Collection of the prose and poetic works of the author.

Today, Indian writing in English is a fi eld of study that cannot be overlooked. Whereas at the turn of the 20th century, writers from India who chose to write in English were either unheeded or underrated, with time the literary world has been forced to recognize and accept their contribution to the corpus of world literatures in English. Showcasing the burgeoning field of Indian English writing, this encyclopedia documents the poets, novelists, essayists, and dramatists of Indian origin since the pre-independence era and their dedicated works. Written by internationally recognized scholars, this comprehensive reference book explores the history and development of Indian writers, their major contributions, and the critical reception accorded to them. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Indian Writing in English will be a valuable resource to students, teachers, and academics navigating the vast area of contemporary world literature.

"Although blasphemy is as old as religion itself, its history has begun a new chapter in recent years. Slanders of the sacred are everywhere, as in the highly visible Charlie Hebdo case, with "religion" sometimes appearing as little more than a membrane for giving and receiving offense. Where some explain the contemporary preoccupation with blasphemy by pointing to the interconnectedness of twenty-first-century media, J. Barton Scott argues that we need to look deeper into the past at the colonial-era infrastructures that continue to shape our globalized world. Slandering the Sacred examines one such powerful and widely influential legal infrastructure: Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. What would it look like to take Section 295A as a text in, of, and for religion-a connective tissue interlinking multiple religious worlds? To answer this question, Scott explores the cultural, intellectual, and legal pre-history of this law, moving between colonial India and imperial Britain as well as between secular law and modern religion. Section 295A reveals a set of problems with no easy solution. It places a chill on free speech, extends the power of the state over civil society, and exacerbates the culture of religious controversy that it was designed to fix. The legislators who enacted the law foresaw the damage it could do and they enacted it anyway, as a half-despairing measure to curb injurious speech. Their problems are still our problems. The twenty-first century has compounded modernity's free-speech headache. Section 295A opens a useful window onto these problems precisely because it is a problem, too. Its history is a tale about the afterlives of the holy dead, the legal definition of the anglophone category "religion," and the transmissibility of outrage as bureaucratized affect"--

`In the battle for liberty, fear is the one unforgivable sin? She always wanted to be wild and free like the birds, but she became much more: the Bulbul-e-Hind or the Nightingale of India. A child prodigy, Sarojini Naidu née Chattopadhyay grew to be so fearless and gifted that she was an example to all. Gopal Krishna Gokhale led her to devote her song and speech, thought and dreams to `the Motherland? and she never wavered in leading or following the cause, right into jail several times. Wise, lyrical and feisty, Sarojini Naidu brought intelligence, energy and intensity to the independence movement. She was the first woman to become President of the Indian National Congress, and later the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Her frequent ill health never subdued her spirit. Her irreverence was legendary ? she was the one who gave Mahatma Gandhi the endearing nickname of `Mickey Mouse?. A staunch patriot, a unique poet, an efficient administrator, a progressive reformer and a women?s activist, she was hailed as a fiery public speaker. It is not surprising then that Women?s Day in India is celebrated on the birthday of Sarojini Naidu, a heroine then, and an inspiration now and forever. This book brings together her outstanding work and words, and highlights the main tenets of her life. From her stellar role in the difficult times she lived in, you too can learn to be a little bit like Sarojini Naidu.

Global and cosmopolitan since the late nineteenth century, anglophone South Asian women's writing has flourished in many genres and locations, encompassing diverse works linked by issues of language, geography, history, culture, gender, and literary tradition. Whether writing in the homeland or in the diaspora, authors offer representations of social struggle and inequality while articulating possibilities for resistance. In this volume experienced instructors attend to the style and aesthetics of the texts as well as provide necessary background for students. Essays address historical and political contexts, including colonialism, partition, migration, ecological concerns, and evolving gender roles, and consider both traditional and contemporary genres such as graphic novels, chick lit, and Instapoetry. Presenting ideas for courses in Asian studies, women's studies, postcolonial literature, and world literature, this book asks broadly what it means to study anglophone South Asian women's writing in the United States, in Asia, and around the world.

