Book seeks to find why there are fewer women rainmakers

(New Delhi, Dec 29, 2021) Investment banker Nishtha Anand wanted to unravel the mystery behind the missing XX chromosome in corporate India and thus her book “Awakening the Rainmaker: A Guide to Gender Equality” was born.

She calls her book a gender equality guide for women, men and organisations in India and focuses on rainmakers, someone who, through their wide network and influence, brings in monetary success and increased brand value for a business.

When Anand started her research she noticed a few facts: less than 3 per cent of chief executive officers in India are women; in 2021, India ranked 140th among 156 nations in The Global Gender Gap Index; and only 31 per cent of women occupy the Chief Human Resources Officer’s role in India, a role which is over-represented by women in other countries, such as the US and South Africa.

“Shocked with the state of affairs, I wanted to unravel the mystery behind the missing XX chromosome in corporate India. Hence, I embarked on the journey for this book,” she says.

“Awakening the Rainmaker” seeks to offer practical hacks for Indian women to pursue their ambitions uninterrupted by personal milestones – awakening the rainmaker from within.

The author has also tried to include practical advice for organisations for them to enable a gender-neutral working environment.

The book, published by Bloomsbury, includes several examples from Anand’s interactions with women from different fields – some of India’s most powerful women in business, CEOs, CMOs, entrepreneurs, Padma Shri awardee scientists, leading sports personalities and digital influencers.

“These women had their own mountains to conquer which they did with determination, planning and the right support. I have focused on requisites for a gender-neutral upbringing and women’s assertive demeanor. I have also defined corporate policies (including a framework for organisations) needed for a gender-neutral ecosystem,” she says.

Anand rues that Covid has contributed to a rise in gender inequality, saying one of the key reasons is the impact of pandemic being higher on certain sectors like healthcare, retail, tourism, hospitality and even informal sectors where representation of women in the workforce is higher.

“Additionally, Indian women also spend more time doing unpaid care work at home than men (unpaid domestic chores, caring for children, elders and the sick etc.). During the pandemic, their share of unpaid care work grew by nearly 30 per cent,” Anand told PTI.

She also feels that opportunities for future generations are also potentially at risk in the post-pandemic era.

According to Anand, the government’s move to raise the legal age of marriage for girls is a progressive one aimed at empowering women and strengthening the tenets of gender equality.

“However, I do feel that implementation here is not easy. It needs to gain the right social acceptance. For instance, child marriage is still a phenomenon in rural India despite existing laws in place to prohibit the same. We can’t just impose laws and assume things will work out. If something transformational is to be done, developing social consensus for the changes is very important,” she argues.

Also, legal age is not necessarily the only solution; more awareness, more education, more opportunities can make a difference, she says.

Anand is also of the view that upbringing plays a crucial role in shaping the trajectory of our lives and the first signs of gender differences start showing up at this stage.

“Girls are taught hard work and respect while boys are taught self-confidence to take more risks in life,” she says.

“Childhood conditioning is an essential reason why many women shy away from taking bigger risks in furthering their career, thereby missing out on opportunities. This lack of self-confidence also manifests itself as the ‘imposter syndrome’, where women question their talents and abilities. This needs to be addressed with gender neutral upbringing by parents,” she adds.

Though the book has not dealt with the subject of violence related to gender, Anand says the right to safety is a basic right for everyone – across age groups and genders.

“It is saddening to note that violence against women in India during the Covid pandemic was described by the United Nations as a shadow pandemic,” she says.

She stresses on the need to educate the younger generation towards gender equality and mutual respect.

“It is also important to call out the stereotypes, talk about consent, women’s rights, accountability of each citizen (both men and women) towards building a safe society and a culture of acceptance. By doing so, we will empower the future of our nation with knowledge and a zest towards gender inclusion and equality,” she says.

Book captures profound moments of life with dogs

(New Delhi, Dec 24, 2021) Leading writers, debut authors, graphic artists, photographers and animal rescuers have come together to pay tribute to their canine companions through a series of funny, poignant, warm and joyous stories.

“The Book of Dog: An Anthology Celebrating Our Beloved Best Friends” has 45 original pieces and is edited by Hemali Sodhi, founder of A Suitable Agency which represents writers and artistes.

Among the contributors are Aanchal Malhotra, Amitava Kumar, Anita Nair, Anuja Chauhan, Arunava Sinha, Ashwin Sanghi, Bulbul Sharma, Cyrus Broacha, Devdutt Pattanaik, Gulzar, Jerry Pinto, Maneka Gandhi, Mark Tully, Ruskin Bond, Shobhaa De, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi and Vikas Khanna.

