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Escape From Baghdad
Saad Z. Hossain's debut novel is a wildly humorous take on the horror and absurdity of war. Dagr, a former university professor, and Kinza, a small-time thug, are thrown together in the chaos of the Iraq war. As the US Marines bumble around destroying their country, the two friends do everything in their power to stay alive, an increasingly impossible task as Baghdad collapses around them. And then their luck begins to turn. They capture Captain Hamid, the star torturer of Saddam Hussein, who promises them a fortune in gold if they smuggle him out of Baghdad. Helped by a corrupt US Marine, Private Hoffman, they begin their escape, when unexpectedly things get even more crazily complicated. A unique blend of humour, satire, fantasy, mystery and mythology that rattles along at the pace of a belt-fed burst of machinegun fire from an Apache gunship, Escape from Baghdad! is an exhilarating debut. PRAISE FOR THE BOOK .A marvellous mix of genres, blending the visceral atmosphere of a war movie with the casual nihilism of Catch-22 or the original M.A.S.H.- Kirkus Reviews H,ossain daringly shows us that war isn't just hell but absolutely insane. - Library Journal nods to Catch-22, Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau and the Golem myth, Escape from Baghdad! weaves fantasy, absurdity and adventure into a moving counter-narrative to the myth of the just war
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The Success Sutra-An Indian Approach To Wealth
The Success Sutra is packed with unique and profound insights into how individuals can create wealth and achieve success in life by following Indian principles of strategic thinking and decision-making. Most human beings hunger after riches and success. There are any number of management books which provide theories and techniques on how to become rich and successful. All of them advise us to chase Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in order to make her our own. But the Indian approach to prosperity and fulfilment warns against the relentless pursuit of the goddess, writes noted thinker and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, as it will result in conflict. Rather, we have to give in order to get, we have to satisfy the hunger of others in order to satisfy our own. If we learn and practise this fundamental truth, Lakshmi will enter our homes and our lives. Derived from his acclaimed bestseller Business Sutra, this book is filled with lessons and insights into management, business and the creation of wealth and success.
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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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Jungle Folk-Indian Natural History Sketches
An eye-opening, intriguing and original account of Indian birds. 'You will find no lack of superlatives among our Indian birds writes Douglas Dewar in this superb and idiosyncratic book about some of the most interesting birds to be found in the country. From the common crow, splendid in sagacity, resource, adaptiveness, boldness, cunning and depravity - a Machiavelli, a Shakespeare among birds, a super-bird to the scavenger vulture, the ugliest bird in the world, wagtails who dress most tastefully, mad babblers, upright cuckoos, the night heron which only sleeps when it has nothing better to do, hawks the bandits of the air, the drongo, who is the embodiment of pluck and dozens of other species, well-known and rare, Jungle Folk will make you see our birds in new and arresting ways. In his closely observed sketches, the legendary naturalist explores in detail every significant element of the bird in question including anatomy, physiology, behaviour, lifestyle and habitat. Intended for the amateur naturalist as well as the serious ornithologist, this is an eye-opening, intriguing and original account of Indian birds.q
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Unbound- 2000 Years Of Indian Women's Writing
Profound, exhilarating, haunting, angry and meditative, Unbound is a collection that will shatter stereotypes about women's writing in India. Unbound is a collection of some of the most significant writing by Indian women over the past two thousand years. Divided into eleven sections, it encompasses writing on various aspects of life-spirituality, love, marriage, children, food, work, social and individual identity, battles, myths and fables, travel and death. While many of the pieces are commentaries on the struggle that women undergo to overcome obstacles - social and political - all of them showcase the remarkable creative ability of their creators. The term women's writing has often been used to limit and stereotype the work of women writers. But it also has a larger and more constructive meaning and that is the sense in which it has been used to inform and describe the context of the book. As Annie Zaidi explains in her introduction - women bring to their writing the truth of their bodies and an enquiry into the different ways in which gender inequity shapes human experience. Selected from hundreds of novels, memoirs, essays, short story collections and volumes of poetry that were either written in English or that have been translated into English, the pieces in this collection include the most distinctive and powerful voices from every era. There are verses from the Therigatha, written by Buddhist nuns (Circa 300 BCE) and writing by poet-saints like Andal, Avvaiyar, Lal Ded, Mirabai, modern classics by writers like Ajeet Cour, Amrita Pritam, Arundhati Roy, Attia Hosian, Bama, Bulbul Sharma, Irawati Karve, Ismat Chughtai, Kamala Das, Krishna Sobti, Mahasweta Devi, Manju Kapur, Mannu Bhandari, Mrinal Pande, Nayantara Sahgal, Pinki Virani, Qurratulain Hyder, Rashid Jahan, Romila Thapar, Sarojini Naidu, Saudamini Devi, Shivani and powerful new voices from our time like Arundhathi Subramaniam, Nilanjana Roy, Nivedita Menon.
