Product Description
In Cassette Culture, Peter Manuel tells how a new mass medium--the portable cassette player--caused a major upheaval in popular culture in the world's second-largest country.The advent of cassette technology in the 1980s transformed India's popular music industry from the virtual monopoly of a single multinational LP manufacturer to a free-for-all among hundreds of local cassette producers.The result was a revolution in the quantity, quality, and variety of Indian popular music and its patterns of dissemination and consumption.

Manuel shows that the cassette revolution, however, has brought new contradictions and problems to Indian culture. While inexpensive cassettes revitalized local subcultures and community values throughout the subcontinent, they were also a vehicle for regional and political factionalism, new forms of commercial vulgarity, and, disturbingly, the most provocative sorts of hate-mongering and religious chauvinism.

Cassette Culture is the first scholarly account of Indian popular music and the first case study of a technological revolution now occurring throughout the world.It will be an essential resource for anyone interested in modern India, communications theory, world popular music, or contemporary global culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Taped Music Revolutionizes Indian Music Industry
If you are not interested in exploring the details of the music biz in India, turn off this site right now; this book is not connected to the Western pop scene.CASSETTE CULTURE is a study of the impact of cassettetechnology on popular music in North India.It explores the nature of thechanges the arrival of widely-available cassettes has made on the structureof the Indian music industry and on popular music itself.I found it awell-written book with an absolute minimum of scholarly jargon, though itis an academic book.The author does not presume knowledge on the part ofthe reader and gives careful explanations of Indian musical styles,regional cultures, and music industry details.I found the balance betweentheory and description excellent.There is an interesting discussion ofthe popular music recording scene in other parts of the world, as well as athorough historical look at that topic in India itself.The problem ofpiracy is dealt with in depth.There are three basic issues that underlieManuel's study.First, the nature of control of the mass media in India. Second, the content of the mass media and how it is presented.And third,the effect of the content on the audience and how they use that content. With these guidelines, he shows how the arrival of cassette technology andcheap cassette players in the 1970s created a revolution in Indian popularmusic.By the 1980s, a transformation was underway, with the rise ofhundreds of small regional producers, as well as a few giants.Escape fromcorporate control might lead us to think that the cassette ?revolution? wasa liberating force, but Manuel points out that this is not entirely so. The new technology has also been used to spread traditional, unprogressive,and even reactionary, bigoted messages through India.Cassettes havefuelled many a regionalist or separatist movement as well as the strivingsof many an opportunistic politician.

I strongly recommend this book toanyone who wants to learn more about the combination of music, popularmedia, technology and culture in India, one of the great civilizations ofmankind, which seldom appears in Western media except for disasters,murders, or horror stories .Manuel has written a classic.Buy it. ... Read more

Product Description
This book suggests that the primary effects of globalization in India have followed from economic changes rather than new media, creating a small transnational middle class, transforming the lives of people in this class. Focusing on the middle classes in India, the book suggests how globalization has transformed culture, class, and gender in India in the years since economic liberalization. The book argues that with globalization, class identities must be defined more by transnational contexts than within bounded nations; they are based on shared patterns of consumption more than shared positions in the economy; and are increasingly defined by gender relations. ... Read more

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Sharar begins with a history of the Avadh dynasty, and the relations of its rulers - who ranged between extremes of political wisdom and dissolute instability - with the Mughal Emperors in Delhi and with the British at a time of rising British power in India. He also describes the development of Lucknow people's culture and social institutions to a degree of richness that may be compared with the levels attained by the most admired of the great civilizations of history. There follows a virtual 'anatomy' of the everyday life and artistic achievements of Lucknow during the period, covering an astonishing variety of topics: religion, education, medicine, ceremony and etiquette, dress, the culinary arts, calligraphy, dance popular speech and the practice of story-telling; such pastimes as kite- and pigeon-flying and the arts of combat and self-defence; the evolution of the Urdu language and its prose and poetry; architecture, music, pottery, theatre and other forms of entertainment. The culture of which Sharar writes was still alive in his day; it died out completely only in 1947, with the ultimate collapse of the feudal system.The editors provide extensive annotation that includes much background information for the benefit of both Western and Eastern readers, and takes account of scholarship on a number of subjects over the half-century that has elapsed since the original work was written. Among the attractive and varied illustrations are some particularly valuable early photographs of Lucknow buildings, a number of which were completely destroyed during the Mutiny. ... Read more

