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The Getaway God
Sandman Slim must save himself and the entire world from the wrath of some enraged and vengeful ancient gods in this sixth high-octane adventure in the New York Times bestselling series. Being a half-human, half-angel nephilim with a bad rep and a worse attitude, not to mention temporarily playing Lucifer-James Stark aka Sandman Slim has made a few enemies. None, though, are as fearsome as the vindictive Angra Om Ya-the old gods. But their imminent invasion is only one of Starks problems right now. L.A. is descending into chaos, and a new evil-the Wildfire Ripper-is stalking the city. No ordinary killer, The Ripper takes Stark deep into a conspiracy that stretches from Earth to Heaven and Hell. Hes also the only person alive who may know how to keep the world from going extinct. The trouble is, hes also Starks worst enemy, the only man in existence Stark would enjoy killing twice.
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Saint Odd
The carnival has returned to Pico Mundo, the same one that came to town when Odd was just sixteen. Odd is drawn to an arcade tent where he discovers Gypsy Mummy, the fortune-telling machine that told him that he and Stormy Llewellyn were destined to be together forever. But Stormy is dead and Pico Mundo is under threat once more. History seems to be repeating itself as Odd grapples with a satanic cult intent on bringing destruction to his town. An unseasonal storm is brewing and as the sky darkens and the sun turns blood-red, it seems that all of nature is complicit in their plans. Meanwhile Odd is having dreams of a drowned Pico Mundo, where the submerged streetlamps eerily light the streets. But theres no way Pico Mundo could wind up underwater, could it?
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McCluskieganj
After living in Hong Kong upto the age of twenty, Robin McGowan undertakes a trip to India to the village his father always told him about. McKluskiegunj, an agricultural haven formed in the early 1940s for the Anglo-Indians to live in. But on his arrival, he witnesses that the village is no longer the idyllic home of his father's childhood, it is overrun by outlaws and riddled with politicking, land mafia and conflicts between the various tribes and Anglo-Indians who used to coexists peacefully in the past. A story about the search for home and beauty and the struggle repair life, Mckluskiegunj is an extraordinary novel about memory, displacement and the unflagging desire to belong.
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Acharya Mahapragya A Journey to Wisdom
Acharya Mahapragya (1920-2010) -- the tenth acharya of the Jain Swetambar Terapanth -- was a divine presence. One of the most revered Jain thinkers, he was often hailed as a 'modern Vivekananda'. He delved deep into the inner world and devised Preksha Meditation, a scientifically tested system to know the self. He was also a scholar of Indian and Western philosophy and religion, a prolific writer and the brain behind the Jain Vishva Bharati University. Born in a village in Rajasthan, he became a monk at the age of ten and received his education under Acharya Tulsi, who launched the Anuvrat Movement in 1949 to rid the world of hatred. Acharya Mahapragya himself undertook the Ahimsa Yatra in 2001, traversing more than 1,00,000 km on foot. This remarkable feat at the age of eighty-one won him the Communal Harmony Award in 2004. Acharya Mahapragya: A Journey to Wisdom traces his growth from little Nathmal, who would fly into a rage and refuse to eat, to his asceticism, which earned him the name of Mahapragya -- the very embodiment of wisdom and inner peace. It offers insights into his thoughts on science and spirituality, and the philosophy of anekanta. It is a much-needed examination of a towering figure whose relevance is not confined to the faith he belonged to.
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Best Indian Short Stories - Volume-2
This volume of short stories selected by Khushwant Singh is an excellent collection of stories written by several Indian authors who have made a name for themselves in their regional languages as well as in English. Khushwant has carefully selected some of the best told tales from across the country, stories that bring out the essence of our tradition and also express human emotions that are not confined by time and boundaries. Some of the titles chosen for this collection are written by people like Kamala Das, M. J. Akbar, Mulk Raj Anand, Ruskin Bond, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Margaret Bhatty, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Suresh Chopra, Manoj Das, K. S. Duggal, Krishan Chander, Ismat Chugtai, Colleen Gantzer, Hugh Gantzer, Wendy Fernandes, and Balwant Gargi.
