Bookshelf

Everyday Nationalism:
Women of the Hindu right in India
by Kalyani Devaki Menon
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010

Few historians bothered with Hindu nationalism before the upsurge of the 1980s, with the streets awash with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal. The initial interest thereafter was with regards to communalism and riots, with Gyanendra Pandey's work (1990) at the forefront. Rarely did this corpus take into consideration the deep roots of Hindutva ideology, in the everyday practice of its legions. Shubh Mathur gave us a superb ethnographic report from Rajasthan (The Everyday Life of Hindu Nationalism, 2008) and now comes Menon's report, produced out of field research in various sites of greater Delhi. Written for an academic audience, this book shows how Hindu nationalism allows for some dissonance, giving way to acceptable transgressions so as to better build its ideological and intellectual hegemony over its cadre – notably among women – in its tentacular organisations. (Vijay Prashad)

Putting Women First:
Women and health in a rural community
by Rani Bang with Sunanda
Khorgade & Rupa Chinai Stree, 2010

This book is as much a treatise on the abysmal state of India's health services as the story of a young couple's determination to make a difference. Rani and Abhay Bang moved to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, one of the most backward districts in the country, and began to practice clinical medicine among the desperately poor Gond Adivasis. Their primary health-care and holistic approach quickly led to a drop in infant mortality, maternal mortality and communicable diseases.