Hidden Treasure by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, translated from the Bengali by Ipsa S, is in the vein of what the author has frequently explored — the collision of mundanity and sexuality, reminiscent of critic Terry Eagleton’s famous quote, “Capitalism plunders the sensuality of the body.” The book is about a woman who’s holding together a dull, middle-class family until a man, worshipper of Ma Kali, starts boarding in the same house. An affair begins that upsets their tranquil, money-driven existence. Breathless by Andrew McDowell is a story of breathing, of how diseases suffered by the poor and marginalised receive little policy attention, of those who have been abandoned by the system and pay for “decisions made in faraway Delhi and Geneva.” McDowell is an anthropologist who travelled to a Rajasthani village and spent time with its residents, mostly Dalit and Adivasi, who suffer from one of the most deadly lung diseases in the world: tuberculosis. Everyday Reading by Aakriti Mandhwani is a study of India’s print culture just after Independence, when focus was on the various kinds of patriotism necessary to hold together a nation tenuously emerged from colonial rule. Mandhwani focuses on Hindi publications, particularly Delhi Press’s Sarita magazine, Hind Pocket Books paperbacks and The Times Group’s Dharmyug magazine, which helped articulate a literature for North Indian masses apart from national duty. The Urban Elite v Union of India by Rohin Bhatt is about the Delhi-based lawyer’s experience observing a case that “had the potential to change the social fabric of this country forever”: the legalisation of gay marriage. They were a law student when the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexual acts in 2018, and now, are a lawyer who practise in that court. They depict the arguments for and against marriage inside the queer community and behind-the-scenes stories of those involved in the case. The Extraordinary Life of Max Bulandi by Sidharth Singh is a “much-awaited hat-tip” to Indian rock and its foremost champions. It tells the story of a disillusioned journalist who is obsessed with the art form and finds an old magazine article about The Flow, one of India’s oldest rock bands, and embarks on a journey across the country to locate its frontman, hailed as “India’s answer to Jim Morrison,” lead vocalist of 1970s rock band The Doors.