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Mandate : Will Of The People
This title offers an incisive account on the general elections that shaped today’s India. Sanghvi talks about the little-known, behind-the-scenes details, giving you insider information on men and women behind the headlines. The book also discusses the declaration of the emergency, the story of Sanjay Gandhi, the Punjab riots, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, emergence of Rajiv Gandhi, and the Bofors controversy among several other major political events of India. It also delves into several political questions that experts try to find the most suitable answers to.
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Hubris : Why Economists Failed To Predict The Cris
The failure of economists to anticipate the global financial crisis and mitigate the impact of the ensuing recession has spurred a public outcry. Economists are under fire, but questions concerning exactly how to redeem the discipline remain unanswered. In this provocative book, renowned economist Meghnad Desai investigates the evolution of economics and maps its trajectory against the occurrence of major political events to provide a definitive answer. Desai underscores the contribution of hubris to economists' calamitous lack of foresight and he makes a persuasive case for the profession to re-engage with the history of economic thought. He dismisses the notion that one over arching paradigm can resolve all economic eventualities while urging that an array of already available theories and approaches be considered anew for the insights they may provide toward preventing future economic catastrophes. With an accessible style and keen common sense, Desai offers a fresh perspective on some of the most important economic issues of our time.
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Beyond The Call Of Duty
The 200 year British presence in India left behind a mixed legacy. We think of the colonial rulers as people who plundered and impoverished our land. Lost in that narrative is the work of the scores of well-intentioned individuals who played a part in shaping modern India. Did you know, for instance, that as far back as the 1850s, a British engineer had chalked out a plan to link all the major rivers of India? Or that tea did not grow in Darjeeling until an English surgeon planted a smuggled Chinese plant in his backyard in the hills? Or that there was an East India Company polyglot who mastered Sanskrit, translated Kalidasa's works into English and then set up the Asiatic Society? Beyond the Call of Duty celebrates a dozen of these British gentlemen who far exceeded their job descriptions, devoting their lives to the greater good of an adopted country - men whose work continues to benet India. They may not have had history books eulogizing them, but they exemplify a work ethic that is rare and relevant today. And therein lies the need to revive these stories - so that we may draw lessons from every quarter of our past to sculpt a better fu
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In The Skin Of A Jihadist : Inside Islamic State's
Anna Erelle is the undercover journalist behind Melodie.Created to investigate the powerful propaganda weapons of Islamic State, Melodie is soon sucked in by Bilel, right-hand man of the infamous Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.An Iraqi for whose capture the US government has promised $10 million, al-Baghdadi is described by Time Magazine as the most dangerous man in the world and by himself as the caliph of Islamic State. Bilel shows off his jeep, his guns, his expensive watch. He boasts about the people he has just killed.With Bilel impatient for his future wife, Melodie embarks on her highly dangerous mission, which - at its ultimate stage - will go very wrong. Enticed into this lethal online world like hundreds of other young people, including many young British girls and boys, Erelles harrowing and gripping investigation helps us to understand the true face of terrorism.
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Making India Awesome
Love your country? Want to make it truly great? Tired of loud debates and complex arguments which lead to no solutions? Welcome to Making India Awesome. Following the phenomenal success of his first non-fiction book, What Young India Wants, Chetan Bhagat, the country's biggest-selling writer, returns with another book of essays in which he analyses and provides inspired solutions to the country's most intractable problems - poverty, unemployment, corruption, violence against women, communal violence, religious fundamentalism, illiteracy and more. Using simple language and concepts, this book will enable you to understand the most complex of problems facing the nation today and give you practical solutions on how you can do your part to solve them.