Sodhi calls this book, published by HarperCollins India, a “celebration of the unique bond we have with the canine companions in our lives, an ode to these lovely beings who make our days and nights brighter with their presence”.

The book is a project to which the editor and all the authors have contributed for free. All royalties will go to registered animal welfare charities.

A black-and-tan of mixed ancestry – part Terrier, part Spaniel, part street dog, Crazy, was the sole companion of Bond’s grandmother after her husband died.

According to Bond, Crazy was such a good runner that even Usain Bolt wouldn’t have been able to keep up with him.

“Crazy’s greatest pleasure was running round and round the house. It was a small bungalow with plenty of open space in front and at the back, and whenever Crazy felt that life was getting a little dull, he would go for one of his sprints,” he writes.

In his piece, Gulzar talks about his Boxer called Pali who, to him, was a friend, a companion, and many more things besides … but not a ‘dog’.

Pali was very sensible; he wouldn’t let anyone come near Gulzar.

“When I went into the office room for the day’s work, he would come there as well, like clockwork; he would settle himself on a ‘durrie’ close to me. In the evening, we would shut the office and go back together,” he writes.

While Gandhi talks of Bruno, Gudiya and Goofy, De tells stories of Gong Li, Chauhan about Chhabbis, Sanghi of Simba and Sinha about Tingmo.

Broacha turns his humorous gaze on the dogs (and accompanying humans) in his building, while Shanghvi pens the experience of his early years as a dog trainer.

Pinto’s unnamed dog protagonist takes it upon himself to school a younger pup on the unpredictable ways of the world, while Nair talks about her beautiful pups Sunderapandi and Nachimuthu.

Tully, a devoted dog lover, reminisces about all the wonderful dogs in his life and Sharma mentions about the loyal Gaddies (mountain dogs) in her piece.

Pattanaik writes about dogs in Hindu myth, while Malhotra comes up with an informative essay on dogs deployed in World War I and Khanna talks about Plum and also gives a recipe for a delicious dog treat. Kumar, on the other hand, turns his gaze at his younger self as he finally finds a chance to say goodbye to a faithful friend.

In the introduction, Sodhi says how dogs teach people some of the most profound lessons of life.

“They teach you to live in the moment, to live for the moment. They teach you unconditional love, given so freely it sometimes makes you tear up and wonder what you did to deserve this. They teach you to love unreservedly, and never let the child die in you. And they teach you kindness,” she writes.

She, however, rues that there is a heartbreaking reality that every dog parent is aware of – dogs have short lives.

“You will see them grow older, the gait become slower, the muzzle greyer. You will see the crazy zoomies turn into a slow and painful limp, and you will see that beloved face turn old. It is devastating…” she says.

She feels during the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020, the dogs at home were probably the only ones “not unhappy with this strange new world – their humans were home and spending time with them for longer periods: it was like hitting the jackpot”!

“And it was the dogs who kept many people sane and provided comfort- in a world where everything was uncertain, here were our dogs, delighted with this change of circumstance and making the most of it,” she adds.

Father of laparoscopic surgery in India pens memoir

(New Delhi, Dec 23, 2021) Ensuring surgical care for everyone may be a utopian dream that may take years or even decades, but when the fundamental right to all healthcare is met, India will be a fair, just and better country, says Dr Tehemton Erach Udwadia, considered as the father of laparoscopic surgery in India.

The octogenarian doctor, awarded Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri and OBE, feels that there is a need to make sure that the country has a permanent solution to surgical healthcare and that permanent solution is to take healthcare where it is needed and where there is none – in rural India.

“Surgical care for the poor is an uphill and herculean task and yet, a task worthy of every ounce of our collective effort and energy. It is vital that every government source, be it the Centre or the state, the private sector, every association and all doctors, from professors to village doctors, pool their concerns in this effort,” he says.

“A sincere effort and success in this cause would, by far, be the greatest triumph and the ultimate success story in the history of surgery so as to ensure surgical care for all. This utopian dream may take years or even decades, but when the fundamental right to surgical healthcare and to all healthcare is met, India will be a fair, just and better country,” he writes in his just-released memoir “More than Just Surgery: Life lessons beyond the OT”.

According to Udwadia, the current COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world forever.

