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Zero Hour
Attempting to save a man in a speedboat from a sniper swooping in by helicopter, Kurt Austin lands himself in trouble with the Australian secret service. Though he gives them their only clue - 'Tartarus', the last word of a dying man - Kurt is brusquely warned off. Intrigued and never one to ignore a mystery he is soon on the trail of a crazed scientist hellbent on unleashing a deadly destructive force - machines capable of triggering earthquakes. Now Austin must assemble the Numa team. Their mission? To find and stop this madman before he tears the world apart. About the Author Clive Cussler is the author or co-author of a great number of international bestsellers, including the famous Dirk Pitt adventures, such as Crescent Dawn, the NUMA Files adventures, the Oregon Files, such as The Jungle, the Isaac Bell historical thrillers, which began with The Chase and the Fargo Adventures series, most recently The Mayan Secrets. He lives in Arizona.
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Social 50 Ways to Improve Your Professional Life
Social: 50 Ways to Improve Your Professional Life is a unique and informative guide for professionals by Ankit Fadia, bestselling author of Faster - 100 Ways to Improve Your Digital Life. Summary of the Book In this book, Ankit Fadia provides a deep insight and an incisive look on how to improve your professional life. The author gives away some invaluable and important advice for the readers to be able to create their personal brands. This book also includes applications to help the readers plan, communicate effectively and manage their finances better. Social: 50 Ways to Improve Your Professional Life provides effective ways of getting your resume noticed, de-cluttering your inbox, and getting work done on flights. This book will put the readers on the path that will take them from being just an employee to creating their own personal brand. About Ankit Fadia Ankit Fadia is an Indian independent computer security consultant and author. He is an ethical hacker, and has written several books on the topic of computer security. He attended Delhi Public School, R K Puram. He was gifted a computer when he was 12 and since then he has has a keen interest in hacking. He later joined an undergraduate program in Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University.
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The Return of the Butterfly
he Return of the Butterfly is an amusing political satire in the facade of the diary of an inane, self-centred socialite. Summary of the Book The Return of the Butterfly, just like The Diary of a Social Butterfly, portrays Pakistan through the eyes of a self-centred, party-hopping socialite. It is a peculiar and comical narration of life in Pakistan, as seen by an impulsive and yet eerily charming high society party-hopper, Butterfly Khan. She loves social occasions and parties. And although she loves her husband, Janoo, she hardly understands the things that he is concerned about. Janoo is smart, knowledgeable and refined. On the other hand, Butterfly is only aware of the newest gossips in high society. She has to express her views about everything around her, especially in a language that is a classic sub continental blend, mashing up both English and the vernacular. What’s surprisingly hilarious, are her startlingly colourful expressions! Butterfly lives her life blissfully unaware of the events happening in the country, worrying only about her kitty parties and rumours floating around. The Return of the Butterfly is certainly going to be a laugh riot if you are seeking a hilarious read! About Moni Mohsin Moni Mohsin is a notable Pakistani columnist and author. She was born in the year 1963. She studied at the reputed Cambridge University and started Pakistan’s first environmental magazine. Moni’s columns are frequently published in several newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, Vogue, The Nation, and Boston Review among others. Her book, The Diary of a Social Butterfly, is a compilation of chosen articles from her column featured in The Friday Times. Some of the other books penned by M
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Blue : Tales of Reddumone, The Two-faced
This is the tale of Reddumone, or Two-face, a Lankan spy. It is also the tale of Rama of Ayodhya. Clever, loyal and powerful, Reddumone is the perfect spy. Noble, strong and brave, Rama is the quintessential king. Their paths cross often, over several decades and across the length of the Indian subcontinent. Against a background of civil wars and murderous coups, the two form a strange, knotty friendship. It is a bond marked by mutual respect, divided by loyalty and complicated by a seemingly impossible ideal - dharma. The novel follows Ramas moral arc - from an unyielding adherence to dharma to a more nuanced understanding of righteousness. Reddumone too follows a similar curve, balancing loyalty and love as he finds his own moral centre. In this self-assured and complex debut, M. R. Sharan blends mythology with philosophy and spiritual yearning with political machinations. Blue is, ultimately, a love song to Rama, the man and the idea of him. It will forever change the way you read the Ramayana.