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This book investigates how the material culture of South Indian courts was perceived by those who lived there in the pre-colonial period. Howes peels away the standard categories used to study Indian palace space, such as public/private and male/female, and replaces them with indigenous descriptions of space found in court poetry, vastu shastra and painted representations of courtly life. Set against the historical background of the events which led to the formation of the Ramnad Kingdom, the Kingdom's material circumstances are examined, beginning with the innermost region of the palace and moving out to the Kingdom via the palace compound itself and the walled town which surrounded it. An important study for both art historians and South India specialists. The volume is richly illustrated in colour. ... Read more

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Children discover and explore the rich heritage of ancient cultures around the world through fascinating myths, legends, festivals, and stories of the culture. Detailed maps and vivid illustrations show how various people lived and what they accomplished. Each book in this popular series contains five easy-to-do art projects- complete with unique punch-out stencils for making many of the traditional arts and crafts still produced today. Ages 8+ ... Read more

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Discusses India's commercial and cultural connections between Central Asia taking into account the investigations. The essays included in this volume offer ideas, varying interpretations, challenged assertions and developing debates. ... Read more

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India has been identified as one of the biggest emerging markets in the world. Indian organizations have increasingly begun to understand the importance of human resources and have started to take into account the motivation, commitment and morale of its workforce. 

Despite great advances in human resource practices in India, the relevant literature on this subject remains scarce. This book seeks to fill the critical gap in the literature by providing a thorough understanding of the changing face of Indian HRM systems. Seeking to provide a comprehensive overview of Indian HRM practices, the book is structured into five parts: 

• Developments in Indian HRM
• Determinants of Indian HRM
• Sector specific HRM
• Emerging themes
• Future challenges and the way forward 

The Changing Face of People Management in India is written exclusively by Indian natives in order to minimise the Western bias and to provide a realistic picture of HRM practices in India. This book is a key resource for anyone studying or working in HRM or international business or with an interest in the unique Indian HRM context.

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With all the zany vibrancy of a Bollywood musical, the colorful matchbox labels of LIGHT OF INDIA present a fascinating confluence of popular culture and a sophisticated graphic arts tradition that stretches back for centuries. Populated with pouncing Bengal tigers, regal jungle elephants, and Hindu gods and goddesses, these miniature masterpieces are worlds unto themselves, skillfully illustrated with a naive yet irresistible charm. This delightful art book is sure to fire the imagination of all who wish to study, preserve, and celebrate India's more humble, but no less brilliant, visual arts heritage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fun, Fun, Fun!
Wonderful photos and information on Indian matchbook pictures through the years, including development of the art form.When I looked at the chapter titles in the table of contents, I said "that makes sense" again and again, as each chapter highlights a theme very tightly related to Indian culture, like Hindu gods, mangoes, tigers, elephants etc.

If you don't know Indian culture or history, you'll still enjoy the great and unusual pictures.It shows how much art can be squeezed into something so small, cheap and mundane!

Visually Delightful
This is small but bold little book. The collection of images of matchboxes are colourful, humourous, curious and extremely entertaining. A must have for anyone interested in Indian graphics.

Light of India
Light of India has great pictures of matchbook artwork.I am inspired by the colors

A conflagration of fascination
Warren Dotz's "Light of India: A conflagration of Indian matchbox art" is a fascinating little gift or coffee table book. It starts out exploring the origins of the matchbox industry in India, its practical and cultural place in history. From there it branches into an impressive exploration of the art that adorns Indian matchboxes--starting with those imported from other countries, and progressing through those made in India by Indian artists in later years.

While the images themselves are beautiful and fascinating to look at, every bit as fascinating is the discussion that goes with each section. The images on matchboxes changed with the times, reflecting cultural trends, history, politics, national hopes and fears, and more. What started out for me as a fun look at matchbox art became an engrossing read on Indian cultural heroes, Gandhi's work, religious beliefs and iconography, and even Indian wildlife, foods, and architecture. ... Read more

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When he called India a 'functioning anarchy,' economist Kenneth Galbraith may have been thinking about Uttar Pradesh (UP) in northern India. Known as a home of deep poverty, incurable corruption and sticky social problems, UP is not the India that now appears regularly in The New York Times and Newsweek.
Beyond the call centers of Bangalore and Delhi and Westernized cities like Mumbai, a huge slice of humanity remains invisible and impenetrable to most Americans. This is the other India; the one that modernity has largely left behind.
Richard Connerney lived in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India, from 2005 to 2007 and resided in Uttar Pradesh periodically throughout the last 18 years. He shares with readers a panoramic look at India as it confronts 21st century modernity. Focusing on the fault line between traditional Indian culture and recent societal trends, the author explores the realities of family life, public health, agriculture, business, the environment, politics, the economy, language and the arts, and introduces the real people of India. His expectations about India and Indian culture often differed sharply from what he discovered once he was there. The result is a book that, almost literally, stands readers expectations about India on their heads.

