Ancient India, until the beginning of the second millennium, was a highly educated society with rich ancient and medieval systems of production and knowledge dissemination, as well as economic prosperity and social and political maturity, maintaining "the long tradition of pride and service" (Young India, 20 March, 1924). However, developments duri...

Kathak Lok, written by Shovana Narayan and Geetika Kalha, is almost like a spiritual journey into the depths of an art form, which initially began as formless, as the concept of Brahma. From the foreword itself, the book reverberates with the sights and sounds of magical performances of the kathakars in all their purity. The rhythm or chhanda is fu...

  There are innumerable books that have been written on Satyajit Ray, India's best known film director in the realm of realism. Even though Ray covered a wide range of subjects such as feudalism, feminism, masculinity, oppression, poverty, love – you name it – the sensitive portrayal in each and every one of his films have left audiences world...

 Ramayana: A Comparative Study of Ramakathas is an award-winning opus by A.A. Manavalan. The book is a meticulous exploration of the diverse versions of Ramayana found within and outside the Indian subcontinent. Beginning with a preface written by C.T. Indra, who wrote its English translation, followed by a foreword by the critic Indira Partha...

Vitasta would like to thank Professor Dinesh Srivastava, Homi Bhabha Chair at The National Institute of Advanced Studies for this wonderful review of our book – ' Jivaka the Child who Healed ' by Malavika Kapur! 'My most pleasant memories include sitting around a fire on a winter night and listening to our grandmother tell stories. She told them be...

Mohan Ramanan's review of 'Ramayana: A Comparative Study of Ramakathas' translated by C T Indra & Prema Jagannathan in The Critical Endeavour — an annual peer-reviewed research journal devoted to World Literatures in English, Bhasa Literatures, Main Stream English Literature, Indian English Literature, Literary Theories, and Translation Studies...

Prem Nath ran his business from a shop in the busy and bustling shopping center at Amira Kadal in the heart of Srinagar. He was a successful cloth merchant and his sales were brisk in spite of the terrorism that had gripped Kashmir and paralyzed business. People needed clothes to wear; women were commanded to wear the burqa, men the kameez and shal...

​ It was a Sunday afternoon in November. I was driving my Ambassador, on way to Habba Kadal, the famous second bridge on the Vitasta. The window panes were drawn up and an icy draft sneaked in to send shivers down my spine and legs even as I was bundled in an overcoat, a woolen muffler and a karakuli cap. It had snowed a couple of days earlier. The...

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) recently released the names of politicians, businessmen, and the likes who own offshore companies, trusts, secret bank accounts, etc. to hide their ill-gotten money. This is not the first time that such revelations have rocked the world. The black money issue has got more attention in...

Lack of delineation of borders are an inevitable cause for tension for both the sides, often leading to hostility and violent outburst. But when that is within national boundaries the breakout of violence takes on a different meaning and demands immediate attention. Over the past two weeks there has been palpable build up of tension between Assam a...

Are courts encroaching on the power of the executive? Is it constitutionally valid? Can Judges be disciplined, or is it forbidden…all this and more in this very interesting review of Subhash C Kashyap's bestseller 'Indian Constitution: Conflicts And Controversies' by teacher, editor, and columnist Kanishk Shekhar. Buy Online:  https://www.amaz...

A ceremonial head of state is under fire for allegedly conspiring with a democratically elected prime minister to dismantle democracy, prompting an alliance of opposition parties to take to the streets amid widespread public apathy. Nepali politics today is back to where it was two decades ago. The country abolished its monarchy and became a secula...

The narrow, elongated stretch of land in eastern India, known as West Bengal sheltering a disproportionately enormous population, was snatched from the plans of Pakistan by Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Posterity has spared little in labelling this statesman politician a communal person, while they themselves escaped from the consequences of partition...

The year 2020 has been all about survival. With zero sales in one quarter and orders barely trickling in the next, it is a wonder we survived at all, especially with the brick-and-mortar stores downing their shutters. Some never to open again. But God has been kind. And of course, the continued support of our readers online kept us going. It has be...

Kaladarsana Division of IGNCA, hosted a webinar on 'The Future of Publishing Industry in Post Covid scenario', on 2nd June 2020. The accomplished Panelists included: Sadhna Rout, Former DG, Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting;  Ashok Gupta, Honorary Secretary General, Federation of Indian Publishers; Sesh Sheshadri, ...

Among the stars who became STARS this week is Ronald Vivian Smith, born in Agra on 6 January 1938 and rendered unto the Lord 30 April 2020 in Delhi. How do we know him? And what do we know of him? This son of the yesteryear journalist Thomas Smith, this pillar in the old redbrick building of The Statesman at the crossing of the Barakhamba Road, thi...

Did you know? Although the pressures on nature had not become so acute in Gandhi's lifetime, this wise man had the foresight to see that our planet's carrying capacity is not infinite and some restraint will have to be placed on how much pressure we can place on its air, water, forests and minerals. Mahatma Gandhi said, 'Nature has enough to satisf...

The Bhagavad Gita says, "One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme, is unaffected by sinful action, just as the lotus is untouched by water." These are beautiful words and the most sound advice on detachment to the modern-day professional. Detachment doesn't mean you should not aspire to reach the top i...

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same and this couldn't be truer, especially when talking about the status of women in our country. Rape laws have been amended and there are hundreds of fast-track courts, but Nirbhaya, whose brutal rape horrified the nation, gets justice after seven long years and even that is a question mark until Ma...

It is World Book Day today and we at Vitasta take the pledge to encourage and promote reading by bringing out engaging, thought-provoking and exceptional books to suit the taste of every reader. Let us together spread the joy of reading. Tell your children how books can be their best friends. Start early. Read them a bedside story, be it of knights...

Vitasta's new book, Multi-Agency Response To Violence Against Women , has a provocative subtitle, 'Feminist Social Work with the Police system'. What does it exactly mean? How is it different from Social Work otherwise? On the occasion of March 8, I would like to explain what it signifies. Patriarchy is a social malaise that breeds inequality of se...

AS THE year comes to an end, a troubling thought has been: Is the Indian publishing industry going Through a flat phase? Two years ago, Academic books market share was 40%, Children's books was 30%, Trade publishing was 30%. Today, the K 12 market share is 71%, Higher Education share is 22% and only 7% is the share of the trade market. This means, ...

IT WAS especially important for India to be present at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, to redeem her image as one of the world's greatest tolerant democracies. India-born Salman Rushdie, in his inaugural address said, publishing was the 'embodiment' and 'guardian of freedom of speech'. He added, 'If you believe in a single vision of the truth......