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Decoding Bollywood : Stories of 15 Film Directors
Some like Farah Khan and Zoya Akhtar had sterling antecedents but it took a tough childhood and intermittent assignments on film sets to win the box office with Om Shanti Om and Zindagi na milegi dobara, while Ashutosh Gowarikar auditioned for folk dances and failed with his debut film, lagaan created cinematic history and Anurag Basu had to first dance as a background extra and later overcome cancer to witness barfi win hearts and awards. These and other hitherto unfamiliar stories of directors belonging to the "100 crore club" like Rohit Shetty and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the adventurous Kabir Khan and the maverick, Mahesh Bhatt take us through the unusual lives of 15 filmmakers of extraordinary films. Sonia Golani achieves the incredible by sitting each director down to candidly discuss the hype around the Oscars, the exclusivity of the "100 crore club", effect of corporatization and much more. Decoding Bollywood is more about demystifying the "world of Bollywood" than a mere decoding of 15 directors who have created benchmarks in their respective genres for generations to follow.
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Mad in Heaven
Priyanka Prakash is young, good looking and has a cushy bank job. What she doesn't have is a boyfriend. Her parents are looking around for a suitable boy one whose horoscope will match hers. Meanwhile, her younger and more rebellious sister, Palak, is fighting off some serious attention from a tenacious suitor-budding politician 'Su Ko' Muthu. When Priyanka is introduced to Dr. Ravi, both sets of parents are convinced it is the perfect match. But what about Vikram, one of the many young men at her bank who are greatly distracted by her exquisite looks? Will he act? Or will he remain smouldering in silence? Can all these mad twenty-somethings be relied upon to sort out their lives? Or will their conservative parents have to help untangle their mess with some modern remedies? After all, everyone dreams of a match made in heaven.
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Shakti Manifest : A Silent Revolution
The story of a profound and beautiful gurushishya relationship in 1989, the village of Rikhia in the eastern state of Jharkhand was a forgotten corner of the world-its inhabitants living in impoverished and dismal conditions. The primarily Santali population seemed to be stuck in the dark ages-without electricity, water, roads or sanitation. Disease and illness was rampant, malnutrition widespread and no scope for education or a better future. Today, however, there has been a 360 degrees transformation in this village-you can see well-fed toddlers playing on quiet roadsides, calling out namo Narayan to a passerby, older children cycling to well-attended schools and everyone is busy in a productive and positive way. What happened? That is the story Barbara Pidgeon tells and in doing so, reveals the extraordinary lives of the two people, the principal architects of this change and their relationship to one another. One of them, the guru, Swami Satyananada, a stalwart of yogic philosophy, founder of the Bihar school of yoga and follower of Swami Sivananda, the Saraswati lineage of yogis and the other, his disciple, Swami Satyasangananda, popularly known as Swami Satsangi, one of the first woman yogis. The two, as Swami Satsangi says, are like the Shiva and Shakti and in essence, just as Shakti and Shiva are one, they are one-he the consciousness and she the energy-making for a beautiful balance and synergy. This book gives an insight to both these deeply spiritual and extraordinary people from whose lives we have many lessons to learn.
