Bookshelf

In 2002, Zara Chowdhary was sixteen years old, living with her family in Ahmedabad, with her board exams around the corner, when the Gujarat pogrom broke out, and she, her family and neighbours found themselves under a three-month siege. This memoir recounts her experiences and observations of the time, as well as stories across multiple generations of her Muslim family, the segregated city’s ancient past and tension in the aftermath of the violence.

Context, Westland, Rs 699, 324 pages

Anita Agnihotri traces the history of the Agariyas, salt harvesters in the Rann of Kutch, who face struggles including a lack of water, homes and schools, while a law identifies the Rann as reserved forest. The book follows Azad as he takes up the fight for salt, becoming part of Gandhi’s satyagraha and the battle against the Salt Act in British India, although his contributions have been obscured in history.