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A Gathering Of Friends-My Favourite Stories
The twenty-one stories in the book are the greatest pieces of fiction written by Ruskin Bond. Chosen by the author himself, from a body of work built over fifty years (Starting with his award-winning first novel, The Room on the Roof and ending with Tales of Fosterganj) this collection includes well-known masterpieces like 'The Night Train at Deoli', 'The Woman on Platform No 8', 'Rusty Plays Holi' (From the Room on the Roof), 'Angry River', 'The Blue Umbrella', 'The Eyes Have It', 'Most Beautiful', 'Panther's Moon', as well as newer stories like 'An Evening at the Savoy with H. H.' (From Maharani) and 'Dinner with Foster' (From Tales of Fosterganj). Taken together, the stories in 'A Gathering of Friends' show why Ruskin Bond has long been regarded as one of the pillars of Indian literature. This is a book that will delight his legions of fans as well as those lucky few who are new to his fiction.
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City Of Spies
A thrilling coming-of-age story that is set in the Pakistan of Zia and Bhutto. 'God was everywhere, but so was the general'. It is the summer of 1977 and Pakistan swelters in the unrelenting heat. Weeks after her eleventh birthday, Aliya Shah wakes up to the news that there has been a coup d'etat, General Zia has taken over the country and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is in jail. Although the shadow of the general and his increasingly puritanical edicts threaten to disrupt their comfortable existence, life goes on for Aliya much as before as she attends the American School in Islamabad. However, when a much loved young boy, the son of the family retainer, dies tragically in a hit-and-run accident, her world is turned upside down, especially when she discovers the terrible secret of the murderer's identity. City of Spies is coming-of-age story that explores Aliya's conflicting loyalties and her on-going struggle to make sense of her world. Set in late 1970's Islamabad and Lahore, City of Spies is a gripping novel that unfolds over thirty months in Pakistan's tumultuous history. This delicate political novel evokes the sights and smells of the Pakistan of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and General Zia. We are inside the head of a child, spying on her past. I read this novel as the story of another schoolgirl in Pakistan, a different Malala. This Malala unmasks a whole landscape of feeling. Amitava Kumar, author of 'Husband of a Fanatic'. Interesting Facts New fiction from bestselling Pakistani author of Noor. A story set in the seventies in Islamabad against the backdrop of General Zia's coup and the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union. Gripping, well-paced story seen through the eyes of a young girl, Aliya. Readers of literary fiction by Mohammed Hanif, Mohsin Hamid, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Musharraf Ali Farooqi and other Pakistani authors will delight in this novel.
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The Patna Manual Of Style
Go to any party, in any country, on any moonlit terrace of the world, the best dressed man is always the one from Patna. In these nine interlinked stories we meet the not so quintessential Patna man-Hriday Thakur, Literature junkie, aspiring writer, inveterate lover of women and rain, Jishnu da, his acquaintance from Delhi University, who is now an importer of blondes Samuel Crown, the fastidious proofreader who mentors Hriday and instils in him an irrevocable love for the art of book-making, the parade of women in Hridays life: austere, doe-eyed Charulata, love of his youth, the one who got away, Chitrangada, his wife, who works hard to be accepted in his world of books, art, politics and activism, the beautiful Anjali Singh Nalwa, ex-flame who is now a fiery, controversial novelist, Imogen Burns, the intrepid chronicler of graveyards, Sadaf Khan Abdali, who loves the smell of listerine early in the morning and Sophia Loren , dream girl of many schoolboys, now a mother of two. Unsentimental to a fault, Siddharth Chowdhurys stories deal with relationships that are intimate and sensuous and sometimes hard to define, taken together, they are an affectionate nod to an idealist generation, insulated in a world of publishing, academia, gin-soaked brunches and Marxist philosophy.
