Manu said that a woman’s dharma is to be mother, daughter, sister and wife in service of men, regardless of the caste. In modern times we call this patriarchy. In the Veda, the need to control and favour hierarchy, is an expression of an anxious mind. Hindu, Buddhist and Jain lore is full of tales where women do not let men define their dharma. In modern times we call this feminism. In the Veda, the acceptance of a woman's choice is an expression of a wise and secure mind. While in Western myth, patriarchy is traditional and feminism is progressive, in Indian myth both patriarchy and feminism have always co-existed, in eternal tension, through endless cycles of rebirth. Liberation thus is not a foreign idea. It has always been here. You have heard tales of patriarchy. This book tells you the other tales—the ones they don’t tell you.

Drawing Upon A Wide Range And Variety Of Literary And Non-Literary Sources Of Nineteenth Century British India, Woman And Empire Examines Perceptions Of Gender Over The 1858 1900 Period. The Book Focuses On Representations Of White And Indian Women, In Addition To Women Of Mixed Races, In Fiction As Well As In Colonial Newspapers And Journals.

The largest film industry in the world after Hollywood is celebrated in this updated and expanded edition of a now classic work of reference. Covering the full range of Indian film, this new revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema includes vastly expanded coverage of mainstream productions from the 1970s to the 1990s and, for the first time, a comprehensive name index. Illustrated throughout, there is no comparable guide to the incredible vitality and diversity of historical and contemporary Indian film.

The compelling story of a beautiful and versatile South Indian dance form

This book, covering a range of music essays, is a compendium of many articles that were published in several newspapers and have since been updated. The collection also features many subjects not published before. Some of our films’ great artists are profiled, especially in their relationship with songs we remember them by. Such people include the actors Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar and Sadhana, the composer Madan Mohan, and the singer Mukesh. Musical instruments such as bagpipes, the tambourine, and the drums can also be found in these pages, with where such instruments were featured in the Hindi film song. Equally importantly, you will find essays on ideas that have engaged with our music. These include cycling, suicides, Mumbai’s pride Marine Drive and composers who sang their own tunes. It’s a platinum offering of 75 diverse stories.

‘Religion is a tool in the hands of the oppressor against the oppressed solely because he frames the commandments and calls them the God’s’, is an apt description of the Hindu social order. The book rips open the raw nerve of Hinduism—its invidious castes, positioned as a ‘God-ordained’ institution, commandeered by its freebooter priestly class while clandestinely establishing its religious, social and political hegemony through interpolation of its pristine and effulgent scriptures. The author boldly analyses this imbroglio through a microscopic analysis of these and more related issues: • How priests controlled the Hindu religious, social, educational and political apparatus? • How the dominant priestly class fractured the society into mutually antagonistic subordinated hierarchical segments, and ruled it by reserving all elite jobs for itself? • How the fiendish priesthood emasculated shudras by depriving them of the ‘shaastra and shastra’ (education and arms) and made them permanent ‘village servant classes’? • How the pretensions of attaining siddhis through 'meditation and penances' established priests as the ‘gods on earth’ for their assertions of ‘purity and effulgence’? • How ‘karma’, ‘reincarnation’ and ‘84-lakhs births’ theories were devised to justify fatalism and hierarchical gradation of varnas? • Can India be rightfully called the ‘vishvaguru’ and the mother of all civilisations? • How Buddhism effeminated Hindus and made them the doormats for the ruthless? • Why Hindus had to abandon their own, to adop foreign institutions of governance? • Why Hinduism should become a universal and proselytising faith and fight demographic challenges posed by Islam and Christianity?

A Daughter Is Special by Mridula Sinha: This book by Mridula Sinha celebrates the special bond between a daughter and her parents. Through poignant stories and reflections, the book touches upon the unique and cherished relationship between daughters and their families. Key Aspects of the Book "A Daughter Is Special": Familial Bonds: The book emphasizes the significance of the parent-daughter relationship, highlighting the love, care, and understanding that define this unique bond. Cultural and Social Perspectives: "A Daughter Is Special" provides insights into the cultural and social nuances surrounding the role of daughters in families and communities. Emotional Resonance: The book captures the emotional depth of the parent-daughter relationship, evoking feelings of nostalgia, love, and appreciation. Mridula Sinha is the author of "A Daughter Is Special," a book that celebrates the cherished connection between daughters and their families. Sinha's work beautifully portrays the emotions and experiences that define the parent-daughter bond.

Covering the history of medieval and early modern India, from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries, this volume is part of a new series of collections of essays publishing current research on all aspects of polity, society, economy, religion and culture. The thematically organized volumes will particularly serve as a platform for younger scholars to showcase their new research and, thus, reflect current thrusts in the study of the period. Established experts in their specialized fields are also being invited to share their work and provide perspectives. The geographical limits will be historic India, roughly corresponding to modern South Asia and the adjoining regions. Chapters in the current volume cover a wide variety of connected themes of crucial importance to the understanding of literary and historical traditions, religious practices and encounters as well as intermingling of religion and politics over a long period in Indian history. The contributors to the volume comprise some fine historians working from institutions across South Asia, Europe and the United States: Matthew Clark, David Curley, Mridula Jha, Sudeshna Purkayastha, Sandhya Sharma, and Mikko Viitamäki.

The essays in this volume seek to explore the genre of the short story in India and its relationship with English language and literature. Various aspects of the question are taken up the impact of colonialism; the way English has shaped (or not) short story writing; why, how and in what contexts English words are used, feminist perspectives in the writings of women; the Indian diaspora; the teaching of the short story to Indian students and so on.

During The Last Few Centuries Women Writers Have Considerably Widened And Deepened The Areas Of Human Experience With Their Sharp, Feminine Perception Of Life, Successfully Transmuted Into Verbal Artifact. The World Body Of Literature In English Would Have Been Much Poorer Today But For The Contribution Of Women Writers. The New Series Studies In Women Writers In English Is A Grateful Acknowledgment Of That Contribution And Public Recognition Of Their Voice.Nineteen Essays Included In This Third Volume Of The Series Cover A Wide Spectrum Of Women Writers Across Space And Time. The Women Writers Discussed In This Volume Include One From Britain Virginia Woolf, The Twentieth Century Stalwart Of British Novel, Who Has Left Her Indelible Mark On The Art Of Fiction As Well As On Women Writers And Thinkers Of The Subsequent Decades; Four From America Emily Dickinson, Edith Wharton, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich; Two African-American Talents Toni Morrison, The Nobel Laureate For Literature In 1993, And Alice Walker, The Eminent Black American Woman Writer; And Margaret Clarke From Canada Besides Eight Authors From India. The Discussion On Indian Writers Include Two Articles On Sarojini Naidu, The Illustrious Icon Of Early Indian English Poetry And The Nightingale Of India ; One On The Charming Nostalgic Fiction Of Shashi Deshpande Who Is Compared To Margaret Clarke; One On The Enigmatic Ruth Jhabvala; Two On Two Different And Equally Well-Known Path-Breaking Novels By The Young Talent Githa Hariharan; And One On The Celebrated Recent Autobiography Of Indira Goswami. We Also Get A Glimpse Of Imtiaz Dharkar, Rama Mehta, And Last But Not Least, Anita Desai, In Addition To A Bird S Eye View Of The Enormous Harvest By Indian Women Novelists In The Last Two Decades Of The Last Century.Since Most Of These Authors Are Prescribed In The English Syllabus In The Universities Of India, Both The Teachers And The Students Will Find Them Extremely Useful, And The General Readers Who Are Interested In Literature In English And/Or Women Writers Will Also Find Them Intellectually Stimulating.