Sarojini Naidu s interests and passions were many: books, poetry, people, conversation, food, gardens, folklore handicrafts and travel. As a poet, she had perhaps the finest ear among Indians for the English language. As a public speaker, she impressed the most sophisticated audiences. As a political worker, her courage and conviction embarassed her detractors. As a proponent of women s rights, she won over numerous chauvanists.

Twelve-year-old Sarojini’s best friend, Amir, might not be her best friend any more. Ever since Amir moved out of the basti and started going to a posh private school, it seems like he and Sarojini have nothing in common. Then Sarojini finds out about the Right to Education, a law that might help her get a free seat at Amir’s school – or, better yet, convince him to come back to a new and improved version of the government school they went to together. As she struggles to keep her best friend, Sarojini gets help from some unexpected characters, including Deepti, a feisty classmate who lives at a construction site; Vimala Madam, a human rights lawyer who might also be an evil genius; and Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, a long-dead freedom fighter who becomes Sarojini’s secret pen pal. Told through letters to Mrs. Naidu, this is the story of how Sarojini learns to fight – for her friendship, her family, and her future. Published by Zubaan.

‘In the battle for liberty, fear is the one unforgivable sin’ She always wanted to be wild and free like the birds, but she became much more: the Bulbul-e-Hind or the Nightingale of India. A child prodigy, Sarojini Naidu née Chattopadhyay grew to be so fearless and gifted that she was an example to all. Gopal Krishna Gokhale led her to devote her song and speech, thought and dreams to ‘the Motherland’ and she never wavered in leading or following the cause, right into jail several times. Wise, lyrical and feisty, Sarojini Naidu brought intelligence, energy and intensity to the independence movement. She was the first woman to become President of the Indian National Congress, and later the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Her frequent ill health never subdued her spirit. Her irreverence was legendary – she was the one who gave Mahatma Gandhi the endearing nickname of ‘Mickey Mouse’. A staunch patriot, a unique poet, an efficient administrator, a progressive reformer and a women’s activist, she was hailed as a fiery public speaker. It is not surprising then that Women’s Day in India is celebrated on the birthday of Sarojini Naidu, a heroine then, and an inspiration now and forever. This book brings together her outstanding work and words, and highlights the main tenets of her life. From her stellar role in the difficult times she lived in, you too can learn to be a little bit like Sarojini Naidu.

It is at my persuasion that these poems are now published. The earliest of them were read to me in London in 1896, when the writer was seventeen; the later ones were sent to me from India in 1904, when she was twenty-five; and they belong, I think, almost wholly to those two periods. As they seemed to me to have an individual beauty of their own, I thought they ought to be published. The writer hesitated. "Your letter made me very proud and very sad," she wrote. "Is it possible that I have written verses that are 'filled with beauty,' and is it possible that you really think them worthy of being given to the world? You know how high my ideal of Art is; and to me my poor casual little poems seem to be less than beautiful—I mean with that final enduring beauty that I desire." And, in another letter, she writes: "I am not a poet really. I have the vision and the desire, but not the voice. If I could write just one poem full of beauty and the spirit of greatness, I should be exultantly silent for ever; but I sing just as the birds do, and my songs are as ephemeral." It is for this bird-like quality of song, it seems to me, that they are to be valued. They hint, in a sort of delicately evasive way, at a rare temperament, the temperament of a woman of the East, finding expression through a Western language and under partly Western influences. They do not express the whole of that temperament; but they express, I think, its essence; and there is an Eastern magic in them. Sarojini Chattopadhyay was born at Hyderabad on February 13, 1879. Her father, Dr. Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, is descended from the ancient family of Chattorajes of Bhramangram, who were noted throughout Eastern Bengal as patrons of Sanskrit learning, and for their practice of Yoga. He took his degree of Doctor of Science at the University of Edinburgh in 1877, and afterwards studied brilliantly at Bonn. On his return to India he founded the Nizam College at Hyderabad, and has since laboured incessantly, and at great personal sacrifice, in the cause of education.