hopscotch

I spoke with Taran N Khan, who has written a book titled Shadow City. The interview appeared in Sakal Times Ambika Shaligram Published on :  07 Mar, 2020 , 9:54 pm Walking in Kabul is like looking through the kaleidoscope... and as journalist Taran N Khan makes her way through the city’s bazaars, squares, library, bookshop, graveyards, university, and archaeological site, wedding halls, we get intimate with each new image of Kabul. An image which is far removed from the pictures that we co njure up from reading the headlines of a city and a country (Afghanistan) that has seen war, destruction and loss.  Khan’s book, Shadow City — A Woman Walks Kabul, published by Penguin Random House India, doesn’t sidestep from talking about war, Taliban, ISAF and the NATO, but the journalist in her takes the backseat, and the storyteller in her steps up, in ways which empathises with the people and their joys and sorrows and the yen to live.  We get to meet the people who stayed in touch with their k

Interviewed Sameena Dalwai for her book Bans & Bar Girls. The interview appeared in Sakal Times Ambika Shaligram Published on :  24 Mar, 2020 , 12:21 pm Earlier this year, the Supreme Court paved the way for the reopening of dance bars in Mumbai, relaxing stringent conditions imposed by the Maharashtra government on their licencing and functioning. The decision to ban dance bars was taken in August 2005 and the public discourse revolved around the subject of ‘morality’. A new book on the subject, Bans & Bar Girls — Performing Caste in Mumbai’s Dance Bars, says the reason had to do with economics, with wo men from lower caste earning more. The monograph (defined as a highly detailed and thoroughly documented study or paper written about a limited area of a subject or field of inquiry) has been authored by Sameena Dalwai and it has been published by Women Unlimited — An associate of Kali for Women.  EXAMINING THE REASONS In the introduction to the book, Dalwai says, ‘The essence

For Sakal Times, now The Bridge Chronicle Ambika Shaligram Published on :  23 Apr, 2020 , 1:42 pm On World Book Day, Indians find themselves in a unique scenario. The book stores, libraries are shut; and WhatsApp groups are abuzz with free downloads of novels, comics, magazines and so on. And on Facebook and Instagram, the authors are recommending lockdown reads, reading excerpts from their books and trying to widen their audience base. The publishers too, have postponed the launches of their physical books and are making them available on digital platforms. Will this have an impact on our reading habits?  We chat with a few people from the sales and editorial team of publishing houses to get answers. *** ‘eBooks will grow, but this trend will not sustain…’ Rahul Srivastava, MD, Simon & Schuster India & Himanjali Sankar, Editorial Director, Simon & Schuster India. Many books are now being released digitally either on Kindle or as eBook as distribution of physical copies is