Filmmakers bring alive his stories. Rock bands experiment with his music. From poets to politicians, everyone loves to quote him. So what is it that makes Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore relevant even in the 21st century?
Perhaps a vision that was modern, yet unique. One need only delve into his novels to discover how Tagore, writing almost 100 years ago in colonial India, made bold statements on themes like women, sexuality, caste and nationalism.
Five contemporary English fiction titles from India - Misi Saran's "The Other Side of Light", Jeet Thayil's "Narcopolis", "Em and the Big Hoom" by Jerry Pinto, "The Wildlings" by Nilanjana Roy and "God on Every Wind" by Farhad Sorabjee - have been nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2013.
Book: "Khushwantnama: The Lessons of My Life", Author: Khushwant Singh, Publisher: Penguin Viking, Pages: 188, Price: Rs 399. The New Delhi that writer-columnist Khushwant Singh knew like the back of his hand has now become an alien city in which the 98-year-old thespian has lost his way, the writer says in his new volume of ruminations.
Book: "Sense and Sensitivity: Media's Engagement with Gender Issues"; Editor: Dolly Thakore; Pages: 206; Publisher: Laadli: A Girl Child Campaign by Population First; Price: Rs.500. When police Inspector Narendra Shukla looked inside an AC train coach at Jabalpur Railway Station one day, he saw four frightened tribal girls huddling around a middle-aged woman.
You cannot shun war and run away from the death and destruction that follows you. You cannot dodge the fear of terrorism, bomb blasts or a fidayeen. You cannot shut yourself to the latest round of intifada or Kani Jung, threatening to suck life out of your hinges.
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