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Nehru's India
For much of the countrys post-Independence history, Indian politics was dominated by a single towering figure: Jawaharlal Nehru. A leading figure of the Independence movement, and Mahatma Gandhis chosen successor, Nehru, as Indias first prime minister, from 1947 until his death in 1964, was the architect of its birth as a modern nation-state, a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic. In this volume, some of our foremost thinkers and writers examine the different aspects of Nehrus personality and his legacy.Nehrus influence stretched beyond the Freedom Movement and the political and bureaucratic boundaries of prime ministerhood. A man of letters, it was Nehru who initiated the setting up of the Sahitya Akademi devoted to literature, the National School of Drama and the National Institute of Design; just as, in the field of technology and business management, he established the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management across the country. He was equally the force behind the setting up of dams and factories, which he regarded as the temples of modern India Today, in the year of his 125th birth anniversary, the four key dimensions of Indian nationhood, as conceived and implemented by Nehru democracy, secularism, socialism and non-alignment have altered to a point where they have changed almost beyond recognition or even abandoned altogether. To quote Mani Shankar Aiyar, What needs examination is whether fifty years after he [Nehru] passed away, these are still the defining parameters of Indias contemporary nationhood and, if so, how should they be interpreted in the light of present circumstances? As the debate continues between Nehrus supporters who believe in his enduring contribution, and his detractors who attempt to deny it, the definitive word, perhaps, comes from Nayantara Sahgal, who says in her Introduction, No Nehru, no modern India. The ground we stand on was laid in Nehrus time.
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The Country Of First Boys
How do deprivations related to class, caste, and gender interrelate? Why are our political leaders so good in saying what should be done without doing anything much about them? How should we think about Sanskrit and ancient India without adding religious color? Why is it important to revive Nalanda, the worlds oldest university? The Country of First Boys is Amartya Sens intellectual journey through the past and present to seek an understanding of Indias history and the demands of its future. The themes of these essays include the hardened and extreme nature of inequality in India and what can be done about it. One of the many rewards of good schooling denied to most Indians includes the understanding that India is an integral part of a world civilization. Always sensitive to global communication and interaction, Indias own contributions vary from the development of a multiplicity of astronomically reasoned calendars and the invention of games like chess to the establishment of the foundations of several branches of modern mathematics. In this collection, Sen examines justice, identity, deprivation, inequalities, gender politics, education, the media, and the importance of getting your priorities right. These are accessible yet pioneering essays that hold the kernel of many of his seminal works.
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Portrait of a Serial Killer
Portrait of a Serial Killer is an unforgettable celebration of India and Indians by one of our most beloved writers. Published on the hundredth anniversary of Khushwant Singhs birth, none of the essays in this collection has been published in book form before. A chilling account of the serial killer Raman Raghav rubs shoulders with an extraordinary portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru followed by an exuberant encounter with Dev Anand, as well as nearly twenty other profiles of saints, charlatans, writers, singers, politicians and other arresting characters. Another section of the book contains vivid sketches of various parts of the country - an unspoilt tribal village in Bihar, the fire of a gulmohar forest in Bokaro, the strange goings-on in the expat community in Darjeeling, a small community in the hinterland that is terrorized by a sudden invasion of snakes, and a bittersweet paean to Delhi, among others. There are also essays that provide insights into familiar characteristics of India - obnoxious VIPs, violence against women, corruption, amiable lunatics, idiot lawyers, stud bulls, Indian men and much else besides. Elegiac, witty and compelling, this is a book that will delight Khushwant Singhs numerous fans as well as anyone with an interest in contemporary India.
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Good Hope Road
Mandanna is a gifted and evocative writer who can tell a story stirringly well. - The Hindu At the outset of the Great War, James Stonebridge, a patrician New England Yankee and Obadaiah Nelson, a gumbo ya-ya Louisiana native, volunteer with the French Foreign Legion in Paris. They are among the handful of Americans who did so at the time, young men filled with idealism and lured by romantic notions of adventure. Despite their different backgrounds, the two form a deep and unexpected friendship that helps them endure the brutal reality of the trenches, a bond that is tested to breaking point by the horrors of the war. Fourteen years after the war has ended, Major James Stonebridge is a haunted recluse. A black mirror, a souvenir from France, hangs on the wall of his Vermont farmhouse, his pale, leached reflection in it hinting at all that he has suffered. The impact of this unspoken burden is felt most of all by his son, Jim. It is only when privileged, spirited Madeleine enters their lives and encourages the Major to join the World War I veterans agitating for their unpaid bonuses in Washington that Jim finally begins to understand the man his father once was, and all that the war took from him. Meanwhile the 1930s are drawing to a close and another war looms. From pre-war Paris to the trenches of Europe and the apple orchards of Vermont, Good Hope Road is a powerful and mesmerizing story of the legacy of war, the search for redemption and the strength of the human spirit.
