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DOI: 10.1177/0021989412464110
2012 47: 509 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature
Shyamala A. Narayan
India

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The Journal of Commonwealth Literature
47(4) 509 534
The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/0021989412464110
jcl.sagepub.com
C OMMONWE A LT H
L I T E R A T U R E
C OMMONWE A LT H
L I T E R A T U R E
THE JOURNAL OF
India
compiled and introduced by Shyamala A. Narayan
Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India
Introduction
Some interesting new playwrights were published in 2011. In fiction, short stories
rather than novels predominate. However, three noteworthy novels appeared: Sujata
Sankrantis In the Shadow of Legends, Rahul Bhattacharyas The Sly Company of
People Who Care and Amitav Ghoshs River of Smoke. Three significant books dealing
with literature and culture have appeared by Professor Jasbir Jain, Professor G.J.V.
Prasad and Professor E.V. Ramakrishnan, respectively. A large number of translations
from various Indian languages were published, many by translators who are distin-
guished poets and novelists.
The Rivered Earth by Vikram Seth contains four libretti, performed between 2006 and
2009 at the Lichfield Festival, the Salisbury Festival, the Chelsea Festival and the
Chelsea Arts Festival. Vikram Seth, the author of five collections of verse and three nov-
els (including the blockbuster A Suitable Boy) had published Arion and the Dolphin: A
Libretto in 1994. The present collection is a collaborative effort, written especially for
the composer Alec Roth and the violinist Phillippe Honore. Seth has written a thirty-page
introduction, explaining the circumstances in which this work came into being; this
would be of interest to lovers of opera. The poems comprise seventy pages, in four sec-
tions, each with its own short introduction. The first section, Songs in Time of War is
set in China, the second in Europe, while the third, The Traveller contains translations
of ancient and medieval Indian poetry. The last section Seven Elements has many new
poems. Each section is embellished with Seths calligraphy in Chinese, Seths poem
Oak, Brajbhasha (Hindi) and Arabic. Much of the work was done in the Metaphysical
poet George Herberts house in Salisbury, which Seth bought. The libretti come to life
only on stage; as words on the page, The Rivered Earth adds little to Seths reputation as
a poet.
Novelist, short-story writer, poet, playwright, translator and critic, Shiv K. Kumar
(b.1921) has brought out his selected poems: Which of My Selves Do You Wish to Speak
To? The poems here range from his first collection, Articulate Silences (1970), to his
ninth, Losing My Way (2004). The new poems reveal Kumar as a meta-poet. Here, he
seems to be more concerned with the craft of the poet rather than with the self, family,
love and sex, the dominant concerns of his earlier poetry: Only words which/ lay eggs
on paper and whose/ offspring never die.
Brian Mendona is a traveller-poet, who chronicles an India where the contemporary
melds with the classical in the river of time. A Peace of India: Poems in Transit is his
464110JCL47410.1177/0021989412464110The Journal of Commonwealth LiteratureIndia
2012
India
510 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
second collection (after Last Bus to Vasco, 2006). He describes his travels throughout
India. The poems are written in situ, many of them on board trains. Twenty-three states of
India, including North-Eastern states like Assam and Nagaland, are covered. The poetry
captures the physical reality as well as the various cultures (and cuisines) of India. The
book is embellished with specially produced small maps which clearly show the places
where the poems have been written. Some poems such as Hillsong capture natural
beauty:
Sweet scented trees, the pine, the amaltas,
Cling to the hill trail amid cool water lakes.
In the immense silence a twig snaps!
A baby monkey, foraging for berries
Eyes me with a mix of fear and curiosity.
We are given the poets personal reaction to what he sees, as in these lines from the
poem Hymn to Ravi written on the bank of the river in the Himalayas:
If I could take back with me
the sound of your waters, as you course through the night,
I would.
If I could take back with me
your thousand faces, from turquoise to deep green,
I would.
If I could take back with me
the laughter in your gurgle, and the warmth of your people,
I would.
Brian Mendona pays equal attention to the human presence, as in the poem Sonepur
Mela: Absent elephants,/ Cooking pots/ in wayside mangers,/ Snotty children/ sleep on
bushels of hay./ Litti in a bamboo hut/ Overlooking a grove of mangoes. He freely uses
Indian words and phrases from various Indian languages and often provides footnotes to
explain these terms. The only terms he does not try to explain, perhaps because no expla-
nation would be sufficient, are the references to various food items yakhni, golgappa,
safeda, kebab, litti, appam, pazhampori, etc.
Professor G.N. Panikkar (b.1937) is a well known fiction writer and literary critic in
Malayalam. He began writing poetry in English only in 1998. When One Strays into Your
Life contains thirty-three poems written over a period of thirteen years and reflects a long
life of introspection and experience: It seems impossible/ To start with a clean slate!/
The more you wipe it,/ Names and events unhappy/ Emerge bolder and starker/ As if
with a vengeance. The poem To Start With a Clean Slate ends with the poet longing
for a breakable slate, because now unbreakable/ painted tin sheets have usurped the
old brittle slate.
K. Srilatas second collection of poems Arriving Shortly (her first collection Seablue
Child was published in 2000) is distinguished by a welcome touch of humour. The sec-
tion The Unbearable Lightness of Verse includes the poem A Case for the Dosai:
India 511
Indeed, idiomatically the idli wins out./ We invariably speak of idli-dosai, /Never of
dosai-idli. In another poem, a washing machine speaks about itself. Though her poems
deal with universal issues, they are full of local references, which might create problems
for readers who are not familiar with Madras:
Born and raised in
West Mambalam
the other side of the railway tracks
where fabled mosquitoes turn people into
elephants. (Bio note)
Mambalam in Madras is notorious for huge mosquitoes; a mosquito bite can lead to
elephantiasis (filariasis, a disease in which limbs swell up enormously). Overall, the
poems have many concerns, ranging from caste violence to international disputes and
personal relationships. The poem Family Tree observes the difference between the
healing power of nature and the bitterness of human relationships:
A tree is a resilient thing.
Cut a branch and the sap flows
smoothly out.
Other branches continue
as ever.
Soon, the healing happens.
Leaves grow back
Of deep-down hurt there is no trace.
Consider, on the other hand, a family
that has grown apart
branch by branch.
For years, they deliberately ignore each others weddings
until
some two generations down
the sap inside begins to fester and hurt.
Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih lives in Shillong, the capital of the Northeastern state of
Meghalaya. He belongs to the Khasi tribe and writes poems and short fiction in both
Khasi and English. The Yearning of Seeds is his third collection of poems. His poems
reflect his preoccupation with the politics and culture of Meghalaya. One of his poems
comments on Prime Minister Gujrals visit to the Northeast: He came with twin objec-
tives/ a mission for peace and progress./ But he was a rumbling in the clouds/ a prattle
in the air. In Shillong, bamboo poles sprang up from pavements / like a welcoming
committee, and he himself was/ only the strident, sounds of sirens/ like warning in
wartime bombings. Nongkynrihs style ranges from the acerbic to the lyrical, with the
locale always in focus.
Poet, painter, academic and translator Sukrita Paul Kumars new collection, Poems
Come Home, is bilingual the poems have been translated into Urdu by Gulzar, the
512 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
well-known poet and lyricist. Another bilingual book is Pranayasatakam by Thachom
Poyil Rajeevan; it contains poems in Malayalam along with the poets own English ver-
sions. Pashupati Jha, professor of English in I.I.T. Roorkee, has published his third col-
lection of poems, All in One. Professor Charu Sheel Singh, who teaches at the department
of English, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith at Benares, has written a collection of
poems, prefaced by a foreword, about the ten incarnations of God Vishnu, Born across
Millenniums. This follows his tenth collection, Legacies, published in 2010. Slave is
Nileen Putatundas sixth collection of poetry, all dealing with spirituality and religion.
The Hindu (one of the national newspapers of India) launched the MetroPlus Theatre
Fest in 2005, staging a mix of Indian and international plays and organizing symposia on
theatre. In 2008 The Hindu launched the annual MetroPlus Playwright Award for the best
unpublished and unperformed play in English. Every year between sixty and eighty
entries are received, testifying to the abundance of playwriting talent in India. The three
prize-winning playscripts for 2008, 2009 and 2010 have now been published (the win-
ning plays are performed every year at the The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Fest in Chennai).
The winner for 2008 was Harlesden High Street, a play in free verse by Abhishek
Majumdar. There are three characters: Karim; his mother Ammi; and Rehaan, a young
man working with Karim in his shop selling vegetables and fruits. The circumscribed
world of poor immigrants in West London is presented effectively. Karims sister Firoza,
whom Rehaan wants to marry, is a constant presence in the play, though she never
appears on stage. The winner for 2009 is The Skeleton Woman by Prashant Prakash and
Kalki Koechlin. The play has just two characters, an unnamed young woman and her
husband, a young man. The play offers a somewhat surreal presentation of the complex
web of human relationships and social pressures. The MetroPlus Playwright Award for
2010 went to Taramandal by Neel Chaudhuri. The play is based on Satyajit Rays short
story Patol Babu, Film Star about Patols desire to be a great film star.
