The Revolution of 1917 Revisited

November 7 was the anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 1917. In February of that year, the working class and peasantry – along with the soldiers – overthrew the Tsar’s regime. That October (November in our calendar), led by the Bolshevik party, the workers and peasants completed their social revolution by overthrowing the conciliatory government of the bourgeoisie led by Alexander Kerensky. Lenin, who had returned to Russia from exile, saw that behind Kerensky’s government was ‘me..

‘Bharatratna’ Savarkar!

Though delayed, justice has finally been done to the man. After years of prevarication, the Bhartiya Janta Party has at last publicly and explicitly owned up Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as its cult figure. The BJP seeks to displace Gandhi from his position as the pre-eminent symbol of Indian nationalism and project, in his stead, Savarkar as a national hero. This is an enterprise, however, that is fraught with risk. The risk of the truth coming out in the open. In his book, Savarkar and Hindutva:..

बुद्धि और भावनाओं का मेल – पब्लिशिंग नेक्स्ट 2019

मैं पहली बार गोवा गई और मौक़ा था – पब्लिशिंग नेक्स्ट 2019 का। किताबों की दुनिया से वाक़िफ़ तो थी पर किताब बनाने वालों, उन्हें गढ़ने वालों को एक साथ और इतने करीब से देखने का ये पहला मौक़ा था। अलग-अलग सेश�..

I visited Goa and did not party

I visited Goa and did not party. While one could agree with those who might feel sorry for me, the conference-cum-workshop I went there to attend was worth it. The world of independent publishing can appear to be a small one. The word ‘cozy’ came up several times to describe the conference. Most people who’re in it know each other. The ones who didn’t, do now. Far from making them homogeneous, however, it makes them a unified group of diverse individuals. What makes them unified? This..

The Story of a Translation

LeftWord's July release, Decoding the RSS: Its Tradition and Politics, is the translation into English of Raosaheb Kasbe's classic Marathi book, Zot. In this post, translator Deepak Borgave outlines the process of transmitting into English the polemical text, which draws from a range of historical references to present an incisive critique of RSS ideologue M.S. Golwalkar's Bunch of Thoughts. * * * Why translate, and for whom? Does translation matter? Who is the reader? Is translation necessa..