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No Regrets
The dramatic build-up to the overnight nationalization of fourteen banks in a single legislative sweep sets the stage for No Regrets. In this book, bureaucrat extraordinaire D.N. Ghosh offers an eyewitness account of perhaps the most important event in Indias banking history post-Independence, baring the manoeuvrings behind the enabling ordinance and the pickle over fair compensation for the dispossessed bank owners. But thats not all. Years later, Ghosh enters the portals of the State Bank of India as its chairman, at a time when the stirrings of change have just begun to be felt in the Indian economy. Anticipating the future, he goes for a paradigm shift: to rid profit of its dirty word tag and place it at the core of the banks operating strategy. Gradually, he takes SBI into the capital markets, establishes its credit standing globally, launches India's first mutual fund and, above all, cajoles the trade unions into accepting full computerization. Post-retirement, Ghosh steps into the corporate world. During this period he deals with scarcely veiled threats from a mighty corporate house and even finds himself verbally assaulted by the promoter of an erstwhile bank. In between, the could-have-been-academic tills the soil for certain reputable management institutes to bloom and grow even as he sets up the credit rating agency, ICRA. Full of untold stories, No Regrets is an honest-to-goodness account of a glorious career spanning over six decades and covering some epochal events whose reverberations continue to be felt in the corridors of bureaucracy, banking and business to this day.
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Faith & True Love
Distraught over her childs illness, Savitri Sharma found answers in Shyam Baba. Shyam Baba, the deity known for his grace and generosity, channeled through her to alleviate the suffering of his devotees and she committed herself to help all who knocked on her door. Today, she is fondly remembered as Maa by her devotees. She started the Shri Shyam Darbar and a dharamshaala, and passed on the legacy to her grandson, Sunny Sharma, before passing away. Sangeeta Maheshwari met Maa when she was five years old and became an ardent devotee. As a tribute to Maa, her spiritual mother, she narrates the story of her own life and Maas life, and how Maa guided her through the loss of her children to setting up a foundation to help underprivileged children. She hopes that the wisdom Maa shared with her will help those who need to take a pause from 'running on the treadmill', enabling them to introspect on how to balance the two worldsthe inner and the outer worldand integrate both to lead a harmonious life.
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Landmark Judg Ments that changed india
My Perception Of the Constitution is that it articulates the conscience of the nation in particular and of mankind in general. This voice is most eloquent in the judgements of the constitutional courts.
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Shivaji The Grand Rebel
He was a great captain and the only one who has had the magnanimity to raise a new kingdom - Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb A great warrior and skilled administrator, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, better known as Shivaji, was the founder of the great Maratha Empire, and one who instilled a sense of Maratha identity in his people. At a time, when the Mughal Empire was at its zenith, Shivaji was the only one who dared to challenge the might of Emperor Aurangzeb. He steadily grew his army from a humble contingent of 2,000 soldiers to a force of 100,000. Assisted by a disciplined military system, a well-structured administrative organization and a deeply traditional society, soon the Maratha force became the only military power of consequence against the Mughals in India. Including accounts of legendary encounters like those with the Adil-Shahi Sultanate and the menacing Aurangzeb, The Grand Rebel is an epic saga of an Indian warrior king whose tales of victory and valour have been inspiring the nation for centuries.
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Trouble In Mind
Tension...An aging actor attempts to revive his career by entering a celebrity poker game for a reality TV show. Can he outwit his devious opponents, or is his fate doomed from the outset? Conspiracy... A successful crime writer dies under seemingly natural circumstances, but for one cop, doubts are lingering. There's certainly motive for murder - or is there more to the case than meets the eye? murder...Lincoln Rhyme is announced dead, shot by one of his suspects in cold blood. Is this the end of the line for the criminalist, or just another twist in the tale?
