India Books

Dropped From Heaven has become our standard Mother's Day and graduation gift. This many layered collection of short stories is many stories wrapped in one. It is a story of a vanished and reborn community, it is story of two world cultures the Indian and the Jewish. As large as the scope is, the collection is humane and paints a loving picture of humanity with all its faults and glories. The stories made me laugh out loud and cry as well.
This book will be our main gift going forward for birthdays and other occasion for our curious, sensitive and adventurous friends and relatives.
Mrs. Judah please write more!!

This book of connected tales that take place in the Bene Israel community in India offers a sense of timelessness, despite the stories being grouped by date. Judah's writing is deceptively simple, like the Tao te Ching, and she creates a community in the same way Damon Runyon evokes Broadway hustlers and Giovanni Guareschi's Don Camillo novels give us an aperture to view the lives of the people who live on the River Po.

Having known nothing of the Jewish community in India, I was fascinated by the concept...but found myself caring about the characters even more than the unique setting. You'll find yourself respecting the fiercely honest Joseph and rooting for Hannah and Benny to live a long life together. These are characters and stories and truths that will take up house room in your memory even after you finish the book.

This lavishly illustrated volume gives an excellent view of the East India Company - the experiences of the British in India, the spices and goods of interest to the West, and the history of the company over the centuries.

This book is deserving than more than just 5 stars.

As a historian myself, the biggest problem in expressing yourself is making "old" topics informative and interesting to modern generations. Antony Wild has succeeded beyond any scale of recognition in his book The East India Company: Trade and Conquest from 1600.

This book, which details the English East India Company's history will appeal to anyone with an interest in British, Indian, Asian, American, military, nautical, or commerical history-- it is that wide-ranging. This book is also a must-read for anyone interested or concerned over the so-called modern phenomenon of "globalization." After reading Wild's account, one can see that globalization has been around for nearly four hundred years, if not longer.

The English East India Company, acting under a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I, sought entry into the Spice Trade in Asia. Soon, however, it found itself involved with Indian piece trade and trade from the Middle East and Arabia. Its trade interests in India eventually led to de facto conquest and colonization on that subcontinent-- all with the tacit support of the crown. The company reached into China and even North America-- it was East India Company tea that got dumped into Boston Harbor during the Tea Party.

The company exported and imported goods, laid the foundations for three important Indian cities, fought land wars and naval battles with other European merchant powers or local natives, and brought a host of new products and new words into the consciousness of the English-speaking world.

India proved to be the company's lasting legacy, and not always a positive one. However Wild provides a well-balanced account that does not paint the company as either completely ethical traders or imperialistic devils. No matter one's opinion, India proved to the company's (and Britain's) largest asset and also the cause for the company's eventual dissolution.

The book is well-illustrated and is an easy but very informative read. I would rank this amongst the top 10 books I have read in the last 5 years.

Whelan is the sort of scholar rarely found in this age of academic narcissism. Not kowtowing to fashionability, Whelan presents examples Burke's writings on India in a balanced, considered manner, without including the tempting digressions that could make this a western - non-western multicultural ax grind. Every Burke enthusiast will benefit from this latest excursion into Burke's lesser known works.

Whelan has done a marvelous job at interpreting Burke's political philosophy through the window of Burke's writings on India, Empire, and in particular, the Warren Hastings trial.

Beautiful photography, excellent translation, and the deepest philosophy make this the essential "how-to" for the sutras that the TM movement wouldn't give you on your CIC course. The introduction is phenomenally well-written and explanatory. The best translation of these sutras that I have ever read

The author tells me it is being reprinted and will be available in October 1999 kali yuga. Details from London 0171-835-1636 (tel & fax).

