This Unquiet Land – Stories from India’s Fault Line

“The toughest discovery for me was to find that feminism offered no shield against the vulnerability, confusion, guilt and rage you felt when you were abused.”

This small part of ‘This Unquiet Land – Stories from India’s Fault Line’ is so relatable for any female who has experienced or been a witness to something similar. This line touches the soul of every female who has encountered any type of abuse in their life. This book is written by none other than India’s acclaimed television journalist Barkha Dutt. She has won the enormously prestigious Padma Shri award and also numerous other national and international awards. She became popular in the world of media after her coverage of the Kargil War. So impressive her coverage of the war was that in the movie Lakshya, Preity Zinta’s character (a female journalist reporting on the 1999 Kargil conflict) was inspired from Barkha Dutt.

The traumatizing 26/11 attacks still send shivers down our spine. Barkha Dutt was in New Delhi when she first learned about terrorists tearing into the financial capital of the nation. She touched down in Mumbai, boarding the first flight available the next morning, and got on the spot where the action was unfolding. She writes about covering 26/11 – her experience of reporting from the ground and how critical those hours were. She also takes to write on why the media was in the line of fire and got under deep public scrutiny and criticism post the 26/11 coverage.

Interesting to read are the episodes about the 2002 Godhra riots – the first television riot as she calls it. At the time Godhra happened, the television news industry was budding and Godhra was an incident largely covered by the press. Barkha Dutt recounts the scenes that she witnessed in Gujarat while covering the ghastly and highly unfortunate incident. Previously, Dutt had co-authored a chapter in the book ‘Gujarat: The making of a tragedy’.
This book also highlights the struggle that females accost and the incredible strength and valor they possess. She has also written about her encounter with sexual abuse at the place she thought she was safe in – her home – when she was young, by a distant relative, who was later asked to leave their house after Dutt confided in her parents.

As a journalist, Barkha has written, and continues to write columns and op-eds, however, this is her first book where in she recounts dozens of stories that map India’s fault lines. This Unquiet Land is about contemporary India, which is inarguably the most complex society on Earth. The book is now available in leading stores and also online!

Book Details:

• About the Author

About Sprightly Spirit

“I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none”. And all, may be. It may be the vigor. Or the spirit. Or the courage to avoid being “politically correct” or bent. And, ban all averse with immaculate overture of graciously fathomable words firm in views. Subtle. Justifying the undying conscience. Values. Knowledge. And, dares to stay true. True to own. True to the world. And, to the words. With a dream in eyes it exists. In you. In me. In all. The sprite that never shies away. The spirit that never dies!