Retro India
₹350.00
Retro India is, in essence, a trip down the memory lane, meandering through the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties of the twentieth century. Today?s youth would battle with the fact that India had experienced a sweeping change from what it was in just as recently as thirty years ago. What kind of a moribund economy could engender a continuing state of shortages, high inflation, low growth, a paucity of jobs, rampant smuggling, and a foreign exchange situation that was perpetually perilous! It took major political and economical transformations to remove the shackles that then bound the economy. This narrative provides a clear bridge between the then and now for the younger generations. And for the older reader, it provides a heap of nostalgia. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the changes in India have been vast and comprehensive. In these decades, economic indicators such as India?s growth in GDP rate, the proliferation of the number of Airlines in the Indian skies, the multiplying of car models, the flourishing of telephone connections and moving on to the world of mobiles, televisions going colour from black and white to operating with over a thousand channels, India turning digital, and so on clearly directs that India had taken a crucial turn in its history. India has changed. And how! The Indian consumer grins. This is notwithstanding the fact that poverty is endemic and the gulf between the rich and the poor
Categories: | Biographies/Memoirs, General Interest |
---|
Author | |
---|---|
Format |
Related products
-
Pot of Butter and other short stories by Sunanda Belgaumkar
Pot of Butter and other Short Stories is a collection of nine short stories, originally composed by Sunanda Belgaumkar in Kannada, handpicked and translated from her collections ? Kajjaya and Koduvudenu Kombudenu. The bulk of her literary work including the stories in this book are inspired by the experiences in her early life, in the rustic and robust atmosphere of Dharwad. Her stories are predominantly semiautobiographical, laced with a liberal dose of artistic freedom.
This collection weaves together her writings on the underprivileged and marginalized as seen from the comfort of her palatial home, but rendered with compassion and empathy. Often, we find her narrative infused with self-directed questions such as, ?What if I was in her shoes?? or ?Could that have been me?? These stories are reflections on human nature, suffering, and destiny. There is hope, there is despair. There is love, there is longing. There is defeat, and there is triumph. In her stories, an oft-recurring metaphor for picking up one?s life after loss is a scorching summer followed by a torrential downpour and subsequently a plant springing to life.
As a translation, this book attempts to introduce Sunanda Belgaumkar?s literary and artistic creations to the non-Kannada reader, retaining as much of the indigenous elements of the original writings as possible. In doing so, it seeks to preserve the cultural climate of North Karnataka as it was around fifty years ago.
-
The Practice of Geopolitics
Intended to be a Practioner?s Guide to Geopolitics, the book provides a look into the thought processes that generate correct and timely analysis of global events. Geopolitics needs to weave within its analytical grasp economics, society, strategy and even culture, as the science deals with overall national capabilities as well as the mutal synergy and frictions between nations. Although a broad range of subjects has been covered in the book, each is anchored in the ground reality of events having a profound impact on the lives of citizens and on world events. The growing interconnectedness of the globe has resulted in a need to do away with the popular west centric models of international relations and to view events not through that single prism but from a holistic viewpoint that accepts the relevance and maturity of different histories and geographies. What the book provides is an alternativeWeltanschauung to the dominant models of geopolitical analysis, so that the science is enabled to cross beyond the narrow boundaries which have confined. The scope and applicability of its analysis. The rise of Asia needs a geopolitical vision unique to the continent, and this is what has been provided by Professor Nalapat.
-
Comets – Nomads of the Solar System
This book introduces the general reader to the world of comets – those celestial visitors from the outer Solar System that occasionally visit the Earth’s neighbourhood and put up spectacular shows in the night sky. The world had geared up for just such a show at the end of 2013, when Comet ISON was expected to light up the night sky. Using the occasion to bring the world of comets to those interested, this book is a delightful read about the quirky world of these unpredictable visitors. Apart from lucidly and accurately updating the reader about what comets are, where they come from, why is it that they assume the fantastic shapes they do etc. “Comets” also regales the reader with myths about comets in various cultural contexts, snippets about famous comets in the history of mankind, anecdotes on comet discoveries and discoverers, the bewildering procedures followed while naming comets and much more. The book takes a hard look at the hype surrounding the fiery expectations about Comet ISON an cautions the reader that, while there was a good chance of the comet blazing forth in the skies of December 2013, there was a realistic chance that the comet would not survive its close encounter with the Sun. Sadly, the pessimistic predictions came true and the comet disintegrated as it went around the Sun. As we wait for chance to throw us a Great Comet to gaze at in the future, “Comets: Nomads of the Solar System” is an excellent guide to prepare for the event!