I found this a story of courage that will make you question humanity and wonder what makes some people tick. It also gives a background to history in India at Independance and what it meant to the British

A true story that will get you hooked. Like an Indian 'Angela's Ashes' much betrayal and heartache that also tells you about Indian history. One man's determination against the odds.

on the page 20 of the book is written:"The Nagpur session was the turning point in the history of the subcontinent, which had far reaching consequences and water shed over the history not only of South Asia but of the entire world. the seeds of fundamentalism were sown in this historic session that has now bedeviled the world today".
in the context of this para, my reviews are: the roots of fundamentalism and terrorism which have permeated over the modern world took its birth in the policies and political ideas of Mahatma Ghandi Gi, who himself fell victim of outrageous terrorism at the hand of a Hindu fanatic, named by Nathu Ram Godsay. though apparently, Ghandi Gi was a preacher and propounder of the theory of non-violance in politics, but he miserabley failed to forsee and understand the evil consequences of involving Relegion into politics which was forseen by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan.
very interestingly and astonishingly, the intellectuals and scholars of the modern world are beating about bush about the roots of fundamentalism.

on the page 20 of the book is written:"The Nagpur session was the turning point in the history of the subcontinent, which had far reaching consequences and water shed over the history not only of South Asia but of the entire world. the seeds of fundamentalism were sown in this historic session that has now bedeviled the world today".
in the context of this para, my reviews are: the roots of fundamentalism and terrorism which have permeated over the modern world took its birth in the policies and political ideas of Mahatma Ghandi Gi, who himself fell victim of outrageous terrorism at the hand of a Hindu fanatic, named by Nathu Ram Godsay. though apparently, Ghandi Gi was a preacher and propounder of the theory of non-violance in politics, but he miserabley failed to forsee and understand the evil consequences of involving Relegion into politics which was forseen by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan.

It is perhaps a mark of how far Kali has come as a goddess revered and celebrated in the West, that there is a steady increase in cautionary academic studies about "the real Kali." I'm waiting for a spate of corresponding articles about whether Indian Christians have "adopted" the "real" Jesus, or whether there is inevitable distortion, etc.

Are gods culture-bound, mere artifacts of geography, time, and social mores? If the answer to this is 'yes,' then what does that make religion? The sacred? Put another way, the question could be understood as one of what gods are; if they are not universally accessible, then in what sense are they gods?

This is the persistent question that emerged for me as I read through these essays. The writing itself is good, as you would expect. Most of these pieces are written in typical academic fashion, with much reference to the work of other academics, analysis of the literature, and so forth...but there is also the welcome change-of-pace instance of someone for whom Kali isn't simply an object of study and a medium of grantsmanship. One thing these authors should do--and I have seen this failing in several other texts, as well--is provide a legend that decrypts the many dots, underlines, and other markings used to indicate the pronunciation of various Indian words. What good are these symbolic notations without a key of some sort?

That aside--and given the major caveat offered at the beginning of this review--I recommend this as a useful resource to anyone desiring a better understanding of "the Kali phenomenon." As for an understanding of Kali, that is outside the province of academic quibbling and the struggle over who owns the gods.

This collection of scholarly essays is an easy and enjoyable read for scholars and laypersons alike. What's so great about it is how many perspectives it gives on, as another reviewer noted, "the Kali phenomenon." McDermott and others tear away notions Westerners have of Kali, and present a much broader picture of her mythology, worship and cultural significance. McDermott's concluding essay spearheads the Western fascination with Kali, and dispels many myths along the way - including common etymological mistakes made frequently by feminist scholars and writers on Kali.

Western devotees of Kali should especially consider reading this volume - it will give necessary depth and breadth to your understanding of this complex Goddess, and is exceptionally readable. As this book was primarily written by and for scholars who are familiar with Sanskrit, those unfamiliar with transliteration diacritics will want to refer to online sources. Devotees who have Swami Satyananda Saraswati's excellent Kali Puja book will find a transliteration pronunciation guide in the back, which would be useful in this context.

As columnist Tara Patel (Afternoon Despatch & Courier, Jan 6th 2000) writes; "Some of the most interesting cookery books are those which tell you as much about the people as the cuisine which has evolved alongside them." Enduring Flavours - In Appreciation of East Indian Cuisine" is one such book.

