I have three book reviews to complete and I hope to have them done by the end of the year. The books are: Betsy Karel's Bombay Jadoo, Mahesh Bhat's Unsung and Steve Raymer's Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora.
Please click the links to find out more and to buy the books.
Here, I have mentioned Aaron Johnson's What The Duck comic strip before. It pokes fun at photographers, clients and everything and everyone in between. It's good for a good laugh and as a comic strip nut, I have to buy his new book, The Rule Of Nerds (a take on rule of thirds, for the uninitiated) before the year is out. It covers his first year's comic strips. Check it out and buy yourself a copy. This Thanksgiving, give yourself a chuckle or two. You can thank me later.
If you are a photographer, a serious one and in business, don't walk but run to buy John Harrington's book Best Business Practices for Photographers. I just got it in the mail yesterday and am devouring it.
Also check out Harrington's blog, Photo Business News & Forum. Bookmark it fellow photographers!
With the wedding season waning, I have a little more time on my hands now to catch up on all my reading.
I received a copy of Upamanyu Chatterjee's book English, August a couple of months back and I have not been able to put it down. First published in 1988, according to Akhil Sharma who introduces the book, English, August was widely appreciated for, well, its honesty and humor. The story is about Agastya [or August] and his coming of age in the Indian Administrative Service. [no small feat]
When the whole world has decided to turn inward and become all so serious, a book like English, August comes along that says, “hey, it's ok to laugh at the system.”
The book has been republished here by the New York Review of Books and is available at all your favorite book stores.
I have two extra signed copies off Alive & Clicking, a memoir by the legendary Indian photojournalist T. S. Satyan.
Want one? Write to me. Send me a link to a photographer's site I should feature here but haven't yet mentioned. I'll pick two winners and mail them the books [in the US or Canada only please].
This book isn't, to my knowledge, available in the US or Canada. It's a terrific read about how a photojournalist from Mysore made a name for himself in India.
UPDATE: Stephen Voss, a Washington, DC based photojournalist has won the first copy of T.S. Satyan's memoir by sending me Jan Grarup's dark and brooding website, Shadowland.
UPDATE: Loki Muthuramalingam has won the second copy of T. S. Satyan's memoir by pointing me to Dr. Vivek M. Vivek, to the utter chagrin of his parents decided to give up medicine in favor of photography! The good doctor happens to coordinate a "photo enthusiast community" in Bangalore which has its own Flickr page here. Loki is no slouch. Check out his own amazing work here.
Gita Mehta author of several bestselling books, including Karma Cola, Raj, A River Sutra, and Snakes and Ladders will be discussing her new book, Eternal Ganesha at the Rubin Museum of Art today.
The event starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18. If you are a SAJA member you get 10% off. The museum is located at 150 West 17th Street, New York City. If you are still lost, call 212.620.5000 ext. 344.
Author Gita Mehta & RMA curator Kathryn Selig Brown discuss the most beloved deity in the Hindu pantheon, Ganesha, bringer of wealth, well-being, and luck.
Back in February, I posted here about Shana Dressler's discovery of Ganesha.
Scott Kelby's books are legendary for their simplicity, their wit and their quality. Look in your bookshelves right now and if you are a photographer, graphic designer or someone in between those two professions you are likely to own at least one Scott Kelby book. Now you can own more. Kelby has a new website with all his books listed in one place.
Angélique who won one of the copies of The Space Between Us that I was giving away has written in with a short review here. For the longer review visit her terrific site. I have one more copy of the book left. If you want it, follow these instructions. I'll randomly choose one lucky person to receive the book.
The Review:
A truly beautiful, but haunting, story about two women in India. One of them, Sera Dubash, is a well-to-do Parsi lady and mistress of a household; the other is her servant Bhima who is a poor Hindu woman who has been in Sera's employment for 20 years. These are two women from vastly differing lifestyles whose lives become intertwined.
Although this book can at times read like a social commentary on the haves and the have-nots of Bombay, the caste system and the power that wealth and education can wield in a country where so many people are poor and illiterate, it would be unfair to limit it to that because it is so much more! It's a poignant and touching book about relationships and relating - master to servant; daughters and mothers; husbands with wives and, best of all - friendships between women (despite hailing from different worlds, the two main characters, Sera and Bhima, developed a friendship based not only on their gender but also on a familiarity that enabled them to share a lot of secrets and tragedies)
The characters are just wonderful - flawed but endearing all the same. I loved both Bhima and Sera and while it might be tempting to love (or maybe at least pity) Bhima more for being poor, one sees that even the poor are not exempt from heaping their own prejudices on their fellow men.
While this story may have been set in the big bad city of Bombay, the city famous for its slums and equally famous for its flamboyant Bollywood stars and its filthy rich industrialists, the questions it raises in no way limit it to any one geographical setting because they are universal in nature. It asks: in a situation of conflict, what must come first, blood (family) or friendship? Is loyalty a more valued virtue or is truthfulness? Must the rich always win? Must the poor always lose?
