TRUE CHILDREN of the Raj

TRUE CHILDREN of the Raj
Author: HELEN RENAUX
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2011-12
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1466901772

This is an epistolary manuscript; each chapter a letter addressed to the author's grandchildren about their Indian heritage and other matters. It deals with ancestry, history of India, geography of India. It deals with the colonisation of India by the British and explains how this mixed race of people came about. It is a family history and contains the author's philosophical ideas that have developed through life and experience. It is a book of information and enlightenment for the author's young family and hopefully others in similar situations; a book for the young mixed blood generation of today and hopefully for others that may follow.

Midnight's Children

Midnight's Children
Author: Salman Rushdie
Publisher: Vintage Canada
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2010-12-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307367754

Winner of the Booker prize and twice winner of the Booker of Bookers, Midnight's Children is "one of the most important books to come out of the English-speaking world in this generation" (New York Review of Books). Reissued for the 40th anniversary of the original publication--with a new introduction from the author--Salman Rushdie's widely acclaimed novel is a masterpiece in literature. Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,” all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts. This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Midnight’s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.

Children of the Raj

Children of the Raj
Author: Vyvyen Brendon
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780227477

Vyvyen Brendon's evocative, at times heart-tugging book, runs from the 18th century and the East India Company, through the Afghan wars, the Indian mutiny and the more settled era of the Queen Empress, and culminates in the conflict leading to Britain's hurried exit in 1947. Its subject is the young progeny of traders, soldiers, civil servants, missionaries, planters, engineers and what should be done with them. Until the coming of air travel these children often only saw their parents every few years. Then there were the children born of Anglo-Indian marriages and affairs. Sent back to Britain they were often reviled as 'darkies', 'a touch of the tar-brush'. And then there were the children educated in India. Brendon reveals appalling stories of abuse at the hands of servants. What frequently unites Brendon's wildly different subjects is their loneliness--drawing on letters, diaries, memoirs and interviews, she portrays children who had to discipline themselves to adapt (often ingeniously) to unfamiliar cultures, far away from family and forced to spend termtime in boarding schools and holidays with unfamiliar families.

Children of Kali

Children of Kali
Author: Kevin Rushby
Publisher: Constable
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2003
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781841195681

They murdered more than a million travellers without spilling a drop of blood. They were inspired by religious fanaticism, yet came from many faiths. Their weapon was the handkerchief, their sacrament sugar, and their goddess Kali. They were the thugs.

Women of the Raj

Women of the Raj
Author: Margaret MacMillan
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2007-10-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0812976398

In the nineteenth century, at the height of colonialism, the British ruled India under a government known as the Raj. British men and women left their homes and traveled to this mysterious, beautiful country–where they attempted to replicate their own society. In this fascinating portrait, Margaret MacMillan examines the hidden lives of the women who supported their husbands’ conquests–and in turn supported the Raj, often behind the scenes and out of the history books. Enduring heartbreaking separations from their families, these women had no choice but to adapt to their strange new home, where they were treated with incredible deference by the natives but found little that was familiar. The women of the Raj learned to cope with the harsh Indian climate and ward off endemic diseases; they were forced to make their own entertainment–through games, balls, and theatrics–and quickly learned to abide by the deeply ingrained Anglo-Indian love of hierarchy. Weaving interviews, letters, and memoirs with a stunning selection of illustrations, MacMillan presents a vivid cultural and social history of the daughters, sisters, mothers, and wives of the men at the center of a daring imperialist experiment–and reveals India in all its richness and vitality. “A marvellous book . . . [Women of the Raj] successfully [re-creates] a vanished world that continues to hold a fascination long after the sun has set on the British empire.” –The Globe and Mail “MacMillan has that essential quality of the historian, a narrative gift.” –The Daily Telegraph “MacMillan is a superb writer who can bring history to life.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer “Well researched and thoroughly enjoyable.” –Evening Standard

Members Only

Members Only
Author: Sameer Pandya
Publisher: Mariner Books
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2020
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0358098548

First the white members of Raj Bhatt's posh tennis club call him racist. Then his life falls apart. Along the way, he wonders: where does he, a brown man, belong in America? This award-winning novel "offers deep insight into the ways the characters are shaped by racism" (Publishers Weekly). ¶ An NPR Best Book - A Millions Most Anticipated Title of 2020 - A Rumpus Best Book for Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month ¶ Raj is often unsure of where he belongs. Having moved to America from Bombay as a child, he knew few Indian kids. Now middle-aged, he lives mostly happily in California, with a job at a university. Still, his white wife seems to fit in better than he does at times, especially at their tennis club, a place he's cautiously come to love. But it's there that, in one week, his life unravels. It begins at a meeting for potential new members: Raj thrills to find an African American couple on the list; he dreams of a more diverse club. But in an effort to connect, he makes a racist joke. The committee turns on him, no matter the years of prejudice he's put up with. And worse still, he soon finds his job is in jeopardy after a group of students report him as a reverse racist, thanks to his alleged "anti-Western bias." Heartfelt, humorous, and hard-hitting, Members Only explores what membership and belonging mean, as Raj navigates the complicated space between black and white America.

