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My Encounters In Parliment
Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar was a nomineted member of the rajya sabha for a full term during my tenure as chairman, rajya sabha. from that vantage point, i had a good opportunity to know him and observe his work as a member of the house. The sppeches included in this volume are reflective of his interests. His insights into issue of primary and higher education. of budgetary matters in relation to the sectoral, regional and social dimensions of poverty and inclusive growth of the entire gamut of constitutional issues relating to the historically deprived segments in our society, are worthy of notes. His speeches shed light both on the achievements and the failure of our society and are candid in their commentary. - M. Hamid Ansari ( Former Chairman, Rajya Sabha)
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M.S. Subbulakshmi The Definitive Biography
M. S. Subbulakshmi (1916-2004), who was popularly known as MS, was one of India’s greatest classical musicians. Born into a humble devadasi home, her talent and dedication to her art made her one of India’s most critically acclaimed classical singers. She was the first Indian musician to receive the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour, in addition to numerous other awards. Jawaharlal Nehru called her ‘a Queen of Music’ and Sarojini Naidu dubbed her ‘The Nightingale of India’. Her fellow musicians were no less generous in their praise. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan said she was Suswaralakshmi (the Goddess of the Perfect Note) while Kishori Amonkar said she was Aathuvansur or music’s ‘Eighth Note’ (there are only seven notes that are basic to all musical forms). MS’s genius had principally to do with her exquisite voice, her extraordinary range and her unequalled command of all the material she worked with, whether it was Carnatic music, Hindustani music or devotional music such as bhajans. In this, the definitive biography of the musician (previously published as MS: A Life in Music), award-winning biographer T. J. S. George traces her journey from her beginnings as a singer in Madurai, through her breakthrough performance at the prestigious Madras Music Academy in 1932, to her carving out a place for herself as a cultural icon. Besides exploring MS’s genius, the author describes the musical and social milieu that she was part of and the various barriers she was instrumental in breaking in the course of her journey to superstardom. He covers her stint as an actress and looks at how her career was helped by various mentors and sponsors, including C. Rajagopalachari, India’s last governor general. He pays particular attention to the role of her husband, T. Sadavisam, in the creation and burnishing of MS’s reputation. He examines the various controversies that surrounded her origins and also underlines her essential humility and generosity. Told with a music connoisseur’s passion and understanding, M. S. Subbulakshmi: the Definitive Biography is an enthralling portrait of a musical legend.
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Sachin @50 Celebrating A Maestro
For more than two generations of Indians, and cricket fans from elsewhere, Sachin Tendulkar is a name that opened doors and hearts wherever you were on the planet. Even in the days before the social media revolution, Sachin was a truly global icon. It didn’t matter if you were in Sydney or South Africa, Kolkata or Kingston, Sachin’s name was a conversation starter.
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The Fate Factory Design Your Own Destiny
Luck is for amateurs—winners build their own fate. Every choice you make is shaping your future, whether you realize it or not. If you’re ready to stop leaving things to chance, here’s how to take the driver’s seat. Your future isn’t a mystery—it’s a factory, and you’re the one running it.
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The Magic Of More
More isn’t greed—it’s growth. More freedom, more success, more life on your terms. Settling isn’t noble, and wanting more doesn’t make you selfish. It makes you unstoppable. If you’re done playing small, here’s how to push the limits and grab everything with your name on it.
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The Girl Before You
She was his. She was perfect. And then, she was gone. An addictive and twisting psychological suspense, perfect for summer. If you liked My lovely wife, you’ll love this. Alice has always been haunted by the women from her husband’s past. As a politician and now a TV personality, George Bell’s reputation as a ladies’ man precedes him. But when Alice falls pregnant, her unease becomes an obsession. And there’s one ex in particular she can’t get out of her head, a beautiful student who went missing before they finished University: Ruth. When Alice thinks she see Ruth on a train, she can’t shake the feeling there’s more to the disappearance than George has told her. But does she really want to know what her husband has been up to behind her back all these years?.
