Books.In

  A Polyphonic Chorus Bhaskar Parichha   Earth and Embers: South Asia in Verse , edited by Rachel Bari , Ishmeet Kaur Chaudhry , and Shweta Rao Garg , stands as a significant and timely contribution to contemporary South Asian literature. Ambitious in both scope and intent, the anthology seeks to gather a wide spectrum of poetic voices across borders, languages, and generations, and in doing so, it succeeds in capturing the restless, layered, and often volatile spirit of the region. At its core, Earth and Embers is not merely a collection of poems but a carefully curated literary space where multiplicity is both method and message. The editors, each accomplished in their own right, bring to the volume a deep engagement with language, history, and culture. Their combined editorial vision ensures that the anthology resists the temptation of presenting a singular, homogenized “South Asian experience.” Instead, it embraces plurality of voices, forms, and sensibilities—all...

Story of a Social Reformer Bhaskar Parichha   Bindeshwar Pathak: A Renaissance Man by Awadhesh Kumar Sharma is a deeply admiring and insightful tribute to one of modern India’s most transformative social reformers, Bindeshwar Pathak. The book positions Pathak not merely as the founder of Sulabh International, but as a rare figure whose life and work straddle multiple domains—science, spirituality, literature, and social justice. Structured across eleven compact yet thematically rich chapters, the book unfolds as both biography and reflection. Sharma’s long scholarly engagement with Pathak lends the narrative authority and depth. One of the book’s greatest strengths lies in its contextualization of Pathak’s work within India’s entrenched social realities. The practice of manual scavenging, rooted in caste hierarchies, is explored not just as a sanitation issue but as a profound human rights crisis. The author effectively demonstrates how Pathak’s innovations—particularly ...