Mahesh Dattani has published a new collection, Three Plays. Brief Candle, subtitled
A Dance between Love and Death, which is about survivors of cancer who are putting
up a comic play to raise funds. The play within a play and the abundance of themes make
Brief Candle somewhat convoluted. The Girl Who Touched the Stars is a radio play
broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It is inspired by the life of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian
woman in outer space, and is in the form of a conversation between the older and the
younger Bhavnas. Dattanis persistent concern with gender bias is revealed: we learn that
Bhavnas mother has deliberately misled her husband to believe that the pre-natal tests
have indicated a male foetus; she knows that she would be forced to abort the foetus if he
learns the truth. The third play in the collection, Thirty Days in September (first pub-
lished in 2005) is about a childs sexual abuse.
Sujata Sankranti won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the year 1998 and has
published a volume of short stories entitled The Warp and the Weft and Other Stories
(2001). In the Shadow of Legends, her first novel, is a relatively short work, but it con-
tains enough material for a thousand pages such is the economy of her style. The story
centres around Swati, the youngest daughter of a scholarly landowner in Kerala. The
opening chapter, Legends, serves as a kind of prologue. Swatis elder sister Mini has a
mind of her own and is interested in studying. Their mother wants her to marry Vishnu,
who is managing their estate with great efficiency (and not a little cruelty). Mini is aware
India 513
of Vishnus motives he wants to marry her because he thinks he can and must bend
her. Mini becomes a legend by defacing herself, cutting off her beautiful hair and leaving
home to escape Vishnu. Sankranti shows the violence of the communist movement
against landlords in Kerala: the Shastri household is destroyed when every male member
is killed along with the cruel Vishnu. Swati goes to Moscow to study Russian, and falls
in love with Misha; the authorities there do not approve of a Russian man planning to
marry an Indian, and the young man simply disappears. The reader is given a vivid
account of life in Russia in the 1950s and 1960s. Swati comes back to India, and finds a
measure of peace by looking after the young girl Pavani, who has lost her mental balance
after witnessing the Naxalite violence. She names Pavanis fatherless child Misha, after
her lost love. The novel goes back and forth in time and contains many passages of lyri-
cal beauty, describing Kerala and Russia, and its characters are fully realized.
Rahul Bhattacharyas debut novel The Sly Company of People Who Care won The
Hindu Literary Prize 2011 as well as the 10,000 Ondaatje Prize (awarded by the Royal
Society of Literature for the book which best summons up the spirit of a place). The
unnamed narrator, a sports journalist (like the author himself) spends a year exploring
Guyana. The local history and landscape are beautifully evoked, but it is his description
of the characters he meets which makes the book memorable.
The second volume of Amitav Ghoshs Ibis Trilogy is entitled River of Smoke; it cen-
tres around the Opium Wars fought by the Chinese Empire to eradicate the illegal
opium trade promoted by the British. Sea of Poppies ended with the Ibis caught in a
storm, which provides an opportunity for the convicts Neel Rattan and Ah Fatt (a crimi-
nal from Canton) to escape from the ship. Another ship caught in a storm is the Anahita,
owned by Bahram Modi, a Parsi opium trader from Bombay. The focus shifts from Deeti
and Kalua (who are almost deified in Mauritius) to Bahram Modi in Canton, who is
ready to do anything to prove himself to his rich relatives. There are a number of narra-
tive strands Paulette, a young girl whose father is a botanist, comes to Canton in search
of a rare plant, the Golden Camellia. She is helped by Ah Fatt, Bahrams illegitimate son,
and Robert Chinnery, a gifted but eccentric English painter. Raja Neel Rattan disguises
himself and starts working as Bahrams munshi. Ghosh skilfully mixes fact and fiction,
where the most important historical figure is Commissioner Lin, a formidable bureaucrat
known for his competence and high moral standards. Lin was sent to Guangdong as
imperial commissioner by the Emperor in late 1838 to halt British opium smuggling. The
letter he is shown writing to Queen Victoria in 1839, urging her to end the opium trade
in the novel, is based on the letter he actually wrote (but did not send) to Queen Victoria:
It appears that this poisonous article is manufactured by certain devilish persons in places
subject to your own rule. It is not of course either made or sold at your bidding, nor do all the
countries you rule produce it, but only certain of them. We have heard that England forbids the
smoking of opium within its dominions with the utmost rigour. This means you are aware of
how harmful it is. Since the injury it causes has been averted from England, is it not wrong to
send it to another nation? (River of Smoke, 543-44)
Lin Tse-hsu emerges as a powerful moral figure. Even while destroying the impounded
opium to save human beings, he is aware of the damage it may do to the environment: he
514 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
is shown praying before releasing the poison into the sea. Ghosh exposes the hypocrisy
of the British. They present themselves as supporters of Free Trade, conveniently forget-
ting that Indians in Bengal and Bihar had been forced to cultivate opium (as depicted in
Sea of Poppies) for the British-controlled opium trade.
Anjana Basu is one of our underrated fiction writers. Her books include a collection
of short stories based on her experience as an advertising consultant, The Agency Raga
and Other Variations (1994), and two novels, Curses in Ivory (2003) and Black Tongue
(2007). The central character of her new novel Rhythms of Darkness is Shyama (meaning
dark) whose life is dominated by the fact that she has a very dark complexion. She is a
gifted dancer and enters politics by providing cover for anti-government militants work-
ing for the poor in rural Bengal. Basus fiction is based on facts and provides an authentic
picture of Bengal politics in well-crafted prose.
Aravind Adigas third book Last Man in Tower is set in a co-operative housing society
in a Bombay suburb where a real-estate developer plans to put up luxury apartments. The
plot deals with his efforts to buy out the people living there; a retired teacher, Yogesh
Murthy, refuses to move out and remains there, the last man in the tower. The plot is well
worked out, but not the characters or the setting. The conspiracy of residents like Mrs.
Puri, Ashwin Kothari and Ibrahim Kudwa to murder Murthy is not credible. The descrip-
tions are not based on actual observation of life in Mumbai, and phrases like day-
labourers and water buffalo (the Indian usage is daily wage-earners or just
labourers, and buffalo) are irritants for the Indian reader.
Bharati Mukherjees eighth novel Miss New India depicts the difference between the
metropolis and the small town in present-day India. Nineteen-year-old Anjali Bose runs
away from the small town of Gauripur and arrives in Bangalore in search of a job in a call
centre.
David Davidar was at the helm of affairs when Penguin India was set up in 1985.
Ithaca is his third novel, reflecting his knowledge of the contemporary publishing scene,
where giant corporations are taking over small independent publishing firms.
Namita Gokhales sixth novel Priya in Incredible Indyaa can be considered a kind of
sequel to her first novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion (1984), as Priya, the protagonist in her
earlier work, is a character in her new work. Gokhale presents satirical vignettes of life
in contemporary Delhi, but readers who do not know Hindi may not fully understand the
mixed language she uses.
Sherlock Holmes occupies an important place in the Indian literary imagination.
Vithal Rajans Holmes of the Raj (2005) had Holmes and Watson travelling throughout
India. The Year of High Treason is set in 1911, when ruling princes from all over India
came for the Delhi Durbar (the Coronation of King George V). Winston Churchill
sends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to Delhi to protect the king when he learns of a
threat to his life. The novel parodies not just Arthur Conan Doyles work but also the
heroes of other popular writers such as Maurice Leblancs Arsne Lupin, Anthony
Hopes Rupert of Hentzau, E. W. Hornungs Raffles, Sax Rohmers Dr. Fu Manchu and
Sir Denis Nayland Smith, Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan, and Jules Vernes Mikhail
Strogoff.
Chetan Bhagat, the best-selling Indian English novelist, has published his fifth novel
Revolution 2020 with the subtitle Love. Corruption. Ambition. It is the story of
India 515
childhood friends Gopal and Raghav who fall in love with the same girl, Aarti. It reveals
the pressures on young men to get admission in good engineering colleges. Gopal does
not make it, in spite of spending a small fortune in coaching classes. He becomes very
rich by selling his ancestral fields to set up the Gangatech College in association with
corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. Although the novel satirises the mushroom growth of
coaching institutes and private engineering colleges, it seems to lose steam towards the
end the conclusion is not very convincing.