He says,
'I have neither the expertise nor the access to operate as a political correspondent, nor the desire to posture as a political pundit. During the course of my research, however, I saw what I perceived as a pervasive misrepresentation of recent developments in Indian politics. More specifically, a number of recent books consistently paint the Hindu right wing in India as essentially fascist or theocratic. My observations show that these claims are untenable and misrepresent a positive development in the history of Indian democracy.
To think clearly about the changes in today's India we require a new model: the bi-directional banyan tree, a symbol borrowed, ironically, from ancient Sanskrit verses. I conceived of a new way of imagining cultural change in South Asia: The Ashvatta, an inverted tree that appears in Hindu mythology, became for me a symbol of the bewildering and counterintuitive results of my research and the bi-directional nature of societal change in today's India.
Pindar claimed, 'Custom is King of all,' and this serves as a succinct expression of the central thesis of this book. India's future will be determined not only by economic development, but also by a dynamic traditional culture that continues to develop along its own lines sometimes in concert, and sometimes in conflict with material enrichment. India develops not, as one writer has suggested, 'in spite of the gods.' Rather, Connerney shows that the seed for the creation and the fuel for the sustenance of India s economic boom lay in its traditions, and, he argues, the animating spirit of its future lies there as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Job
I just want to say to my cousin Richard(Rick) Connerney "GREAT JOB" I look forward to seeing more books by you in the future, keep up the great work


Your cousin

Becky K. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes how India, under a dynasty of remarkable rulers from 320 to 550 A.D., entered a golden age of prosperity, conquest, justice, scientific advance, and artistic and literary distinction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This book
This book is full of juicy information and is a wonderful book for teachers teaching their students.If I was a history teacher, I think that they should have a variaty of different books, this is specifically on the India's Gupta Dynasty.The Gupta Dynasty has traded with the China Han Dynasty and the Perssian Sassanid dynasty. I happen to be a big fan of the Gupta Dynasty. ... Read more

Product Description
This book addresses the idea of 'civility' as a manifestation of the fluidity and ambivalence of imperial power as reflected in British Colonial Literature and Culture. ... Read more

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In 2003, Latinos became the largest minority group in the United States and according to the Census Bureau they will represent close to 25 percent of the population by 2050. Latinos currently have the highest rate of employment of any U. S. minority and in five years their role in the American labor force will be even more prominent than it is now. Latino Culture is the first book to fully explore the nuances of Latino culture in the workplace.

Written by Nilda Chong – recently named as one of 80 "Elite Latinas" by Hispanic Businessmagazine – and Francia Baez, Latino Culture is for mainstream managers, supervisors, and employees who work with Latinos. First-generation Latinas and successful professionals, Chong and Baez bring a profound understanding of the experience of working with Latinos as well as working as Latinos in the United States.

Chong and Baez provide valuable insights into key aspects of Latino Culture, such as:-Latino values: personalismo, simpatia, respeto and more-Communication styles, personal distance, self-disclosure, disagreements-Gender issues in the workplace: machismo, marianismo and paternalism-Relationship to supervisors, to coworkers and to employees-The issue of speaking Spanish at work-Striking differences in behavior and experience between generations

Colorful vignettes, real life stories and Cultural Pointers reveal the diversity of Latino culture, illuminating differences in values, education, country of origin and many other factors. Latino Culture celebrates an extremely diverse and important population. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Uniquely insightful from experienced professionals
This book is a very useful and insightful starting point for a business professional or organizations seeking to better understand Latino behavior within the context of the work environment.It is well researched, but more importantly perhaps, it offers concrete examples of behavior and consequences of that behavior.A book such as this is a starting point, as the authors carefully point out that Latinos, like all cultural groups, are individuals, and do come from many countries, but the vivid vignettes are situations readily identifiable in today's workplace.I highly recommend it for a non-Latino/a as an introduction to the Latino culture.

Worth reading, as a starting point
This book takes on the monumental task of trying to explain all of the nuances of Latin American culture for non-Latinos. The problem, of course, is that Latinos are not created in a cookie cutter mold, and there are differences in attitudes and culture based on national origin, socio-economics, etc.. The book only scratches the surface of this dynamic group, but it is certainly worth reading as a starting point.

