduction to the book, 'it is difficult to exaggerate the effects of what Dyer did. His deeds, and other similar, if less drastic, acts carried out by British officers elsewhere in the Punjab, alienated all shades of Indian opinion…. The massacre at Jallianwala Bagh led directly to the bitterness and bloodshed of Indian independence and partition nearly thirty years later.'

The book begins with Dyer's background, his parent's circumstances and his childhood in boarding school in Ireland. There he witnessed a deteriorating and violent political situation and both as a student and as a young officer saw how rioting was best put down with a firm hand and from this 'He drew a stark warning of the chaos that civil weakness could let slip in'. Moreover Dyer was a happily married man. 'He loved his wife, Annie, and his children and looked after them well,' the author points out. 'He treated his sons far better than his parents treated him.'

Born in India, Dyer was more of a stranger to the English than he was to Indians amongst whom he lived almost all his life. He was a man upon whom was conferred the unheard of honor of being made a Sikh in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He was an officer revered, even loved, by his Indian troops. Yet this was a man under whose orders firing continued for 10 to 15 minutes. The noise in Jallianwala Bagh was a cacophony of rifle crack, bullets thumping into flesh and walls, ricochets screeching off the brickwork, the screams of 25,000 people in terror and the cries of the wounded.

Collett writes with impeccable authority and approaches his subject dispassionately and with academic rigor, but it comes through loud and clear that he views Dyer's actions in Amritsar as a notorious and shameful incident in British military history. 'As an Englishman, I cannot help but feel sorrow and shame at what he did, and sadness at the huge gap that he created between ourselves and India,' says Collett. 'His crime horrifies me even now.'