Out of War

Swati Sengupta

The writer and journalist Swati Sengupta spoke to dozens of surrendered Maoist soldiers over the course of two years for this book, in which she examines the reasons for, and the methods of, their surrenders. Suman Maity, for example, became an armed Maoist cadre at the age of 13 and was a terror in the forested regions of West Midnapore, in West Bengal, but surrendered because he “did not want to die in an encounter.” Another former Maoist speaks of how the camaraderie displayed in Maoist camps is often faked for the media, and the real, harsh conditions in them are hidden away like “family secrets.”

Speaking Tiger, 280 pages, Rs 350