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Baby Makers : The Story of Indian Surrogacy
The baby makers are many. The couple who supply the genetic material for the IVF procedure, the embryologist who creates the test tube baby, the gynecologist who inserts the embryo into the surrogate and delivers the baby and of course, the surrogate herself. Often, the egg or sperm is bought from an anonymous donor. Sometimes, the fully formed embryo itself is bought. Then there are the agents who supply the surrogates to people who need their services. The terrain of surrogacy is a complex one, of thorny ethical issues and delicate emotional ones. This is a book about surrogacy in India and how it got transformed from a marginalized and socially unacceptable procedure to a multimillion-dollar industry. It examines surrogacy laws (Rather, the lack of them) and the experiences of everyone-from the childless couple for whom this is their last hope, to the women for whom renting their womb means a change in their familys fortunes and everyone in between. Baby Makers uses rigorous journalistic research and compelling personal narratives to paint a picture that is as fascinating as it is frightening.
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The Gospel of Loki
For fans of The Avengers, this is the first adult epic fantasy novel from the multi - million - copy bestselling author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris.The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. It tells the story of Loki's recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one - eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself.Using her life - long passion for the Norse myths, Joanne Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel.
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3 Sections
Winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadris is assured and expert. In an array of poetic forms from the rhyming lyric to the philosophical meditation to the prose essay, 3 Sections confronts perplexing divisions of contemporary life-a wayward history, an indeterminate future and a present condition of wanting to out-think time. This is an extraordinary book, witty and vivacious, by one of the most important poets of our time. Endorsements An extraordinarily naked modern consciousness, an intensely experienced dislocation, a beautiful intelligence - Seshadris poetry is exhilarating. - Jonathan Franzen Confront[s] contemporary dilemmas with caustic humor. - The New Yorker Deft yet direct, often funny and yet alert to existential quandaries, this third outing could be the most versatile, as well as one of the most successful, volumes this year. - Publishers Weekly, starred review (Seshadri) is so talented, so able and writes with such panache.- Booklist Anyone concerned about the state of American poetry should put aside his or her thesis notes and pick up a copy of 3 Sections Mr. Seshadri is talented and assured enough to. About the Author Vijay Seshadris poems, essays and reviews have appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, Yale Review, the Times Book Review and other journals and anthologies. He has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has also received the James Laughlin Award, the Paris Reviews Bernard F. Conners Long Poem Prize and the MacDowell Colonys Fellowship for Distinguished Poetic Achievement. He teaches poetry and non-fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
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Sun Mere Bandhu Re
S. D. Burman was singer, musician, composer and teacher all at once-a trailblazer in the truest sense of the term. He was a prince who lived a commoners life, a singer who created tunes instead, a classically trained musician who composed for the lay listener. His incredible career in Hindi cinema spanned three decades-through all the years of which his spirit was as fresh and young as when he started. His compositions were filmed on succeeding generations of stars to unflaggingly wonderful effect. This chronicle of the life of S. D. Burman tells his story through a kaleidoscope of montages from the inner and outer worlds he inhabited. Fragmented memoirs of his days in the sylvan surroundings of Comilla, interviews, press clippings and archival material piece together the story of the man who created some of Hindi cinemas most enduring songs. Facts and records are knitted into a multidimensional narrative that carries the reader into the little-known world of a man whose contradictions made him unique and gave him a place to call his own in music.
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Tarot in the Spirit of Zen
A unique and valuable resource for all students and practitioners of the Tarot Includes 22 major arcana pop-out cards from the Osho Zen Tarot A must have for owners of the phenomenally popular Osho Zen Tarot, this in-depth study of the meanings of the cards in the Osho Zen Tarot deck will also appeal to those who use the Rider, Crowley, and other, more traditional cards. The "here and now" approach of Zen offers the insight that the future evolves out of present events, ideas, and attitudes. Playful and accessible even to the novice, this remarkable handbook includes a table of correspondences for the Rider-Waite and Crowley cards, and special sections on the meanings of the four major elements, or "suits" in the Tarot system. Tarot in the Spirit of Zen introduces readers to a deeper understanding of the Zen approach to becoming aware of and responding to life's challenges. Just like the Osho Zen Tarot deck, with its fresh and contemporary approach, the contents of Tarot in the Spirit of Zen are of interest to anyone who is interested in self-exploration and personal transformation.