“Lack of surgical care accounts for over 2 per cent of the GDP each year. Till last year, health was not a vote bank. Over 70 years and more, each annual budget allocated less than 1 per cent of the GDP for healthcare! Thanks to the pandemic, every government will realise that health may henceforth become the biggest vote bank, for it goes beyond caste, religion, farmers and waivers – it affects every single Indian,” he says.

Udwadia rues that unlike before, the patient now often views the surgeon with mistrust and apprehension, even fear.

“And not always without reason. If we have any hope of restoring the relationship of complete trust that existed earlier, we should return to talking with, listening to, and touching and feeling the patient with sincere empathy and concern, regardless of their socio-economic background,” he writes.

He also feels Indian surgery is a two-faced enigma, living in a world of make-believe.

“Surgery, as done in the major hospitals of urban India, is the reason why Indian doctors can hold their heads up with pride and say that we are just as good and getting better. This is the face of Indian surgery that the media, healthcare providers, government and medical industry project and promote. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“The other face of Indian surgery is hidden, unseen, unheard and unknown. City surgeons are so involved in their work, progress and recognition that, over the years, they have become unmindful, uncaring and unaware that there is any other surgical world in India except for their own,” he argues.

In the book, published by Penguin Random House, Udwadia also has a number of suggestions for doctors, particularly surgeons.

A city surgeon who worked for over 60 years in several Mumbai hospitals, he  says after “studying my own surgery, seeing my peers and seeing the quality of excellent surgeons in India and overseas”, he has come to the conclusion that there are only five essential requirements to make a good surgeon – honesty, humility, empathy, passion and leadership.

“A good surgeon is god’s gift to the patient,” he says.

“Every surgeon, without exception, should be humble because we are repeatedly given reasons to be so. No surgeon is free of making mistakes and every mistake is a call for humility,” Udwadia writes.

However, he says humility is hard for some surgeons to accept and the near holy reverence given to them, coupled with their own personal assessment of their superhuman prowess, endorses hubris and suppresses humility.

He is also of the opinion that if any surgeon says they don’t make mistakes, they have not done enough surgery or are losing their memory.

“And every mistake is an opportunity. If they accept their blunder and realise what caused it, and put the entire episode into memory for future reference, it will not be repeated. In a sticky surgical situation, recalling your past missteps is key to the success of the procedure,” Udwadia writes.

JK may be militancy free in 8-10 yrs: Ex-Army chief N C Vij

(New Delhi, Dec 22, 2021) Militancy will start crumbling gradually in Kashmir after two-three years of resistance and in a period of 8-10 years, it is likely to be brought to an ineffectual state, says former Army chief Gen (retd) N C Vij.

He has come out with a book “The Kashmir Conundrum: The Quest for Peace in a Troubled Land” in which he tries to give a complete picture – starting with a history of Jammu & Kashmir and its people to the abrogation of special status.

“Militancy in the region is not likely to disappear in a hurry. It may take eight to ten years, but the intensity is likely to decrease over time, as Pakistan’s ability to create mischief will also reduce,” says Vij, who is from Jammu and Kashmir.

He says he is convinced that the “momentous developments” of August 5 and 6, 2019 dealt a death blow to the militancy in Kashmir.

“From an aggressive position, Pakistan and the separatists have been reduced to scurrying and fending for themselves. Also, as a result of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, new dilemmas have arisen for the Kashmiris. They have lost their special status. This had always made them think of themselves as different from the rest of India. Now, they fear that they will be reduced to a minority in their own home state,” Vij writes in the book, published by HarperCollins India.

He also says that Pakistan has been reduced to a hopeless situation by India and it has become quite clear that the country is no match for India in any field, whether diplomatically, economically or militarily.

“The Kashmiris’ dependence on Pakistan was perhaps a big mistake for which they have paid the price. Indeed, their desire to join Pakistan or become independent has become a lost hope,” he argues.

According to Vij, all these factors put together will surely make the Kashmiris have a serious rethink about their approach and aims for the future.

“What should they do? Should they still dream about independence or should they try and recover what they have lost? Can they really take on India with the assistance of a hopeless Pakistan? The answer is an emphatic ‘No’,” he says.

“It looks likely that after the first 2-3 years of resistance, the militancy will start crumbling gradually in the Valley. Because of the extreme radicalisation in the region, they may manage to hold out for another 4-5 years at the most. Thus, in a period of 8-10 years, the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be brought to an ineffectual state,” he writes.

By then, he says, Pakistan would possibly be in such a financial mess that they would be forced to look towards India, which will be on the way to becoming an economic giant, possibly the third largest in the world.