Besides writing a beautiful story, Thrity Umrigar has also given us some wonderful glimpses into the city of Bombay and its people. The scenes depicting the daily struggles of Bombay’s poor - the queue for the communal toilet in the slums and the dismal government hospitals, as well as the atmospheric Chowpathy beach scenes - are by far the strongest. I also love her insights into the fascinating and endearing Parsi community of Bombay and the way she incorporates Indian speech patterns when her characters, especially Bhima, have something to say. I would dearly love to listen to an audio version of this book when they have one.
Not since Rohinton Mistry's “A Fine Balance” have I read such a wonderful novel set in the sub-continent. Highly recommended!
[This blog post is sponsored by Seshu's Pipal Productions – Wedding Photojournalism: Elegant. Memorable. Real.]
Announcing the third and fourth Bliss Book Offer winners. Waqim, from Surrey in British Columbia and Ruchita in Gurgaon, India, have won the third and fourth copies of The Space Between Us, Thrity Umrigar's new novel.
Two more copies of the book to go. Simply follow the directions and you too could win a copy of Umrigar's book [valued at $24.95].
Announcing the second Bliss Book Offer winner. Zin, from Minneapolis, has won the second copy of The Space Between Us, Thrity Umrigar's new novel.
Four more copies of the book to go. Simply follow the directions and you too could win a copy of Umrigar's book [valued at $24.95].
I heard from a faithful reader of this blog today that my instructions for receiving Thrity Umrigar's novel The Space Between Us was, well, a bit ambiguous.
So, let me set the record straight. To qualify for the giveaway:
1) Go check out my new wedding photojournalism blog called bliss
2) Sign up to subscribe to the Feedblitz feed on that site - you will see the subscription form on the right hand side [yes, you may unsubscribe after this contest if you wish]
3) Confirm your subscription - you will receive an automatic email from Feedblitz asking if you really want to sign up for bliss
4) Email me your name, address, telephone number from your email account. The email address you should send me this info to is - tiffinbox [at] pipalproductions [dot] com. Subject line should read: “Tiffinbooks Offer: Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us.”
5) I'll verify that you have indeed subscribed to bliss and will put your name in a hat with others
6) One randomly chosen name will be the recipient of one copy of the book. Once you win, your name will be removed from the hat. To remain in the contest through the next seven weeks you have to remain subscribed to bliss.
Simple, right? So, good luck.
Please note: All names and contact information will be kept confidential and will not be sold, rented or bartered away. I take your time and privacy very seriously. I hate getting spammed and I hate spammers too. The information you provide me will be used to send you the book, should you win. You may also occasionally receive information about my photographic projects. You are free to unsubscribe from my mailing list(s) at any time.
I have six books left, now that Zehra Khan has laid claim to the first giveaway of the week. Thanks for playing Zehra.
Technorati Tags: bliss, books, contest, Pipal Productions
[This blog post is sponsored by Seshu's Pipal Productions – Wedding Photojournalism: Elegant. Memorable. Real.]
I have received 7 copies of “The Space Between Us , a novel by Thrity Umrigar.
I am giving them all away here, one a week for the next seven weeks. Here is how you can win a copy. Go to my wedding photojournalism blog - bliss - and subscribe to it. Once you are signed on through Feedblitz, send me an email at tiffinbox [at] pipalproductions [dot] com, with your name, address and telephone number. If you really want this book, all of that information should be real. Entries without all of the required information will be tossed out. The subject line of your email should be ”Tiffinbooks Offer: Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us.“
I will be checking for sure if you have signed on with bliss. You are welcome to unsubscribe to that feed whenever you wish, but I hope you will continue receiving updates from that blog as well.
At the end of each week, typically on a Thursday, I'll randomly choose one winner among those who signed up. I'll post the name (and nothing else) of the winner here each week. Please do not send me an email asking if you won. If I have an email address, but no email from you, I can't send you the book.
Good luck and welcome to bliss.
A journalist for seventeen years, Thrity Umrigar has written for the Washington Post, the Plain Dealer, and other national newspapers, andcontributes regularly to the Boston Globe's book pages. She teaches creative writing and literature at Case Western Reserve University. The author of the novel Bombay Time and the memoir First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood, she was a winner of the Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University. She has a Ph.D. in English and lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
{A Conversation With Thrity Umrigar}
Tell us a little bit about your growing up years.
Well, I was born in Bombay and lived there until I was 21, when I came to the U.S. I was raised in a joint family, which meant I grew up around very loving aunts and uncles. And since I was an only child, it helped to have all those extra adults in my life, for love and guidance. I've always had many sets of parents and even today, have a knack for “adopting” parents.
What do you remember most about growing up in Bombay?
I have two overriding childhood memories or impressions: One, was always being excruciating aware of the poverty around me. Now, as a middle-class kid, you're not supposed to be that aware of--or certainly not supposed to be tortured by--the poverty around you. It's a defense mechanism of sorts, to be able to ignore it. For whatever reason, I was never able to ignore it and to some extent, it really affected my childhood, made me a hypersensitive child.
Two, I always wrote. Writing was my way to make sense of the world outside and inside my home. Despite the recollections of the adults in my life, I don't think I was a terribly articulate child. Writing was a way to give wings to the inchoate emotions and feelings inside of me.
