Sahitya Akademi winner Chaturvedi Badrinath's book to be launched postumously at Kolkata Book Fair

The ongoing Kolkata International Book Fair will pay tribute to late Sahitya Akademi recipient Chaturvedi Badrinath by launching his book on Saturday. The book, "A Unity of Life and Other Essays", a series of essays on the concept of dharma and its application in modern times, is drawn extensively from the Mahabharata.

The book, published by Oxford University Press India, is edited by the author's daughter, Tulsi Chaturvedi. Badrinath had won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009 for the book "Mahabharata: An Inquiry in the Human Condition".

Speaking about the author's contribution, Oxford University Press India managing Director V. Sivaramakrishnan said that the book is relevant to modern times. "The book is a compilation of his rare works on Indian philosophy. This book has been in the making for the past six years since his demise and we are now presenting it to his avid readers. The essays on Indian philosophy are relevant to the lives of modern readers," he said.

In the book, Badrinath had adopted an original approach to the six darsanas or worldviews. Through his simple writing, the most ancient philosophy was shown to have immediate relevance to modern times.

Badrinath's other published books include "Dharma, India and the World Order: Twenty-one Essays (1993)", "Introduction to the Kama Sutra (1999)" and Finding Jesus in Dharma: Christianity in India", among others. He passed away in Puducherrry on February 17, 2010, a day after he was presented the Sahitya Akademi Award.

"OUP has always had a great response from book lovers in Kolkata who have appreciated our books for their content, illustrations, and reader-friendliness. We are really excited to be present at the book fair," added Sivaramakrishnan. Oxford University Press will also conduct its popular "Oxford Dictionary Quiz" for the first time at the Fair.

In its 40th year, the Kolkata International Book Fair is one of the largest such in the world.