He says the Kashmir imbroglio was primarily the outcome of the Pakistan-sponsored proxy war, and their greatest success has been in deeply radicalising the somewhat confused and disillusioned people of the Valley.

“Radicalisation in the Valley is a critical, perhaps the most critical, factor now. These Kashmiris are, however, the same people who welcomed the Indian forces in 1947 with open arms and friendly slogans such as ‘Hamlawar hoshiar, hum Kashmiri Hindu, Muslim, Sikh taiyar’ (Attackers beware, we Kashmiri Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs are ready). Also, they are the same people who gave early warning about the intrusions by Pakistani forces in 1965 and 1971 and even during the Kargil war in 1999,” the book says.

“Once they see the economic progress and prosperity in the state, the better quality of education, better job opportunities, and the constant dialogues going on with them, including with religious teachers (maulvis), and they lose faith in Pakistan’s ability to help them, they are likely to be more rational and amenable to a balanced solution and turn positively towards India,” it says.

According to the author, the biggest priority and challenge before the central government will be to re-establish law and order, get the routine of daily life restarted and provide a first-rate administration.

Terrorism itself should be dealt with an iron fist, he says.

“The government should also work towards holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir as soon as the security situation improves and the proposed delimitation has been carried out. Restoring the democratic process at the earliest must remain a priority,” he suggests.

“Bringing the Kashmiri Pandits back to their homeland in Jammu and Kashmir will be a litmus test of the success of India’s Jammu and Kashmir policy. Finally, full statehood must be restored to Jammu and Kashmir (less Kargil and Ladakh) in a reasonable time frame,” he adds.

The book has a foreword by veteran Congress leader Karan Singh who says all those concerned with the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly those in positions of authority, would do well to take Vij’s “valuable suggestions with regard to the security, strategic, diplomatic and political challenges” seriously.

Books tell stories of grit, glory from 1971 Indo-Pak war

(New Delhi, Dec 19, 2021) A number of books have been published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, recalling stories of grit and glory and also providing anecdotal accounts of its heroes.

While Penguin Random House has published Ian Cardozo’s “1971: Stories of Grit and Glory from the Indo-Pak War”; “1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories” by Rachna Bisht Rawat; and “The Lone Wolf: The Untold Story of the Rescue of Sheikh Hasina” by Neha Dwivedi; Speaking Tiger has come out with Major General Vijay Singh’s book on his father Hamir Singh’s experience – “POW 1971: A Soldier’s Account of the Heroic Battle of Daruchchian”.

In his collection of true accounts, decorated war veteran Major Gen Cardozo recounts what really happened during the 1971 as he pieces together every story in vivid detail through interviews with survivors and their families.

He says India’s strategy and conduct of the war was exceptional. The war was won by India in a span of just 13 days. But India lost 3,843 servicemen while 9,851 were wounded – some of them disabled for life.

Cardozo was himself injured in the battle of Sylhet in Bangladesh, but overcame the disability of losing a leg and became the first disabled officer of the Indian Army to be approved for command of an infantry battalion and brigade.

He further writes how ‘jugaad’ was the order of the day, and RCL guns and mortars were moved on bullock carts and cycle rickshaws, and rivers were crossed on improvised rafts made from bamboo and trunks of banana trees.

Cardozo also raises several questions in the book.

“As a matter of reflection, one wonders what would have happened had Prime Minister Indira Gandhi delayed the ceasefire in the west for a couple of more days. The psychological pressure on Pakistan would have been colossal. Pakistan had her back to the wall, and even they must have wondered why we left them off the hook!” he writes.

Another point he raises is: “It has been fifty years since that outstanding victory. The question is, have we learnt the lessons of history? Are the armed forces well equipped to fight a two-front war against China and Pakistan? These are questions that need to be asked and answered as war clouds once again gather on our borders.”

Author Rawat focuses on the “human stories that traditional war histories tend to leave out”.

The main story “Charge of the Gorkhas” in her book is about the gutsy warriors of 4/5 Gorkha Rifles who attack an enemy position, fortified by machine guns, with naked khukris in their hands and the war cry of ‘Jai Mahakali! Aayo Gorkhali’ on their lips.

Rawat hopes that telling these stories will contribute to keeping the memories of the heroes alive. “Because soldiers don’t die on battlefields; they die only when an ungrateful nation forgets their sacrifice. Remembrance is all that we can offer them in return for what they did.”

