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Manas National Park in the north east of India, is one of the oldest protected areas in the country. This almost 520 sq km of pristine forest is also the core zone of the sprawling Manas Tiger Reserve that extends for 230 km from east to west. The Richly wooded Bhutan hills form the Northern boundary of this National Park. In addition to the big five, namely Royal Bengal Tiger, Asiatic elephant, Asiatic water buffalo, Great Indian one-horned rhino and Gaur, Manas is also home to 5 species of deer, almost 40 other kinds of mammals, 36 different varieties of reptiles and 476 species of birds. As a tribute to its outstanding universal importance, in 1985, Manas was recognised as a World Heritage Site. This handbook provides the reader with a package of ‘facts, legends & pictures’ that is practical for travellers, a souvenir for tourist and a ‘must have’ for the wildlife enthusiast.

My rating: 4.0 stars

The Seven Sisters of India is the first comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the seven isolated and until recently closed to foreigners northeastern states of India lying between Tibet and Burma. The book examines the political and historical background of the seven states¾ Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam¾ including their local customs, religious practices, and ancient rituals. Over 400 full-color photographs offer a glimpse into the life of these remote cultures, from their traditional architecture and dress to their healing and hunting practices to their ancestral worship and matriarchal culture.

In a region rarely visited by foreigners, numerous ethnicgroups continue a way of life unchanged for centuries. For example, in Arunachal Pradesh, many people practice polygamy. In Manipur, native people perform elaborate, ritual dances to honor village deities and in Nagaland, villagers worship the sun and the moon, to which they attribute human life.

Surrounded by India, China, Tibet, Burma and Bangladesh, Northeast India is extraordinarily diverse, described by the authors as an “ethnological transition zone.” The Seven Sisters provinces of India are inhabited by over 500 distinct ethnic groups, some of which have preserved ancient customs, shaman rituals and headhunting traditions. Through photographs and descriptions, The Seven Sisters of India documents the traditions and daily life of the diverse inhabitants of this region, examining the myths and folklore stories connected to present-day practices among different groups. The book discusses both the diversity of the groups and the common traditions which unite them, making for a fascinating exploration of the little known provinces of Northeast Indian.

About the Authors:

Peter van Ham and Aglaja Stirn have traveled extensively in northeast India over the past two decades studying the customs and environment of the native population. In 1996 they were the first western travelers allowed to enter the far northeastern states of India after a decade-long ban for foreign visitors. Their travels in India and Tibet have resulted in numerous lectures and articles, and several books.

About the Publisher:

Founded in 1924 and with over 300 English titles in print, Prestel publishes fine books on art, architecture, photography and design. Prestel has offices in Munich, London and New York.

About the Book:
Title: The Seven Sisters of India
Authors: Aglaja Stirn and Peter van Ham
ISBN: 3-7913-2399-7
Pages: 168 pages
Illustrations: 405 color illustrations
Trim size: 9 ½ x 12 in.
Price: $60.00
Pub Date: January 2001

My rating: 4.0 stars

Set in Havana in 1938, Jose Baul Bernardo’s novel captures the fell, smells, and sounds of the quickly changing tropical metropolis after the Great Depression .Lorenzo and Marguita are a happy pair of newlyweds expecting their first child. They have rented a small, bright apartment where they are perfectly content. However, the Depression has ruined Lorenzo’s father’s business and now, to make ends meet, his parents have insisted the young couple move in with them and help with expenses.A vivacious ,working- class girl from a noisy Cuban family ,Marguita has qualms about joining Lorenz’s austere Spanish household .Lorenzo’s eldest sister, Lucinda, died of consumption and their mother,Carmela,always wears black .A younger sister ,Asuncion,is deaf, and the middle sister Lolo, is a bitter, angry spinster.However,Lolo’s hostile demeanor masks feelings of inadequacy. Still a virgin, Lolo is really curious about sex. More out of inquisitiveness than maliciousness, she spies on the young couple making love, witnessing an intimate act considered indecent by upright, upper-class ladies.Marguita is so traumatized that she runs home to tell her mother, Dolores, a wise woman in her fifties who knows just what to do.

