MATCHBOX

    ULR Bookshelf

    Unpartitioned Time

    Rajkotia fearlessly confronts her milieu, whether navigating the radical Khalistan movement, the tensions between the Sikh faith and Hindu nationalism, or the pervasive cynicism of Indian politics. Her vivid, meditative, finely-detailed portraits of a rich family life are filled with moments of tears, laughter, and music, and a diverse array of characters who are immensely relatable.

    The Many Lives of Syeda X : The Story of an Unknown Indian

    What does the life of an ordinary working-class Indian look and feel like? In this outstanding book, the award winning journalist Neha Dixit traces the story of one such faceless Indian woman, from the early 1990s to the present day. What emerges is a picture of a life lived under constant corrosive tension.

    Krishna Kumari: The Tragedy of India

    Written in 1826 by English Subba Rao, one of the first Indians to be schooled in English, Krishna Kumari depicts the true story of a princess of Udaipur who is forced to commit suicide in order to end a war started by her suitors, the rulers of the neighboring kingdoms of Jaipur and Jodhpur.

    Our City That Year

    Against the backdropof a society fractured along fault lines of faith and ideology, Shruti, a writer paralyzed by the weight of events, tries to find her words, while Sharad and Hanif, academics whose voices are drowned out by extremism, find themselves caught between clichés and government slogans. And there’s Daddu, Sharad’s father, a beacon of hope in the growing darkness.

    Iru

    In 1927, when Irawati Karve, aged twenty-two, arrived in Berlin to do her doctoral studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, she was faced with a dilemma. As a woman of colour, the subject of her thesis was to prove her supervisor Dr Eugen Fischer’s theory of the superiority of the European race over people of colour, based on the measurement of their skulls. In this biography like none other, writer Urmilla Deshpande, Irawati’s granddaughter, and academic researcher Thiago Pinto Barbosa, have created an intimate, captivating portrait of Irawati Karve, the anthropologist and philosopher, and Irawati, the woman, wife and mother.

    Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women

    Editors Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Daniel Majchrowicz, and Sunil Sharma recover, translate, annotate, and provide historical and cultural context for the 17th- to 20th century writings of Muslim women travelers in ten different languages. Queens and captives, pilgrims and provocateurs, these women are diverse. Their connection to Islam is wide-ranging as well, from the devout to those who distanced themselves from religion.

    India’s Forgotten Country: A View from the Margins

    India’s Forgotten Country captures Bela’s early years as an activist in rural Gujarat, her research on the Naxalite movement, her investigations of violations of democratic rights in different regions, and her recent years dealing with the ongoing conflict between the state and Maoists in Bastar.

    Spontaneous Acts

    Patrik is a literary researcher living in Berlin, a city just coming back to life after lockdown. Though his beloved opera houses are open again, Patrik cannot leave the house and hardly manages to get out of bed. As Patrik attempts to find a connection in a world that constantly overwhelms him, he meets a mysterious stranger. The man’s name is Leo-Eric Fu, and somehow he already knows Patrik . . .

    On the Edge: 100 Years of Hindi Fiction on Same-Sex Desire

    On the Edge is a first-of-its-kind collection of short stories and extracts from novels centred on theme of same-sex desire, translated from the original Hindi. The sixteen beautiful and provocative stories featured here (published between 1927 and 2022) include classic works by Asha Sahay, Premchand, Ugra, Rajkamal Chaudhuri, Geetanjali Shree, Sara Rai and Rajendra Yadav, among others.

    Our Bones in Your Throat

    When Esai arrives at St. Margaret’s imposing campus, amidst which lie the mysterious woods, she plunges headfirst into a world of power games, underground recitals, new enemies, and complicated relationships. Esai knows something the others don’t. Within the halls and thickets of St. Margaret’s, decisions must be made. Friends, foes, and lovers must learn to navigate the quiet truths of life, the fragility of friendships, and the aftermath of passion.