“POW 1971” talks about the tragic tale of the INS Khukri and its courageous captain, who went down with his ship, to how a battalion of the Gorkhas launched what is accepted as the last khukri attack in modern military history.

As the young Company Commander of the Muslim Company of 14 Grenadiers (an infantry battalion), Major (now Brigadier) Hamir Singh led the ill-fated attack on Daruchchian, across the Line of Control in Kashmir, in which 8 officers, 7 JCOs and 149 Other Ranks were killed, injured or captured.

Major Hamir Singh was himself grievously injured and taken Prisoner of War (POW). He spent a year in Pakistan as POW until he was repatriated back to India on December 1, 1972.

Last seen involved in a hand-to-hand fight with the Pakistanis, Hamir Singh’s whereabouts were not known and he was declared ‘Missing in Action’ until Pakistan acknowledged him as a POW in February 1972.

On his return to India, he was awarded a Vir Chakra based on the testimony of the men who fought and were captured with him at Daruchchian.

The book is primarily based on Hamir Singh’s account and gives a view of war, and of life as a POW.

Dwivedi brings to centrestage the life of Colonel Ashok Tara, who rescued Sheikh Hasina and the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from certain death at the hands of the Pakistan Army during the war.

The book goes on to say how after the defeat of Pakistan, what was now left for the Indian troops to do was to control events such as the crowd’s hostility and the restoration of law and order in the city.

“By the early hours of 17 December 1971, 14 Guards had implemented all relevant protocols to secure the perimeter. However, on the same day, around 9 a.m., while Ashok was busy reassessing the arrangements with one Maj. Shanti Khanna, he was hastily summoned by his commanding officer, Lt Col V.N. Channa.

“Not expecting anything serious, as the unit had finally heaved a huge sigh of relief, Ashok assumed he may want to speak to him about the security arrangements of the departing officials and hurried over to meet him,” it says.

Col Tara was informed that Mujib’s family – his wife and children, including his daughter, Sheikh Hasina – had been held hostage by a contingent of the enemy troops since March and were still not released. Mujib was also yet to be released by the Pakistan Army.

Col Tara won the battle of guts and wits all by himself.

“Mrs Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, almost unbelieving of the fact that they had really been freed from their ordeal, embraced Ashok at once, saying, ‘God Himself has sent you to save us… You are like my son!’ Ashok smiled as he looked around and saw the immense sense of relief wash over the faces of the rest of the members of Mujib’s family, which included his daughters Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and son, Sheikh Russel,” the book says.

A-Z of Captain Haddock’s ‘billions’ of legendary tirades

(New Delhi, Dec 19, 2021) Captain Haddock is a curator of language, forging unexpected metaphors to strike down his enemies with round after round of blistering verbal imagery, says the author of a new collection of the legendary exclamations of this trusted aide of fictional detective Tintin.

The irascible Captain Haddock made his first appearance alongside Tintin in 1941, and in the course of the 80 years that followed, has gone on to become one of the most loved characters created by renowned Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, better known as Herge.

In “Blistering Barnacles: An A-Z of Rants, Rambles and Rages of Captain Haddock”, French journalist Albert Algoud tells that from ‘thousands of blue blistering barnacles’ to ‘thundering typhoons’ to more obscure utterings like ‘bashi-bazouks’, ‘freshwater swabs’, ‘sea-gherkins’ and ‘two-penny halfpenny coastguards’, there is no character in literature with a more exuberant and idiosyncratic repertoire.

The book, published by HarperCollins imprint Farshore, explores the meaning and origin of the Captain’s curses and is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the fine art of insult – with creative and colourful results.

Among the Captain’s exotic rants is ‘Koua Kouakouin Kouinkouin Koua Kouin Koua’, a voiceless velar plosive indicative of speechlessness which was uttered down the telephone at the arch-irritants and detective duo Thomson and Thompson and was one of the few occasions for which he had no recourse to his extensive vocabulary.

In “Tintin and the Picaros”, Haddock reserved the obscure but characterful epithet ‘Pachyrhizus’ for the vain and egotistical General Tapioca. The word means a genus of five or six species of tropical and subtropical plants with edible tuberous roots, among which is the Mexican yam.

To imply brutishness, rudeness and lack of culture, Haddock would say ‘Visigoth’ or at times when he was lost for words, he would just shout ‘Pchkraaprvt’.

Algoud says his book celebrates a living lexicon.

Haddock plucks branches from a bewildering array of thematic trees with which to fashion his devastating arrows, he says.