Would not recomend
The research appears to be thorough. But the overall presentation is lacking. To be fair, the concept of Latino Culture and how it affects professional relationships could take volumes of material and years of experience to fully understand. Unfortunately this book does a poor job of delivering the key points that I should be able to take away from the time spent reading it. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Good overall analysis with history and case examples
This is an excellent book with lots of real life examples of failures and successes from the corporate world.

The small print demands patience as does the academic styles of writing with long sentences and references. If the reader can put up with these hurdles, there is a wealth of information.Many readers looking for quick-fixes might get put off with the history sections, but understanding the background and history is very important. In general Indians are very eager to discuss history and appreciate managers who are able to do so.

The authors also tackle the impact of religion and fundamentalism on Indian managerial behaviour. Most similar books don't do this.

The chapter on 'Communicating with Indians' has many suggestions. There are no bullet-point lists to help memorize the insights and tips, so the reader has to use pen and paper and make own notes. The chapter 'Managing Relationships with the Indian Government:The Critical Challenges for Multinational Firms' is a politically correct version of the tips and skills managers in multinationals would need.

The chapter on Negotiating and Resolving Conflicts in India would have been of more value if there would have been case examples and scenarios.

This book is not an easy to read "How-to-do-list" book for the impatient 5-minute manager. One thing missing in this book is personal behaviour aspects, which would help foreign managers manage better in India. Maybe we shall see these in the next edition.

Getting ready to do business in India
Well written, interesting and easy to read.Of particular interest to me was the section on working with the government.Also the book was consistent with what I learned at a business course at Cal Tech on the same topic.Good choice for anyone interested in both the business and cultural aspects of doing business in India.

Good information for Americans from the Indian perspective
This book covers all the major issues that Americans (and "Westerners" in general) will confront when doing business in India.I liked the thoroughness of the authors and their understanding of both perspectives.I am sure it will help me in my travels there as my company seeks to increase our presence in this market.

Worthwhile, though not breezy, insight into India
This short book first explores India's history and cultural background, and then provides guidelines for doing business in India. The historical background may seem remote from day-to-day business considerations, but, in fact, it is essential to understanding the apparent anomalies of Indian negotiating styles, management behavior, government policies and so forth. getAbstract urges readers to be patient with the book's small type and sometimes convoluted sentence structure, for if you are, you will discover much to reward you. The authors examine business challenges in India, including strategic planning, personnel management, government relations, negotiations and conflict resolution. Any manager investing in, working in or outsourcing to India will find this book very useful. ... Read more

Product Description
India is booming! This practical, easy-to-understand guide covers all the basics of setting up and growing your business in India, from choosing a location and selecting your Indian team to understanding the legal system, evaluating business partners, and settling disputes. You also get handy tips in financing, marketing, and manufacturing, as well as doing business from abroad.

• Develop a strong business plan
• Train and manage your Indian team
• Cut through bureaucratic red tape
• Build lucrative relationships
• Overcome communication challenges

Customer Reviews (4)

Doing business in India for Dummies
A very useful introduction to working in the highly complex, and quite distinctly unique, arena of doing business in India.

It's a must read!
I read this book and found it excellent. It really help me to understand a lot of things about India, its culture and people. My wife read it also and enjoyed it. This book is a must read for anyone coming to India

Great Introduction to Working in India!
Even though my interest is specifically in doing non-profit work in India, not necessarily business per se, I was still able to benefit a lot from this book.

It is a great introduction to India in general for Americans like me, helpfully summarizing elements of the country's history, politics, and law that one needs to know to operate there, and most helpfully helping you recognize potential difficulties you and your Indian co-workers will face in communicating with one another, and how to overcome them.

I will for sure require my India team members to read this book!

A really good and insightful book
I think it did a great job of explaining India and getting things done in India. Lots of good points, nicely put. It was fun to read. I think it makes any foreigner much more knowledgeable and confident about how to deal with the Indian market and people. ... Read more

Product Description
Presented in this volume are the results of anthropological and ethnomusicological field research into the roles and meanings of music in village life in the Bhojpuri-speaking area of India (eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar). In describing the main occasions of which music is an important part, such as weddings, births, and mother goddess worship, "Chant the Names of God" shows how music responds to its social and cultural contexts. Transliterations and translations of over one hundred texts are included, along with musical transcriptions of representative songs, and photographs of musical performances. Originally published in 1988. ... Read more