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India Shastra
Renowned author and politician, Shashi Tharoor demystifies the ongoing transformation of India. This has been a time of unprecedented change in the country. The transformation of Indias politics, economy, foreign policy, media, civil rights, governance and a myriad other aspects of our society and government has been swift and disruptive, sometimes brutally so. Narendra Modi, the nations new Prime Minister and his Bharatiya Janata Party, dominate the political scene, as the Congress once did and are attempting to change the way we work, think, pray and conduct ourselves as citizens of the planets most populous democracy. There are signs that the nation is moving in directions that will benefit its people-the economy has begun to revive, its foreign policy appears to be purposefully pursuing a visible place in the world, polls show that a significant percentage of the nations youth are optimistic about the future, at the same time, there are serious concerns about the rise of majoritarianism and religious fundamentalism (Often, this is one and the same thing), a disquieting intolerance of free speech, dissent and religious freedom, moreover, there appears to be no end to corruption, hate speech, criminals in politics, terrorism, violence against women, bureaucratic lethargy, governmental incompetence, endemic poverty, environmental degradation and a host of other problems that India has been struggling to overcome for decades. What does the future hold? Is the promise of good times a mere illusion? Have we forgotten the democratic, humane, secular and liberal values that our founding fathers endowed us with? Are high-speed trains and missions to Mars eclipsing the vital need to achieve universal literacy, eradicate poverty and provide food, shelter and health-care for all? Shashi Tharoor, one of our most distinguished and insightful writers, attempts to answer these and other important questions and demystify the complex issues that have been thrown up by the ongoing transformation of the nation. After chronicling Indias transformation over the years in several previous books, he brings his insights into Indian society, economics and politics up to date in wide-ranging short essays that extend the narrative right up to the present time. Lucid, brilliantly argued, balanced and illuminating, India Shastra is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand todays India. Interesting Facts Bestselling author Shashi Tharoors reflections on India in the twenty-first century. Over two dozen essays on Modi-fied India and observations on the new governments policies and performance. Writing on Indian politics, education, energy, development, culture and much more. Combines facts, statistics and opinions to discuss the changing facets of India. Insiders perspective on the future of India under PM Modi. Astute and witty essays on the past, present and future of Indian politics. About the Author Shashi Tharoor is the bestselling author of fourteen previous books, both fiction and non-fiction, besides being a noted critic and columnist, a former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and a former Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. He served 29 years at the United Nations, culminating as Under-Secretary under Secretary-General Kofi Annans leadership. As Indias official candidate to succeed Annan as UN Secretary - General, he emerged a strong second out of seven contenders. On returning to India he contested the 2009 elections on behalf of the Indian National Congress and was elected to Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram. Re-elected in 2014, he chairs Parliaments External Affairs Committee. Shashi Tharoors books include the path-breaking satire The Great Indian Novel (1989), the classic India - From Midnight to the Millennium (1997) and most recently, the visionary Pax Indica - India and the World of the 21st Century (2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writer's Prize, was honoured as New Age Politician of the Year (2010) by NDTV and pioneered among Indian politicians the use of Twitter, where he has over two and a half million followers, as of 2014. Dr. Tharoor earned his Ph.D. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at the age of 22 and was named by the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1998 as a Global Leader of Tomorrow. He was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, Indias highest honour for overseas Indians.
