• YATRIK: A JOURNEY INTO THEATRICAL ART (Niyogi, Rs 695) by Diwan Singh Bajeli has been edited by Indu Ramchandani, Bhaskar Ghose, Ranjit Mathur and Sunit Tandon - senior members and present director of the theatre group that started its life in 1964, with the objective of projecting drama as a dynamic and living force. Although the book traces the journey of a particular theatre group, the author misses no opportunity to offer commentary on the prevalent cultural scene since Yatrik was founded. That, along with the many anecdotes that this book abounds in make for delightful reading.

What makes this volume even more engrossing is the detail in which the art of producing good theatre is discussed. Technical details gleaned from years of experience are provided to readers. The book also has rare photographs of plays that have been performed by the theatre group such as Azar ka Khwab.

• THE NINE CHAMBERED HEART (Fourth Estate, Rs 399) by Janice Pariat is a unique take on a bildungsroman. It traces the growth - physical and psychological - of a woman through the eyes of the men and the woman who love her. Pariat doffs her hat to Anaïs Nin's autobiographical novel, The Four-Chambered Heart, in the title of the book. Much like the French author, Pariat abstains from passing any judgment on her female protagonist, who waltzes in and out of relationships. In prose that is both lucid and evocative, Pariat explores the various shades of emotions that are often broadly grouped as love.

The author's take on these emotions are unusual, interesting even. But Pariat - or rather her narrators - build the protagonist up into this irresistible ideal who everyone cannot help but fall for or lust after. Such idolization begins to ring hollow after a few accounts.

• THE UNSEEING IDOL OF LIGHT (Hamish Hamilton, Rs 499) by K.R. Meera has at its heart the disappearance of a pregnant woman, Deepti, and the decade-long search for her that ensues. Like Meera's previous works, love is explored through the language of violence, obsession, and rage. Deepti is everywoman, her disappearance a metaphor for the fate of thousands of women who might not disappear physically but who are rendered invisible socially. But like her previous books, here too, the angst of Meera's characters becomes exhausting as does the book which packs in too much for the reader's comfort.