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The Great Indian Novel
In Shashi Tharoor's satirical masterpiece, the story of the Mahabharata is retold as recent Indian history, and renowned political personalities begin to resemble characters from the Mahabharata-all of whom have a curious and ambiguous relationship with Draupadi Mokrasi (D. Mokrasi for short) . . . Brimming with incisive wit and as enjoyable a read as it is cerebrally stimulating, The Great Indian Novel brilliantly retells reality as myth.
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Haunted
An entire town that was abandoned overnight A fort that fell to ruins due to a curse Mines where twenty thousand miners were trapped and perished A village where black magic is a way of life A fair where exorcisms are performed in public Such are the locations dotting the colourful paranormal map of India. Intrepid adventurers and regular tourists alike have often dared to visit these places to experience for themselves their fascinating lure, and to see if ghosts truly haunt these regions. However, those who have ventured there have often returned with more questions than answers-if at all they have returned. Haunted chronicles the real-life adventures of paranormal investigator Jay Alani in ten of the spookiest locations in India. Co-authored by Neil D'Silva, these exploits provide a ringside view of these hair-raising paranormal journeys for everyone who has an interest in exploring the dark side of the normal.
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Unheard Voices Stories Of Forgotten Lives
The Bhopal gas tragedy, the communal carnage of 1984 and 1989 in Delhi and Bhagalpur, the Orissa super cyclone, among others, are part of collective memory, But, often forgotten are those who actually were affected by thee happenings, and others like them, street children, sex workers, dalits, HIV and leprosy patients, the homeless and the famine-stricken. These are people who in many ways are pushed to the outermost, most hopeless margins of society in the name of development and progress. In Unheard Voices, civil servant and social activist Harsh Mander draws on his own and his colleagues’ experiences to explore the lives of twenty such people who have survived and coped despite all odds. In Bangalore, for instance, a onetime street child now counsels other such children seeking education and self-employment; in Bhopal, and eleven year-old has brought up two of his siblings after they were orphaned in the gas leak, at great emotional cost. A young sex worker fights for the rights of her HIV positive sister-workers when their ‘home’ in Hyderabad’s red-light area is demolished. A patient combats the stigma of leprosy by helping to establish a leprosy colony in Ashagram. In Tenali, Andhra Pradesh, a blind musician couple struggles to get land from the government to set up a colony for the blind. Going beyond mere survival, these stories are a testimony of how people have overcome their condition with humbling courage, resilience, and humanism, Marked by understatement and rare warmth, they bring out their determination to seek a better life in the face of enormous suffering. Reaffirming people’s creativity and indomitable spirit, this book challenges all those who despair about India.
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The Five Dollar Smile
The Five-Dollar Smile is a collection of stories of young love and disaffection, adolescent high spirits and youthful traumas; there are also stories, written with the energy and passion of youth, which deal with very adult subjects: death, deceit, loss, hypocrisy, honour. Sensitive, compelling and persuasive, these stories, written for the most part in Shashi Tharoor's late teens and early twenties, reveal an already formidable talent. Rounding off the collection is a marvellously inventive play set in the time of the Emergency. Report an i
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The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly
The Korean Charlotte's WebMore than 2 million copies sold This is the story of a hen named Sprout. No longer content to lay eggs on command, only to have them carted off to the market, she glimpses her future every morning through the barn doors, where the other animals roam free, and comes up with a plan to escape into the wild—and to hatch an egg of her own. An anthem for freedom, individuality and motherhood featuring a plucky, spirited heroine who rebels against the tradition-bound world of the barnyard, The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly is a novel of universal resonance that also opens a window on Korea, where it has captivated millions of readers. And with its array of animal characters—the hen, the duck, the rooster, the dog, the weasel—it calls to mind such classics in English as Animal Farm and Charlotte’s Web. Featuring specially-commissioned illustrations, this first English-language edition of Sun-mi Hwang’s fable for our times beautifully captures the journey of an unforgettable character in world literature.
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Mistress
Christopher, a young travel writer, arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala to meet Koman, a famous kathakali dancer. Immediately he is sucked into a world of masks and repressed emotions. Koman is instantly drawn to the enigmatic young man with his incessant questions about the past-but so is his niece Radha. Excluded from this triangle is Shyam, Radha's husband, who can only watch helplessly as she embraces Chris with a passion that he has never been able to draw from her. As the drama unfolds, the nuances and contradictions of the relationships being made-and unmade-come alive in this searing novel of art and adultery.