The chef as historian? While the notion may seem incongruous at first, it soon becomes clear that the search for a particular recipe, authentic flavours can lead to a very fascinating journey down the ages. The cuisine of a people unravels fascinating insights, when and how certain foods and spices make their way into a diet? Enduring Flavours is a heady combination of the culture, traditions followed by the recipes of the East Indians. Illustrated by several sketches by Eustace Fernandes and a series of paintings by the East Indian artist from Vasai 'Philip Victor D'Mello' Sunday Mid-Day 18th Dec 99

This book reports a rare success story in Third World conservation: the rise of grassroots-level forest management in Kumaon, India. In the colonial period, the British tried to stop deforestation by increasingly authoritarian methods. This failed; the local countryfolk, prevented from using their forests for subsistence needs, protested more and more seriously, ultimately resorting to arson. Eventually the British got the message and eased off. Fortunately, the Indian government later built on this perception, and gave more and more management rights to the Kumaonese. They rose to the occasion, and now manage the forests reasonably well. Arun Agrawal uses a Foucauldian approach to analyze the development of local management in an extremely fine-grained, detailed, careful way. The benefit of this approach is that it has stimulated a uniquely thorough and fair ethnography. The cost of this approach is its narrow focus on government and "subjects"--there is no independent assessment of how well the forests are actually doing. One wishes for a biologist's input. Still, any success story, even relative, is welcome these days, and this book will be very useful to anyone interested in comanagement of resources or resource conservation in general. We simply have to involve local people and respect their needs, in every conservation project, and this book is notably good at detailing one way a governmental system actually did that.

Arun Agrawal's book offers a fresh approach to consider how subjectivities change, particularly in terms of how environmentalism happens at an individual and social level. Agrawal borrows from a number of different fields, including anthropology and history, to pursue these questions. His approach differs from several dominant schools that address these issues. One group of scholars, when talking about rural citizens in developing countries, assume that their needs are primarily material and antagonistic to any sense of long-term environmental care. "Environmentalist sensibilities don't make any sense unless their bellies are full" they say. Another group of scholars argues that rural women, because they rely on natural resources for their familiy's daily needs, are actually quite environmentally minded.

Agrawal does not follow either of these approaches, and questions a number of their premises. To carry out his inquiry, Agrawal examines a region in India that was famous for its resistance to British forest protection during the colonial era. This area resisted British authority by lighting hundreds of deliberately set fires. Surprisingly, Agrawal now finds that a number of villages are forming their own community-based groups for forest protection, and he seeks to discover what accounts for these changes.

In his explanation, Agrawal draws on Foucauldian and other post-structural thought, but does so in novel ways. He is trying to examine the process of how subjects change over time, and even over the course of one lifetime. His writing is lively and his analysis is sharp. I highly recommend this book for those interested in social change, social theory, environmentalism, and new interdisciplinary approaches.

Rubin was an economic historian and Bolshevik murdered by the Soviet state in the late 1920's during the Stalinist purges.

The terminology is old-fashioned but the ideas are surprising and original. Unlike most interpreters of Marx, Rubin actually extends and clarifies Marx's theory of economic value. He explains how Marx's theory of value is essentially concerned with how markets allocate the total available labour of a society to different productive activities. Rubin examines the dynamic, causal relationship between labour time and monetized market exchanges. This is a very different point of view compared to most post-war interpretations of Marx's economic theory. Rubin's book is required reading for anyone who seriously wants to understand Marx's theory of value, and is an undisputed classic of Marxist political economy.

This is the best of the many interpretations of Marx's political economy. It may not be for beginners, who might want to take a look at Perlman's "Reproduction of Everyday Life," Ollman's "What is Marxism," and "Alienation," and, perhaps, Rius' "Marx for Beginners." Even Fischer's "How to Read Karl Marx," is an easier start. Marty Glaberman's work is exemplary in many was as well. But sooner or later the serious critic is going to need to encounter the incredible insights of these two. Perlman and Rubin truly grasp the interaction of commodity fetishism and the social relations capital produces--as a source of enlightened hope. Perlman, who died in his early fifties in Detroit, led a life that was guided by the thought his comrade-wife, Loraine, captured in the title of her book about him, "Having little, being much." Perlman hand-made his earlier books on his own press--with a small collective of people. I think he was trying to demonstrate the possible unity of aesthetics, love, community, work, and the struggle for the truth. The introduction of "Essays" alone is worth the candle.

Perlman's "Continuing Appeal of Nationalism," done on the Black and Red Press, is an interesting counterpoint, as is the huge "Against Leviathan."