Sparsh

Let me answer a question on Pakistan from Indian point of view:  How geography, military dominance, ideological transformation and dependence on external powers shaped Pakistan’s history, its rivalry with India and its continuing search for a stable national identity?  Pakistan’s geopolitical history is marked by a recurring contradiction. It seeks strategic autonomy and regional influence, yet much of its security architecture has depended on relationships with larger external powers, principally the United States and China. Pakistan became important not primarily because of what its economy produced, but because of where it was located, whom it bordered and what strategic services it could provide to larger powers. Its geography repeatedly brought military assistance, financial support and diplomatic relevance. Yet this external importance often reduced the pressure to build autonomous political, economic and civilian institutions. Pakistan consequently achieved strategic re...

बचपन में टेलीविज़न पर देखी गई कुछ कहानियाँ पूरी तरह याद नहीं रहतीं। उनका कोई चेहरा, कोई धुन, कोई संवाद या पर्दे पर काँपती हुई रोशनी भर हमारे भीतर रह जाती है। वर्षों बाद हम उन्हें खोजने निकलते हैं, तो पता चलता है कि कार्यक्रम से अधिक हम उस समय को खोज रहे थे, जिसमें हमने उसे पहली बार देखा था।  शायद पुराने कार्यक्रमों की खोज वास्तव में अपने ही बीते हुए रूप की खोज होती है।  इस पर पहले भी लिख चुका हूँ:  90s नॉस्टैल्जिया: एंटीना, केबल और एक पूरा बचपन और Search for Lost Stories of Childhood .  वे चेहरे, वे भ्रम और दूरदर्शन कभी-कभी कोई पुराना नाम स्मृतियों की पूरी शृंखला खोल देता है। बचपन में दूरदर्शन पर मैंने पहली बार मराठी फ़िल्म ‘ माझा छकुला ’ देखी थी। तब मैं शायद आठ-नौ साल का रहा होऊँगा। भाषा पूरी तरह समझ में नहीं आ रही थी, फिर भी कहानी, भावनाएँ और बच्चे की मासूमियत सीधे दिल में उतर गई थीं। बरसों तक यह फ़िल्म केवल धुँधली स्मृतियों में बसी रही। कुछ बरस बाद बाद में जब मैंने ‘ मासूम’ देखी, तो कहानी के भीतर कोई पुरानी पहचान-सी जागी। लगा, ऐसी ही भावनात्मक दुनिया से मैं कभी...

This global fantasy list moves beyond the most obvious commercial franchises while retaining acclaimed and readable books. It crosses adult, young-adult, literary, epic and classical fantasy and gives deliberate space to structurally and philosophically demanding works. Only volumes available in English are listed. A series may contain additional untranslated works in its original language, but those volumes have been excluded. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Region: Russia Format: Standalone novel Reading level: Complex English translation: Available The Devil’s arrival in Moscow exposes cowardice, hypocrisy and the instability of officially approved reality. The Witcher Series by Andrzej Sapkowski Goodreads Series Region: Poland Format: Series Reading level: Intermediate English translation: The volumes below are available in English Monster hunting, political violence and...

The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide by Gary J. Bass | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended Gary J. Bass’s The Blood Telegram tells the story of 1971 not merely as a war between India and Pakistan, but as a moral failure inside the highest offices of the United States government. It shows India standing as a democratic bulwark, bearing nearly millions of refugees while the Nixon administration ignored, minimized, and at times enabled the crisis. For American readers, this is an uncomfortable book. It challenges the familiar portrayal of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger as hard-headed strategists guided by America’s larger interests. Bass reveals geopolitical calculation mixed with personal prejudice, institutional cowardice, and a willingness to disregard mass suffering. The crisis began with the Pakistani military establishment’s refusal to accept the democratic mandate delivered by the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). It then attempted to solve a dem...