Anatomy, botany, chemistry, entomology, ethnology, history, literature, medicine, meteorology, ornithology, psychiatry, theology and zoology are just some of the topics exploited by the Captain’s encyclopaedic rage, Algoud writes.

“Haddock also puts back into circulation, in delightfully unexpected ways, archaic or unusual terms, such as ectoplasm, abecedarian, anthropithecus, picaroon and mountebank,” he says.

According to Algoud, ‘inspiration’ was described in classical poetry as a type of intoxication conferred by the gods and it is “no coincidence that, in Herge’s work, the character chosen to embody such inspired verbal wizardry is the ever drunken Haddock”.

Book goes beyond ‘5Ws and H’ of journalism

(New Delhi, Dec 15, 2021) A new book goes into details of reporting, news writing and editing not only in print media but also broadcast journalism as well as digital platform.

The 48-chapter book “Beat Reporting and Editing: Journalism in the Digital Era” has essays on traditional beats like defence, politics, court, crime, sports and entertainment besides topics like rural reporting, storytelling, photo journalism and cartooning, social media reporting, misinformation and fake news, solution based journalism among others.

Co-edited by Surbhi Dahiya and Shambhu Das Sahu, it also includes emerging forms of journalism like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain and bots, podcast, mobile journalism (Mojo), drone journalism (Dojo) and data journalism in India.

The editors say the aim of the book, published by SAGE, is to equip budding journalists with the tools and best practices related to different thematic specialisations in journalism.

“In short, we want to institutionalise the experiences and best practices of reporters who have done some cutting edge work in their respective beats and make this vast repository of knowledge available to young minds,” they write.

The book draws on a range of examples, case studies and first-hand experiences of eminent journalists and media educators to encourage media students to critically engage with all forms of journalistic writing in the digital era besides theory and practice.

“Beat Reporting and Editing” is divided into eight sections – Understanding Reporting; Beats as Specialised Reporting; Data Journalism and Visualisation; Journalism In The Digital Age; Visual Approach in Journalism; Opinion writing and Other Forms; Challenges and Solutions in Journalism: Misinformation, Fake News vs Ethics; and Understanding Editing.

There is a message from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in the book.

“The Fourth Estate plays a vital role in strengthening democracy and it is important for the students of journalism to be well versed with the functioning of various institutions of governance and jurisprudence,” he writes.

Among the contributors are V S Chandrasekar (News: Sources and Art of Gathering); Pramod Kumar Singh (Political Reporting); Ashok Tuteja (Parliamentary Reporting); Pallava Bagla (Nuclear and Space Reporting); Vijay S. Satokar (Disaster Reporting); Sanjay Kapoor (Writing Editorial); Bhawana Somaaya (Writing Reviews); Sreemoyee Piu Kundu (Fashion, Lifestyle and Entertainment Reporting); and Tabeenah Anjum Qureshi and Mrinal Chatterjee (Photo Journalism).

How a job in Nehru’s team eluded ‘father of optics’!

(New Delhi, Dec 12, 2021) Jawaharlal Nehru had recommended the name of ‘father of fibre optics’ Narinder Singh Kapany for the post of scientific advisor to the defence ministry but delay in the appointment process to “filter through the bureaucracy” ensured that the renowned US-based physicist’s future was not in India.

Credited as the “man who bent light” and invented fibre optics, Kapany had a wish of telling his story himself. And one of the last things he did shortly before he passed away in December 2020 was to finish and submit the final manuscript of his memoir, which has now been published by Roli Books.

In “The Man Who Bent Light: Narinder Singh Kapany, Father of Fibre Optics”, readers will also get to know his commitment to championing Sikh heritage and culture besides his contribution to science.

Kapany, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan earlier this year (posthumously), amassed one of the world’s largest collections of Sikh art and sponsored a number of exhibitions and permanent rooms in various museums around the world.

He had about 100 patents and a similar number of publications and was the one to have used for the first time the term ‘fibre optics’ in an article published for the famed Scientific American publication in 1960.

It was his pathbreaking research in the 1950s on fibre optics, which paved the way for high-speed broadband internet, laser surgeries and endoscopy, among others.

It was during these years that Nehru wanted Kapany to work as the scientific advisor to the defence ministry.

Kapany recalls how he met in the US Krishna Menon, who as defence minister was the nation’s second most important man at that time and a permanent delegate to the UN.

“I’ve been following your career and I want you to work for me. In Delhi, at the Defence Department,” Menon told him.