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The Correspondent
Sybil Van Antwerp is seventy-three, slowly losing her sight and always writing letters . . . To her children. Her favourite authors. Her ex-sister-in-law. The journalist poking into her past. Her doctor. Suitors. Kindly neighbours. The infuriating gardening club. All receive Sybil’s witty, wise correspondence, rich with everyday concerns. But there is one letter that she has never sent. It concerns the darkest period of her life. To post it, Sybil must find forgiveness within herself. The hardest letter to write is the one you’d never dare to send.
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How The Chilli Became Hot
‘If spoken gently, words add flavour to life―but if spoken without thought, they can cause harm.’ In the grand Kingdom of Food, Princess Chilli dazzles with her looks but hurts others with her careless tongue. When a grand feast tests all the flavours in the kingdom, she discovers that beauty alone is never enough. India’s favourite storyteller brings to us the story of a proud princess who must learn the true meaning of humility, kindness and purpose. A warm, thought-provoking tale that reminds us of the power of choosing our words with care, this gorgeous chapter book is the ideal introduction to the world of Sudha Murty.
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The Gita for Gen Z
The Gita for Gen Z is your compass for when life feels chaotic. It helps you overcome challenges like heartbreak, overthinking, exam pressure or career anxiety, while filling your heart with happiness, enthusiasm, courage, and the mental strength needed to win life’s everyday battles. Rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, the book breaks long-held misconceptions and reveals the Gita not just as a religious text, but as a practical guide to fearless living. Get ready to embark on an immersive reading experience as you discover the peace of mind you seek, and the divinity of the world reveals itself to you in fresh ways.
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The Gangster
oin Private Detective Isaac Bell as he navigates the seedy back alleys of New York, in the ninth book in the action-packed series from Sunday Times bestseller Clive Cussler. Crime, corruption and murder. . . a vicious organisation is terrorising the city and only one man can stop them. The Black Hand Strikes 1906, New York City. Italian gangsters calling themselves the Black Hand terrorize citizens in a menacing spree of kidnapping, extortion and arson. Who dares stop them? Detective Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Agency is hired to form a special 'Black Hand Squad' - but with each gangster caught a new one appears on the street. Are these new recruits or other criminals imitating the Black Hand? Where are these men coming from? Murder is just the beginning . . . Then the killings start. Each victim is a man more powerful than the last. Bell is convinced that he's facing a murderous organization hell bent on bringing the city to its knees. But that's before he discovers their ultimate target - the most powerful man in the country: the President of the United States . . .
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Skeleton Coast
1896: HMS Rove vanishes in a shocking storm off the African coast. Aboard is a fortune in stolen diamonds... Present day: Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the covert super-ship Oregon have just escaped a double-cross on the Congo River when they come to the aid of Sloane Macintyre - looking for some long lost treasure. Sloane's story is strange and when Juan checks it out, he finds that there's much more than just diamonds at stake on the African coast. A deranged militant and his followers plan to unleash a devastating power that will kill millions and cause worldwide havoc. Soon the Oregon is steaming to the rescue - but some forces are so extreme that even a hero like Juan Cabrillo thinks twice before getting involved... The number-one bestseller Clive Cussler, author of the thrilling Dirk Pitt novels Crescent Dawn andAtlantis Found, and co-author Jack Du Brul tell a gripping story of treasure hunting and treachery in the fourth novel of the adventure series The Oregon Files. Skeleton Coast follows Sacred Stone and Dark Watch. Praise for Clive Cussler: 'The guy I read' Tom Clancy Bestselling author Clive Cussler has kept readers on the edges of their seats for four decades with his thrilling action novels. As well as the Oregon Files series there are also the NUMA Files, the Dirk Pitt stories (which started it all), the Isaac Bell adventures and the Fargo series. The other titles in the Oregon Files are: Golden Buddha, Sacred Stone, Dark Watch, Plague Ship, Corsair, The Silent Sea andThe Jungle and are all available in Penguin paperback.
