The Caravan – August 2019

AUGUST 2019 95

Thisbookexaminesthe

workingsofmarriage,wid-

owhoodandsexualmorality

inmedievalRajasthan.Itlookscloselyatvariousritualsand

practices,includingsati,polygamy,marriagealliancesand

dowry,andhowtheyhavebeeninterpretedandwritten

aboutsince.

oxforduniversitypress, 320 pages,S 1195

THEBOOKSHELF

Thisvolumelookscloselyat
twomasterpiecesofKuti-
yattam,anancientSanskrit
theatreformthathasexisted
for around a thousand years andcontinuestobeperformed
in Kerala. Written by scholarsandperformersofKutiyattam,
it looks at the form’s features anditsrelationshipstoreligion
and literature.

oxford university press, 348pages,S 1795

Inthismulti-generation-
alchronicleofa familyof
tawaifs—courtesans—with
roots in Bhabua and Varanasi,SabaDewanexploresthecrit-
ical role they played in NorthIndianculturallife.Thebook,
which sprang from Dewan’s extensiveengagementwiththe
subject through her documentaryfilmmaking,alsoexamines
how colonial administration andfeudalstructuresfostered
the eventual criminalisation andstigmatisationofthetawaif
com mu n it y.

context, 800 pages, S 899

Krupa Ge weaves together

her and others’ experiences

during the Chennai floods

of December 2015, when

water from lakes, canals and sewers submerged large parts

of the city. She combines personal stories with her exten-

sive research about the factors that provoked the calamity,

drawing upon archival and government documents as well as

interviews with journalists and residents of the city.

westland, 218 pages, S 499

TAWAIFNAMA

Saba Dewan

TWO

MASTERPIECES

OF KUTIYATTAM

MANTRANKAM AND

ANGULIYANKAM

Edited by Heike Oberlin

and David Shulman

RIVERS REMEMBER

#CHENNAIRAINS

AND THE SHOCKING

TRUTH OF A

MANMADE FLOOD

Krupa Ge

THE POLITICS OF

MARRIAGE IN

MEDIEVAL INDIA

GENDER AND ALLIANCE

IN RAJASTHAN

Sabita Singh