Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Volume XXXVI
No. 4 April
Contents
Peter Friedlander
Boddhsattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahayana by Daniel Boucher
Amar Farooqui
Bombay Islam: The Religious Economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840-1915 by Nile Green
Vijay Prashad
Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva: Local Mediations and Forms of Convergence edited by Daniela Berti,
Nicolas Jaoul and Pralay Kanungo
Saba Naqvi
Green and Saffron: Hindu Nationalism and Indian Environmental Politics by Mukul Sharma
Arindam Banerjee
Minorities and the State: Changing Social and Political Landscape of Bengal edited by Abhijit Dasgupta,
Masahiko Togawa and Abul Barkat
Supriya Sharma
The Naxal Threat: Causes, State Responses and Consequences edited by V.R. Raghavan
Sajal Nag
11
Shatam Ray
12
Sucharita Sengupta
13
Arun Vishwanathan
Emerging China: Prospects for Partnership in Asia edited by Sudhir T. Devare, Swaran Singh and
Reena Marwah
14
Wilson John
16
Neha Kohli
Empires Apart: America and Russia from the Vikings to Iraq by Brian Landers
17
N. Kamala
18
Gayatri Sahgal
Rethinking Work: Global Historical and Sociological Perspectives edited by Rana Behal, Alice Mah, Babacar Fall
19
20
The Andr Bteille Omnibus: Caste,Class and Power; The Idea of Natural Inequality and Other Essays;
Equality and Universality
22
Mujibur Rehman
Patrons of the Poor: Caste Politics and Policy Making in India by Narayan Lakshman
24
Surinder S. Jodhka
25
Harish S. Wankhede
Caste in a Different Mould: Understanding the Discrimination by Rajesh Shukla, Sunil Jain and Preeti Kakkar
26
Narender Kumar
The Making of the Dalit Public in North India Uttar Pradesh 1950-Present by Badri Narayan
27
29
A.J. Thomas
30
Nishat Zaidi
Closure: Some Poems and a Conversation by Kamala Das and Suresh Kohli; 50 Poems: 30 Selected 20 New
by Zulfikar Ghose; Slow Dance by Saleem Peeradina; Poems by Margaret Chatterjee; Luminous Illusions
by P.K. Mohanty; Whispering Mind by K.P. Shashidharan; Seventeen Oceans by Sandeep Mitra
Amit Ranjan
31
Reading Literature Today: Two Complementary Essays and a Conversation by Tabish Khair and
Sbastien Doubinsky
33
Malati Mathur
34
Asma Rasheed
The Temple and the Mosque: The Best of Premchand translated by Rakhshanda Jalil
35
JS & The Times of My Life: A Worms-Eye View of Indian Journalism by Jug Suraiya
36
Editors
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Consultant Editor Adnan Farooqui
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tinct about the hawkers was that their salespitch was not a mundane announcement, but
poetry and ditties. Also part of the econo-mic
network of the city were water-carriers, barbers, ear-cleaners, tonga-drivers, and warqbeaters. Ear-cleaners can still be spotted around
the city, wearing their red caps, but some other
professions have been wiped out, and the
practitioners reduced to penury. Calligraphers
or deed writers are no longer in much demand
(though a rickshaw ride down Chawri Bazar
towards Jama Masjid will reveal a couple of
hole-in-the-wall shops that are still up and
running), or that the citizenry of Delhi enjoys
poetry the same way as it used to once upon a
time. Present day Dilliwallas also do not have
the leisure for traditional games and recreation
such as kite-flying, pige-on-keeping, wrestling or
chaupar. Swimming, a favourite pastime of the
old city, has moved from the Yamuna and the
baolis to swanky swimming pools accessible
only to those who can pay for the services.
The author describes life in the household, but concentrates mostly on the kitchen.
And why not, for Delhi has a great culinary
heritage. He describes, with much pleasure,
both popular dishes and desserts of the day, as
well as utensils used for cooking and serving.
The section on Eating with Hands stands out
as an unabashed celebration of our own methods of eating, a tradition that is often browbeaten at the altar of modern day etiquette.
That the author takes the culinary tradition of
Delhi very seriously is proven in the recipes
provided as an Annexure, with a hot favourite,
Stew, spelt charmingly the way it is pronounced in India, Ishtu.
As a tribute to the syncretic culture of
Dilli, Quraishi dedicates an entire section to
places of worship in the old city, catering to
believers of several religious persuasions.
These were sites where people mingled and
socialized once they had paid obeisance to
their respective deities. Arising from the same
culture of co-mingling were the many festivals,
celebrated by all irrespective of which religion
they were born into. A very special festival
arose from this Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb of Dilli
Phoolwaalon ki Sair. This is a festival
dedicated to communal harmony, and has
been celebrated in Delhi for almost 200 years.
Quraishi conducted over thirty interviews
with some of the oldest residents of Shahjahanabad. My only grouse with his book is that the
readers would have enjoyed reading those interviews in greater detail. Having said that, the
book is a beautifully freewheeling, straight-as-abat jargon shorn account of some very precious
memories, all of which will go a long way to
ensure that the younger generation develops a
greater appreciation of the Dilli that used to be.
Sucharita Sengupta is Assistant Professor in the
Department of Political Science, Indraprastha College, Delhi, and was the Guest Editor of the Special
Issue of The Book Review on Delhi.
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