He paused again and said: “I want you to be my scientific advisor…”

Kapany says he was extremely flattered by the offer.

“But it wasn’t in any way part of my plan, which, wherever it might take me, would, I believed with all my inventor’s heart, definitely involve optical devices – inventing them, designing them, and manufacturing them,” he writes, adding Menon could sense his imminent resistance to his offer.

But Menon cautioned Kapany not to make any hasty decision.

Six months later, Kapany was in India for a vacation. Menon asked him to give a little talk at a Defence Service Conference.

“There was an audience of about a thousand attendees at Menon’s Defence Service Conference on opening day. Highlighting that morning were opening remarks by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a presentation by Menon himself, and another by Homi Bhabha, the head of India’s Atomic Energy Commission. Fourth on the printed program was another name: ‘Narinder Singh Kapany’. I could barely believe it,” Kapany recalls.

Menon later told him that Nehru was very impressed with his talk and wanted to speak with him personally.

“My hour with Mr. Nehru was one of the most refreshing and personally rewarding hours I have ever spent. He seemed altogether understanding and interested in what I wanted to accomplish, both in science and with my life,” Kapany writes.

“… And at some point in our quite disparate ramblings, I agreed to become Krishna Menon’s science advisor,” he says.

As their talk-session was drawing to a close, and on Nehru’s urging, Kapany looked over his shoulder as he penned a note on official stationery to the Union Public Service Commission, the group in charge of the hiring of high-level Indian public servants.

“In it, he recommended that I be given the position of Krishna Menon’s science advisor and be paid the highest possible salary for that level of government employment. Also, that I be given as much as six months to wrap up my affairs in America before starting the job in Delhi,” the book says.

“He (Nehru) then signed the note, placed it in an envelope, addressed it, and laid it on top of some other envelopes on his desk. ‘I should warn you, though, Narinder,’ he said in closing, ‘that these higher-level appointments often take time to filter through the bureaucracy – two months possibly, or even longer’,” it says.

Kapany told his wife Satinder: “I should have an official job offer in about two months though the prime minister cautioned that sometimes things take just a little longer.”

He then told everyone in the US about the new plan and his direct recommendation from none other than Nehru.

“But then, as two months became three, then four, then five, and still no job offer, I began getting nervous. I called the Union Public Service Commission, and they assured me that the offer was virtually a done deal,” Kapany writes.

“By the end of month five, however, with our lease about to be up on the apartment and my work at the institute drawing to a close, Satinder and I decided that no news from India was simply fate telling me that my future was not in India, after all, but in America.

“So just like that, I stopped thinking about the Indian position and concentrated all my energies, sizable as they were, on Silicon Valley in sunny California. It was time, finally, to become an entrepreneur,” he writes.

About a month after they settled in their new home, a year since Nehru’s personal recommendation, the offer from the UPSC finally arrived.

When Punjab farmers named a rice variety ‘Dev Gowda’!

(New Delhi, Dec 12, 2021) Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda often championed farmers’ causes and as a tribute to his commitment and initiatives towards the community, peasants of Punjab named one of the finest varieties of paddy after him, says a biography on him.

Gowda is known to have never violated the decorum of the House as a legislator and parliamentarian. But only once in his long career did he violate this self-imposed principle, and it was when the welfare of his loyal constituency of farmers was ‘threatened’, writes journalist Sugata Srinivasaraju in his book “Furrows in a Field: The Unexplored Life of H D Deve Gowda”.

Referring to incidents of July 31 and August 1, 1991 in Lok Sabha, the book recalls how during a heated discussion on Manmohan Singh’s first budget, Gowda had rushed to the well of the house to pressure the government to rollback its decision to end subsidies for the farm sector for over a three-year period.

“I am a farmer and a tiller’s son and I will not allow this. I will sit on a dharna. I will not go out from this house. It is not for publicity’s sake that I am doing it,” he had said.

In 2002, when farm suicides were being reported in big numbers from all across India, Gowda took a delegation of nearly 2,000 farmers from Karnataka by train to Delhi and got them an audience with the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“It was unprecedented, especially for a former prime minister to protest in this manner. People in Delhi were bewildered,” the book published by Penguin Random House India says.

“As a tribute to Gowda’s lifelong commitment to the farmers’ cause, and for his policy initiatives towards the peasant community, and the stellar pro-farmer budget of 1996-97, the farmers of Punjab named one of the finest varieties of paddy as ‘Dev Gowda’ (sic) after he stepped down as prime minister,” Srinivasaraju writes in the book.