A great deal of popular literature is being published. Chicklit predominates, with titles
like Shinie Antonys When Mira Went Forth and Multiplied and There Is No Love on
Wall Street by Ira Trivedi. Devapriya Roys first novel The Vague Womans Handbook is
something more than chicklit because of the character of fifty-two-year-old Indira Sen, a
senior officer in a government-supported literary organisation (obviously based on the
Sahitya Akademi). Twenty-two-year-old Sharmila has married Abhimanyu, a research
scholar, who has no clear plans; the book deals with their struggles to set up house. Indira
Sen, whose household has three old people, takes the absent-minded Sharmila under her
wing. The book has a lot of enjoyable satire on government offices and universities and
presents a vivid picture of life in contemporary Delhi.
More than eighty first novels have appeared. Calcutta Exile by Bunny Suraiya depicts
the life of Anglo-Indians (Eurasians) in mid-twentieth century Calcutta; they are uncer-
tain of their identity, being unable to decide whether they should align themselves with
Indians or with the British back home. Poets Sanjiv Bhatla and K. Srilata have pub-
lished their first novels, Injustice and Table for Four, respectively. Jaskiran Chopras
Autumn Raga is set in Dehradun; classical Indian music is its central concern. Dilliz Boyz
by A.P.S. Malhotra deals with the life of young boys in Delhi in the 1980s. Shweta
Srivastava Vikrams Perfectly Untraditional has New York-based Shaili Kapoor as the
protagonist; the novel is about her reconciliation with her father who has disowned her
when he finds out that she is a lesbian. Dipika Mukherjees Thunder Demons, longlisted
for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2009, is a political thriller set in Malaysia; what
qualifies one as a Bumiputra (son of the soil) is an important issue in the novel. Major
General G.D. Bakshis Siege of Warwan is a kind of a war novel; the hero is Major
Dushyant Dusty Bharadwaj who is fighting jihadi terrorists in Kashmir. Priya
Vasudevans debut novel Middle Time is a murder mystery with two time frames linked
together by characters with similar names: Thulasi, of sixteenth century Hampi (the capi-
tal of the Vijayanagara Empire), and Tulsi who dies in Chennai (Madras) of the 1990s.
Another first novel, The Tenth Unknown, by Jvalant Nalin Sampat has an even longer
time frame, beginning in Asokas court in 232 B.C.E. and ending with Indias independ-
ence in 1947.
New as well as established writers have published collections of short stories. Neelum
Saran Gours Song without End and Other Stories has fifteen short stories, twelve of
them from her earlier collections. They reveal a variety of literary styles and topics and
range widely in length. The title story about Narendra, a heart patient, and Dr. Mehta, his
old friend who is treating him, has a surprise ending. The affection they have for each
other and the positive attitude of the patient are described successfully. Gours touch is
right, her awareness of India, past and present, quite complete. Each story is remarkable
in its own way. Coming of Age is set in British India and beautifully recreates the
516 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
ambience of a memsahibs party in Calcutta in the 1860s. Gour has a feel for the finer
nuances of literary styles and effectively presents Edwins fathers Victorian English.
She is equally successful in rendering in English dialogues that would historically have
been spoken in an Indian language like Bengali or Hindi.
Lakshmi Kannan is a bilingual writer who uses the pseudonym Kaaveri when she
writes in Tamil. A poet, novelist and short story writer, she is also a reputed translator
who has translated leading Tamil writers. The sixteen stories in her new collection
Nandanvan and Other Stories are based on stories she wrote in Tamil. She takes up many
issues such as the discrimination against the girl child, caste prejudice, the neglect of
aged parents, or the ill-treatment of widows in India. The title story Nandanvan has
touches of an animal fable; when an old man dies, the birds and the flowers in his garden
mourn their friend and condemn his greedy sons who are squabbling over his property.
Her female protagonists avoid both the victim syndrome and a strident feminist tone. Her
male characters are equally well developed.
All the short stories in Jahnavi Baruas first book Next Door (2008) were set in Assam.
In Rebirth, her first novel, the story moves between Bangalore and Guwahati and centres
around Kaberi, a young woman trying to come to terms with an uncertain marriage and
relocation in an Indian city which is very far away and different from her native Assam.
Rebirth provides a sensitive and original insight into the mother-child relationship in
beautiful prose.
Bulbul Sharma, author of the critically acclaimed and very readable collections of
short stories The Anger of Aubergines and My Sainted Aunts, has published a novel and
a new collection of short stories. Now That I Am Fifty subtitled Stories of Women Who
Have Scored a Half Century consists of eleven stories in which the women of the sub-
title come from various strata of society. The title story has an upper middle class woman
as the narrator. She does not go out much after her husband has died and although she has
a comfortable life with her married sons staying with her, she starts seeing things.
Another story Afterlife is narrated by a poor village woman after her death at fifty. She
looks back at her married life and comments on the unequal gender relations. One of the
most enjoyable stories in the collection has the title Salsa at Fifty; the protagonist deals
with a broken marriage (my husband Ramesh left me and went to live in Goa with his
secretary a boy named Monty) by joining salsa classes: I wasnt really keen to join,
in fact I didnt even know that salsa was a kind of dance, I always thought it was a tomato
salad type of thing you ate with funny triangle chips. Bulbul Sharmas short stories are
distinguished by their humour. She is a better short story writer than a novelist. Her sec-
ond novel The Tailor of Giripul is slow moving.
In her long career, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (b.1927) has published nineteen books of
fiction; for the last two decades, she seems to be favouring the short story rather than the
novel her twelfth novel Shards of Memory appeared in 1995. A Lovesong for India,
subtitled Tales from East and West has eleven stories with almost the same themes as her
previous collections. The title story is a powerful indictment of corruption and loss of
values in present-day India. An Englishwoman (whose ancestors were in the Indian Civil
Service) is married to an honest bureaucrat. They struggle to come to terms with their
son, their only child, whose life has no place for their values. This collection recreates the
ambience, whether Indian or North American, with great sensitivity. The worlds of the
India 517
East and the West are joined by the theme of emotional exploitation. Material fulfilment
is no shield against emotional deprivation. Jhabvalas style is marked by economy; she
never wastes words and introduces characters, settings and situations with great
precision.
The three stories in Anita Desais The Artist of Disappearance deal with loss of vari-
ous kinds (reminiscent of the theme explored in her daughters, Kiran Desais Booker
Prize-winning novel The Inheritance of Loss, 2006) and with the issue of the lack of
parental affection. The title story is about a neglected child who revels in nature. As an
adult, he is unable to adjust to life in the city and returns to his childhood home in the
hills, which is falling into disrepair (one is reminded of the judges house in The
Inheritance of Loss). The Museum of Final Journeys has a civil servant as the narrator,
recounting an experience of a rural posting early in his career. The fifty-two-page-long
Translator Translated seems to be the best story in the collection. Prema, a lonely
woman, considers it her mission to translate into English the powerful stories of Suvarna
Devi, an activist who writes in Oriya, the regional language of Orissa. Premas life of
deprivation (she makes a living by teaching English in a college in a small town) is very
different from the life of her classmate at school the glamorous Tara, with a high profile
career in journalism, who has turned to publishing. The story effectively reveals the crea-
tive process as akin to translation. Desai recreates the situation in India authentically
studying English is prestigious, and very few people are interested in learning their
mother tongue.
Keki N. Daruwalla is better known as a poet. Love across the Salt Desert: Selected
Short Stories has twenty stories, including the title one, which was first published more
than thirty years ago. All the stories have already appeared in earlier collections like The
Sword and the Abyss (1979), The Minister for Permanent Unrest and Other Stories
(1996) and A House in Ranikhet (2003).
Adultery and Other Stories by Farrukh Dhondy is marked by wit and irreverence. He
presents a variety of characters caught in what seems to be the collections overall themes
of adultery and betrayal. The title story presents a poet who is writing the annals of the
Raj in verse. He has not managed to reach much further than the pun adultery is what
adults do. The stories have many objects of satire the church, government offices,
poetasters, and the art industry, etc. They have a contemporary touch: one of the funniest
stories, Bollox, is in the form of email exchanges regarding an Indian who is going to
donate his parts to a Mr. Cruickshank so that he becomes capable of fatherhood.
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (1914-1987), novelist, short story writer, crusading journalist
and screenplay writer, has not received the attention he deserves; present-day students of
Indian English literature are aware only of the big three (Anand, R.K.Narayan and
Raja Rao) of the earlier generation of writers. An Evening in Lucknow: Selected Stories
edited by Suresh Kohli includes a perceptive introduction, a postscript that includes sev-
eral interviews, and a letter by Mulk Raj Anand to Abbas. Abbas was a committed writer
whose work was often based on actual incidents and real-life figures.
