Primed Cannon
Usually, the publisher prods the author, especially a politician or a bureaucrat, to tell all in their autobiographies, and it is the author who is inhibited or scared to reveal all. But, in the case of the irrepressible Markandeya Katju, former Supreme Court judge and Press Council of India chairman, it is the other way round. His memoirs have been delayed because a lot of what he says in it about fellow judges, netas and people in high places could be deemed defamatory. His editors have asked him to water down certain passages, especially about graft charges against other judges. Katju is working on it, but knowing him, his book, now slated to be out by the year-end, will have enough ammo.
Two Hussars
PM Modi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal have been having a faceoff almost on a daily basis, starting from the fight for Benares in the Lok Sabha polls. Next month, they will be fighting for space in book stores. Two books, Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party, An Inside Look by his IIT classmate Pran Karup, and Modi and His Challenges by economist Rajiv Kumar, both by Bloomsbury, are out on the same day—May 21.
Masterly Art
There is a lot of buzz about Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary on April 23. A group of Shakespeare-lovers called Stratford of the World, from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, will converge at Stratford-upon-Avon to stage the bard’s plays and discuss his art of theatre. New Royal Mail has also issued a series of stamps on the occasion with lines from his plays. Here’s one from Macbeth: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player; That struts and frets his hour upon the stage”.