When did you know you were a writer?
Well, I was writing poems at a very young age. As a child, I would write 'anonymous' poems to my parents whenever I felt wronged by them and then secretly pin them on their closet door. So I learned early on that writing was a good way to get rid of pent-up feelings.
All through my teen years I wrote poetry and short stories and essays. I think I knew I was a writer--not that I was necessarily a good writer, just that I was a writer--one evening when I was 14 or so. I remember sitting in my living room and writing this long poem called The Old Man that came out of me as if someone was dictating it. It was a terribly sappy poem but I felt compelled to write it and when I was done, I was exhausted but I knew something about myself that I didn't before.
Why did you decide to come to the U.S.?
I've never had an easy answer to that question. In some sense, my whole life prepared me for moving to the U.S. I was a product of an educational system that was very colonial and very Western in its orientation. I still remember my fourth-grade composition teacher telling the class not to create characters who were blond and blue-eyed.
Her statement came as a shock because that was all we knew, you know?
When I was a child, I read everything ever written by the British children's writer Enid Blyton and later, the Billy Bunter and William series of novels. And as I got older, all I was reading was Western literature. American pop culture was a big influence, also. I mean, until I picked up Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, I had hardly ever read a novel by an Indian writer. Rushdie was a revelation for me. So that's the “sociological” answer. But of course, there were also a hundred personal reasons--wanting to travel, wanting an adventure, wanting to be independent, wanting to get away from certain aspects of my life, not knowing what the heck to do with myself after I'd finished college. I remember the day when it occurred to me very clearly that if I lived in India, I would never be totally independent and would never discover who exactly I was as a person. I wanted to live in a place where I would rise or fall based on my own efforts and talents. And I was very lucky to have a father, who, despite his immense sadness at having me so far away from home, always encouraged me to reach for my dreams and never held me back. . . But I'm not even sure it was this complicated. Remember, I was 21. Weird as it may sound, not much thought went into it.
So you came to Ohio State? Why Ohio State?
Well, that's a funny story. It's indicative of how so many major decisions in my life have been made. I was sitting in my living room in Bombay, checking off a list of American universities that offered a M.A. in journalism, when my eyes fell on “Ohio State University.” There was a Joan Baez record playing on the turntable and right then, her song, Banks of the Ohio, came on. I looked up and thought, “It's a sign.”
Hmmm. Well, I hope the experience there was worth it.
Oh, OSU was a blast. Two of the happiest years of my life. Within days of being there, I made friendships that have lasted till today. Those two years taught me that one can make new families at any point in one's life. I had such positive experiences there that it made me want to live in the U.S. forever. That one line in Bombay Time, where Jimmy Kanga feels like he loved Oxford so much he felt he could've gone to war for it, that's what it used to feel like to me. I'll always be grateful.
After OSU, I worked for two years at the Lorain Journal, a small but feisty little paper near Cleveland. It was a grueling experience, long hours, all that, but when I left there, I knew I could tackle anything that daily journalism threw my way.
So you came to the Akron Beacon Journal when?
In 1987. The Beacon had the reputation of being a real writer's paper and had just won yet another Pulitzer. It was a great paper to work at. Still is.
Who are your favorite authors?
I draw inspiration from everywhere. I'm one of those people who even reads cereal boxes. But my favorite authors are Salman Rushdie (I recently re-read Midnight's Children and wept in awe and gratitude), Toni Morrison and Jamaica Kincaid. But influence is a hard thing to account for--I think Bob Dylan and Emily Dickinson have probably influenced my writing--in terms of making me crazy about words--as much as anybody.
THE SPACE BETWEEN US by Thrity Umrigar
Publication Date: January 10, 2006
Price: $24.95
William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora in Children's Literature is a terrific resource by writer/editor/children's literature junkie Pooja Makhijani to provide educators, librarians, and parents an overview of representations of South Asia and the South Asian diaspora in children's literature and tools to select books for their classrooms and communities.
For once, I am getting ahead of myself. The October Tiffinbooks selection is For Ganesh, Remover of Obstacles, by Sujoya Roy.
Here is a blurb about it:
At the heart of “Ganesh” is a daughter's quest to uncover her mother’s concealed past. The novel explores the challenges faced by an independent spirit breaking from the rigidity of an ancient culture; the customs that bind families; and the sometimes painful clashes between generations -- in this case a mother’s perplexing devotion to tradition versus her daughter’s questioning, modernist ways. Narrated by a contemporary New Yorker of Indian descent, “Ganesh” spans decades and continents, traversing the rise of Gandhi in India, through post-colonialist England into segregated 1950s America. Blending memoir and fiction, the narrative alternates between the current-day, “yuppie” life of a discontented daughter disillusioned with corporate America and the enticing story she discovers of her mother’s extraordinary past as a devotional dancer who defied her family to pursue her dreams.
