Combo Pack (Set Of 6 Books) : Charu Majumdar : The Dreamer Rebel | RK Laxman : Back with a Punch | Sarada Devi : Holiness, Charisma and Iconic Motherhood | Muthulakshmi Reddy : A Trailblazer in Surgery and Women’s Rights | Heisnam Sabitri : The Way of the Thamoi | Jamini Roy : A Painter Who Revisited the Roots

1. Charu Majumdar : The Dreamer Rebel :-

‘He, who cannot dream and imbue others to dream, is not a revolutionary,’ said Charu Majumdar. True to his words, he dreamt of a shackles-free India and drew thousands of youth to join the armed revolution unleashed by his party in the 1970s.

This book, the only one of its kind, is an unbiased documentation of the trailblazing journey of the fire bird who gifted the word ‘Naxalite’ to the world, something that spread like a wildfire in the deepest roots of the contemporary young minds. The man who had a fire in his heart, thus became an inspiration to a generation.

Charu Majumdar: The Dreamer Rebel is a well-researched book on the legendary rebel of the 1970s, who, besides calling for an armed revolution, taught many to dream.

2. RK Laxman : Back with a Punch :-

RK Laxman was one of India’s pre-eminent cartoonists for many decades. His creation, the ‘Common Man’, became an indispensable part of the morning newspaper for Indian readers. Laxman’s insight into Indian life, his gentle humour and caricatures of the political leaders of a newly independent country, had a profound impact in India and abroad.

In this book EP Unny describes RK Laxman’s life, the influences that led him to become a much-loved cartoonist, his work ethic and the nuances of his craft. It is a tribute from a leading cartoonist to a master of his art.

Written in Unny’s succinct style, this monograph offers a concise chronicle of the master cartoonist’s journey, as Laxman’s pen captured modern Indian history for readers in India and across the world.

3. Sarada Devi : Holiness, Charisma and Iconic Motherhood :-

This is a short and accessible biography of Sarada Devi (1853–1920), the widow of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and a cultic leader in her own right. It is the work of a historian of modern Bengal and meant to serve as a corrective to the hagiographic slant that has hitherto permeated writings on the subject. This book is a part of the series – Pioneers of Modern India. Other books in the series: a) Homi J. Bhabha, b) Heisnam Sabitri, c) RK Laxman d) Jamini Roy e) Rani Gaidinliu f) Charu Majumdar g) Muthulakshmi Reddy. About the Author: Amiya P Sen retired as Professor of Modern Indian history from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. That apart, he has served Delhi University and Visvabharati, Santiniketan. He has been Agatha Harrison Fellow at the University of Oxford, Zimmer Chair at Heidelberg and Fellow at the IIAS, Shimla, and the NMML, New Delhi. Currently, he is also Honorary Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford. Prof. Sen’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of intellectual and cultural history of modern Bengal. To date, he has authored and edited fifteen books and served as Guest Editor for the MDPI international online journal, Religion.

4. Muthulakshmi Reddy : A Trailblazer in Surgery and Women’s Rights :-

Muthulakshmi Reddy—A Trailblazer in Surgery and Women’s Rights is the story of a pioneer path-creator for women. She was the first girl student in Maharaja’s School for Boys in Pudukkottai, the first Indian woman surgeon from Madras Medical College, the first Indian member of the Women’s Indian Association, the first woman member of the legislature of Madras Presidency, the first woman deputy speaker and the first alderwoman.

In this book, the author describes the indomitable spirit of a woman who campaigned to get rid of the practice of wet nurses, fought for girls’ education and widow remarriage, equal property rights for women, education reform, and rural healthcare for women. She took up the case of getting the practice of dedicating young girls as Devadasis, abolished.

This monograph describes how Dr. Reddy established Avvai Home for poor and destitute girls, from where thousands have graduated and found their feet. Thereafter, following a successful career as a specialist in gynecology and obstetrics, she founded the Cancer Institute in Adyar, Chennai, which has grown to be an iconic hospital for cancer treatment throughout Asia.

5. Heisnam Sabitri : The Way of the Thamoi :-

Heisnam Sabitri is a critically acclaimed Indian stage actor and one of the most notable personalities in Manipuri theatre. Born into a Meitei family in Mayang Imphal, Manipur, she was introduced to theatre as a child artist by her aunt and theatre actor Gouramani Devi. She married stage director Heisnam Kanhailal in 1962, and together, they founded Kalakshetra Manipur in 1969. She also acted in a short film, Mahadevi Akka (1999), and the film won the National Film Award for the best anthropological film. A former government-nominated member of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Sabitri was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2008, for her contributions to Manipuri theatre.

‘A continuous poem…in motion’ and ‘a living national treasure’ (2014) commented Richard Gough, professor of theatre at Wales University, UK, about Sabitri, after witnessing her performing on stage. This book is an invaluable addition to theatre and performance studies. It delineates the first-hand perspective of Heisnam Sabitri, as well as her husband, Heisnam Kanhailal–two great legendary innovators of 20th-century Indian theatre. It views the different aspects of theatre in the light of ‘thamoi’–a Meitei specific concept.

6. Jamini Roy : A Painter Who Revisited the Roots :-

Jamini Roy: Revisiting Roots explores the remarkable career of the maestro right from the late 1910s till his very last days. It closely examines not only the steep bends of Roy’s art that culminated in his signature style, but also the very process through which he reconnected with his indigenous rootedness that later became the very bedrock of his more famous works. It engages in detail with the influence that the various forms of folk art wielded over him–not only the painted scrolls of indigenous patuas or the distinctive Kalighat pats, but also the temple murals of Bankura, terracotta figurines, floor art, even folk songs, dances and rituals–something that nourished and nurtured his identity. However, Roy’s located identity was mediated by the contemporary Modernist idiom, and the elements in his uniquely Bengal-based visual narratives are underpinned by a conscious intention to simplify, abbreviate, and thus reveal the essential, ‘significant’ form. It also addresses the plural lines of conflicts that underlie the very making of his art– between the urban and the rural, local and the global.

Told in a simple and engaging mode, the book explores the multiple facets of a man for whom art was both a livelihood and a meditative journey, and follows his life of disciplined simplicity along with his quirks and idiosyncrasies.