The seven stories in Ruskin Bonds new collection Secrets are set in the late 1940s in
Dehra. Like most of his stories, they appear deceptively simple. Bonds six-page short
story Susannas Seven Husbands has been made into a Hindi film, 7 Khoon Maaf.
Vishal Bhardwaj had earlier made a childrens film The Blue Umbrella based on a story
518 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
by Ruskin Bond. At his request, Bond developed Susannas Seven Husbands into a
novella, creating new characters and incidents. Penguin has published the novella, the
original short story and the screenplay (by Vishal Bhardwaj and Matthew Robbins) in
one volume. The book Susannas Seven Husbands gives the reader an interesting insight
into the way a short story becomes a film story and then a screenplay.
India: A Travellers Literary Companion, edited by Chandrahas Choudhury, attempts
to present different regions of the country through fourteen short stories. Writers range
from old masters like Fakir Mohan Senapai and Lalithambika Antherjanam (translated
into English) to contemporary Indian English writers like Salman Rushdie, Vikram
Chandra and Mamang Dai.
Jasbir Jain has made a sustained contribution to criticism across linguistic boundaries;
her exploration of the growth of the novel in India (Feminizing Political Discourse,
1997, and Beyond Postcolonialism, 2006) is based on works written in Bangla, Urdu,
Punjabi, Malayalam, Hindi, and English. Her new book, Indigenous Roots of Feminism,
crosses not only linguistic boundaries but also disciplinary and media ones by offering
readings of historical, psychological and sociological texts as well as folk songs and
films. Jain traces feminism in India from its beginnings in ancient times to the twenty-
first century. She comes to the conclusion that because of the difference in cultural
systems and political histories, the origins and nature of the feminist movement are dif-
ferent in the two worlds. She shows that religions like Budhhism, Jainism and Sikhism
concede greater equality to women. She condemns the widespread tendency to construct
Indian culture predominantly through Hindu culture and religion. The books colour
photographs reveal feminism in contemporary India in an original and very effective
manner. Indigenous Roots of Feminism deserves to be the basic text for Womens Studies
in India.
O.P. Mathurs Post-1947 Indian English Novel: Major Concerns examines social or
political concerns as treated in some of the important novels of the decades between
1947 and 2008. It includes a critical essay on Aravind Adigas The White Tiger (by
Sudhir K. Arora) which is an outright condemnation of the novel; according to Arora,
Adiga won the Booker Prize because his depiction of India can help the West in proving
the superiority of the Occident over the Orient.
Writing India, Writing English: Literature, Language, Location by poet, novelist and
translator G.J.V. Prasad discusses how the notion of the nation in terms of specific loca-
tions is negotiated/constructed in English and in Tamil. He explores how English pol-
linates Indian languages in present-day India and the ways in which English combines
with Hindi to infiltrate other Indian languages like Tamil. One of the most interesting
essays in the book is Tamil, Hindi, English: The New Mnage Trois. Prasad lays
stress on the importance of translation in the Indian context: For an Indian English
critic, Translation Studies becomes even more inescapable because Indian English is a
language born in and of translation.
In Locating Indian Literature: Texts, Traditions, Translations, poet and translator E.V.
Ramakrishnan advocates a new approach to the study of texts and traditions, with trans-
lation forming the fulcrum. He argues that Indian Literature is not an essential category
and lays emphasis on its diversity. The book also presents readings of Malayalam literary
texts that demonstrate the plurality of literary traditions.
India 519
Translations from various Indian languages into English have increased. The volume
is so large that the bibliography which follows lists only the translations done by Indian
English creative writers like Shashi Deshpande, Ranjit Hoskote or Anita Nair. One other
translation deserves mention the English translation of Michael Madhusudan Dutts
first modern epic in Bengali, The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad, by William Radice,
known for his translations of Rabindranath Tagores poetry.
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York) $26; Viking Penguin (New Delhi) Rs495.
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Bhaskar, P.G. Jack Patels Dubai Dreams 248pp Penguin Metro Reads (New Delhi) Rs150.
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Birjepatil, Jaysinh The Good Muslim of Jackson Heights 256pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs275.
India 521
Bond, Ruskin Secrets 150pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250 [short stories].
Susannas Seven Husbands xi+206pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250.
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Capur, Aneesha Stealing Karma 233pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs299.
Chauhan, Uttara Blue Blood 239pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250.
Chhibba, Neeraj Zero Percentile-2.0: Missed IIT, Kissed Gurgaon 272pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb
Rs140.
Chopra, Jaskiran Autumn Raga 188pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs395.
Choudhury, Nilanjan P. Bali and the Ocean of Milk 320pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs199.
Currimbhoy, Nayana Miss Timmins School for Girls 512pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs399.
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Dayal (New Delhi) Rs299
Das, S.K. The Collectors Daughter 295pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs295.
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HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs499.
Desai, Anita The Artist of Disappearance 156pp Random House India (Noida) Rs350.
Desai, Salil The Body in the Backseat 254pp Gyaana Books (New Delhi) Pb Rs250.
Deva, Mukul Tanzeem 364pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs225.
Devulapalli, Krishna Shastri Ice Boys in Bell-Bottoms 272pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs299.
Dhalla, Ghalib Shiraz The Exiles 406pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs350.
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Gokhale, Namita Priya in Incredible Indyaa 193p Penguin-Viking (New Delhi) Rs350.
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Delhi) Rs499.
Gore, Rohit A Darker Dawn 244pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs395.
Focus Sam 260pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Gour, Neelum Saran Song without End and Other Stories 285pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs299.
Govardhan, Ram Rough with the Smooth 212pp LeadStart (Mumbai) Pb Rs125.
Gupta, Puneet The Suicide Banker 228pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Jaidka, Manju Scandal Point 240pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
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Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer A Lovesong for India: Tales from East and West 276pp Little, Brown
(London) 13.99; Special Indian price Rs495.
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Joshi, Parinda Live from London 212 pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
522 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
Kala, Aporva Life Love Kumbh290pp Srishti (New Delhi) Pb Rs200.
Kant, Meera Paper Bastion and Other Stories 224pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Kannan, Lakshmi Nandanvan and Other Stories 280pp Orient Blackswan (Hyderabad) Pb Rs325.
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Kapur, Ratika Overwinter 248pp Hachette India (Gurgaon) Rs495.
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Khamar, Rikin The Lotus Queen 170pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Khullar, Ajay The Nothing Man 184pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Kolanad, Gitanjali Sleeping with Movie Stars 192pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs225 [short stories].
Kottary, Gajra Broken Melodies 282pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs299.
Krishnan, P.A. The Muddy River 296pp Tranquebar (New Delhi) Pb Rs250.
Kumar, N. Sampath Campus Cola 372pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs295.
Lal, Ranjit Black Limericks 180pp Roli Books (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Lalit, Ritu A Bowlful of Butterflies 225pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Liddle, Madhulika The Eighth Guest and Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries 296pp Hachette
(Gurgaon) Pb Rs350.
Mahajan, Nikhil As Long As I Love You I Will Let You Hurt Me 176pp Srishti (New Delhi) Pb Rs100.
Mahajan, Sarang Luwan of Brida 272pp Popular Prakashan (New Delhi) Pb Rs175.
Majumdar, Anuradha The God Enchanter 176pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs199.
Majumder, Subha Strange Connections 138pp LeadStart (Mumbai) Pb Rs125.
Malhotra, A.P.S. Dilliz Boyz 146pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs250.
Malik, Suchita Memsahib Chronicles 208pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs295.
Mallick, Nazia Meshes of Smoke 319pp Dronequill (Bangalore) Rs295.
Manral, Kiran The Reluctant Detective 184pp Westland (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
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Mehta, Chandralekha Murder in San Felice 172pp Zubaan (New Delhi) Pb Rs295.
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Mehta, Rahul Quarantine 252pp Random House India (Noida) Rs399 [2010].
Menacherry, Matthew Vincent Arrack in the Afternoon 500pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs.350 [2010].
Mishra, Vineet Vinu I Am Getting Married 260pp Alchemy Publishers (New Delhi) Pb Rs150.
Misra, Jaishree A Scandalous Secret 384pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs299.
Misra, Ruchita The (In)eligible Bachelors 252pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Mittra, Vipul Pyramid of Virgin Dreams 280pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Mukherjee, Bharati Miss New India 336pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs295.
Mukherjee, Dipika Thunder Demons 272pp Gyaana Books (New Delhi) Pb Rs280.
Mukherjee, Sam Chopped Green Chillies in Vanilla Ice Cream 298pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Mullick, Sumit Fairyish Tales 360pp Macmillan (New Dellhi) Rs295.
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Pb Rs250.
Parashar, Sujata In Pursuit of Ecstasy 256pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs95.
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India 523
Pisharody, Ajay The Weight of Days 112pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs95 [short stories].