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The Navigator
Iraq, 2003: in the post-war looting of the treasures from Baghdad's antiquities museum, a legendary Phoenicean statue is stolen . . . Known as the Navigator, the statue points back to the days of King Solomon and is the vital clue to a secret of unimaginable power. Lucky then that UN investigator Carina Mechadi recovers it quickly. But a daring raid by helicopter in Iceberg Alley off Newfoundland and the statue is gone again - while Carina is only saved by the timely intervention of Kurt Austin of NUMA. Now Austin and Carina are scouring the globe. Firstly, to track down the statue as it leaves a trail of murder and mayhem in its wake. And, secondly, to beat the thieves to the secret of the Navigator - for if it falls into the wrong hands, the world could be changed for ever.
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The Eye of Heaven
In the stormy wastes of Canada's Baffin Island, treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo make an astonishing discovery - a Viking longship frozen in the Arctic ice . . . But what is more astonishing still is the longship's cargo - a hoard of pre-Colombian artefacts from Mexico. This tantalizing mystery sends the couple to Central America in search of further evidence - and into deadly trouble. For Sam and Remi's find puts them on the trail of legendary jewel the Eye of Heaven, which also sees other more ruthless - and soon enough murderous - treasure hunters racing to get there first. It's a chase that takes them through jungles and into ancient temples and secret tombs on a life or death hunt for the solution to a thousand-year-old mystery . . . Filled with the trademark breakneck pace and bold plotting that he has made his own, The Eye of Heaven proves once again that Clive Cussler is the Grandmaster of Adventure. This brand new instalment in the popular FARGO Adventures series follows the bestselling titles Spartan Gold, Lost Empire, The Kingdom, The Tombs and The Mayan Secrets.
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I'm Watching You
'm Watching You is sensational thriller from Mary Burton. HIS VICTIMS The first kill was easy. The second even easier. No guilt, no remorse, just a rush of adrenaline surging through him as each life drains away, and the pleasure of knowing that their deaths will help his beloved Lindsay. And there are many more who will die . . . HIS GAME The first twisted gift to Lindsay O'Neil arrives hidden in a bouquet of flowers. When her estranged husband, Detective Zack Kier, is assigned to the case, Lindsay's past comes back with a vengeance. Because only Zack knows the dark secret she lives with - or so she thinks. Now nothing can prepare her for the nightmare to come . . . HIS OBSESSION Everything Lindsay's stalker does, every life he takes, is for her. But when Lindsay spurns his gifts, she and those she loves most become targets of a depraved madman whose rage is growing, and who is waiting, watching, closer than she ever feared... Move over Alex Cross - Burton introduces new detective heroes Jacob Warwick and Zack Kier, hunting down serial killers in Virginia, USA. I'm Watching You is another classic from the American Queen of Crime, Mary Burton. Praise for Mary Burton: 'A twisted tale . . . I couldn't put it down!' Lisa Jackson 'Stieg Larsson fans will find a lot to like in Burton's taut, well-paced novel' Publishers Weekly Mary Burton is the critically acclaimed author of I'm Watching You, Dead Ringer, Dying Scream, Merciless and Senseless - all set in Virginia, USA, where Mary lives with her family.
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A Taste for It
Maura Carmody's off on the trip of a lifetime. A talented chef, she's travelling around Ireland for a month to promote Australian food and wine. Maura's expecting a straight forward business trip. But what she gets is a whirlwind of mishaps, misunderstandings, rivals and revelations, and Dominic Hanrahan, who's giving her plenty of food for thought. Set in Ireland and Australia, A Taste For It is a warm, funny novel about following your heart and pursuing your dreams.
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Half Of Forever
We spend our lives searching for forever believing it must arrive whole and uninterrupted . . . But what if forever is not measured in time, but in depth? What if forever is not always something we arrive at, but something we get to touch? A few chance meetings draw Ravin and Heer into each other’s orbits. What begins as an unplanned crossing of lives slowly grows into something neither of them intended. However, they must now decide what the future holds for them―because love, this time, comes at a heavy cost. Half of Forever is a reflection on the kind of love that alters the shape of a life by simply being felt. It also brings Ravin’s love trilogy to a quiet close, following I Too Had a Love Story and Can Love Happen Twice?―three journeys, one evolving heart.
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The Heist
A rare masterpiece by Picasso is about to go to auction, and the whole world is watching. But bright art student Halston Graham sees an opportunity. One that could secure millions for her future – and freedom for her wrongly imprisoned father… To pull off the crime of the century, she must assemble an unlikely crack team: an expert in forgery, a ruthless mob boss, and an eccentric fashion designer. In a game where trust is a luxury and failure is not an option, will Halston’s brilliance be enough to outsmart her enemies?
