Book Shook

The Wire’s Political Editor Ajoy Ashirwad speaks with Banojyotsna Lahiri and Anirban Bhattacharya, two of the editors of the newly-released Umar Khalid and His World, on what inspired them to bring Umar’s thoughts and beliefs in the shape of a book.

‘Island On Edge: The Great Nicobar Crisis’ edited by scientist Pankaj Sekhsaria is a compilation of journalistic writing on the proposed projects on the Great Nicobar Island, including a piece that was first published in The Wire. The stories focus on the illegalities and violations in the projects, the economics of the port and its competition with Singapore and Colombo, the details of how dissent expressed by indigenous peoples have been ignored, and more. Sekhsaria talks to The Wire’s Aathira Perinchery about the issues, and the latest nail in the coffin — the National Green Tribunal’s refusal to interfere in the environmental clearance given to the projects. Is there hope for the Great Nicobar, its wildlife and indigenous people?

Journalist and author Sowmiya Ashok’s new book, ‘The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past’, looks into the study of archaeology and history not just at that particular site but in today’s India as a whole, ranging from the methods used and the wide spectrum of people involved to the interpretations that can be both scientific and socio-cultural. She speaks to The Wire’s Jahnavi Sen about her research, why interpretations of history have become so contentious, and the findings at Keeladi.

The Wire’s Founding Editor, Sidharth Bhatia’s third book, Mumbai: A Million Islands is out! in BookShook, with The Wire’s Editor, Seema Chishti, he discusses the Bombay of the past, its journey of change, its people, their dreams versus their reality and the increasing tendency of pushing its people to the margins of the city, in place of slums, having luxury buildings and a twisted sense of what ‘development’ means.

Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta in conversation with Vignesh Rajahmani, author of The Dravidian Pathway: How the DMK Redefined Power and Identity in South India.

Senior journalist Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty speaks to Guwahati-based academic, author and translator Banani Chakrabarty about recently translating to English the biography of noted Assamese Anandaram Dhekial Phukan. The book was published 135 years ago by Gunabhiram Barua, a noted Assamese intellectual from the 19th century. Considered a classic in Assamese literature, the biography, aside from giving a peek at Phukan’s significant contribution to Assam as a native East India Company official, record’s the society of the times including the tensions kicked up by the Sepoy Mutiny.

More than 25 years ago, author-artist-ceramicist Anuradha Roy and her husband came across a derelict cottage at the edge of a Ranikhet estate and decided that was where they wanted to live. Roy has written about her life since – and the life of the landscapes surrounding her – in 'Called by the Hills', her first book-length non-fiction work. She spoke to The Wire's Jahnavi Sen about the book, her writing process and the growing precarity faced by those living in the mountains.

Tyler H. Williams is Associate Professor of South Asian Languages ​​and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He is primarily known for his research on the literary and linguistic history of North India. His book, "If All the World Were Paper," explores the complex relationships between information, power, and the use of paper in medieval and early modern India. Meenakshi in conversation with him.