Incorporating a modern romance and the fanciful love stories of Indian mythology, the story draws on Bharatanatyam, an exotic Indian dance form, as an illuminative subtext to gently decipher a mother, who despite courageous and pioneering accomplishments, fights ghosts that never leave her. What caused a mother to mysteriously escape a prearranged marriage, shirking her duty to her parents? How did she become the first woman at Princeton University? Why does she so guardedly conceal her history? And is her daughter destined to follow in her mother’s rebellious footsteps? In uncovering her mother’s story a daughter is freed of the burdens of expectation, and the vast historical, societal, and cultural disparities that cause conflict between generations are ultimately bridged by recognition of a common spirit.
If you know of other South Asian-American writers or you are a South Asian writer, please contact me at tiffinbooks [at] pipalproductions [dot] com. I would be thrilled to plug your published work here. No charge, except for a review copy for my ever expanding library.
Yeah, didn't have a selection for August. But Tiffinbooks is back. This month we are highlighting Mary Anne Mohanraj's book, Bodies in Motion. Buy it, read it, love it.
Also, on September 9, Breakthrough presents a performance celebrating Bodies in Motion. Click this link to find out more.
This month's Tiffinbooks selection is an anthology edited by Shyam Selvadurai called Story-Wallah: Short Fiction from South Asian WritersLook in the right hand column of this page to find and order it!
Late. Late. Late. Sorry, I am posting this update to the Tiffinbooks selection this month only now.
Shashi Tharoor's new book, “Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections On Writing and Writers” is the Tiffinbook of the month.
Rubin Museum of Art and Indo-American Arts Council also invite you to a reception and book signing by Shashi Tharoor on June 28, 2005 from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. The venue is the museum, located at 150 West 17th Street. Tharoor will read from his book starting around 7 p.m. You must RSVP by calling 212-529-2347 or emailing IAAC at the following address: iaac[at]iaac[dot]us.
It's that time of the month again when I shift gears and introduce you to a new book. This month, on this site, I'll be showcasing Kamil Shamsie's new book, Broken Verses.
“Combining the personal with the political, Broken Verses is a thrilling journey through the sights and sounds of modern-day Pakistan, a carefully coded mystery, and an emotionally charged mother-daughter story that asks how we forgive a mother who leaves.”Coincidentally, the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) is presenting a book reading by Kamila Shamsie on Friday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m., at Barnes & Noble, Astor Place, New York City. If you are in the city, please attend the reading.
Time to swap the book out of Tiffinbooks. Thanks to Pooja Makhijani for allowing me to post her book on this site from March 15 to today.
For the next month, I'll feature Suketu Mehta's book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. It has received rave reviews and has been short-listed for several illustrious prizes, including the Pulitzer. Mehta recently won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for this book.
I do hope you will buy, read and enjoy the book. If Suketu's break-neck schedule has eased up, I am going to do my best to invite him for an online interview. I'll keep you posted on any developments on this.
Each year, The Asian American Writers' Workshop honors outstanding achievement in Asian American literature through the Annual Asian American Literary Awards. Now in their eighth year, the literary awards are again taking submissions for eligible works in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.
The postmark deadline for submitting work is Friday, April 22, 2004. Please read through the guidelines below to see if your work is eligible.
Books may be nominated by literary agents, publicists, or authors. All entries must be accompanied by an application form. To download an application, please check this page.
To find out more about the literary awards, visit the AAWW website.
Amitava Kumar reads from Husband of a Fanatic on Thursday, March 17, 7PM @ The Asian American Writers' Workshop, 16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A, (between 5th Ave & Broadway), New York City.
“In Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey Through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate (The New Press, 2005), Amitava Kumar examines the Hindu-Muslim conflict in South Asia: hatreds and intimacies joining Indians and Pakistanis, Hindus and Muslims, fundamentalists and secularists, writers and rioters. With a poet’s eye for detail, Kumar draws a map of violence, moving from the wars and nuclear rivalry dividing two nation-states to the more blurred relationship between two religions and their adherents.”
Amitava Kumar is the author of Passport Photos (U of California Press, 2000) and Bombay-London-New York (Routledge, 2002) and the editor of the anthology, Away: The Indian Writer as Expatriate (2003). His writing has appeared in The Nation, Harper’s, and the Times of India, among others. Kumar is the scriptwriter and narrator of the prize-winning documentary film, Pure Chutney.
The event is cosponsored by The New Press, South Asian Journalists Association, and NYU’s Asian / Pacific / American Studies Program & Institute.
For more information, contact the Workshop at 212-494-0061 or visit the AAWW site.
Ok, this is going to sound like a plug for Amazon. Trust me, it is not. I just think Amazon Prime, the new program Amazon launched, may actually save you some money over the long run. If you buy books, dvd's or anything else that Amazon is attempting to push, the $79 a year charge isn't all that bad. Again, you have to rationalize the upfront fee and calculate how many items shipped in two days will get you to break even. I say eight purchases (of whatever) will be my break-even point. Over the course of the last year, though, I think I bought only four books through Amazon. And given that they were all over $25, the shipping was free anyway. I hope Amazon isn't thinking of ending that option in favor of this new program.
Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America is a book that Pooja Makhijani edited and Seal Press published recently.
