Tag Archives: Non Fiction

In My Hands Today…

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Neither East Nor West: One Woman’s Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran – Christiane Bird

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Fusing travelogue, historical inquiry, and interviews with Iranians from all walks of life, Neither East Nor West is a landmark contribution to travel writing and to cultural studies, as well as a timely illumination of a nation deeply misunderstood by most Westerners.

In describing life in Iran today, Christiane Bird, an American who spent part of her childhood there, breaks the silence that has surrounded Iran’s culture — unlike its politics — for nearly twenty years.

Travelling alone and largely by bus, Bird journeys from the modern, bustling capital of Tehran to the medieval holy city of Qom, from the sacred pilgrimage site of Mashhad — visited by more than twelve million Shi’ites annually — to the isolated valley of Alamut, once home to the legendary cult of the Assassins.

She visits mosques, public baths, Khomeini’s former home, and a Caspian Sea resort, and attends prayer meetings and a horse racing meet. Along the way, she talks to muleteers and ayatollahs, Kurds and Turkomans, Westernized and traditional Iranians — many of whom invited her home for a cup of tea.

The result is an astounding, insightful journey into the Islamic Republic of Iran — in all its beauty, ferocity, and contradiction.

In My Hands Today…

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I Too Had a Dream – Verghese Kurien

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The architect of ‘Operation Flood’, the largest dairy development programme in the world, Dr Verghese Kurien has enabled India to become the largest milk producer in the world.

A man with a rare vision, Dr Kurien has devoted a lifetime to realise his dream – empowering the farmers of India. He has engineered the milk cooperative movement in India. It was a sheer quirk of fate that landed him in Anand where a small group of farmers were forming a cooperative, Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’Union Limited (better known as Amul), to sell their milk.

Intrigued by the integrity and commitment of their leader, Tribhuvandas Patel, Dr Kurien joined them. Since then there has been no looking back. The ‘Anand pattern of cooperatives’were so successful that, at the request of the Government of India, he set up the National Dairy Development Board to replicate it across India. He also established the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation to market its products.

In these memoirs, Dr Verghese Kurien, popularly known as the ‘father of the white revolution’, recounts, with customary candour, the story of his life and how he shaped the dairy industry. Profoundly inspiring, these memoirs help up to comprehend the magnitude of his contributions and his multifaceted personality.

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A Geisha’s Journey: My Life as a Kyoto Apprentice – Komomo 

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This is the story of a contemporary Japanese teenager who, in a search for an identity, became fascinated with the world of geisha, and discovered in herself the will and the commitment to embark on the many years of apprenticeship necessary to become one.

It is also the story of a young Japanese photographer who grew up overseas, and who also was captivated by the traditional lives of these women who choose to dedicate themselves to their art. He began following and documenting the life of teenager Komomo as she studied and grew into her role.

Naoyuki Oginos photographs follow Komomos entire journey, from her first tentative visits after finding the geisha house on the internet through her commitment to the hard schedule of an apprentice, learning arts that go back centuries, all the way to the ceremony where she officially became a geiko, as Kyotos geisha are known and beyond. From the cobbled streets where she walks in her elaborate dress to the inner sanctums of her dressing room, these pages offer a rare look at a unique, living art.

The photographs are accompanied by autobiographical text and captions by Komomo, as she shares her thoughts and emotions, and describes the day-to-day existence of a Kyoto apprentice. It is an illuminating view of seven years in the life of a very special young woman.

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Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India – A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

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Authored by the most influential Indian President yet, this book delves into the obstacles that are preventing India from rising up to the challenge of development. India has unmatched talent and ambition with an inherent tendency to work hard, then what is it that keeps India from overtaking the world. Why does India as a nation settle for the ordinary when the extraordinary is well within the reach?

Dr. Kalam shares his dream of a nation that is unrivaled, he discusses how he has, from his experience, met such skilled people whose visions can transform the nation. It is imperative that one searches for own solutions and find role-models in countrymen instead of looking towards the other nations. India must not strive to be the next America or Japan but has to be the strong nation that she is capable of becoming. For this, all the trapped energies and initiatives need to be freed instead of suppressing them.

In the book, we are introduced to numerous role models that are hiding amongst us. Words of wisdom from saints and seers that the author encountered through his life have been quoted. The book proceeds to address the issues at hand and mentions some reforms that have to be incorporated in politics and policies. The policy making procedure of the nation requires major reforms. The youth has to be given a stage and the reins of the nation need to be passed on. The book motivates the young minds and forces the positive auras together to build the face of a new nation.

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Floating on a Malayan Breeze: Travels in Malaysia and Singapore – Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh

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What happens when a country splits apart?

Forty-five years ago, Singapore separated from Malaysia. Since then, the two countries have developed along their own paths.

Malaysia has given preference to the majority of Malay Muslims – the Bumiputera, or sons of the soil.

Singapore, meanwhile, has tried to build a meritocracy – ostensibly color-blind, yet more encouraging perhaps to some Singaporeans than to others.

How have these policies affected ordinary people? How do these two divergent nations and their peoples now see each other and the world around them?