Interested customers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
The Other Face
Author: Na Mogasale Translator: N T Bhat
Set in a fictitious village called Kanthapura in Kasaragod district, Mukhāntara spans across the life of seven generations of a Havyaka Brahmin family. A story about the realities of living in a society marked by caste distinctions, the desire to find communal harmony and the tribulations of the characters through the entirety of the novel, it is also a tale of changing times and people. After unexpectedly coming into possession of a huge portion of land, Thirumalēshwara Bhat of Īshwarīmūle becomes a satisfied man. But childless, Thirumalēshwara Bhat and his wife Pārvathakka decide to adopt Venkappaiah and also give shelter to his widowed mother, Rathnamma. Venkappaiah is to inherit Thirumalēshwara’s vast wealth but when Krishnaiah, the illegitimate child of Thirumalēshwara and Rathnamma is born, rivalry ensues. Through the overlapping narratives of the characters, we get a glimpse into their journey from tradition to modernity. The characters strive to reshape new values when old values are slowly questioned and erased as they move on and are swept along in the waves of globalization.
Also available on
eBook available on
-
The Noblest Fallen: Making and Unmaking of Bhagat Singh’s Political Thought
The Noblest Fallen: Making and Unmaking of Bhagat Singh?s Political Thought puts forth a different approach to the politics of India?s quintessential revolutionary, Bhagat Singh, by probing into his constantly evolving revolutionary rhetoric and interrogating the various shifts in his ideological framework over the years. This book also attempts to understand how it was possible for Bhagat Singh to evolve and change when revolution often necessitated political actions, which were at many times considered violent and by extension immutable, by close reading the corpus of writings left behind by Bhagat Singh after his death.
-
Vaidehi Kathana
Vaidehi Kathana is the first full-length literary critical study of the fictional, non fictional and poetic narratives of Vaidehi, who is considered to be one of the most celebrated contemporary Indian writers in Kannada. This work reviews, introduces, discusses and interprets all the writings of Vaidehi, which include short stories, poems, essays and a novel. The book examines how this great Indian writer has been reacting and responding to her time and space for the last four decades. The book shows how Vaidehi?s poetics has so subtly blended with her politics thereby creating some of the outstanding masterpieces in poetry and fiction of our times. The book discusses the special features of Vaidehi?s feminist perspectives as well as the uniqueness of her narrative skills. Arguing that Vaidehi?s spiritual triumph is demonstrated in her technical triumph, the book draws the attention of the non-Kannada readers to the entire body of Vaidehi?s writings. Lucidly translated into English by the noted translator O L Nagabhushana Swamy, T P Ashoka?s Vaidehi Kathana provides a meaningful opportunity for the non-Kannada readers to familiarize themselves with one of the greatest contemporary writers of India. T P Ashoka?s Vaidehi Kathana is a significant contribution to modern Indian literary criticism. The book provides an interesting reading not only to the students of literature, researchers and teachers but also appeals to the general readers.
-
Bamonn
Konkani Roman Catholic Christians were converted from other groups by Goan Missionaries long back, keeping the caste system tradition to a large extent in layers such as the Bamonn, the Charodi, the Gawdi, the Nendar, the Shudra, etc. At the time of marriages and other social gatherings they continue to consider caste system norms and customs in the community. Caste system in Indian Christians is vividly described in the novel Bamonn. Christopher Pai of Kalyanpura hails from a Bamonn family and takes great pride in his ancestry. He believes in the stories about his Konkani Roman Catholic ancestors from his elders and about their being true Christians, holding on to their faith despite tremendous pressure to convert to Islam during Tipu Sultan?s regime. He also believes Bamonns are superior to other Christians in the community. After retiring from his job of a Headmaster, he refuels his obsession to retrace his roots and find out the truth about his ancestors. In his journey of self-assurance and faith, will he succeed in his mission to convince his family, his children and the community at large of his glorious ancestry and in still pride in the next generation? . . .
-
Defiance
Defiance is a captivating tale of the march of globalization and its impact on the lives and times of the Santher Guthu family in Ombathkere, a village located between Mangaluru and Kasaragodu. Set in the picturesque Malabar coast of Karnataka in the late 20th Century, the novel takes the reader through four generations of the family. Ambakke, the protagonist, along with her brother Sankappa Hegde, the third-generation descendants of the family form the lifeblood of this story of human relationships in the midst of time and change. The novel is born out of deep contemplation of a community in the face of transition. There is anxiety that grips this part of Karnataka in the wake of modernity. The vast canvas of the novel and the depiction of folk culture provides a unique touch to the saga of the community. Defiance is a novel about traditions and the fear of losing out to modernity. It is about change and the desire to remain rooted.