1. Kesari
Lokmanya Tilak
Translated by Nadeem Khan, Yashodhan Parande
Penguin Random House
Pp 400, Rs 799
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the central figures of the Indian nationalist movement. He upheld the concepts of Swadeshi, boycott of foreign goods and gave the slogan, ‘Swaraj is our Birthright and we shall have it’. The book includes essays published in Kesari between 1886 and 1918 on topics ranging from the Indian National Congress, economy to nationalism, and expresses Tilak’s views on sedition, women’s rights and education.
2. The New Icon
Arun Shourie
Penguin Random House
Pp 560, Rs 999
What did Savarkar think of Hinduism, about our beliefs and ‘holy cows’, about the texts Hindus hold to be sacred? Have our people been suffused with Hindutva as Savarkar maintained? What sort of a state did he envisage? Is Savarkar being resurrected today to erase the one great inconvenience—Gandhiji? In The New Icon, Arun Shourie delves deep into Savarkar’s books, essays, speeches, statements to answer these and other questions.
3. In Her Defence
Navdeep Singh & Shivani Dasmahapatra
Penguin Random House
Pp 288, Rs 399
Few arenas in the annals of legal history have witnessed as profound a transformation as the realm of gender equality within the armed forces. In Her Defence is an anthology of essays and commentaries, in layperson terms, contributed by jurists, judges and academics on landmark constitutional court decisions of India that made a difference or brought about a positive change for women in the uniformed forces.
4. An Ode to Fraternity
Rohinton Fali Nariman
Penguin Random House
Pp 336, Rs 699
Shedding light on how people from various faiths can learn from each other to create a more inclusive world, An Ode to Fraternity is a brilliant meditation on world religion. From Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism and Bahai to Sikhism and Christianity, among others, this is an apt book for our times, one that opens a window to understand how multiple faiths, life philosophies and religions can create a panoramic peaceful world.
5. Loal Kashmir
Mehak Jamal
HarperCollins
Pp 364, Rs 599
Loal, the Kashmiri word for love and affection, is the common thread running through all 16 true-life narratives in the book —Javed, on his way to show off his love letter to a friend, gets caught in a crackdown; newly-wed Zara waits to be reunited with her husband in America, her visa application flagged indefinitely; Sagar and Aalmeen plan moments of stolen time during the uncertainty of militancy; Nadiya looks for Shahid from her window, coughing as caustic fumes of tear gas seep in; and so on.