The blurb from the publicist reads thus:
“This astounding collection explores racial awakening with a delicate clarity reminiscent of the innocent, yet stark narration of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. Including the perspectives of women of color, white women, and those caught between two worlds, Under Her Skin traces themes related to double lives, fear, envy, lineage, and family, expanding the often painful exploration of difference. Essays include the reflections of a woman whose girlhood is spent deciphering levels of oppression.from her Jewish family's past and internment in Nazi camps to her own spiteful treatment of their African-American maids; brutal memories of ”Beat the Buddha Day,“ - a tradition of schoolyard violence that transfers discrimination from one group to another; and an unexpected contrast in how one childhood racial incident is recalled by two women, both challenging and complicating the notion of ”victim“! The first book of its kind to include the impact of racial awareness on women of all colors, Under Her Skin embodies a vital and unique contribution to the national discussion on race.”Pooja Makhijani and many of the contributors of Under Her Skin will be reading in New York City, San Francisco, Berkeley, Boston and DC in the months of January, February and March. Check out the complete schedule here.
Pooja Makhijani is an essayist, journalist and writer of children's literature. Her bylines have appeared in in The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Newark Star-Ledger, The Indian Express, Time Out New York, NY ARTS Magazine India Today and Time Out New York Kids among others. Her first picture book, Mama's Saris, is forthcoming from Little, Brown & Company Books for Young Readers. Currently at work on a collection of essays, she lives with her husband in New York City.
I do hope you will check this book out and also attend one of the many book readings across the country. Some day I just might tell you about my experiences as an immigrant; this notion of “difference” was pounded into me as an adolescent. I am not terribly sure if it has stuck, though. We all have a variety of positive and negative experiences and somehow we make the choice of clinging to either or both and making the best of it. I would welcome a discussion here on how you have approached this topic. How has your identity been defined? Is it based on “sameness” or “difference”?
Via Tamina Davar
Screenwriter and photographer Sooni Taraporevala has launched a much awaited second edition of her popular book “Parsis - the Zoroastrians of India”. Taraporevala is known for her work on movies such as Such A Long Journey, My Own Country and Salaam Bombay, all graphically rich features. She is currently working with director Mira Nair on an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's book, The Namesake.
"A twenty-four year labor of love, PARSIS is the first visual documentation of India's Parsi community, followers of the world‚s first prophet Zarathustra, and the oldest monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism. Professional photographer and award-winning screenwriter Taraporevala offers a rare insider's view of how the Parsis, whose ancestors sailed from Persia to India over 1,000 years ago to save their religion from persecution, survive today as a religious and ethnic minority of India.
UNESCO recently celebrated 3,000 years of Zoroastrianism, once the religion of the Persian Empires. Greatly influencing other major religions, Zoroastrianism‚s followers once numbered in the millions. Today Zoroastrians worldwide - including Parsis - are thought to be on the verge of extinction. Yet the community has produced many leaders and artists, include world-renowned conductor Zubin Mehta; the late rock legend Freddy Mercury; and award-winning author Rohinton Mistry, who are documented in the book. The first edition, published in 2000 in India, sold out within several months. Taraporevala's photographs - and written essays and interviews - offer a vivid window into this community of intense contradictions and continuing endurance."
The book is on sale at Amazon.com and the Asia Society. Please support this wonderful project.
Chitra Divakaruni wrote in saying that her latest book Queen Of Dreams has been chosen as Barnes & Noble's online book choice for November. She invites you to be a part of “spirited book club discussion” on the Barnes & Noble website.
Anyone read this book yet? I am still working on Suketu Mehta's book.
Please refrain from calling me a slow poke.
The door bell rang a few minutes back. UPS had a package for me. The kind folks at Alfred A. Knopf had sent me a review copy of Suketu Mehta's new book – Maximum City. I can't wait to get into it.
Coincidentally, a few weeks ago, Penguin Books India, mailed me a copy of Bombay, meri jaan, writings on Mumbai. Edited by Jerry Pinto and Naresh Fernandes, the book contains short articles by the usual suspects: Pico Iyer, Salman Rushdie, V. S. Naipaul, Paul Theroux and Khuswant Singh. But it has a few surprises in Sunil Gavaskar and Duke Ellington.
I'll have a review of both books here as soon [Warning: I am one heckuva slow reader!]
Oh, great Robert James Waller who sold 12 million copies of an extremely trite story about a National Geographic photographer finding love in Iowa has now signed a "seven-figure deal for two new novels."
Please tell me it isn't for a sequel to that atrocious novella, The Bridges of Madison County.
Via Laura Taflinger
Project IMPACT, Philadelphia, is proud to present its first South Asian literary event, In Ink: A Celebration of South Asian Writing on Saturday, October 23, 2004 at The School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, Meyerson Hall 210 South 34th Street, Philadelphia. PA.
Keynote Speaker: Shashi Tharoor at 9:00 a.m.
In Ink promises to create a dynamic forum in which participants can engage in discussions with a diverse group of extraordinary South Asian writers. Participants will interact through panel discussions and book readings highlighting Diaspora literature. This all day event begins at 9:00 a.m. The registration fee is $25.00 for adults and $15.00 for students. This includes access to the keynote address, all panels and readings, and a full lunch. Go here.