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After Tendulkar
A riveting account of the new young India cricket team, its stars and where this team could take the country in the game that defines the worlds most populous democracy Indian cricket has the most exciting young batting line-up in the world today. Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, led by their captain, M. S. Dhoni, have routinely destroyed International bowling attacks. While the young bowlers in the team lack the burgeoning reputation of the batters, they have shone in flashes at home and abroad. The current and future brilliance of the members of this team is all the more remarkable when you consider their youth, relative inexperience and the fact that they are following in the footsteps of the golden generation-arguably the set of finest cricketers this country has produced - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, V. V. S. Laxman and Anil Kumble. This book takes as its point of departure 14 November 2013, the date on which the last member of the golden generation - Sachin Tendulkar-retired from all forms of cricket. It covers the highlights of Tendulkars last Test, as also the careers of the Fab Five before delving deep into the stories and exploits of the new stars of Indian cricket, as well as the one man who straddles both generations - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the finest finisher in one day cricket today and statistically speaking, the most successful Indian captain of all time. The first major account of the future of Indian cricket, After Tendulkar is written with a novelists vision and eloquence and will be enjoyed by all those who love memorable writing about the game. Praise for the Author Writer whose work we will read for years to come. - Vikram Chandra, author of Sacred Games A writer who knows not only cricket but his country and the wider world. - The Age, Melbourne Bhattacharyas writing has plenty of verve and charm. - TimeOut Awards Economist Crossword - Cricket Society Book of the Year. About the Author Soumya Bhattacharyas books about how cricket defines India, You Must Like Cricket? and All That You Cant Leave Behind, were published to International acclaim. His novel, If I Could Tell You, was a finalist for the the Hindus Best Fiction Award 2010. He is also the author of the fatherhood memoir, Dads the Word. He was a Granta New Voice in 2008. His writing has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the New Statesman, Wisden, ESPNcricinfo and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is the editor of the Hindustan Times, Mumbai.
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Becoming A Mountain
In the tradition of Peter Matthiessens The Snow Leopard, a journey of healing that becomes a pilgrimage of the soul. Stephen Alter was born and raised in the hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he and his wife, Ameeta, now live. Their idyllic existence was shattered when four armed intruders invaded their home and viciously attacked them, leaving them for dead. The violent assault and the trauma of almost dying left the author questioning assumptions he had lived by since childhood. For the first time, he encountered the face of evil and the terror of the unknown. He felt like a foreigner in the land of his birth. This book is an account of a series of treks he took in the high Himalayas following his convalescence-to Bandarpunch (Monkeys Tail) Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India and Mount Kailash in Tibet. He set himself this goal to prove that he had healed mentally as well as physically and to reknit his connection to his homeland. Undertaken out of sorrow, the treks become a moving personal quest, a way to rediscover mountains in his inner landscape. Weaving together observations of the natural world, Himalayan history, folklore and mythology, as well as encounters with other pilgrims along the way, Stephen Alter has given us a moving meditation on the solace of high places and on the hidden meanings and enduring mystery of the mountains. About the Author Stephen Alter is the author of fifteen works of fiction and nonfiction. His honours include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright award. He was writer in residence for ten years at MIT and directed the writing program at the American University in Cairo. He is founding director of the Mussoorie Writers Mountain Festival. He lives with his wife in Mussoorie.
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Talking Of Justice-People's Rights In Modern India
Keenly observed and elegantly argued, Talking of Justice is an accessible guide to our rights by one of the most renowned legal minds of the country. Sixty-eight years after independence, we have a plenitude of laws, but not enough justice. In the edifice that citizens helped to build in the year 1947, the cracks are now showing. Kudos to Justice Leila Seth for revealing them-so effectively and eloquently! - Fali Nariman In Talking of Justice, eminent jurist Leila Seth discusses several critical issues that she has engaged with in a legal career spanning over fifty years-violence against women, the nurture of the girl child, the need for a uniform civil code, womens rights, prisoner's rights, gender sensitization of the judiciary and judicial administration, among others. From the landmark Justice Verma Committee (2012 - 2013), on which she suggested amendments to the law as well as speedier trials and more effective punishment for all those accused of sexual assault and violence against women, to her experience as a member of the 15th Law Commission of India (1997 - 2000), to her appointment as the one-member commission to enquire into the custodial death of Rajan Pillai (1995 - 1997), Leila Seth shares her insights on some of the most substantive and contentious matters facing the nation today. Keenly observed and elegantly argued, Talking of Justice goes deep into the laws of the land that need to be reviewed and revised and offers suggestions for protecting the rights of the people, especially those who are marginalized and vulnerable. Interesting Facts Essays on key points of law and human rights on critical issues of womens rights, childrens rights, judicial administration, gender sensitization of the judiciary and more. Written by eminent jurist whose career spans fifty years-as lawyer, judge and chief justice. An easy-to-understand guide for every citizen of India who wants to know his / her rights.