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Private India
rivate India is a thrilling suspense novel from two masters of the art: Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson. Summary of the Book When a series of seemingly unconnected murders rock the city of Mumbai with the macabre rituals and artefacts found around the corpses, Private India, a leading investigation agency takes the case. Santosh Wagh, the head of the organization, has only one mission. He needs to stop the killers before they strike again. However, in a city of over 13 million people, he finds that the clock is ticking too fast. He finds himself pitted against underworld dons and a Godman who isn't what he seems. However, the worst is yet to come and Private India itself may be threatened with a revelation that could destroy the entire organization. About the Authors Ashwin Sanghi is an Indian writer and entrepreneur. He has also written: Chanakya’s Chant and The Krishna Key. He is also known by his pseudonym: Shawn Haigins. A graduate of the Yale School of Management and St. Xavier’s College, he has since been awarded several acclaims for his work. His second book has been optioned for a movie by UTV and is expected to begin production soon. He currently lives in Mumbai with his loving family. James Patterson is a bestselling American writer. He is best known for Along Came a Spider, Jack & Jill, When the Wind Blows and Step on a Crack among over 100 others.
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Where Earth Meets Water
In this poignant and breathtaking debut, one man searches for Meaning in the wake of incomparable tragedy. Karom Seth should have been in the twin towers on the morning of 9/11 and on the Indian shores in 2004, when the tsunami swept his entire family into the ocean. Whether its a curse or a blessing, Karom cant be sure, but his absence from these disasters has left him with crushing guilt and a belief that fate has singled him out for invincibility. Karoms affliction consumes everyone around him, from his best friend, Lloyd, to his girlfriend, Gita, who hopes that a trip to India will help him find peace. It is in Delhi that he meets Gitas grandmother, Kamini - a quirky but wise woman with secrets of her own. At first Karom dismisses Kamini, but little does he realise that she will ultimately lead him to the clarity hes been looking for. Spanning the globe from New York to India, Where Earth Meets Water is a stunning portrait of a quest for human understanding and a wise exploration of grief, survival and love in all its forms.
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Islands : Short Stories
Keki N. Daruwallas short stories circle around islands-solitary tracts of land, self-contained mini-continents. Sometimes, these autonomous landmasses are conjured up in a sadhus third-eye- Yogananda builds them like he would a dream scape. Sometimes, they transform into objects of desire - Arnaaz sails towards the declining sun, in search of an islet of aloneness and youth. Sometimes, they come with the promise of abundance - Vidyarthi scours his reef for a magic shrub. And sometimes, they silently disappear - Santa Xavier is swept away by blustery winds and rumours. Through these stories, each linked, each disparate, Daruwalla asks what it means to abandon an island or inhabit one. He also asks what it means to allow an island to sail within us. For each of the characters is on a private journey, a reclusive flight inwards, towards an isle of peace, an isle beyond questions of faith and unbelief, an isle past remembrance and forgetting. Ultimately, each character is an island unto himself or herself, from the retiring vagrant on bird island, to Dinaz, feeling her way on her own through a fast receding past, to the wild Khampa, severed from his people, who realises there must be worse things than being alone, but I dont know what they are. In these short stories, Daruwallas love for the sea becomes evident, as also his yearning for a kind of solitude, which evades us in this overcrowded century. Equally, in a style rich in humour, irony and compassion, his preoccupation with the modern human condition comes to the fore-its drift away from an anchoring mainland, its island-like seclusion, its quiet search for fullness.