Raj & Norah

Raj & Norah
Author: Peter R. Kohli
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2021-03-09
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9354223052

'Far from a conventional war story, Raj & Norah is poised at the threshold of worlds colliding - East and West, duty and desire, love and sacrifice. It is richly readable, and a fitting homage to an extraordinary couple who lived through extraordinary times.' - Aanchal Malhotra When World War II broke out in 1939, twenty-year-old Rajendra Kohli was studying chemistry at college in England. Soon, however, he decided to volunteer for the war effort against Germany and joined the army. After his heroic actions on the front left him severely injured, he found himself in Naples for treatment. There, he met Norah Elizabeth Eggleton, a nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. It was love at first sight, and in each other's company, the young couple forgot the devastation that surrounded them. But as quickly as their story began, it was over - Raj was sent to London, Norah was posted to a hospital in Rome, and they wondered if they would ever see each other again. Raj & Norah is not only a thrilling account of love found, lost and reclaimed in the midst of war, it is also a story of two extraordinary individuals battling against their circumstances and what fate has in store for them - one that will captivate and move readers around the world.

The Patient Assassin

The Patient Assassin
Author: Anita Anand
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2019-06-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1501195727

The “compelling [and] vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) true story of a man who claimed to be a survivor of a 1919 British massacre in India, his elaborate twenty-year plan for revenge, and the mix of truth and legend that made him a hero to hundreds of millions. When Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, ordered Brigadier General Reginald Dyer to Amritsar, he wanted Dyer to bring the troublesome city to heel. Sir Michael had become increasingly alarmed at the effect Gandhi was having on his province, as well as recent demonstrations, strikes, and shows of Hindu-Muslim unity. All these things, to Sir Michael, were a precursor to a second Indian revolt. What happened next shocked the world. An unauthorized gathering in the Jallianwallah Bagh in Amritsar in April 1919 became the focal point for Sir Michael’s law enforcers. Dyer marched his soldiers into the walled public park, blocking the only exit. Then, without issuing any order to disperse, he instructed his men to open fire, turning their guns on the crowd, which numbered in the thousands and included women and children. The soldiers continued firing for ten minutes, stopping only when they ran out of ammunition. According to legend, nineteen-year-old Sikh orphan Udham Singh was injured in the attack, and remained surrounded by the dead and dying until he was able to move the next morning. Then, he supposedly picked up a handful of blood-soaked earth, smeared it across his forehead, and vowed to kill the men responsible. The truth, as the author has discovered, is more complex—but no less dramatic. Award-winning journalist Anita Anand traced Singh’s journey through Africa, the United States, and across Europe until, in March 1940, the young man finally arrived in front of O’Dwyer himself in a London hall ready to shoot him down. The Patient Assassin “mixes Tom Ripley’s con-man-for-all-seasons versatility with Edmond Dantès’s persistence” (The Wall Street Journal) and reveals the incredible but true story behind a legend that still endures today.

Jack

Jack
Author: Liesl Shurtliff
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2015
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0385755791

Relates the tale of Jack who, after trading his mother's milk cow for magic beans, climbs a beanstalk to seek his missing father in the land of giants.

Inspirations Of A Nation: Tribute To 25 Singaporean South Asians

Inspirations Of A Nation: Tribute To 25 Singaporean South Asians
Author: Abhijit Nag
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 117
Release: 2016-03-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9813141077

This book pays tribute to 25 Singaporean South Asians who pioneered and excelled in their respective fields from 1950 to 2015. It is meant to be a 'quick take' on 25 Singaporean South Asian personalities, across a broad spectrum of professions and activities, who believed in the value and virtue of service to the community and gave the best of themselves.They had a sense of mission in their professions, dedicated to what they were doing and fostered a sense of community and nation. Many of them laid foundations that triggered the transformation of the island, including sportspeople whose records have stood the test of time. They were a people of their time whose work many may not know but which we hope will inspire others. This book is timely, for those who want to get a snapshot appreciation of the contributions of Singaporean South Asians.