The Co-wife and Other Stories
by Premchand
translated and introduced by Ruth Vanita
Penguin Modern Classics, 2008
Ruth Vanita's fine translation of selected writings is a wonderful opportunity for non-Hindi and -Urdu readers to sample the works of Premchand, one of Southasia's greatest modern fiction writers. Classics such as "Kafan" (The Shroud), "Poos ki Raat" (A Winter Night), "Mritak Bhoj" (The Funeral Feast), "Do Bailon ki Katha" (The Story of Two Bullocks) and, of course, "Saut" (The Co-wife) provide a glimpse not only into his well-known involvement in the freedom struggle, but also his deep humanism and empathy with Dalits, the poor, women and animals. More than 70 years after his death, Vanita's brilliant introduction brings this major writer alive. (Laxmi Murthy)
Disappearing Peoples:
Indigenous groups and ethnic minorities in South and Central Asia
edited by Barbara Brower & Barbara Rose Johnston
Left Coast Press, 2007
Belongingness, ethnicity and origins abound in anthropological discussions that rarely change things. At the same time, they are unwanted in political discussions. Disappearing Peoples attempts to undo that, by recording the travails of communities that are disappearing thanks to globalisation. Unfortunately, biases of the volume's contributors make the book fail miserably. Arjun Guneratne is dispassionate in describing forces that have made the Tharu of Chitwan a minority in their own land; Aparna Rao and Michael J Casimir detail the plight of Kashmiris with a semi-clinical detachment; and Paul Robbins celebrates the Raika of Rajasthan, but refuses to recognise the necessity of state protection for disappearing peoples. Resignation seems to be the underlying theme of the book: people appear and disappear in response to forces beyond anyone's control, and there is not much that can be done about it. In the end, this collection is neither anthropological nor political, and falls flat between two stools as an unabashed apologia of empire and globalisation.
(C K Lal)