Publication of my 14th book - "The Balasore Papers"

I am happy to share with you that my 14th book “The Balasore Papers - A compendium of important documents relating to the Anglo-French dispute ever the French Loge in Balasore, India: 1693-1949” has just been published.

Oh no, not another book on Balasore, you might say.

But believe me this book is different from my earlier book on Balasore (“Some Vignettes of Balasore and its French Loge”). The present book is a compilation of hitherto unpublished Franco-Britannic documents from 1693 to 1949 relating to the French Loge in Balasore India. A number of these documents have been translated from French to English by me.

Ten pages of the book have been put on the web (http://pothi.com/pothi/book/k-j-s-chatrath-balasore-papers) and may I invite you to thumb through some of these pages?

A chilling portrayal of reality....

A few years back a Pakistani, Mohammed Hanif, wrote his first book, “A Case of Exploding Mangoes”. It turned out to be an instant bestseller. Now he has come out with his second book - “Our Lady of Alice Bhatti”, which is of a totally different genre. It deals with social issues and especially with the plight of women in Pakistan.

Hanif says quite candidly that women are “shot at or hacked, strangled or suffocated, poisoned or burnt, hanged or buried alive” daily. He goes on to add that “suspicious husband, brother protecting his honour, father protecting his honour, son protecting his honour, jilted lover protecting his honour, feuding farmers settling their water disputes, moneylenders collecting their interest: most of life’s arguments, it seems, get settled by doing various things to a woman’s body.” (emphasis mine)

What a chilling portrayal of reality!

What he writes about Pakistan, applies equally to the situation in India. What a shame my fellow males!