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Achyut Potdar : A Life of Simplicity, Resilience & Contentment
"Arre, Kehna kya chaahate ho?" - a dialogue so iconic, it was deemed meme-worthy across the internet! This book is the story of the man behind the line: Achyut Potdar. An academician, Army officer, and public sector executive with a fervent passion for acting, Potdar has always been a man of many talents and unparalleled versatility. Having been featured in over 125 films, 120 television serials, several theatrical plays and over 60 advertisements, he is a face well-recognized and a personality well-respected by everyone. This book is a short biography chronicled by his daughter, Anuradha Paraskar, walking you through Potdar's life of simplicity, resilience, and above all else, integrity. With anecdotes spanning his lifetime, this book offers a quick peek into his uncompromising values, his entry into Bollywood, various career trajectories, family life, and everything in between. Today, at the ripe old age of 90, Potdar describes himself as 'Samadhaani', a testament to his profound contentment with a life well-lived. Testimonials: "Whether it is drama or comedy, he is pitch-perfect. There is so much belief in him that he never hits a wrong note. Generous actor. Wonderful human being. Full of zest and with a great sense of humor, working with Achyutji has always been so much fun." -Aamir Khan "My favorite screen daddy. An amazing actor. His 'Ey Jaggu, Ey Jaggu' call out to me in the film Angaar rings in my ears even today. I just love you so much Dad." -Jackie Shroff "I vividly remember his adorable, jovial, and youthful spirit on the sets of Parineeta, which inspires me even today." -Vidya Balan
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Amongst The Believers
Amongst the Believers, another master piece from the Best-selling and Award -winning author of “Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar” and “Faith and the Beloved.” The novel is a saga of love, set in the back drop of war-torn Afghanistan and Ukraine. Nanda is an accused in a murder case and the lives of his dear ones are in danger. He is given an option to join RAW on a mysterious mission, and penetrate the elite society of Pakistan. A choice that forces him to create a family only to destroy it. Khusru is a terrorist who has fallen out with his handlers, the ISI, and is on the run. Caught in the vicious gang wars of Karachi, he is to escort the warlord’s daughter Miriam, to Bosnia. A journey that takes him to Iran, Armenia and to the prisons of Russia. Rekha has choreographed her life in the captivity of a terrorist as a dance drama. Even after marriage and two children, her obsession with Khusru knows no bounds. She is kidnapped and ends up as a sex slave to the teenage terrorists in war-torn Afghanistan. A ruse that lead America to invade Iraq and a mysterious video of an Army officer directing the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that could change the course of history, is being chased by the ISI, Mossad, CIA , Russians and the RAW. The lives of Nanda, Khusru and Rekha are entangled in this international web of espionage. A journey through the unknown, a saga of love, espionage and suspense that will keep you riveted.
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Small Gods
In the beginning was the word. And the word was "Hey, you!" For Brutha the novice is the Chosen One. He wants peace and justice and brotherly love.
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A Little Girl in Auschwitz
The Number One International Bestseller. The heartbreaking, inspiring true story of a girl sent to Auschwitz who survived the evil Dr Josef Mengele’s pseudo-medical experiments. With a foreword by His Holiness Pope Francis. Lidia Maksymowicz was just three years old when she arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau with her mother, grandparents and foster brother. They were from Belarus, their ‘crime’ that they supported the partisan resistance to Nazi occupation. Once there, Lidia was picked by Mengele for his experiments and sent to the children’s block. It was here that she survived eighteen months of hell. Injected with infectious diseases, desperately malnourished, she came close to death. Her mother – who risked her life to secretly visit Lidia – was her only tie to humanity. By the time Birkenau was liberated her family had disappeared. Even her mother was presumed dead. Lidia was adopted by a woman from the nearby town of Oswiecim. Too traumatized to feel emotion, she was not an easy child to care for but she came to love her adoptive mother and her new home. Then, in 1962, she discovered that her birth parents were still alive. They lived in the USSR – and they wanted her back. Lidia was faced with an agonizing choice . . . The Little Girl Who Could Not Cry is powerful, moving and ultimately hopeful, as Lidia comes to terms with the past and finds the strength to share her story – even making headlines when she meets Pope Francis, who kisses her tattoo. Above all she refuses to hate those who hurt her so badly, saying, ‘Hate only brings more hate. Love, on the other hand, has the power to redeem.’
