Anjana Basu

Anjana Basu

Editor

  • Book Review: ‘Sim Sim’ By Geet Chaturvedi

    The book was originally a long poem which then became a novel and shards of poetry linger from the original text while the book’s philosophies of completeness and incompleteness were taken from the Upanishads.

    BY Anjana Basu 21 May 2023

    Photo: Getty Images
  • Book Review: Aruna Chakravarti’s ‘The Mendicant Prince’

    In ‘The Mendicant Prince’ on the Prince of Bhawal, Aruna Chakravarti cites various instances as to why the sanyasi was most certainly the prince, including a dramatic moment in the middle of a thunderstorm when he is recognised by his favourite elephant Phoolmala, who lifts him on its back and rises on its hind legs in a royal salute.

    BY Anjana Basu 6 May 2023

    Kumar Ramendra Narayan Roy, the prince of Bhawal
  • Review: The Book of Desire

    The book has been debated by Indologists over time and Kamil Zvelebil, the Czech expert on Tamil literature is of the opinion that this is the most fluid of Valluvar’s books, the others dealt with various teachings and social mores since the mentor steps aside to lose himself in the pleasures of love.

    BY Anjana Basu 18 March 2023

    Beats of classical rhythm
  • Book Review: ‘The Half Known Life’ Is The Life’s Struggle To Find Paradise On Earth

    ‘The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise’ is a combination of musings, travels back in time, and actual wandering. It goes back and forth in time, drawing on Pico Iyer’s travels with his Japanese wife or the inspiration of his flamboyant friend Nicolas. While each place may be a paradise of sorts, the book is a counterpoint of the various shades of spirituality and the unlikely combinations those throw up.

    BY Anjana Basu 12 March 2023

    Pico Iyer opens The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise with his wanderings in Iran. Since Persia gave the world that very specific word for the kind of heavenly bliss only found in a garden, Iran is obviously the best place to start.
  • Book Review: If I Could Tell You

    Detail by detail the narrator takes us through his daughter’s school going, the tension of entrance interviews and all the things that anxious parents are aware of. That is when the book comes to life, the love of Oishi and her small world. The narrator covers the family things, a holiday with his wife, and their very Satyajit Ray-like meeting which led to love and marriage.

    BY Anjana Basu 26 February 2023

    Are writers weak on the whole and determined to persevere on their chosen path against all odds?
  • Book Review: Attribution Before The Storm

    The book takes its title from verses by Qadir Baksh a lesser-known Urdu poet who wrote under the takhallus ‘Sabir’ and who referred to the number of houses that the British razed in Delhi, making Liddle’s account of the time a broken script indeed.  

    BY Anjana Basu 18 February 2023

    An old-Delhi view.
  • Zikr: In The Light And Shade Of Time

    Like all creative people Muzaffar Ali spends his time picking up new details. Learning he writes is a lifelong pursuit, and the search for knowledge should ultimately lead one to 'truth.' This philosophy is something he picked up from the Sufi sages and which is followed throughout the pages of his autobiography 'Zikr'.

    BY Anjana Basu 4 February 2023

    Director Muzaffar Ali filmed at his home in Kotwara near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

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