Pitroda, Rajal Starstruck 316pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs199.
Prabhu, Manjiri The Cavansite Conspiracy 272pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Prasad, T.G.C. Along the Way 296pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Puri, Nandita C. Two Worlds 446pp Rupa (New Delhi) Rs395 Pb Rs295.
Purkayastha, Ishani Kar The Dancing Boy 352pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs350.
Raghunath, Prema The Cousins 209pp Zubaan (New Delhi) Pb Rs325.
Rahator, Marya The Fountains Magic 116pp Mehta Publishing House (Pune) Pb Rs140.
Rajan, Vithal Holmes of the Raj 255pp Random House India (Noida) Pb Rs295 [first pub 2006].
The Year of High Treason 327pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Rajendra, Rajiv Doosra: A Tale of Cricket, Crime and Controversy 184pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs150.
Rajendran, Prithvin The Iron Tooth 226pp LeadStart (Mumbai) Pb Rs195.
Ranganathan, Anand The Land of the Wilted Rose 168pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Rathi, Vikas Resident Dormitus 205pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
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Rao, Arjun Third Best 392pp Hachette India (Gurgaon) Pb Rs295.
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Raychaudhuri, Diptendra A Naxal Story 359pp Vitasta Publishing (New Delhi) Rs300 [2010].
Roy, Anuradha The Folded Earth 368pp Hachette India (Gurgaon) Rs495.
Roy, Devapriya The Vague Womans Handbook 343pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs199.
Roy-Bhattacharya, Joydeep The Storyteller of Marrakesh 350pp Tranquebar (New Delhi) Rs495.
Saikia, Ankush Spotting Veron and Other Stories 192pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Sampat, Jvalant Nalin The Tenth Unknown 287pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs295.
Samrat The Urban Jungle 248pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250.
Sandhu, Chanchaldeep Singh I Never Thought I Could Fall in Love 164pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs99.
Sankranti, Sujata In the Shadow of Legends 275pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Sarang, Vilas The Dhamma Man 184pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250.
Sethi, Aman A Free Man 240pp Random House India (Noida) Rs399.
Sharma, Bulbul Now That Im Fifty: Short Stories 145pp Women Unlimited (New Delhi) Pb Rs250.
The Tailor of Giripul 315pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs299.
Shekhar, Arjun A Flawed God 296pp Hachette India (Gurgaon) Pb Rs250.
Shukla, Vikrant, The Wrong Chase 241pp Mehta Publishing House (Pune) Pb Rs300.
Sikka, Arun The Kabab Maker and the Consultant 200pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs150.
Singh, Rachna Dating, Diapers and Denial 222pp Alchemy Publishers (New Delhi) Pb Rs175.
Singh, Ravinder Can Love Happen Twice? 224pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs125.
Singh, Shivani Lonely Gods 324pp Hachette India (Gurgaon) Pb Rs299.
Singh, Vivek Kumar The Reverse Journey 124pp LeadStart (Mumbai) Pb Rs95.
Sridhar, K. Twice Written 243pp Popular Prakashan (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Srilata, K. Table for Four 192pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250.
Srivastava, Ramesh K. Coils of the Serpent 318pp AuthorsPress (New Delhi) Rs350.
Subramanian, Ravi The Incredible Banker 308pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Subramony, R. Paramahamsa: A Vedantic Tale xiv+202pp D.K. Printworld (New Delhi) Rs295.
Sudarshan, Aditya Show Me a Hero 304pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs195.
Suman, Yateen Love in a Wooden Box 292pp LeadStart (Mumbai) Pb Rs145.
Suraiya, Bunny Calcutta Exile 249pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs299.
Taseer, Aatish Noon 248pp Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs499.
Tejpal, Tarun J. The Valley of Masks 330pp Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins (New
Delhi) Rs499.
524 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
Thapa, Rabi Nothing to Declare 184pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs199.
Trivedi, Ira There Is No Love on Wall Street 272pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs199.
Vadukut, Sidin God Save the Dork 248pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs199.
Vaidya, Manasi No Deadline for Love 184pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs150.
Vasudevan, Priya Middle Time 305pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs395.
Verma, Akash Three Times Loser 264pp Srishti (New Delhi) Pb Rs100.
Verma, Sandy Kundra Burnt Toast 248pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs 195.
Viegas, Belinda The Cry of the Kingfisher 222pp Goa 1556 (Saligao, Goa) Pb Rs195.
Viegas, Savia Let Me Tell You about the Quinta 264pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs299.
Vikram, Sweta Srivastava Perfectly Untraditional 214pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs350.
Wajid, Andaleeb Blinkers Off 280pp Rupa (New Delhi) Pb Rs295.
Zaheer, Noor My God Is a Woman 314pp Vitasta Publishing (New Delhi) Pb Rs295; [first pub 2008].
Anthologies
A Collection of Indian English Poetry ed Radha Mohan Singh 146pp Orient Blackswan
(Hyderabad) Pb Rs95.
India: A Travellers Literary Companion ed Chandrahas Choudhury foreword Anita Desai 256pp
HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs399 [fourteen stories, first pub 2010].
India in Verse: Contemporary Poetry from 20 Indian Languages ed Antara Dev Sen 359pp Special
Issue of The Little Magazine (New Delhi) Rs250.
Inside/Out: New Writing From Goa eds Helene Derkin Menezes and Jose Lourenco 236pp Goa
1556 in association with Goa Writers (Saligao, Goa) Pb Rs195.
Not Like Most Young Girls 150pp Aastha Parivar and Jaico Book House Rs250 [18 short stories
written by students of Xaviers Institute of Communication, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
and Wilson College, Mumbai, based on the experiences of sex workers supported by Aastha
Parivar, an NGO].
The Oxford Anthology of Bhakti Literature ed Andrew Schelling 352pp OUP (New Delhi) Rs695.
Oxford Anthology of Writings from North-East India: Fiction ed Tilottoma Misra 298pp OUP
(New Delhi) Rs595.
Oxford Anthology of Writings from North-East India: Poetry and Essays ed Tilottoma Misra
332pp OUP (New Delhi) Rs595.
The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature ed Kalpana Bardhan Volume 1: 1861-1941
496pp Volume II: 1941-1991 552pp OUP (New Delhi) Rs745 each vol.
Three Plays Abhishek Majumdar, Prashant Prakash and Kalki Koechlin, Neel Chaudhuri Foreword
N. Ram 182pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs250 [2010].
Translations
Banker, Ashok K. Krishna Coriolis Series: Book 1 Slayer of Kamsa pub 2010; Book 2 Dance
of Govinda 272pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs199; Book 3 Flute of Vrindavan 247pp
HarperCollins (New Delhi) Pb Rs199.
Deshpande, Gauri Deliverance: A Novella trans from Marathi by Shashi Deshpande 134pp Women
Unlimited (New Delhi) Rs225 [2010].
Dutt, Michael Madhusudan The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad trans from Bengali by William
Radice 552pp Penguin (New Delhi) Rs499.
Lal Ded I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded trans from Kashmiri by Ranjit Hoskote 328pp Penguin
(New Delhi) Hb Rs450.
Pillai, Thakazi Sivasankara Chemmeen trans from Malayalam by Anita Nair 276pp Harpercollins
(New Delhi) Pb Rs299.
India 525
Rumi Rumi trans from Persian by Farrukh Dhondy 180pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs299.
Versaikar, Vishnu Bhatt Godshe 1857 The Real Story of the Great Uprising trans by Mrinal Pande
208pp HarperCollins (New Delhi) Rs250.
Letters, Biography and Autobiography
Chaudhuri, Nirad C. Nirad C. Chaudhuri: Many Shades, Many Frames 180pp Dhruwa N.
Chaudhuri 180pp Niyogi Books (New Delhi) Rs1250 [illustrated biography by his son].
Dhar, Sheila Ragan Josh: Stories from a Musical Life 310pp Orient Blackswan (Hyderabad) Pb
Rs295.
Merchant, Hoshang The Man Who Would Be Queen: Autobiographical Fictions 200pp Penguin
(New Delhi) Rs250.
Sen, Ashna The Rusted Trunk: Memoirs of a Forgotten Civil Servant 153pp Writers Workshop
(Kolkata) Rs200 [based on letters and diaries related to Syed Manzur Murshed, Sens maternal
grandfather].
Suraiya, Jug JS & The Times of My Life: A Worms-Eye View of Journalism 360pp Tranquebar
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Criticism
General Studies
A Novelists Response to Literature Shantinath K. Desai ed G.N.Devy 190pp Padmagandha
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A Review of Select Contemporary Indian Womens Writing in English with Special Emphasis on
Fiction H. Kalpana The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp87101.
