Bøker av Swati Sengupta

Arati Saha was born in 1940, and learnt to swim in the Hooghly riverin Calcutta as a child. At the age of eight, she competed in the NationalChampionship in Bombay, winning silver and bronze medals. When she waseleven years and ten months, she was selected as one of the first four womento represent independent India at the Helsinki Summer Olympics of 1952.She was the youngest Indian Olympian-a record that stands till this day.By the time she was eighteen, Arati was looking for a fresh challenge-shedecided to swim the English Channel. This marathon endurance swim hadbeen completed by others before her, but no woman from India, indeed fromAsia, had done so yet. Arati trained in the lakes and pools of Calcutta, onceswimming for sixteen hours at a stretch. Overcoming many odds, she went toEngland where, undaunted by one failed attempt, she tried again-till she wassuccessful.This is the inspiring story of how a seemingly ordinary girl set her eyes onimpossible dreams and achieved them with her incredible hard work andtalent. In the process, she swam her way into history.

Born in 1907 to a family of farmers in Punjab, Bhagat Singh, at the age ofthree, had declared that he was sowing guns so he could fight the Britishcolonizers. As he grew up, Bhagat Singh became a widely read and fiercelyintelligent man. He would dedicate his life to not only making India free butalso towards creating a more equitable society.Along with many young men and women, he planned seemingly impossibleacts of daring, rebelling against the oppression and exploitation of the British.When Lala Lajpat Rai died of injuries inflicted by the police under JamesScott, Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary friends sought to avenge the deathof the great freedom fighter. However, they ended up mistakenly killingJohn Saunders, another British officer. Bhagat Singh made a daring escapein disguise but he was not one to stay long in hiding. Along with BatukeswarDutt, he decided to storm the Central Assembly in Delhi with pamphlets andsmoke bombs, protesting unfair new laws. The two refused to escape, andwaited to be arrested.When he was twenty-four years old, Bhagat Singh was put to death. Till thevery end, he refused to bow down. His astonishing life and death are broughtto life in this lucid new biography for young readers.

Jhalkari Bai grew up in Bhojla, many miles away from the city of Jhansi. Far from the grand forts and palaces and illustrious kings and queens of Jhansi, in her village, she was known for her great strength and bravery-fighting off tigers and dacoits all alone. She nurtured a fierce desire to be a soldier, and to do amazing acts of courage.

In a small village in Punjab, little Milkha Singh grew up, loved by his parents, surrounded by open fields where he could run, play, and fly kites. In the heat of summer, when he had to walk to school barefoot, he would run like the wind so he could get home fast. And then, one day, in the midst of terrible violence and upheaval, his family and home were snatched away forever.

He exhorted them to set aside old superstitions. And he led them in armed confrontations with the mighty British police forces.The extraordinary life of this great leader comes alive for a new generation of readers in this biography that is as engaging as it is inspiring.

She faced incredible opposition to her work when people attacked her not just with words but even with stones and dung. But nothing could stop her.This is the enduring story of a woman who looked at age-old injustices and prejudice in the eye, and overcame them with courage and the power of learning.

DeScriPtionWhen she was nine years old, Savitri was married to thirteen-year-oldJyotirao Phule. Savitri yearned to be able to go to school, to read books.Jyotiba wanted his wife to be educated as well, and so he taught her. Soon,she learnt not just to read and write, but also trained as a teacher. Together,Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule started schools where girls and boys, Dalitchildren, and those who had been shunned from schools till then could geteducated. They fought against caste atrocities. They made sure that womenlearnt of their rights to exist with dignity.Savitribai Phule became one of India's first woman teachers and femalereformers. She faced incredible opposition to her work when people attackedher not just with words but even with stones and dung. But nothing could stopher.This is the enduring story of a woman who looked at age-old injustices andprejudice in the eye, and overcame them with courage and the power oflearning.

DeScriPtionBirsa Munda lived in one of the villages that dotted the Chhotanagpurregion in today's Jharkhand. He was a dreamy boy with an uncanny abilityto mesmerize not only humans but birds and animals too with his words andmusic. As he grew up, he became more and more aware of the exploitationof the Adivasi people by rich landowners and the British government. Birsaspoke out one day, and from that moment on, he started a journey that sawhim become one of India's greatest tribal leaders and icons of resistance.Birsa Munda rallied his people, telling them to stand up for their traditionalrights to the forests and their land. He exhorted them to set aside oldsuperstitions. And he led them in armed confrontations with the mightyBritish police forces.The extraordinary life of this great leader comes alive for a new generation ofreaders in this biography that is as engaging as it is inspiring.