The Hindu On Books The Hindu

He started writing his first novel at the age of 17. When he was 23, he won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The Room on the Roof. In his mid-20s, he returned to India and continued to do what he loved best — writing — while trying to make a living with other jobs. But, finally, he retreated to the place he was most at home — the hills of northern India — and continued to write. Yes, we are talking about Ruskin Bond, everyone’s favourite author. 
Today, on his 90th birthday, Bond continues to write: about hills, Nature, life and more. And we continue to read. Let’s celebrate this iconic writer by taking a look at just four books from his prolific output.
Host: R. Krithika, Senior Deputy Editor, The Hindu.
Edited by Jude Francis Weston and Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

Celebrated as the Dalit History Month, April is the time to reflect upon Dalit literature. There are many books in multiple Indian languages that raise issues related to caste and casteist patriarchy, oppression of the marginalised communities and their quest for equality.
The Dalit history month was started in India in 2015 by a group of young women activists who came together to assert their rights and resistance to the existing class conscious system.
April also commemorates the birth of Babasaheb Ambedkar besides celebrating and honouring the prominent figures of the community who have contributed to the Dalit movement.
Dalit literature has its origins in the exploitation, persecution and exclusion of Dalits. The subjugation also gave birth to people who fought against race and ethnicity and championed civil rights movements. Treated as a strong and separate category of literature, the documentation of Dalit history and experiences lent a new voice to a more inclusive understanding of the community.
There are many books that have ushered in fresh perspectives for empowering those who have challenged oppression for social equality and human dignity. The books included in the podcast and the Bibliography are:
1. Annihilation of Caste and The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables by Dr.B R Ambedkar
2. Ambedkar: A Life by Shashi Tharoor
3. Harijan by Gopinath Mohanty
4. Baluta by Daya Pawar
5. When I Hid My Caste by Baburao Bagul
6. Jina Amucha by Baby Kamble
7. Karukku by Bama
8. Koolamaathaari by Perumal Murugan
9. Chandal Jibon by Manoranjan Byapari
10. Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki

Edited by Jude Francis Weston

Ram Vilas Paswan was a steady presence in national politics for more than four decades. He has held Cabinet posts in several governments, including stints in key ministries such as Railways and Telecom. He is one of the faces associated with the historic implementation of the Mandal Commission report on OBC reservations. As someone adept at sensing shifts in political climate before others could, he was able to make the most of his political capital. But what is the nature of his legacy as a Dalit leader?

A new biography, titled ‘Ram Vilas Paswan: The Weathervane of Indian Politics’ by Sobhana K Nair offers a nuanced answer to this question.

Brinda Karat has been working with the CPI(M) for the last 53-years. And this memoir by her is primarily about the ten-years from imposition of emergency in 1975 till 1985 when she lived under the assumed name of Rita. It is also a story of a young upper middle class girl, who left her job with Air India in London to join the communist movement and struggles of working as a woman activist & politician. The book also chronicles stories of common workers, trade unionists and their struggles during the emergency years.  

Most of us would remember the sudden shortage of semiconductor chips during the pandemic – how it affected automobile manufacturing, delaying deliveries, and in many cases, even caused manufacturers to deliver cars without some features. But semiconductors form an integral component of not just cars but almost any high tech device we use today – from smartphones and laptops to televisions, satellites and, of course, all kinds of advanced military hardware.
As nations jockey for geopolitical dominance, in addition to traditional factors such as military capabilities and economic power, technological prowess has become another, and perhaps most critical factor. Control over the manufacture and availability of the most advanced semiconductors is a key element of geopolitical security and strategic autonomy.
And yet, geopolitics and semiconductor supply chains have mostly figured in separate debates. A new book, titled ‘When the Chips are Down’, by Pranay Lotasthane and Abhiram Manchi brings the two parallel discourses together, and also presents a framework for understanding where India fits into the picture.

We speak with the authors Pranay Kotasthane and Abhiram Manchi. 

What are black holes? Mainstream physics sees them as Universe’s ultimate agents of death; afterall, what crosses over beyond the rim of the black hole – or its event horizon as it is known – disappears forever. Even all pervasive light cannot escape it. Science also shows that the universe is littered with billions upon billions of enormous black holes, capable of swallowing entire galaxies. But are they really the Universe’s cosmic executioners? Not necessarily, suggests Carlo Rovelli, one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists and prolific author of extremely accessible and thoughtful popular-books on modern physics. In his latest book, ‘White Holes', Professor Rovelli, discusses, well, so called ‘white holes.’ They may be the yin to the black holes’s yang, or as Rovelli describes it in Tolkienisque terms --the transformation of ‘Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White.’ In this podcast, we also talk about the role of scientific speculation, how scientific progress requires abandoning comforting assumptions, how new universes may be born, and whether we need to re-evaluate our commonly held notions of past and future.