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Colours Of The Cage-A Prison Memoir
A searing account of life in prison and one mans fight for justice. In May 2007, human rights activist Arun Ferreira was picked up from the railway station and arrested by the Nagpur police on charges of being a naxalite. Over the next few months, he was charged with more crimes-of criminal conspiracy, murder, possession of arms and rioting, among others-and incarcerated in one of the most notorious prisons in Maharashtra, the Nagpur central jail. This is an account of the nearly five years that Ferreira was imprisoned. We read in stark and unsparing detail about life in prison-the torture, the beatings, the corrupt system, the codes of behaviour among inmates, the strikes mounted by prisoners to protest brutality, the general air of helplessness and the small consolations that keep hope alive. In September 2011, Ferreira was acquitted of all charges and a breath away from freedom when he was re-arrested by plainclothes policemen at the prison gates. He never got a glimpse of his family who were waiting just outside. He began to fight the system all over again, until with the help of courageous friends and activists, he was cleared of all the trumped up charges that had put him in prison. Colors of the cage is the real story of what goes on behind bars-not the celluloid or novelistic version that readers will be familiar with. However, it is not just a gritty, harrowing account of life in prison but also a memoir of astonishing power and grace-about a mans stubborn fight for justice and the triumph of the human will. Arun Fereira gives us a clear-eyed, unsentimental account of custodial torture, years of imprisonment on false cases and the flagrant violation of procedure that passes as the rule of law. His experience is shared by tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen and women, most of whom do not have access to lawyers or legal aid. This country needs many more books like this one.
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Grey Hornbills at Dusk:Nature Rambles through Delh
At times lyrical, at times laugh-out-loud funny and always informative, Grey Hornbills at Dusk is a book that demands to be read by lovers of nature, fans of good writing and every sort of reader in between. Delhi, with its graceful old gardens and sprawling parks, unexpected patches of scrub forest and elegant avenues of old trees, has an amazing range of bird habitats. All you have to do is find a good spot with flowering shrubs or old trees and then sit down to be entertained. The birds will come to you one by one and they do not care if you greet them or not. In a lifetime spent exploring the gardens, monuments, parks and forest areas in and around Delhi, Bulbul Sharma has observed and written about numerous bird, animal and plant species. From the Grey Hornbills and Rose-ringed parakeets at Lodi Garden to the handsome resident Indian Eagle-owl at Tughlakabad Fort, she observes and records all manner of bird and animal behaviour through the changing seasons of the city in this delightful book. She describes how the different seasons bring about changes to Delhis flora and fauna. During fog -shrouded winter days she makes her way to Sultanpur Lake to watch the migratory birds, sometimes dragging reluctant family members along - groggy and demanding tea and samosas. During the brief Delhi spring the flowers at every roundabout and every garden burst into life and colour while the birds busily start building nests. In the cruel summer months, when the calls of the Coppersmith and the Green Barbet resound from every leafy tree, everyone flees indoors to escape the heat of the sun. And then the monsoon arrives, heralded by the Pied-crested Cuckoo, which has never failed in its prediction of the rains. Stray cats and howling jackals, startled nilgais and crafty koels inhabit the pages of this book as the author takes us on an unforgettable nature ramble around Delhi. Interesting Facts Grey Hornbills at Dusk will be of great interest to nature and bird lovers. A perfect book to gift for all seasons. The book is illustrated throughout. Anyone interested in the nature and environment will find this book immenselyinsightful. A delightful read for fans of good writing.