Achievers, Clones and Pirates: Indian Graphic Novels D. Weimann Proceedings of the Annual
English Studies Conference ed J. Frank, L. Steveker WTV (Trier, Germany) pp157169.
Alienation and BeyondRecent Indian Fiction Sarita Veerangana 176pp Prestige Books (New
Delhi) Rs500.
Altered Destinations: Self, Society, and Nation in India Makarand R. Paranjape xv+196pp Anthem
Press (New Delhi) Rs595 [reprint 2010, first pub 2009].
Another Canon: Indian Texts and Traditions in English Makarand R. Paranjape xiii+180pp
Anthem Press (New Delhi) Rs595 [reprint 2010, first pub 2009].
Body Poetics: Modern Womens Poetry Kalyani Thiru 108pp Writers Workshop (Kolkata) Rs200.
Colonial Encounter and the Development of Literary Forms in India Rajnath The Critical
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Colonialism, Modernity, and Literature: A View from India Satya P. Mohanty 272pp Orient
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Contemporary Indian English Poetry: A Critique R.W.Desai The Critical Endeavour 17 pp4555.
Cooking India, the Fusion Trend: Reflecting on Indian Fiction in English Today G.K. Das The
Literary Criterion 46 (3&4)pp512.
Cuisine in Indian Literature Kameshwari Ayyagari Muse India 37.
Criticism and Culture Rajnath 194pp Doaba Publications (Delhi) Pb Rs150.
Decolonize English: Teach Englishes G.S. Das The Critical Endeavour 17 pp2530.
Diasporic Identity: Gender(ed) Representation in the Diasporic Indian English Womens Fiction
Ashalata Kulkarni The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp164175.
Discourses on Five Indian Poets in English K.V. Dominic 311pp Authorspress (New Delhi) Rs825.
Does the Indian English Woman Novelist Write from the Margin? Bijay Kumar Das The Literary
Criterion 46 (3&4) pp1328.
526 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
Ethnicity, Identity, Literary Imagination, and the Indian English Novel Tej N. Dhar Journal of
Indian Writing in English 39 (1) pp5774.
Feminism and Contemporary Indian Womens Writing Elizabeth Jackson ix+200pp Palgrave
Macmillan (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire) 52.50 [2010].
Feminist Criticism and Indian Tradition K.V. Raghupathi The Literary Criterion 46 (1)
pp6276.
Gastro-Cultural Conflicts Debasree Basu Muse India 37.
Gender as an Issue in Young Adult Literature Devika Rangachari Muse India 39.
Globalisation and English Language M.Q Khan The Critical Endeavour 17 pp225236.
History and Evolution of Comic Art in India Aju Aravind The Quest 25 (1) pp9097.
Home and Abroad: Some Aspects of the Indian Diaspora Mohan Ramanan The Critical
Endeavour 17 pp113122.
Identity and the Domestic Geetha P.G. and C.P.Ravichandra Journal of Indian Writing in
English 39 (2) pp 7887 [on recent Indian-English Fiction].
Indian and Western Aesthetic Thinking: A Comparative Study Shrawan K. Sharma Indian Ethos
1 (1) pp125.
Indian EnglishAn Emergent Epicentre? A Pilot Study on Light Verbs in Web-derived Corpora
on South Asian Englishes J. Mukherjee, S. Hoffmann and M. Hundt Anglia 129 3&4 pp258
280.
Indian English and Vernacular India eds Makarand K. Paranjape and G.J.V. Prasad xv+165pp
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Indian English Fiction in New Young Adult Age Jojo Joy N and Merin Simi Raj Muse India 39.
Indian Fiction in English: Recent Criticism Chhote Lal Khatri 241pp Adhyayan Publishers &
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Indian Poetry in English: A Comprehensive Study ed Vijay Kumar Roy 171pp Adhyayan Publishers
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Indian Popular Cinema: A Historical Perspective Indu Rajasekharan The Quest 25 (1) pp8489.
Indian Women Writers Writing for Youngsters Pranav Mehta Muse India 36.
Indian Womens Short Fiction in English: Exploring the Neglected Form Priyanka Tripathi and
H. S. Komalesha Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture 5&6pp [with a comprehen-
sive bibliography].
Indianising English: Strategies of Nativisation in Indian Writing in English K. Satchidanandan
The Critical Endeavour 17 pp824.
Indigenous Roots of Feminism: Culture, Subjectivity and Agency Jasbir Jain 341pp Sage
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Intertextuality and Comparative Method: Three Essays Charu Sheel Singh 223pp Adhyayan
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Lesbianism in Novels by Indian Women Shivangi Dikshit Muse India 38.
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Literature of the Indian Diaspora ed O.P. Dwivedi 200pp Pencraft International (New Delhi) Rs550.
Locating Indian Literature: Texts, Traditions, Translations E.V.Ramakrishnan 228pp Orient
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Matrix of Redemption: Contemporary Multi-Ethnic English Literature from Northeast India
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New Readings in Indian English Literature ed Bijay Kumar Das 251pp Prakash Book Depot
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On Reviewers and Reviewing S.K. Sharma Journal of Indian Writing in English 39 (1) pp16.
On Theorizing Romanticism Haladhar Panda The Critical Endeavour 17 pp5680.
India 527
Once Again to the Sacred Wood V.M. Madge Journal of Indian Writing in English 39 (2) pp25
34 [on Indian English Poetry].
Partial Recall: Essays on Literature and Literary History Arvind Krishna Mehrotra 298pp Orient
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Poetry, Translatable or Untranslatable: Theoretical Frameworks Reviewed Hanegave Satyawan
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Post-1947 Indian English Novel: Major Concerns O.P. Mathur 181pp Sarup Publishers (New
Delhi) Rs600 [2010].
Postcolonial Indian English Fiction: Critical Understanding N.D.R. Chandra 256pp Adhyayan
Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi) Rs795 [2010].
Postmodern Gandhi in Life and Literature Muniba Sami 176p Satyam Publishing House (Delhi)
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Quest for Identity in Contemporary Indian English Drama A.J.Sebastian 162pp Adhyayan
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Quest for Identity in Contemporary Indian English Fiction and Poetry A.J.Sebastian 290pp
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Reading Literature Today Tabish Khair, Sebastien Doubensky 180pp Sage (New Delhi) Rs295.
Recent Indian English Fiction: Winners All the Way N. Sharada Iyer 242pp Adhyayan Publishers
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Samskara: The Passing of the Brahman Tradition R. Parthasarathy The Critical Endeavour 17
pp3144.
Spindle and the Wheel: Re-living Text and Context in Translation Studies Binod Mishra 290pp
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States of Sentiment: Exploring the Cultures of Emotion Pramod K. Nayar 291pp Orient Blackswan
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Symphony of Desire: Myth in the Mainstream Indian English Novel Nalini Shyam Kamil 157pp
Adhyayan Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi) Rs450 [2010].
Tales in the Indian Narrative Tradition Dhananjay Singh 208pp D.K.Printworld (New Delhi) Rs520.
The Changing Culture of Eating Anwesha Chakaraborty Muse India 37.
The Influence of Psychological Novel on Indian Fiction M.Q. Khan Journal of Indian Writing
in English 39 (2) pp4659
The Influence of Virginia Woolf on Women Novelists in Indian Fiction M.Q. Khan The Literary
Criterion 46 (3&4) pp2946.
The Indian Postcolonial: A Critical Reader eds Elleke Boehmer and Rosinka Chaudhuri 366pp
Taylor & Francis 76; Kindle 25.
The Politics of Identity: The Emigrants Write Back Bijay Kumar Das The Literary Criterion 46
(1) pp517.
The Spectacle of Violence in Partition Fiction: Women, Voyeurs and Witnesses Shumona
Dasgupta Journal of Postcolonial Writing 47 (1) pp3041.
The Writers Feast: Food and the Cultures of Representation eds Supriya Chaudhuri and Rimi B.
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Translation: Problems and Strategies Sharmila Jajodia The Quest 25 (1) pp6875.
Translation: The Art of the Possible Mahajiteswar Das The Critical Endeavour 17 pp237247.
Translation: Theories, Problems and Limitations Sadique Mansuri The Quest 25 (2) pp108114.
Two Indian Booker Winners: Interrogation of a Political Ideology B. Parvathi The Critical
Endeavour 17 pp163171 [on Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things and Kiran Desais
The Inheritance of Loss].
Two Kinds of Indo Chic: Fremdverstehen Meets Cultural Hybridity M. Banerjee Beyond Other
Cultures: Transcultural Perspectives on Teaching in the New Literatures in English ed S. Doff
and F. Schulze-Engler WTV (Trier, Germany) pp3146.
528 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression eds G.N.Devy, Geoffrey V. Davis
and K.K. Chakravarty 368pp Orient Blackswan (Hyderabad) Pb Rs575.