Participating Authors:
Meena Alexander
Asra Nomani
Samina Ali
Vijay Prashad
Anjana Appachana
Shona Ramaya
Carmit Delman
Bapsi Sidhwa
Zia Jaffrey
Rajini Srikanth
S. Mitra Kalita
Tahira Naqvi
Shashi Tharoor
Pireeni Sundaralingam
Maryann Mohanraj
Indu Sundaresen
For more information, please contact Anita Thakkar at (215) 545-5039 and or Julie Rajan at (215) 266-8022.
The Asian American Writers' Workshop announced today that Vijay Vaitheeswaran is one of the three winners of The Seventh Annual Asian American Literary Awards.
From Vaitheeswaran's web site: "Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran is The Economist’s Environment and Energy Correspondent, covering developments in politics, economics, business, and technology as they relate to energy issues."
Vaitheeswaran's book Power to the People discusses the coming environmental revolution and claims that it is larger than the Internt revolution.
A ceremony honoring Vaitheeswaran and the other winners will take place on Monday, December 6, 7PM @ The Asia Society, 70th/Park Ave, New York City.
The Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia will host Photography Speaks, from September 4, 2004 through February 27, 2005.
The show which is named after Photography Speaks and Photography Speaks II, two amazing books that you must have in your possession, will showcase photography by Thomas Struth, Gabriel Orozco, Adolphe Braun, Ilse Bing, and Andre Kertész.
The books are by Brooks Johnson, the Chrysler's curator for photography exhibits. Look for a new book to be published by The Aperture Foundation and The Chrysler Museum also gracing the title - PHOTOGRAPHY SPEAKS.
"Not intended as simply a picture book on the history of photography or on one museum’s collection, the new Photography Speaks follows the same biography-statement-photograph format established in the first book. Each photog¬raph is accompanied on the opposite page by a statement from the artist and a brief biography placing that artist within an historical context. Some of the texts deal with the specific image reproduced, while others take a broader approach, commenting on the art of photography in general. A few texts are technically oriented, and some consider the intricacies of art creation. Taken as a whole, this collection of statements provides a wide range of thinking on photography."
A country or a region's vernacular is a crucial factor in studying its culture. When I arrived in the US, now almost 21 years ago, I had some difficulty understanding high-school banter and they in turn had a beast of a time figuring out my accent and use of the English language. But I was hooked on one thing - slang. "Wicked, awesome." "No, Kidding." "What the f^(&!"
You get my drift (now).
Out in bookstores now is the Hippie Dictionary. It was compiled by John McCleary and published by Berkeley, California based Ten Speed Press. "Far out, man!"
Champa Bilwakesh is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Andover Townsman, INDIA New England and Sawnet.
Her February 1, 2004 article in India New England spoke of South Asian women writers having a "formula" for publishing books that often receive critical acclaim. I am curious to know if women have muses too?
"Can you get arrested for wearing a thong if you’re ugly? Or becoming too familiar with your Halloween pumpkin? Or unknowingly renting a house to drug dealers?This is one book I could have used at Chico State.Welcome to the wonderful world of criminal law. The Street Law Handbook answers all these questions. You might be the straightest arrow in town or the black sheep of your community, but either way, The Street Law Handbook is for you. "
Bharati Mukherjee's new novel, "The Tree Bride" is critiqued by Michiko Kakutani in today's New York Times.
"Ms. Mukherjee's efforts to widen her canvas from the personal to the political, from the private to the historical, result in her most maladroit novel yet."
Don't hold back Michiko!
By Charles R. Larson, Chair, Dept. of Literature
American University, Washington, D.C. 20016
Kamala Markandaya, the Indian novelist, died in London, Sunday, May 18, 2004. Born Kamala Purnaiya in Mysore in 1924, she attended the University of Madras, beginning in 1940, where she studied history. From 1940 to 1947, she worked as a journalist and also published short stories in Indian newspapers, eventually emigrating to England in 1948. There she met her husband, Bertrand Taylor, by whom she had one daughter. Fame and success came with her first published novel, Nectar In A Sieve (1954), a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection and best-seller in the United States. That novel was follow by nine others, including A Handful Of Rice(1966), The Nowhere Man (1972), Two Virgins (1973), and The Golden Honeycomb (1977).
Markandaya was often linked to other Anglo-Indian novelists at mid-point in the twentieth century, including Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, and Khushwant Singh, though she was the only female of the group. That special sensitivity demarcated all of her work, especially Some Inner Fury (1955) and Two Virgins. Readers of her novels, however, were more often struck by the tensions her characters encountered when they left the rural areas for the cities. Her two most popular novels, Nectar In A Sieve and a Handful Of Rice where taught in hundreds of American courses, both in the public shools and the universities.
Always a very private person, Markandaya granted few interviews and intentionally kept out of the limelight. After 1948, England became her home, with frequent trips back to India in order to find the necessary
inspiration for her writing. She is survived by her daughter, Kim Oliver.
