3 Review(s)

The book consists of 35 essays written on a wide variety of subjects from reading and writing to teaching and administration. A few essays discuss wit and humour as also their therapeutic value in a tension-ridden world of today. In a lighter vein, some essays depict men and manners, their whimsical habits, illogical fads and startling idiosyncrasies. They highlight too the criminalization of academics, potentialities of unscrupulous Indians, the rising vogue of lethargy, the hypocritical promises and the shrinking sizes of hard work and moral values. Many holes are drilled in the monolithic structures of Central and State Administration, bureaucratic machinery, university education, modes of rail and road transport, and thousand other areas of everyday life. What makes these essays charming are their pungent yet savoury humour, piquant but pleasantly sharp wit, spicy albeit illustrative anecdotes, stimulating scholarly quotations and provocative questions. Tasting these essays, one could exclaim, extremely tingling but quite invigorating. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Ramesh K. Srivastava, who got his Ph.D. degree from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (U.S.A.) in 1972, is well known for his creative and critical writings in English. He was awarded a prestigious Full bright (US Govt.) Fellowship in 1969, the University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowships in 1970-72 and subsequently Senior Full bright (U.S.Govt.) Fellowship in 1984-85 to work on Henry David Thoreau at Boston (U.S.A.). He was also awarded the University Grants Commission Emeritus Fellowship in 2003-05 to work on Indian Writers in English at Bundelkhand University, Jhansi (UP).