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Kalidasa For The 21st Century Reader
A fresh and very readable translation of the world's greatest Sanskrit writer, Kalidasa. Kalidasa (circa fourth century CE) is widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. Not much is known with certainty about his life, and though many are aware of his timeless Sakuntalam and Meghadutam, very few have actually read him, even in translation. The aesthetics of poetry may have changed over 1500 years-we no longer compare women's faces to lotuses or their figures to vines-but it is difficult not to be moved by the sheer beauty and lyricism of Kalidasa's description of the exiled yak?a beseeching a cloud to carry his message across the mountains to his lover, or his evocative narration of the meeting of doomed lovers in the forest. Mani Rao's supple, contemporary translation removes the distance between Kalidasa and the modern reader; she helps 'read' the poetry for us while remaining loyal to the text. Selections from all seven of the great poet's works (which are considered by Sanskrit scholars to be authentically his creations) are included in this volume- Meghadutam, Kumarasambhavam and ?tusa?haram; the heroic exploits narrated in Raghuva?sam which gives us a remarkable picture of ancient India; as well as the celebrated dramas Abhijnana Sakuntalam, Vikramorvasyam and Malavikagnimitram. This is a translation that belongs to today; Kalidasa renewed.
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The Radiance Of Ashes
Award-winning author Cyrus Mistrys first novel Drifter, dropout, dreamer Jingo believes he has rejected any form of class privilege in a hideously unequal society. Making a meagre living as a part-time door-to-door market researcher, he jots down notes on characters and insights for a novel. Is he serious about his self-professed vocation? Or just too laid-back, just too fond of getting high? As the story moves effortlessly from a middle-class Parsi housing colony to a far-flung slum on the outskirts of the city, memories of a bitter love affair continue to haunt Jingo, but its only when his other romance-with the city-erupts in a nightmare of horror that he realizes hed better wake up before its too late. The Radiance of Ashes is a beautifully described tale of desire, duty and dreams. It is also a story about families, about the truths we hold and the lies we tell, about the fires that burn in each of us-what is left once the flames have died away.
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99 : Unforgettable Fiction, Non - Fiction, Poetry
The definitive anthology of the work of one of our greatest and most entertaining writers. 99 collects in a single volume the finest pieces Khushwant Singh published over the course of a long and prodigiously creative life. The essays, extracts, stories and poems (one for each year of his life) have been chosen for their excellence or because they represent an aspect of the authors versatility and range. Some of the selections are well known. Others have never been published in book form. The book is divided into fifteen sections and showcases his exceptional achievement as a writer. Family Matters contains extracts from his autobiography and some personal narratives, My Beloved Country has some extraordinary writing about India. The Sikhs comprises excerpts from his books A History of the Sikhs and Ranjit Singh and essays on the community and translations of the Sikh hymns. The Uses and Abuses of Religion features his articles on the dangers of communalism and a sublime meditation on religion, Khushwant Singhs accounts of Pakistan and Pakistanis (including one of the most dazzling examples of journalism in our time, The Hanging of Bhutto) are included in Passage to Pakistan, he wrote interestingly about famous people all his life and twelve of his profiles feature in Singular People, a self-taught naturalist, he was passionate about the world of nature-The Ferocity & Flamboyance of Nature has writings on this theme. All About Sex contains some entertaining ruminations on sex, one of the subjects that he was most associated with in the popular imagination. As with sex, so with humour-a few of his funniest jokes find a place in A Merry Heart. Enthusiasms, Rants & Soliloquies has a fair representation of his electrifying polemics on a variety of subjects. A wise and honest man, his most insightful pieces on life, dealing with adversity, ageing and death find a place in How to Live, How to Die. As a novelist, he was superlative-selections from the six novels he published are to be found in The Novels, Portrait of a Lady and Other Stories features the eponymous story along with a few others, a great admirer of writers in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, he translated many of their works, some of which can be found in Exchange of Lunatics - Fiction in Translation and A Passion for Poetry. Published on the anniversary of Khushwant Singhs birth, this is the definitive anthology of the work of one of our greatest and most entertaining writers-it will offer the reader page after page of thought-provoking pleasure.