My friend Arvind Devalia has written a book called Get A Life. Arvind is a life-coach; someone with whom you can interact to ascertain your purpose on this planet. While he may live in London, I am sure he is still accessible by means of email and telephone. The first session is free, he says. His pleasant demeanor and commitment to his own calling makes for a great combination. Check out the book and connect with him.
Via Sree Sreenivasan
Award-winning writer Githa Hariharan will be in NYC reading from her latest book In Times Of Siege at Barnes and Noble, Upper West Side, on Friday, April 23 at 7:30pm.
Githa Hariharan was educated in Bombay, Manila and the United States. She has written a number of novels, including the winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, The Thousand Faces of Night, and a collection of short stories. In Times of Siege is her first novel to be published in the United States. She has also been included in several collections and anthologies, such as Salman Rushdie’s Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997. Hariharan lives in New Delhi where she works as a freelance editor, and is an active participant in movements for communal harmony and women's equality.
Via Sree Sreenivasan
"I definitely have a faith, it's internalized."
Several years ago, I noticed Khanna's coffee table book, Bazaar. Despite having lived in India for 12 years, I was moved and somewhat surprised by the liberal use of color in India. Somehow, just as everything seems to work amidst the apparent chaos that is India, swathes of different hues gel together amicably in the end.
Via Eclecticism
Want to link your psyche to a famous novel? Take this online Book Quiz.
This is apparently who I am:
You're Siddhartha !
by Hermann Hesse
You simply don't know what to believe, but you're willing to try anything once. Western values, Eastern values, hedonism and minimalism, you've spent some time in every camp. But you still don't have any idea what camp you belong in. This makes you an individualist of the highest order, but also really lonely. It's time to chill out under a tree. And realize that at least you believe in ferries.
South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) and South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC) present a reading by Samina Ali, author of Madras On Rainy Days at Maharaja Restaurant, 230 East 44th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues on Thursday, February 12, 2004.
Reception at 6.30 pm, following by reading and q&a 7.00-8.30 p.m. $5 for SAJA and SAWCC members, $7 for non-members. Working journalists interested in interviewing Samina can contact her publicist Sarita Varma.
Madras On Rainy Days is a striking novel from a new voice in fiction – the first Muslim Indian woman to be published in the U.S. A. – Samina Ali. Set against the backdrop of the ancient city of Hyderabad and mounting Hindu-Muslim tensions, the novel lyrically evokes the complexities of life behind the chador.Ali's own experience as woman raised in both the U.S. and in India who must balance the complicated mix of western freedom with Muslim tradition closely mirrors that of her protagonist, Layla. Like her main character, Ali reluctantly agreed to an arranged marriage only to find her mate had comprised something as well – his sexual freedom. In Madras On Rainy Days, she deftly explores the taboo of homosexuality within the Indian Muslim community, as well as the conflicts over freedom of thought and expression that many modern Muslims face.
Samina Ali has written a wonderful, wrenching family story. While it begins in the traditional moral dilemma of whether to submit to an arranged marriage, the story progresses in ways that challenge every stereotype and expectation we might put upon it. The novel deepens with each revelation as her young narrator discovers the truth about the home she left behind and learns the true character of the people who supposedly love her. In the end, she is left with the messy beauty of a real life, one that can't be categorized or controlled, only embraced.
Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My Life?
With her debut novel, Madras On Rainy Days, Samina Ali makes a bold entrance on the scene of American immigrant literature. Ali is a compelling storyteller. In language that is at once lyrical and unsentimental, she explores both the upside and the downside of being a first generation Muslim Indo-American woman, trapped between the demands of competing cultural heritages. This is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the multicultural fabric of contemporary America.
Bharati Mukherjee, author of Desirable Daughters
In this beautifully written and fully realized first novel by Samina Ali, a Muslim Hyderabadi wedding serves to illuminate the gulf between the Muslim world and America while also bridging that gulf with the heartbreaking story of how one young Muslim girl becomes a woman. Madras On Rainy Days covers the full spectrum of human conflicts and joys: betrayal, cruelty, despair, and yes--the possibility of redemption and
hope.About the Author
Samina Ali was born in Hyderabad and was raised there and in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. She received her M.F.A. from the University of Oregon. She lives in San Francisco with her son.
The November rains prickled the humid air. The aroma of sand, recently kissed by a downpour, wafted through Rita Saldanha's delicately decorated apartment. "My son Ajit is flying in from Singapore," beamed Mrs. Saldanha. Indeed a fourth place setting graced the dinner table. Not too long after we sat down to eat lunch, the door bell clanged.
Ajit and I met almost 20 years ago. When he walked in partially soaked and furiously wiping his brow with a handkerchief, I had to admit to myself that I couldn't recognize him at all. My last memory of him, I offered, was when Arun, his younger brother, invited me and a gaggle of pre-teens to their Kilpauk Garden Colony home for a party. Ajit rode away on a motobike and was the subject of much speculation.
The drizzle outside continued unabated. As a plate of macaroons made its way around the table, Ajit loudly lamented the inefficiencies at the airport. "Shit, I can't believe how difficult they make it for international passengers to transfer to the domestic terminal." But when he actually saw humor in it, and we had all had a good laugh the ice was broken.