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Katha
Some of the most successful people of our times are master storytellers. From Steve Jobs to N.R. Narayana Murthy, from Indra Nooyi to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the best communicators are those who effectively use stories, analogies, metaphors and even jokes to get their message across. Maybe you are an entrepreneur, trying to sell your business plan to potential investors. Maybe you are the head of a company, trying to influence your employees to follow a rather unconventional path. Or a mid-level manager, trying to convince your boss to take a chance on a project. No matter which field you are in, there comes a time when you have to persuade and influence, and theres no better way to do it than by narrating stories. In fact, the modern designation of chief storytelling officer (CSO) - which is said to have begun at Nike in the nineties - is a growing trend in companies. Katha - Tell a Story, Sell a Dream is about the art of storytelling in business. It tells you why stories are important, when you must tell a story and how to find and tell the most effective tales, whether you are communicating to stakeholders, business associates, employees or colleagues. Written in simple, lucid prose, Kath will demonstrate why the art of storytelling is perhaps the number one skill and how the power of storytelling may well be the key to achieving your goals.
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Top Secret Twenty - One
The No. 1 New York Times bestseller The dead ends are turning into dead bodies. Stephanie Plum is getting desperate. She's running out of leads in the search for Jimmy Poletti, who was caught selling more than cars out of his New Jersey dealership. Even Joe Morelli, the city's hottest cop, is struggling to find the criminal wheeler and dealer. Stephanie's No. 1 temptation, Ranger, is also struggling. There's a killer in town with a personal vendetta against him. If Ranger wants to survive, he'll need Stephanie's help and to reveal a piece of his mysterious past. Death threats, highly trained assassins and highly untrained assassins are all in a day's work for bounty hunter Stephanie Plum!
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To The Farthest Rock
In 1952, at the age of twenty-seven, Mohan Rakesh undertook a journey to south India, travelling by bus, train and steamer along the western coast from Bombay to Kanyakumari. Young and ardent, he dreamt of the wide expanse of sea that would make up for a childhood spent in Amritsar’s narrow lanes, and had visions of comely guides who would look kindly upon his wandering. But once he set out from Delhi on a train to Bombay, his visions slipped away and complex reality took over. To the Farthest Rock is a remarkable account of the hope and despair that characterized post-Independence India. Rakesh had only published a few short stories when he quit a teaching job in Shimla in order to travel, but readers who know his later work will recognize his skill with portraits of people and his exceptional ability to render fluctuations of feeling. Set against the verdant coastal landscape of Goa and Kerala, this absorbing travelogue is a fine introduction to the mind of one of Hindi’s greatest novelists and playwrights.
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When The Moon Is Low
In Kabul we meet Fereiba, a schoolteacher and her husband, Mahmoud, a man whose love for her was greater than any love shed ever known. But Fereibas middle class world of education, work and comfortable family life implodes when the Taliban rises to power. Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new regime and is murdered by local henchmen. Forced to flee Taliban controlled Kabul with her three children,Fereiba has only one option - find a way to cross Europe and reach her sisters family in England, who have offered them asylum. With forged papers and help from kind strangers, they cross the mountains into Iran by night. Exhausted and brokenhearted but undefeated, Fereiba manages to smuggle them as far as Greecebut in a busy market square, their fate takes another turn for the worse when her teenage son Saleem becomes separated from the rest of the family. Faced with an almost unimaginable choice, Fereiba makes the desperate decision to continue on to London with her daughter and baby while Saleem falls into the shadowy underground network of undocumented Afghans who haunt the streets of Europe s capitals. From the refugee camps of Greece, through Rome and even Paris, Fereiba and Saleem struggle to reunite, to survive and to find a place where they can begin to reconstruct their lives. Like The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, this is a heartfelt revelation of a novel, extremely readable and thought-provoking, with characters who haunt the reader long after the last page is turned. And yes, like Pearl, this is a page-turner that ends happily.
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The Director
A Man with Something to Change Graham Weber, the new director of the CIA, is tasked with revolutionising an agency in crisis. Never intimidated by a challenge, Weber intends to do just that. A Hacker With Something To Expose Weber's task greatens when a young computer genius approaches the CIA with proof their systems have been compromised. There is a breach. There is a mole.A Woman With Something To Prove The agent who takes this walk-in is K. J. Sandoval - a frustrated yet ambitious base chief desperate to prove her worth to the agency and its new director. Weber must move quickly. And he must choose his allies carefully, if he is to succeed in identifying an enemy that is inside the gates, and out to destroy him.