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How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories
An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame from bestselling Folk of the Air author Holly Black, with stunning full-colour illustrations by Rovina Cai.
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For All Seasons
‘In the spring, when the banyan tree was full of small red figs, birds of all kinds would flock into its branches, the red-bottomed bulbul, cheerful and greedy, gossiping rosy pastors, and parrots and crows, squabbling with each other all the time.’ How does the world change shape with the change of seasons? What does ‘A Rainy Day in June’ look like? What secrets lay hidden ‘In Grandfather’s Garden’ in the bloom of spring? Can ‘The Blue Umbrella’, so tiny and delicate, withstand the force of a mountain shower? For All Seasons brings the world alive through Ruskin Bond’s searching eyes, at once restless and contemplative. Pay attention and you will hear ‘When the Cicadas Chorus’, be privy to the private dramas of garden animals, and feel the foot-tapping rhythm of ‘A Calypso Christmas’ taking place a lifetime ago…
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Iru The Remarkable Life Of Irawati Karve
In 1927, when Irawati Karve, aged twenty-two, arrived in Berlin to do her doctoral studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, she was faced with a dilemma. As a woman of colour, the subject of her thesis was to prove her supervisor Dr Eugen Fischer’s theory of the superiority of the European race over people of colour, based on the measurement of their skulls. After examining 149 ‘white’ skulls from Germany and ‘non-white’ skulls from German colonies in East Africa, Irawati came to the opposite conclusion: the shape of the human skull did not prove racial superiority. Fischer’s theory was later discredited, but at the time, it took courage to present the paper to him and it nearly cost Irawati her PhD. Courage and a pioneering spirit continued to be her hallmarks on her return to India. At a time when such field trips were difficult if not dangerous, she travelled to the Adivasi areas in Coorg, Western Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala and Bihar. Her research resulted in two seminal works, Kinship Organisation in India and Hindu Society. In 1968, she won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her book of essays on the Mahabharata, Yuganta. Irawati’s belief that the Mahabharata was not just an epic, but a historical record, earned her some criticism from her peers at the time, but Yuganta remains a classic to this day. As the daughter-in-law of the reformist and feminist thinker, Maharshi Dhondo Karve, adored wife of Dinkar Karve, and privileged daughter of two families— her own parents, Ganesh and Bhagirathi Karmarkar, and her adoptive family, R.P. Paranjpye and his wife, Saitai—Irawati’s personal life was as rich and colourful as her professional one. In this biography like none other, writer Urmilla Deshpande, Irawati’s granddaughter, and academic researcher Thiago Pinto Barbosa, have created an intimate, captivating portrait of Irawati Karve, the anthropologist and philosopher, and Irawati, the woman, wife and mother. As author and Joint Director, JLF, Namita Gokhale says, ‘Irawati Karve stood tall with the tallest of her generation. This biography is a beacon for those who want to understand the Indian way—an inspirational story of an iconic figure.’
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The Very Best Of Ruskin Bond's Travel Writing
‘I have discovered their secret. Now I know why they look so cool, so refreshed, while we who walk the streets of Old Delhi do so with parched mouths and drooping limbs. The pigeons are the only ones who still know about the Red Well.’ From retellings of comical mishaps to attempts to put words to moments of profound appreciation for the world, travel always leaves one with stories to share. Even reading or listening to these stories can make one vicariously experience the charm of these moments, but in the hands of master storytellers, they take on a life, a magic of their own. The Very Best of Ruskin Bond’s Travel Writing brings together the finest of the writer on the hill’s contributions to the genre. Let his scintillating prose take you down city alleys, mountain roads, railway tracks and roaring seas, so you can experience the wonder of the world through his eyes.