I was intrigued by what he had been up to all these years. What I had missed was Ajit's penchant for writing. Not as a novelist or a journalist, but as a columnist for Mid Day, a newspaper out of Mumbai.
"Whether you like it or not, when you are saddled with the tag of a humour writer, then you can't deviate from it by an iota."
Out now is a collection of these columns in a book called Hung By My Family Tree. Clutching an advance copy of the book in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Ajit, with some justified pride announced the book would be published by the end of the year. I convinced him to send me a couple of copies. I have been reading it and I promise you, your belly will ache from laughter. While Mangloreans, or Mangies, bear the special brunt of his pen (he is one himself), in reality no one is spared. His book readings have garnered him a loyal following and the reviews have been glowing.
Aakar Patel, the editor of Mid Day says this about Ajit:
Ajit Saldanha is Henry Mencken without the politics and the crime. His prose is aimed unerringly at the maudlin and the ridiculous, which he picks up and inspects with the gravity of a social scientist. He derives much joy from his experiences and has the rare ability to telegraph that joy to his audience.
Underlying the jokes and the irreverent approach to his subjects, it's Ajit's social commentary that makes this book such a pleasure to read. Curious how Indian culture has evolved over the last twenty years? Read the book. Written entirely in jest, at the very crux of his writing is this hope - that we all learn to laugh at ourselves. Priced modestly at Rs. 395, this book is published by IndTeleSoft and is only available in India.
And so, if I were to change one thing, it would be to make the book available through Amazon.com, or some other international distribution outlet. I know you would want to get your hands on a copy.
The NYTimes reports that M.M. Kaye, the novelist who gave Americans a rather romanticized and, in my opinion, a parochial view of the British Raj died Thursday. She is best known for writing The Far Pavilions. A television series by the same title, in 1984, brought her worldwide attention.
Was it not also in the early 1980's that Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi and another television series, The Jewel in the Crown made their debut?
Via Arul Louis and the soon-to-be-defunct Mediaah.com
Want to write fiction and get published by Penguin India? Contact Shobhaa De, Penguin's new Consulting Editor for Fiction.If any of you out there has a hot idea to write fiction but don't know whom to approach, worry not. Bestselling writer and columnist Shobhaa De is now board Penguin India as Consulting (Fiction) Editor.
Shobhaa's mandate is to source new writers and manuscripts. There will be special emphasis to first-time authors and women's fiction. If you have an idea, or have written already, this is what you should do: please send a synopsis (ideally not more than 10 pages) or an entire chapter to her at shobhaa.de@penguin-India.com.
Erudite. Succinct. Knowledgeable. That's how I would describe Sashi Tharoor, the author of books such as the novels Riot, Show Business, and The Great Indian Novel, and nonfiction works India: From Midnight to the Millennium. His latest is a book which addresses the father of modern India. No, not the Mahatma as most of us have come to believe, but Jawaharlal Nehru.
Tharoor is also a witty orator. Not to be missed! He will read from his latest book on Saturday, January 3, 2004. The reading and discussion that will follow will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fong Auditorium, Boylston Hall, Harvard University. This event is sponsored by America India Foundation and the South Asian Initiative. It's co-sponsored by the South Asian Journalists Association.
If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP by e-mail to boston@aifoundation.org and include the names and affiliations of those who will attend. Please note: a few signed hard-cover copies of NEHRU will be available for purchase on the day of the event.[Suggested donation for AIF well-wishers: $5]
Of all the populist fighters of our time, the best known, if not most colorful of personalities is ... "in this corner" ... [sound of drum roll] ... Muhammad Ali.
Despite ailing from Parkinsons disease, Ali has managed to pack a punch in a new book, GOAT, that's just out. Like the fighter, there is nothing ordinary about this book. Like the fighter, it's larger than life. The brief on the 792-page book is that it weighs in at 75 lbs (as in "heavy"). Those with herniated disks or chronic back ache, beware.
With over 600,000 words and about 3,000 images, this is the mother of all coffee-table books. Find out how much this heavy-weight costs by reading the review. It's quite a stinger!
GOAT: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali, is in this New York Times review.
Monica Ali's Brick Lane will most likely make it under many Christmas trees this year thanks to the New York Times which just released its short list of "Best Books" for the year. The New York Times' glowing review suggests that the read is somewhat melancholic. More than a mere East versus the West sort of book, this first novel raises questions about fidelity and identity in an alien world.
One of the achievements of this deceptively sophisticated book lies in showing how that destruction could make a group of orthodox Muslims every bit as afraid as the rest of us, albeit for very different reasons.
Support Tiffinbox and buy the book from the list you see in the left column or click on the book's title above.
NYTimes reports the publication of a book by seasoned photojournalist Stanley Greene. It's a book on Chechens and their struggle for independence from Russia.
"By using his photographs to draw attention to the suffering that has marked the latest surge in Chechnya's centuries-long struggle for independence from Russia, Mr. Greene says he believes he has at last given something back."
Eighty one images and journal entries over the period of 20 trips to Chechnya grace th