“It is said the paddy variety was very popular for over two decades. Farmers who could not converse with Gowda in Punjabi, Hindi, Kannada or English had understood and acknowledged the man’s intent. Ironically, this tribute too remained little known, and unsung like all other things associated with Gowda,” he writes.

“A usually well-informed Gowda was himself not aware of this paddy variety until Karnataka cadre IAS officer from Punjab, Chiranjiv Singh, wrote about it in his Kannada newspaper column in 2014,” he adds.

The association with paddy, the association with the soil, the association with a staple diet of a people was the most magical and original metaphors that could have been thought of for Deve Gowda, the author says.

The book also says how in 1996, Mahendra Singh Tikait, farmers’ leader from the same western Uttar Pradesh belt as Charan Singh, hailed Deve Gowda as the ‘Choudhary Charan Singh of the south’ at a meeting in Muzaffarnagar.

Deve Gowda has been in public life for nearly seven decades. He started at the very bottom, as a member of the Holenarasipur Taluk Development Board and reached the very top as India’s 11th prime minister, in 1996.

In between, he was an independent legislator, spent long years as leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, had been an effective irrigation and public works minister, and chief minister in 1994 after many missed opportunities.

Even 25 years after he stepped down as prime minister, he has remained relevant in Indian politics.

The book also describes in detail interactions between Deve Gowda and Vajpayee among several other things.

The two would not have interacted as much if they had not been prime ministers and former prime ministers, and if one had not preceded and succeeded the other, it says.

Gowda succeeded Vajpayee immediately after his first 13-day brush with power, and there was the motion of confidence in which the two came face to face for the first time on the floor of the Parliament.

“Gowda and Vajpayee were two very different people. Vajpayee was essentially a Hindi person, Gowda used English to communicate, which in reality was notches above Vajpayee’s felicity. If Vajpayee was full of rhetoric, flourish, and pregnant silences, Gowda was always about dry details, documents and a kind of drawl,” the author says.

Big Little Book awards for S Sivadas, Deepa Balsavar

(New Delhi, Dec 11, 2021) S Sivadas, whose work has stood out in the children’s literature field in Malayalam, has been named winner of the Big Little Book Award while the illustrator’s prize has gone to Deepa Balsavar. 

The Big Little Book Awards are presented by Tata Trusts’ Parag initiative for significant contribution to children’s literature in Indian languages.

This year marked the sixth edition of the award and 490 entries were received during the nomination period from May to June. Malayalam was the chosen language this year for the author category, while the illustration category accepted nominations in any language.

In the previous years, the award considered children’s literature in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada and English.

Winners were selected for their contribution to Indian children’s literature with stories that talk to young readers about who they are and help them navigate a multicultural and multilingual environment, the organisers said.

Sivadas, based out of Kottayam, has over 200 books to his name.

“This, I believe, is a new beginning in my career as a children’s writer and communicator,” he said about the recognition.

The jury that included M M Basheer, Paul Zacharia, Sherylene Rafeeque and Suneetha Balakrishnan said Sivadas “exemplifies a rare commitment to both the art and craft of writing for children” and this is “evident in the sheer range of genres and subjects he has covered in his body of work spanning over the last 50 years”.

He stands tall as a pioneer of scientific knowledge in children’s literature, it said.

Mumbai-born artist Balsavar said her work is both a privilege and a huge responsibility and the award gives her courage and hope to continue doing what she does.

“When we get children to read and think, we give them the tools to take charge of their lives and change their worlds,” she said.

Speaking about the winning illustrator, the jury that included Aashti Mudnani, Proiti Roy, Rani Dharker, Sunandini Banerjee and Thejaswi Shivanan, said Balsavar’s works “represent diversity, compassion and sensitivity without losing the playfulness and charm that appeal to children and adults effortlessly”.

According to Amrita Patwardhan, head (education) at Tata Trusts, “Original, engaging, quality children’s literature in Indian languages is critical for developing a reading culture and meeting educational goals” and this edition of the awards is “our way to celebrate outstanding contribution by committed artists who have made a difference to this important sector”.

Previous winners (authors) are Madhuri Purandare (Marathi), Nabaneeta Dev Sen (Bengali), Nagesh Hegde (Kannada), Prabhat (Hindi) and Subhadra Sen Gupta (English). Illustrators to win the award are Atanu Roy, Proiti Roy, Nina Sabnani, Priya Kuriyan and Rajiv Eipe.