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Glimpses of Past
‘We took the railcar from Kalka. It glided over the rails without any of the huffing and puffing of the steam engine that dragged the little narrow gauge train up the steep mountain. I would be travelling in that train in the years to come, but on this, my first to Shimla, I was given the luxury of the railcar.’ There is the past, just out of reach; fog-obscured yet perceptible. The stories of school-time spent in a chaotic prep school in Chotta Shimla in the company of ‘The Four Feathers’, or the sumptuous stopover ‘Breakfast at Barog’ on the way. And there is also the time spent in ‘Grandfather’s Garden’, a lavish green expanse where the epic dramas of the animal kingdom are everyday occurrences. Ruskin Bond’s Glimpses of the Past are—at once—hilarious tales of a richly-lived life and poignant peeks into Mussoorie’s storied history and culture. But, above all, it is an invitation to experience a time gone by, delicately remembered and recorded by an author whose entire life is mired in the mountain mists.
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The Resolution Rebellion
Tired of setting goals that feel like punishment? This is your permission slip to quit playing by the January rulebook. Forget forcing structure where you need softness. This manifesto unpacks why traditional resolutions don’t work—and what might actually feel like freedom instead. It’s not anti-growth, it’s pro-you. Especially the you who prefers detours, cosy chaos, and skipping the gym for a long walk nowhere.
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Mission Saudi
A Crime That Shocked the Nation. A Pursuit That Redefined Justice. A heinous crime. A criminal beyond reach. A trail of tragic deaths and suicides. A young IPS officer who will stop at nothing to deliver justice. Mission Saudi is the gripping true story of India’s first-ever extradition of a sexual predator from Saudi Arabia—a landmark case that tested the limits of international law, diplomacy and courage. Based on True Events Pooja, a ninth-grade student and the middle child of a loving family, was eagerly awaiting the Onam celebrations. But what should have been a day of joy turned into a lifelong nightmare—one that ultimately claimed her life. Years later, Merin Joseph, IPS, leads a determined team of Kerala Police officers through a maze of systemic oppression, sexism, and international bureaucracy to bring justice to the wronged child. Drawing from official case files and court judgements, authors Aloke Lal and Maanas Lal craft a powerful narrative of perseverance and the indomitable spirit of a woman officer who refused to give up. Inside This Book, You’ll Find ⚖️A Historic Case: The true story behind India’s first extradition of a rape accused from Saudi Arabia. ♀️A Woman’s Fight for Justice: IPS officer Merin Joseph’s fearless pursuit through international and institutional barriers. 🌍Law, Power, and Persistence: A rare insight into the workings of India’s justice system and its global reach. 💔The Human Cost: The tragic consequences of systemic apathy and a society slow to protect its most vulnerable. 🔥Inspiration in Uniform: A tribute to those who fight quietly but relentlessly for justice and dignity. Why This Book Matters • A milestone in India’s legal and diplomatic history • An unflinching look at crimes against women and the courage to confront them • Written by acclaimed authors and real-life investigators of crime and justice • For readers who value truth, integrity, and the triumph of human spirit Why You Should Read India’s Most Loved Crime-Writing Duo Aloke Lal is a former IPS officer and bestselling author of The Barabanki Narcos. Twice felicitated by the President of India, he brings over three decades of policing experience to his writing. Maanas Lal is an acclaimed author, columnist, artist, and musician. Together, they have co-authored several true-crime bestsellers and founded the Crime Literature Festival of India. A True Story of Courage, Conviction, and Justice Mission Saudi is more than a police chronicle—it’s a testament to the power of integrity, empathy, and determination. From the heart of Kerala to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, this is the story of one woman’s unyielding mission to bring a predator to justice—and restore faith in humanity.