First, she contrives to have her daughter and son-in-law rent own little house and cleverly engineers improvements to make the place livable.Then, she schemes to buy a refrigerator ‘‘on the cheap” and even manages to get a crib. Dolores, who has her husband, Maximiliano, wrapped around her little finger, talks him into making sacrifices for the daughter they both adore. But even snug in her comfy home in her old neighborhood, Marguita can’t forget Lolo’s terrible affront. She wants vengeance.

When their baby boy is boy, the happy couple calls him Lorenzo Manuel, Manuel being the name of the physician who delivered him.Immidiately the doctor and his wife, Celina, assume they are to be the godparents and, in order to avoid squabbles, Lorenzo and Marguita acquiesce. Celina plans an elaborate christening party, and even though Marguita has sworn never to forgive Lolo, she is no gracious way to exclude her from the festivities. At the gathering, two unexpected things happen: the ardently anticlerical Maximiliano becomes friends with the priest, Father Francisco, and Lolo catches the eye of – of all people-the priest’s acolyte, Father Alonso.

In the meantime, Marguita is becoming a wise woman in her own right. When Lorenzo wins some money at Jai alai, she uses charm to get him to invest in his own education. She persuades him to take night courses at the university while continuing to work at a bookstore .At the same time; she begins to put money aside so they can eventually buy their own house.

When Collazo, the bookshop owner, decides to start a cultural club at the beach, the whole community attends the building’s “christening”. Father Alonnso, whose homosexual leanings had led him to the priesthood in the first place, sees Lolo at the event and is again taken with her beautiful gypsy eyes, his remind him of a boy he once liked. After the ceremony, he and Father Fransisco go for a swim in their underwear, and then Alonso takes off his boxers to let them dry. When Lolo finds him napping buck naked on the beach, she practically jumps on him, and nature takes its course.

For Alonso the event is liberating- a confirmation that he is a real man.His new self-confidence leads him not to give up the priesthood, but to embrace his mission with greater zeal.However, his new community is shattered by the news that Lolo is pregnant .Although he offers to leave the priesthood and marry her, Lolo knows that this is the wrong solution. Marguita, too, is pregnant, and her pregnancy is no less troubling than Lolo’s. The economic situation is so bad that she and Lorenzo cannot afford to have another baby. A wise older woman helps Lolo out of her predicament, unexpectedly solving Marguita’s problem as well. At Lorenzo Manuel’s birthday party Marguita and Lolo, thanks to the prodding of the wise Dolores, finally open up to each other and Marguita drops her grudge.

The Wise Women of Havana is a page-turner full of engaging characters whose fates we really care about.Bernardo brings to life a pre-Castro Cuba where things were though, but life was beautiful just the same. He does not gloss over the real social ills of the period-poverty, machismo, class snobbery- but focuses on positive human qualities. Best of all, he produces an array of wise, warm women who win our hearts.

The Wise Women of Havana , by Jose Raul Bernardo.New York: Rayo, 2002.

My rating: 4.0 stars

“India against itself” is a scholarly book written by a person who has witnessed, felt and seen first hand what is happening in north-eastern India and he feels passionately about it. The author himself is aware of this and wonders “whether eliminating the personal refereces whould necessarily enrich the text”. The struggle of the author trying to stay objective and detached is apparent in many sections of the book. However his personal passion and pain is equally transparent, especially in the end of chapter seven he refers to a song by Bhupen Hazarika ” There is neither joy or sorrow..” He makes a case for changing the basic political structure in India, empowering the states more. His belief that a loose system of federalism will work in a country like India can be argued for he offers an utopian view what he and many of us would like to see happen but does not offer many suggestions how to get there. If read superfically, one can easily make the erroneus assumption that the author is advocating for autonomy of Assam and that his sympathies lie with the insurgents. Read carefully one can feel the pathos and his hope for a better India with a stronger democracy rather than a fractured nation. It is not a easy book to read for a person unfamiliar with the academic side of political science which essentially limits the number of readers. Regardless of whether it is an entirely objective view, it offers food for thought and a forum for serious debate about the current state of our “nation-state”.

My rating: 4.5 stars