English - PRAVASI BHARATIYA - Overseas Indian

BOOKSNEW PHILOSOPHYDawn of lightPolish philosopher Henryk Skolimowski says in his new book thatmankind has to transcend matriarchy, patriarchy and anarchy to treatlight as the great cosmic mother...After matriarchy and patriarchy,the world is graduallymoving towards anage of light or ‘lumenarchy’,says noted Polish philosopherand Indophile, Henryk Skolimowski,who considers himself “moreIndian”, in his new book Let ThereBe Light: The Mysterious Journey ofCosmic Creativity.“If we go back 7,000 years ago intime, society was dictated by god’sessential laws — justice and compassion.But there has been grossviolation of the law by patriarchalsocieties. All patriarchal religionsare ungodly and inhuman. Matriarchywas symbiotic. The motto ofmatriarchy was ‘live and let live’,but the motto of patriarchy was ‘Ihave to live’. We cannot live withpatriarchy any longer and neithercan we return to a matriarchal setup.Where do we go from here?” asksthe 80-year-old philosopher.“Mankind has to transcend matriarchy,patriarchy and anarchy totreat light as the great cosmic mother— the source of all energy andnourishment,” Skolimowski says.“This is the essence of ‘lumenarchy’,an idea that I propounded forthe first time on February 18 thisyear. It is an extension of my theoryof ‘lumenology’ or the understandingof light and its role in the entirecosmos and in the human world formillions of years as all-pervadingand all-helpful,” he says.The philosopher says that in thelong run “the seekers of light wouldlike to establish a ‘Society of Lumenologists’,whose members will comefrom such diverse cross-sections assun worshipers, moon and star gazers,students of solar science,philosophers, artists and all the hiddenworshipers of light”.Skolimowski’s work is targeted atovercoming human angst caused inpart by the “dominance of moderntechnology sowed by industrial revolutionand the imbalance in humanrelationship with nature”.He is the author of 40 books and 600articles, including a book on Indianspirituality and environment, DancingShiva in the Ecological Age.“I am more Indian and Hindu thanmany in the country. When I firstcame to India 22 years ago, it waspoorer. Now, prosperity has grownand with it the dawning of consciousness,”he says.Solo wins C’wealthWriter’s PrizeIndian novelist Rana Dasgupta’sSolo and Pakistan-basedauthorDaniyal Mueenuddin’sIn Other Rooms, Other Wonderswere recently declaredregional winners of the CommonwealthWriter’s Prize for2010 in the European andSouth Asian categories.While Solo was declared thebest book, In Other Rooms...was selected as the best firstRana Dasgupta book by an author.Presented by the Commonwealth Foundation withsupport from the Macquarie Group Foundation, theglobal winners of the award will be presented on April12. A five-day literary event in the run-up to the awardsceremony on April 12 will begin on April 7 with a seriesof interactive literary sessions. This is the first time thatthe event will be held in New Delhi, which will also hostthe Commonwealth Games in October.The two books from the South Asian and Europeanregions will have to compete with winners from Africa,Caribbean and Canada next month for the global prizesin the best book and the best first book categories, directorof the Commonwealth Foundation, Mark Collins,said. Other regional winners include The Double Crown(Best Book) by Marie Heese and I Do Not Come to YouBy Chance (Best First Book) by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubanifrom Africa; Galore by Michael Crummey (Best Book);Under this Unbroken Sky (Best First Book) by ShandiMitchell from the Canada and Caribbean region; andThe Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt and SiddonRock by Glenda Guest in the Southeast Asia and Pacificregion.Collins said the entries this year had been “absolutelyoutstanding and competition was fierce”.TOP 10 BESTSELLERSFictionNon-fictionThe Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ NestAuthor: Stieg LarssonPublisher: QuercusPrice: Rs. 4952 States: The Story ofMy MarriageAuthor: Chetan BhagatPublisher: RupaPrice: Rs. 95The Palace of IllusionsAuthor: Chitra Banerjee DivakaruniPublisher: Picador IndiaPrice: Rs.395The Museum of InnocenceAuthor: Orhan PamukPublisher: Faber and FaberPrice: Rs. 599The House on Mall RoadAuthor: Mohyna SrinivasanPublisher: Penguin BooksPrice: Rs. 325The Last SunsetAuthor: Amarinder SinghPublisher: Roli BooksPrice: Rs. 695...in India in MarchFreefall: America, Free Markets, andthe Sinking of the World EconomyAuthor: Joseph StiglitzPublisher: Allen LanePrice: Rs. 499NEW RELEASESThe Scientific Indian: A Twenty-first CenturyGuide to the World around UsBy A. P. J. Abdul KalamNuclear capability, selfsufficiencyin food production,an array of indigenoussatellites and missiles,an unmanned Moon mission— India’s achievements inthe scientific domain inrecent years have been spectacular.But, according to thecountry’s best-known scientistA.P.J. Abdul Kalam and his close associate Y.S.Rajan, we’ve only just begun.Muskoka MaharaniBy David McMahonHarry Barnsley, an Australian newspaperreporter, faces the sack if he cannot producea scoop. Then the paper’s Anglo-Indianadvertising director, Charmaine D’Souza, tellshim to fly to Muskoka, north of Toronto,where her Indian-born aunt Serena lives. Serenahad helped capture a German spy duringthe Second World War, but has remainedtight-lipped about the affair. Will Serena reveal her secret toBarnsley?David McMahon’s atmospheric novel gives us a rare glimpseinto the lives of ordinary Anglo-Indians in pre-IndependentIndia, even as it breaks the biggest story of the decade.Indian EssentialsBy Various AuthorsIndian Essentials is a light-hearted, tonguein-cheekode to India, celebrating 60 yearsof the Indian Republic. In this quirky collection,twenty writers and social commentatorsponder the mysteries of the Indian psycheand try to make sense of one trait — thephenomenon or cultural value that isquintessentially Indian. From the Indianmale’s penchant for public urination to theIndian female’s obsession with gold, fromthe jhatkas of Bollywood to the melas of Allahabad, from ourembarrassingly frank matrimonials to how seriously we takeour copulation problems, nothing is spared scrutiny.India’s EconomyAuthor: Shankar Acharyaand Rakesh MohanPublisher: OxfordPrice: Rs. 795Victoria & Abdul: The True StoryOf The Queen’s Closest ConfidantAuthor: Shrabani BasuPublisher: RupaPrice: Rs.395BiryaniAuthor: Pratibha KaranPublisher: Random House IndiaPrice: Rs.79544 Pravasi Bharatiya March 2010Pravasi Bharatiya March 2010 45