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Shikhandi : And Other Tales They don't Tell You
Patriarchy asserts men are superior to women. Feminism clarifies women and men are equal. Queerness questions what constitutes male and female. Queerness isnt only modern, Western or sexual, says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. Take a close look at the vast written and oral traditions in Hinduism, some over two thousand years old, and you will find many overlooked tales, such as those of Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife; Mahadeva, who became a woman to deliver his devotees child; Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband; Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend; and many more. . . Playful and touching - and sometimes disturbing - these stories when compared with their Mesopotamian, Greek, Chinese and Biblical counterparts, reveal the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness. Exclusive Piece written by Devdutt Pattanaik for Flipkart Customers March of Celibate Men Vishnu takes the form of a king, a cowherd, a priest, a fish even an enchantress called Mohini. In this female form, he seduces gods and demons and hermits, all in order to preserve social order. Thus a God who is visualised as male becomes a nymph, bears a child for the sake of social order. This story is remarkable at so many levels. Here, Gods gender is not restricted to the male form. Fertility is not restricted to women. Divinity is associated with enchantment and sensory pleasures. And though woman, Mohini is not a demure wife; she is a dancer who is restricted to no man. Could this possible be a Hindu story? When the Europeans came to India, they saw stories such as these as yet another indicator of Indian effeminacy and Oriental debauchery. Back home, they were themselves exposed to a world where God was avowedly masculine, he sent down a son, not a daughter, to save the world, and that son was conceived without sexual intercourse and had no wife of his own. The priests of this God were all male and celibate. An alternate worldview where the feminine and the queer was appreciated, even venerated, made no sense to them. They naturally mocked Indians. This mockery became intense when the Europeans became rulers of India. So Hindus became defensive and apologetic. Not knowing how to explain their stories in the language of the foreign rulers, they started to reform the stories. They focused on stories that met with European approval: stories where celibacy and self-control was valorised and women were reduced to objects of temptation. The stern celibate monk became the representative of Hinduism, not the dancing mischievous affectionate nymph. The Europeans left. The Americans came. In the 60s, America went through a radical change sexual revolution, hippie revolution, anti-war protests. They wrote books rediscovering Indias sensual heritage. They spoke of how Hindus had bisexual gods and goddesses. Hindus were horrified. Was not Hinduism was all about celibacy and self-control? Was that not what the story books told them? Was that not what their parents and teacher told them? They protested passionately but were gagged with typical Western academic disdain, You are in denial. You dont have the facts; we do. Let us tell you what your culture is! Battle lines were thus drawn. They continue to be drawn. Time for empathy, and expansion of the mind. Appreciate the stories of sensuous men and women, celibate men and women. More importantly, appreciate the different context in which celibacy was celebrated and the different context in which the dance of the enchantress was celebrated. Even more importantly, appreciate the vast volume and diversity of India, where things have never been static, where things are never static, where the past and the present coexist simultaneously, the liberal coexists with the conservative, the wise next to the most unfair. Time to read Shikhandi and other tales they dont tell you. And remember, they who dont tell you these 30 stories are not villains. They probably are unware of their vast heritage themselves.
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Deadline
Dawson Scott is a well-respected journalist, recently returned from Afghanistan. Haunted by everything he experienced, he's privately suffering from battle fatigue-which is a threat to every aspect of his life. But then he gets a call from a source within the FBI. A new development has come to light in case that began forty years ago. It could be the big story of Dawson's career - one in which he has a vested interest.
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What the Lady Wants
If he's Cary Grant, where's his Girl Friday? Mitch Peabody was learning pretty fast that the life of a private detective was nothing like the movies. He'd envisioned a world of tough-talking detectives and smart-mouthed, stunning dames. Instead he saw case after case of cheating husbands, suspicious wives and unsuspecting mistresses, until she walked through the door. Right down to her stilettos, Mae Sullivan was a knockout with a lethal body-and a lethal family to go with it. There was something not quite on the up-and-up about her, but she came with a case he couldn't afford to refuse and left him with a case of lust he hadn't had since high school. It didn't take long for him to fall for her, hook, line and sinker. But was Mae interested only in catching the double-crossing crooks who murdered her uncle or did the lady want to catch him?