Wave of Experimentation: Post-Rushdie Indian Fiction in English M.K. Choudhury The Critical
Endeavour 17 pp113122.
Writing India, Writing English: Literature, Language, Location G.J.V. Prasad xiii+176pp
Routledge (New Delhi) Rs545.
Young Adult Literature in India Deepa Agarwal Muse India 39.
Studies on Individual Writers
Adiga, Aravind Adigas Between Assassinations Rositta Joseph Valiyamattam Muse India 35.
Aravind Adigas The White Tiger: A Freakish Booker Sudhir K. Arora vii+203pp Authorspress
(New Delhi) Rs550.
Aravind Adigas The White Tiger: A Symposium of Cultural Responses ed R.K.Dhawan 271pp
Prestige (New Delhi) Rs600.
New India? New Metropolis? Reading Aravind Adigas The White Tiger as a condition-of-
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The White Tiger: Roar of Mankind Shivani Vashist Indian Ethos 1 (1) pp112119.
Ahmed Ali Sufi Elements in Ahmed Alis Poetry Ali Arian Mohaghegh Journal of Indian
Writing in English 39 (2) pp18.
Alphonso-Karkala, John Passion for the Other: Northern Otherness in John Alphonso-Karkalas
Novel Passions of the Nightless Night Joel Kuortti Indian Journal of World Literature and
Culture 5&6 pp
Anand, Mulk Raj Exploring Reflections of Power/Knowledge Discourse in Mulk Raj Anands
Untouchable Journal of Indian Writing in English 39 (2) pp6977.
Mulk Raj Anands Novels: Delineation of the Disadvantaged Shruti Nath 200pp Har-Anand
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Badami, Anita Rau History and Politics in Anita Rau Badamis Can You Hear the Nightbird
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Badrinath, Tulsi Tulsi Badrinaths Meeting Lives: The Unfinished Story of a Twice-Born
Mother Ragini Ramachandra The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp146157.
Bajaj, Manjul Manjul Bajajs Come, When Evening Falls Shyamala A. Narayan The Critical
Endeavour 17 pp286-290.
Baldwin, Shauna Singh Re-constructing Anima through Cultural Revivalism: Baldwins What
the Body Remembers Pooja Shama Parnassus 2&3 pp4955; also Indian Journal of World
Literature and Culture 5&6pp
Banerjee, Sarnath Intermedial Fictions of the New Metropolis: Calcutta, Delhi and Cairo
in the Graphic Novels of Sarnath Banerjee and G. Willow Wilson C. Sandten Journal of
Postcolonial Writing 47 (5) pp510522.
Bond, Ruskin Ruskin Bond: Interpreter of Human Relationships Ram Kulesh Thakur 69pp Prakash
Book Depot (Bareilly) Rs80.
Structures of Authenticity in Ruskin Bonds Fiction: Children, Cognition and Truth-Telling
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Daruwalla, Keki N. Keki Daruwalla: A Study of His Poetry Bijay Kant Dubey 60pp privately pub
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Keki N. Daruwalla: The Poet and Novelist Asha Viswas 173pp Bahri Publications (New
Delhi) Rs500.
Daruwalla, Keki N. A Postcolonial Study of Daruwallas Pestilence in Nineteenth-Century
Calcutta Lalima Chakraverty The Quest 25 (2) pp2733.
India 529
Das, Gurcharan The Family and the Nation: Critiquing Gurcharan Dass A Fine Family Rositta
Joseph Valiyamattam The Quest 25 (2) pp94102.
Das, Kamala Kamala Das, The Indian Monroe: Feminist Perspective Hongsha Phomrong 161pp
Adhyayan Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi) Rs425 [2010].
Poetry of Kamala Das: The Aesthetic Dimension Dinesh K. Shukla 218pp Adhyayan Publishers
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Das, Manoj Discovering the Self through the Other: A Study of Cultural Encounters in Manoj
Dass The Crocodiles Lady and Anurag Mathurs The Inscrutable Americans Amarjeeet
Nayak Parnassus 2&3 pp2429.
The Locale in the Short Stories of Manoj Das Bhabaghari Moharana Journal of Indian
Writing in English 39 (2) pp6068.
Dattani, Mahesh Interrogating the Pseudo-Civilised: Mahesh Dattanis Seven Steps Around the
Fire Girija Sharma Journal of Drama Studies 5 (1) pp9197.
Mahesh Dattanis Thirty Days in September: A Study in Techniques Jnan Ranjan Padhi The
Critical Endeavour 17 pp189197.
David, Esther Esther Davids Book of Rachel Anshu Kujur Muse India 37.
Derozio, Henry Derozios The Harp of India Sudeshna Karbarua Muse India 38.
Desai, Anita A Meaning to the Meaningless: Anita Desais Baumgartners Bombay T. Dring
Beyond Other Cultures: Transcultural Perspectives on Teaching in the New Literatures in
English ed S. Doff and F. Schulze-Engler WTV (Trier) pp193207.
Anita Desai: Through an Ecocritical Lens Baby Kumari Research: A Journal of English
Studies 11 (1) pp7790.
Anita Desais Fiction: Themes and Techniques ed Arvind M. Nawale 225pp B.R.Publishing
Corporation (New Delhi) Rs595.
Home Fiction: Narrating Gendered Space in Anita Desais and Shashi Deshpandes Novels
Ellen Dengel-Janic 226pp Knigshausen & Neumann (Wrzburg) 34,00.
Deshpande, Shashi Deception and Revelation in Shashi Deshpandes In the Counry of Deceit
M.S. Palaksha The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp158163.
Emergence of the New Woman: Contextualizing Feminism in Shashi Deshpandes Novels
Anupama Chowdhury The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp110128.
Feminine Aspects in Shashi Deshpandes In the Country of Deceit Sweta Anand Cyber
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Fiction and Society: Narrativisation of Realities in the Novels of Shashi Deshpande and Githa
Hariharan Sarita Prabhakar 182pp Rawat Publications (Jaipur) Rs495.
Home Fiction: Narrating Gendered Space in Anita Desais and Shashi Deshpandes Novels
Ellen Dengel-Janic 226pp Knigshausen & Neumann (Wrzburg) 34,00.
Life beyond Relationships in Shashi Deshpandes Moving On Urvashi Kaushal and Babita
Kar The Quest 25 (1) pp4954.
Shashi Deshpande and the Question of Morality: A Critique Jyotsna Prabhakar Indian Ethos
1 (1) pp141157.
Shashi Deshpandes A Matter of Time Gurudarshan Singh Muse India 36.
Shashi Deshpandes Alternative Image of Woman Rekha Datta Journal of Indian Writing
in English 39 (2) pp1518.
The Gaze in Shashi Deshpandes The Stone Women (2003) S.N.Kiran The Literary
Criterion 46 (3&4) pp102109.
WomanAn Inside Outsider? With Special Reference to Shashi Deshpande Rekha Datta
Journal of Indian Writing in English 39 (2) pp1924.
Devi, Mahasweta Mahasweta Devi: Critical Perspectives ed Nandini Sen 224 pages Pencraft
International (New Delhi) Rs650.
530 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee Assimilation: A Key Role in the Fiction of Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni S.P. Vanjulavalli The Quest 25 (2) pp8790.
Chitras Amazing Novel Archana Srinath The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp141145.
Magic Realism as a Literary Device in Divakarunis Queen of Dreams Rashmi Gaur Indian
Ethos 1 (1) pp5264.
Travelling across Time: A Critical Analysis of The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming and
Shadowland P.V.L. Sailaja and N. Ramakrishna The Quest 25 (2) pp2026.
Dutt, Michael Madhusudan The English Madhusudan Dutt Sukla Basu Sen Muse India 35.
Ghosh, Amitav Amitav Ghoshs Dancing in Cambodia, At Large in Burma C.N. Srinath Journal
of Indian Writing in English 39 (1) pp8183.
Amitav Ghoshs Sea of Poppies Devyani Agrawal Muse India 38.
Amitav Ghoshs The Hungry Tide Samrat Laskar Muse India 35.
An Eco-Critical Reading of Amitav Ghoshs The Hungry Tide Gulrez Roshan Rahman
Research: A Journal of English Studies 11 (1) pp91103.
Calcutta in Amitav Ghoshs The Calcutta Chromosome S.D. Sharma and Suruchi Kalra
Choudhary Indian Ethos 1 (1) pp120128.
Multiculturalism in Amitav Ghoshs The Hungry Tide M. Saji The Quest 25 (2) pp103107.
Outside in the Jungle: Narrating the Nation in Midnights Children and The Glass Palace
Soni Wadhwa Muse India 40.
Time Past in Time Future and the Unredeemability of Time in Antique Lands K.M. Chander
and K. Ravindranath Rai Journal of Indian Writing in English 39 (1) pp1318.
