Foreword: Captive imagination
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o Among the many telling stories that Varavara Rao narrates in these brilliantly written prison letters is that of an illiterate prisoner who squats by a heap of newspapers each of which he holds in his hands and then stares blankly at for a long time. Asked about it, he says that [...]
A Different Imagination
Two books that can teach us much about the often misrepresented worldview behind the Maoist cause By ASHLEY TELLIS GIVEN THE NEWS of the Intelligence Bureau communiqué calling human and civil rights groups across the country fronts for the Maoist cause, and the Union Home Minister announcing that Maoist supporters will not be spared, the [...]
Creativity at its best – made in prison
Countless are the prisoners who wrote in their dingy cells what turned out to be eminently readable and, at times, epoch making literature. Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, both prolific writers, wrote extensively when they were imprisoned by the British.