The Last Jews of Kerala - Edna Fernandes

'The last Jews of Kerala' successfully captures the melancholy, despair and fear that envelops the last less than a score of Jews left in Kerala - the living remnants of around two millennia old Jewish settlement in Cochin.

Edna Fernandes walks the lanes of Jew Town , Cochin ,to capture the sad story of the two Jewish communities- the blank and the white- their histories, the fatal colour based caste discrimination and rise and fall of this once glorious community.She also goes to Jerusalem to study the life of the re-settled Cochini Jews of the now Israel to learn that while few of them successfully resettled in 'The Promised land' , others yearn for the peaceful and glamorous life that they left in Kerala.

It was not plague or war that led to the destruction of this community in Kerala but bitter feud and apartheid between the black and the whites.

A touching investigative account of a dying community in 'countdown mode' that has no more marriages but only funerals to attend ...

Discovery Of India - Jawaharlal Nehru

( Here is the review of a book ....which I've not yet completed. Shall add on to it once I complete )

With passionate and erudite narration of the rich and diverse cultural heritage and stabilised civilisation of India, Discovery Of India , by Jawaharlal Nehru , stands out as a must read for anyone who is genuinely interested in India. The book gives a clear picture of the cultural,religious and philosophical tradition of India.With the description of Hinduism more as a culture , than a religion and how it absorbed other religions ;history of India's relationship with China ,Iran and Europe the book elucidates the glorious past of Indian art, architecture,sculpture mathematics,trade and a lot more.

Background
The book was written in five months in 1944 , while Nehru was imprisoned in Ahmednagar Fort for participating in the Quit India movement.First published in 1946 , a year before independence, the book is widely regarded as a Classic by most historians. As Nehru says in the Preface to the first edition of the book , his stay in the prison brought him close to people speaking different languages from the length and breadth of India , like Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad . The contents of book took shape largely from the long discussions that he had with them and was spell checked and reviewed by his daughter Indira .