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Once Upon A Curfew
It is 1974. Indu has inherited a flat from her grandmother and wants to turn it into a library for women. Her parents think this will keep her suitably occupied till she marries her fiancé, Rajat, who's away studying in London. But then she meets Rana, a young lawyer with sparkling wit and a heart of gold. He helps set up the library and their days light up with playful banter and the many Rajesh Khanna movies they watch together. When the Emergency is declared, Indu's life turns upside down. Rana finds himself in trouble, while Rajat decides it's time to visit India and settle down. As the Emergency pervades their lives, Indu must decide not only who but what kind of life she will choose.
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An Accidental Lawyer
A legal luminary, K.K. Venugopal has played an unputdownable role in the development of constitutional law in India. This autobiography is an attempt to preserve in perpetuity the life of one of India’s legendary constitutional lawyers. Providing a fascinating account of Venugopal’s life----both professional and personal----It not only unravels the lawyer and the person in him but also recapitulates India’s dynamic socio-political and legal history. Presenting both the high and low points of Venugopal’s life , An Accidental Lawyer captures his interactions with his family and friends as well as judiciary, legislature and executive. It offers a unique perspective on his relations with key political figures such as prime ministers, chief ministers, governors, among others. Peppered with interesting anecdotes and consisting of landmark legal cases, the book will be of interest to both general readers and the practitioners and students of law interested in learning court craft from one of India's eminent jurists.
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A Guardian and a Thief
In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen. Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe. A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.
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Tata Stories: 40 Timeless Tales to Inspire You
The Tatas have a legacy of nation-building over 150 years. Dancing across this long arc of time are thousands of beautiful, astonishing stories, many of which can inspire and provoke us, even move us to meaningful action in our own lives. A diamond twice as large as the famous Kohinoor pledged to survive a financial crisis; a meeting with a 'relatively unknown young monk' who later went on to be known as Swami Vivekananda; the fascinating story of the first-ever Indian team at the Olympics; the making of India's first commercial airline and first indigenous car; how 'OK TATA' made its way to the backs of millions of trucks on Indian highways; a famous race that was both lost and won; and many more.
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Jamsetji Tata
Jamsetji Tata pioneered modern Indian industry. He has been a key catalyst in the economic growth and development of the country. From Empress Mills to the Iron and Steel Plant, from the establishment of Indian Institue of Science to the building of the Taj Mahal Hotel, Jamsetji’s vision made India stand tall. In this carefully researched account, R Gopalakrishnan and Harish Bhat provide insights into the entrepreneurial principles of Jamsetji that helped create such a successful and enduring enterprise. His contribution and that of his successors has led to the institutionalization of Tata values. Over the decades, through hard work, determination, and a consistent vision, he and his successors have embedded these values in the organization, which has stood the test of time and has consistently contributed to the country’s industrial development. The book takes readers into the heart of this amazing story and what has made it possible. Interwoven with engaging real-life stories about iconic leaders of the Tata Group, and interesting anecdotes that went into the making of India’s popular brands such as Tata Tea, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tanishq, this unique account brings alive the vision of Jamsetji Tata and tells us what we can learn from it.
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Doing the Right Thing
Ratan Tata was an iconic leader who shaped the Indian industry. He inspired an entire generation. When he passed away in 2024, millions of Indians felt a sense of deep personal loss. In this unique and engaging book, Harish Bhat, bestselling author and a Tata veteran, explores what lay at the heart of Ratan Tata’s extraordinary leadership. His steadfast desire to always ‘do the right thing’ appears to have shaped his thinking and actions. But what exactly does this mean? In these pages, through inspiring real-life stories drawn from Ratan Tata’s long career, this strong belief comes to life vividly. Why did he decide to create the Tata Indica? Why did he say: ‘A promise is a promise’? What led him to walk away from a large business opportunity for Tata Chemicals? Why did he telephone the managing director of Tata Steel a second time? How did he ensure fairness to everyone during a process of divestment? Why and how did he lead the fight against cancer? How did he respond to the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai? This book is full of such fascinating and many untold Ratan Tata stories. Through these compelling narratives and the lessons they hold, this powerful book will guide you towards ‘doing the right thing’ in your own life.