• MOTHER TERESA: THE UNTOLD STORY (Fingerprint, Rs 295) by Aroup Chatterjee lives up to its name. Far from being a conventional hagiography, it is brutally honest and relentlessly scathing. There have been other critical accounts of the saint in the past. Apart from a documentary in 1994 criticizing Mother Teresa, there was an exposé published in The Guardian on the condition of her orphanages in Calcutta. However, Chatterjee's book puts the existing critical accounts in a context, thereby giving readers an impartial point of view. As a physician who has dabbled in leftist politics, Chatterjee is able to provide a left-of-centre critique of the saint. This prevents his narrative from taking on a right-wing hue. He rightly notes her hobnobbing with the Christian Right, the proselytizing zeal of her charity work and her carefully crafted image that was more receptive of the international media than it was of the reality in India. Was Teresa a Vatican agent or truly a humanitarian? Chatterjee's book certainly has some of the answers.

 

 

• NEWS NOW: BEING A TV JOURNALIST (Collins, Rs 299) by Sudesna Ghosh gives readers an insider’s view of the newsroom. It is a short but useful account of what it takes to a become a successful television journalist. It talks about the tricks of the news trade and provides a fairly realistic picture of the news industry. Readers will learn of the processes behind the writing of news scripts, the production of news shows, as well as the typical responsibilities of a reporter. The book comes with sample curricula vitae, words of advice from some stalwarts in the industry and a list of useful terms for aspiring journalists.

 

• COME INTO MY KITCHEN (HarperCollins, Rs 599) by Ranveer Brar is much more than a cook book. It shares the author's philosophy of cooking, stories of his childhood and, of course, recipes of some mouth-watering dishes. It discusses the significance of taste, flavour, texture, appearance and aroma in cooking. The recipes that Brar provides are unique because they harmoniously combine the best of Indian and Western techniques of cooking. So one finds recipes for mushroom chilla crepes as well as an idli prawn sandwich with tender coconut salsa.

The art of fine dining and the culture of celebrated chefs are yet to come of age in India, but chefs such as Brar are certainly moving in that direction.