Review: aapbeeti: Kale Pani ki Karawas Kahani

aapbeeti: Kale Pani ki Karawas Kahani by Bhai ParmanandMy rating: 3 of 5 stars The writer was a Professor of Modern European History at National College, Lahore and thus was a teacher of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev. This was his memoir of his days in captivity at the Andamans. The book was proscribed by the …

Review: Gandhi Benaqaab

Gandhi Benaqaab by Hansraj RahbarMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a brave book since many authors would shy away from exposing the 'Mahatma'. However in doing so Rahbar exposes his own prejudices. Nevertheless, it is a well-researched critique of Gandhi and his politics. First Line: Desh ki shashya shyamla bhumi par Shiv ka …

A Revolutionary’s Life: Bandi Jeewan

Bandi Jeewan by Sachindra Nath SanyalMy rating: 4 of 5 stars The book which according to a British secret report sent "more young men to the jails and gallows than any other book" is a first-hand account of the revolutionary movement in India during the second and third decades of the twentieth century. Sachindranath Sanyal, …

Short Notes: Deshdrohi by Yashpal

 Bhagwandas Khanna, a doctor in the British Indian Army, is abducted by the Waziris, a Frontier tribe, near the fluid North-Western border of British India. That is the beginning of an adventure that sees him being converted into a Muslim; being sold-off in Ghazini; slipping in Soviet Russia and experiencing first-hand the great Socialist experiment; …

Hindi Pulp: Surender Mohan Pathak’s Dhabba

Surender Mohan Pathak is a well-known name in the field of Hindi pulp literature. Author of nearly 300 crime novels, he has a number of series and stand-alones to his credit. The earliest series that he wrote is the Sunil series. Sunil Kumar Chakravarty is a reporter at the daily Blast in the fictitious city …

23 March, 1931: Dreams Die Young

On 23rd March, 1931, the British colonial government in India, executed three young men in the dark of the night. Their crime? They were fighting for that which is everybody's birth-right: Freedom.So many years down the line it is easy to condemn the British for snuffing out three of India's brightest lights: Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, …

Review: Shaheed aur Shohade by Manmath Nath Gupt

Good intentions do not always translate into good novels. Manmath Nath Gupt's Shaheed Aur Shohade is a good example of that. The writer, who was imprisoned for his involvement in the Kakori Train Case has written a number of books related to India's struggle for Independence. In this novel, he examines the attitude of the Indian members …