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Under the cultural turn and transformation, the new intellectual discourses started in the 21st century to search the roots, have cross-cultural comparison and to see how the old traditions be used in the contemporary worldviews. This book is the first attempt dealing with roots of Indian geographical thoughts since its beginning in 1920. It emphasises identity of India and Indianness and consciousness among dweller geographers in India, development and status of geography and its recent trends, Gaia theory and Indian context in search of cosmic integrity, ecospirituality and global message towards interrelatedness, Hindu pilgrimages and its contemporary importance, Mahatma Gandhi and his contribution to sustainable environmental development for global peace and humanism, and new vision to see meeting grounds of the East and the West on the line of reconstruction and reconciliation in the globalising world. These essays are selective and thematic, therefore overall view of comprehensiveness is lacking. But this book is not the end; obviously it is a beginning as already other volumes in sequence and continuity are in progress. At the end, the lead essays, representative of the three eras, by Spate (1956), Sopher (1973), and Mukerji (1992) are reprinted with a view to assessing the relevance of their challenging message even today. ... Read more

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This volume of seven essays on themes of family and gender in Indian popular culture seeks to commend popular culture as an important resource for sociological insights into contemporary social issues and processes. Drawing its material from three popular media--'calendar art' (popular chromolithography), commercial (Bollywood cinema), and magazine romance fiction--the essays bring a gender-sensitive perspective to bear on the representation of the family, of childhood, of courtship and conjugality, of arranged and love marriage, of femininity and masculinity, and of sexuality within and outside marriage, as well as on the wider dilemmas and dynamics of Indian modernity and nation-building. While much has been written on the figure of the woman as icon of the national society and on the Hindu pantheon as a template for visualizing gender roles and relationships, the Patricia Uberoi also takes up here the iconicization of the child and the family in the national imaginary, illustrating her arguments with stunning visuals from her personal collection of Indian calendar art.

Freedom and Destiny explores the contradictions in the moral economy of Indian family life as these are projected in the contemporary popular media. Particularly salient is the tension between the expression of female desire and culturally normative expectations of feminine deportment. But the volume also addresses the insistent challenges of modernity in the domain of private life whereby, for men and women alike, the ideals of individual autonomy and freedom of choice and action are seen to be constrained by a social ethic that privileges the value structure of the joint family over the individual needs and desires of its members and the lure of romance. Written over the last dozen years since the institutionalization of policies of economic liberalization in the early 1990s, and revised in the present context, some of these pioneering essays have now become classics in their own right. By bringing them together, the author underlines their essential thematic unity across several distinct genres of popular culture. The effort has been to achieve accessibility and to avoid sociological jargon, without sacrificing either disciplinary rigor or, for that matter, the underlying feminist standpoint. ... Read more

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The Naga peoples inhabit the southeastern foothills of the Himalayas between India and Burma. Living in virtual isolation from the outside world until about 150 years ago, they developed a highly particular material culture and oral tradition. With period maps dating from the 1500s to present day together with more than 270 color plates, this extensive study explores the culture of a people known for their architecture, sculpture, wood carving, bodily ornaments, drums, and textiles. Objects and artifacts shown come from the extensive collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, Museum fur Volkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology) in Vienna, and Museum der Kulturen (Cultural Museum) in Basel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A 'must' for any serious library catering to advanced students of Asian history and culture
NAGA IDENTITIES is both a work of anthropology and a work of art, and thus is a recommended pick for college-level libraries strong in either subject. The history, culture and mythology of the Nagas of Burma is explored in a powerful and weighty depiction of scenes of social life and history presented in both black and white and color, and accompanied by extensive anthropological and social history and analysis. A 'must' for any serious library catering to advanced students of Asian history and culture, as well as for arts collections.
... Read more

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This is the fifth volume in the series Cultural Subordination and the Dalit Challenge and explores cultural repression in India and ways in which it is overcome. The author shows how Dalit women heroes (viranganas) of the 1857 Rebellion have emerged as symbols of Dalit assertion in Uttar Pradesh and are being used by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to build the image of its leader, Mayawati. While demonstrating how myths and memories of the role of Dalits in India s freedom struggle are employed for identity construction and reconstructed for political mobilization, this book Narrates some of the tales used to develop political consciousness at the grass-roots level Reveals how stories picked up from among the people themselves are reinterpreted, packaged, and disseminated orally and via pamphlets Describes how gods, heroes, and other cultural resources of each caste are converted into political capital by giving them a visual image through calendars, statues, posters, and memorials Shows how the BSP creates and recreates historical material to expand its electoral baseBased on field studies and secondary information, the author outlines the politics of dissent which uses historical and cultural resources as identity markers in political mobilization. This book, therefore, becomes invaluable for students of politics, sociology and history and all those engaged in Dalit studies ... Read more