Hariharan, Githa Equating Mythology with Emotion: Marginalization of Women in Githa
Hariharans The Thousand Faces of Night Monika Gupta Indian Ethos 1 (1) pp8699.
Fiction and Society: Narrativisation of Realities in the Novels of Shashi Deshpande and Githa
Hariharan Sarita Prabhakar 182pp Rawat Publications (Jaipur) Rs495.
Iyengar, K.R. Srinivasa Leaves from a Memoir: Srinivasa Iyengar in Bagalkot Prema
Nandakumar Journal of Indian Writing in English 39 (1) pp 4147.
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer Ruth Prawer Jhabvalas Fiction: Existential Modes and Stylistic Patterns
A.A. Khan and Ashish Sharma 281pp Adhyayan Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi) Rs700.
Joshi, Arun A Primitive View of the Tribal World: Arun Joshis The Strange Case of Billy
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V.S. Naipaul and Arun Joshi: A Comparative Study A.K. Muthusamy and J S Kirubhakar
182pp Authorspress (New Delhi) Rs475.
Kapur, Manju A Critique of Manju Kapurs Novel The Immigrant Tapati Talukdar The Literary
Criterion 46 (3&4) p6169.
Modernity vs. Tradition: An Insight into Manju Kapurs Difficult Daughters Subhashree
Mukherjee Cyber Literature 27 (1) pp4054.
The Journey of Dislocation in Nasreens French Lover and Kapurs The Immigrant Lalima
Chakravarthy Muse India 40.
Karnad, Girish Girish Karnad: History and Folklore O.P. Budholia vii+206pp B.R. Publishing
Corporation (New Delhi) Rs595.
Girish Karnad: Poetics and Aesthetics O.P. Budholia vii+206pp B.R. Publishing Corporation
(New Delhi) Rs595.
Girish Karnads Plays: Archetypal and Aesthetical Presentations Bhagabat Nayak 290pp
Authorspress (New Delhi) Rs725
Reality and Myth: A Study of Girish Karnads Naga-Mandala Tanushree Nayak The Critical
Endeavour 17 pp225236.
The Use of Myth in Karnads Yayati Wale N.G. The Quest 25 (1) pp4248.
Triangular Relationships in Girish Karnads Two Monologues: Flowers and Broken Images
R.T. Bedre and J.G. Mete The Literary Criterion 46 (1) pp5061.
India 531
Lahiri, Jhumpa Generational Differences: Migrant Women in Jhumpa Lahiris Unaccustomed
Earth, Hell-Heaven and Only Goodness Phurailatpam Jayalaxmi The Quest 25 (2) pp1319.
Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake Barnali Dutta Muse India 37.
Russian Influence on Jhumpa Lahiris The Namesake Christina Maria Gamez-Fernandez
Parnassus 2&3 pp1623.
Lal, P. P. Lal (19292010): Critic and Scholar-Extraordinary Subhendu Mund Parnassus 2&3
pp715.
P. Lal: A Tribute Subhendu Mund Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture 5&6 pp
Lal, Ranjit Ranjit Lals Survival Fiction Nandini Nayar Muse India 39.
Madhaviah, A. The Poetry of A. Madhavaiah Shyamala A. Narayan Journal of Indian Writing
in English 39 (1) pp2540.
Mahapatra, Jayanta A Deconstructive Reading of Jayanta Mahapatras Dawn at Puri Pradip
Kumar Patra The Critical Endeavour 17 pp181188.
Jayanta Mahapatra: His Mind and Art A.A. Khan and Rahul Mene 200pp Adhyayan Publishers
& Distributors (New Delhi) Rs550.
Jayanta Mahapatra the Poet and the Visionary: A Study in Imagery 86pp privately pub
(Chandrakona Town, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal) Pb Rs60 [2010].
Malgonkar, Manohar War Within and Without: Patterns of Conflict in Manohar Malgonkars A
Bend in the Ganges Seema Miglani Parnassus 2&3 pp3037.
Markandaya, Kamala Multiculturalism and Diasporic Dilemmas: The Fiction of Kamala
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Rs495.
Mathur, Anurag Discovering the Self through the Other: A Study of Cultural Encounters in Manoj
Dass The Crocodiles Lady and Anurag Mathurs The Inscrutable Americans Amarjeeet
Nayak Parnassus 2&3 pp2429.
Misra, Jaishree Between the Reel and the Real: A Reading of Jaishree Misras Secrets and Lies
(2009) and Secrets and Sins (2010) Vijay Sheshadri The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp79
86.
In a Brief Chat with Pratibha Umashankar Muse India 36.
Jaishree Misras Ancient Promises Pratibha Umashankar Muse India 36.
Mistry, Rohinton History from the Bottom Up: The Indomitable Dalit Spirit in Rohinton Mistrys
A Fine Balance S. Christina Rebecca The Quest 25 (1) pp109115.
Indian Society Politics: An Analysis of Rohinton Mistrys A Fine Balance C. Bharathi The
Literary Criterion 46 (2) pp2649.
Parsi Food in the Fiction of Rohinton Mistry Vetri Selvi P. Muse India 37.
Rohinton Mistry: Positioning Parsi Identity in the Liminal Space of Inclusion and Exclusion
Hardeep Singh Mann Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture 5&6pp
Mohanty, Niranjan Festivals of Fire: A Study of the Poetry of Niranjan Mohanty Binod Mishra
and Sudhir K. Arora 258pp Adhyayan Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi) Rs695 [2010].
Niranjan Mohanty: The Man and His Poetry Sudhir K. Arora xii+136pp Prakash Book Depot
(Bareilly) Rs80.
Moudgil, Reema Conflicting Memories: Reema Moudgils Perfect Eight K. Yeshoda Nanjappa
The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp7078.
Mukherjee, Bharati Crossing Borders of Time and Space: Bharati Mukherjees The Holder of
the World and the Global Novel C. Birkle Riding/Writing Across Borders in North American
Travelogues and Fiction ed W. Zacharasiewicz AW (Wien) pp351358.
Immigrant Identity in Bharati Mukherjees Novels Aparajita Ray Muse India 35
In Conversation with Marilyn Clark Muse India 36.
Mukherjee, Meenakshi Emerging Nationalism in Meenakshi Mukherjees An Indian for All
Seasons: The Many Lives of R.C. Dutt Sushila Singh The Critical Endeavour 17 pp198211.
532 The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(4)
Nambisan, Kavery The Truth (Almost) about Bharat Chitra S. Muse India 36.
Narayan, R.K. Cosmopolitanism Within: The Case of R.K. Narayans Fictional Malgudi P.
Malreddy Journal of Postcolonial Writing 47 (5) pp 558570.
Narayans Swami and Friends Neerja Sharma Muse India 39.
Nimbkar, Jai Jai Nimbkars Fictional World of Transience A.P. Dani Journal of Indian Writing
in English 39 (1) pp1924.
Padmanabhan, Manjula Ecofeminism in India: Disappearing Daughters in Padmanabhans
Escape Rupali P. Palodkar The Quest 25 (1) pp5561
Parameswaran, Uma Negotiating Identity between India and Canada: A Reading of the Select
Plays of Uma Parameswaran Harbir Singh Randhawa and Sangeeta Aggarwal Indian Ethos
pp7685.
Rao, Raja Raja Rao: An Introduction Letizia Alterno xii+220pp Foundation Books (New Delhi)
Pb Rs195 [Contemporary Indian Writers in English Series].
Vedanta and Raja Raos The Serpent and the Rope Sunita Siroha Indian Ethos 1 (1) pp129
140.
Ray, Acharya P.C. Acharya P.C. Rays Writings on Food Amrit Sen Muse India 37.
Roy, Arundhati Arundhati Roys Political Consciousness Darkhasha Azhar Cyber Literature 27
(1) pp1120.
Can the Subaltern be Spoken for? A Critique of Arundhati Roys The God of Small Things
Sonali Das The Literary Criterion 46 (3&4) pp129140.
Narrating the Nation: Subalternity in Arundhati Roys The God of Small Things Sonali Das
The Critical Endeavour 17 pp153162.
Postmodernist Parable of Survival: Arundhati Roys The God of Small Things Shalini
Saxena The Quest 25 (2) pp6369.
Roys The God of Small Things Debarati Bandyopadhyay Muse India 37.
The God of Small Things: A Gynocritical Reading A.R. Chitra The Quest 25 (1) pp6267.
Rushdie, Salman Magic Realism in Midnights Children Jitendra Narayan Patnaik Journal of
Indian Writing in English 39 (2) pp3945.
Metaphors of Rain and Fire in Salman Rushdies Story The Firebirds Nest Prabhat K.
Singh The Critical Endeavour 17 pp123128.
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