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Passion Flower - Seven Stories of Derangement
Award-winning author Cyrus Mistrys first collection of short stories. Award-winning author Cyrus Mistrys first collection of short stories is dark, mysterious and inhabited by characters that walk a thin line between fantasy and reality. A serendipitous discovery on the floor of a local bus transforms the melancholic life of Percy, who meets a ghost in the washroom of a public library, a new mother struggling with depression and the urge to end her newborns life opens the door to a stranger, stalked by mysterious men, Jacintha believes her enemies are out to eliminate her because she knows too much, on New Years Eve, an aged couple clashes, replaying an annual ritual that shrouds the unacknowledged secret buried between them twenty-three years ago, two childhood friends, now co-workers at an advertising agency, indulge in a never-ending display of one-upmanship, false camaraderie and intense, unspoken resentment, Bokha tries to counter the powerful black magic of his wicked old mother in order to shield his helpless lover and Mahendroo, full of himself, is consumed by his obsessive search for an elusive species of Passiflora. Original and disturbing, Passion Floweris another triumph from one of the countrys most gifted storytellers. Interesting facts Cyrus Mistry is the author of Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer which won this years DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, one of the subcontinents most prestigious literary prizes. This is the authors first collection of short stories and it is sure to get a lot of attention in the media. The stories are unique and some of them offer a rare glimpse into the life of Bombay Parsees, something Cyrus is adept at writing about About the Author Cyrus Mistry began his writing career as a playwright, freelance journalist and short-story writer. His play Doongaji House, written in 1977 when he was twenty-one, has acquired classic status in contemporary Indian theatre in English. One of his short stories was made into a Gujarati feature film. His plays and screenplays have won several awards. His previous works include the novels The Radiance of Ashes (2005) and Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer (2012), which won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014.
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Chanakya Returns : A Novel
An unputdownable political thriller from best-selling author Timeri Murari. Chanakya Returns covers a vast canvas of power, love, history, politics, betrayals, sex and more. It is narrated by Chanakya (370 - 282 BC), reincarnated in the contemporary world as the adviser to Avanti, the daughter of the head of a nameless state in India. In the course of the novel, Chanakya poses an eternal question: What shapes our lives - The Power of Love or the Love of Power? His protge, Avanti, has to choose between love and power. The choice Avanti makes has all sorts of implications not just for herself and her dysfunctional family, but for the people of the state her family has ruled for years. In his previous existence, the historical Chanakya was exiled from his homeland and took his revenge on the king who was the cause of his misfortune by defeating him in a war. He was then responsible for anointing Chandragupta as ruler of the Mauryan Empire and advising him on every aspect of statecraft. In the novel, Chanakya provides the same services to Avanti. He manoeuvres the awkward young daughter of a charismatic, powerful politician across the chessboard of power to becoming a brilliant successful politician and leader in her own right. About the Author Timeri is currently writing about the continued machinations of Chanakya and the dysfunctional, ruling family. His previous novels include The Taliban Cricket Club, which was published in eight countries and Taj, which was translated into 25 languages. Time magazine chose his film, The Square Circle, as one of its top ten films of 1997.
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A Town Like Ours
so why have they come, why did they choose Pingakshipura of all places Are they seeking or are they running away? Nourishing myself with bidi fumes, I watch, listen and think. I want to know. Pingakshipura-where the water runs a poisonous black and the hair on every childs head is white. And yet, it is a village-turned-town like any other in India, where every life hides a story. Reclining on her thin mattress in a room at the corner of the temple, Rajakumari, retired whore and long-time resident of the town, shares with us some of these stories. Of Saroja and Sampathu, unlikely lovers and parents who have both fled scenes of murder. Of Kripa and Manohar, the childless couple discovering something new about each other after long years of marriage. Of Lectric Mamu, injured by the infidelity of the one woman who is immune to his charms. Of Gundumani, the boy with the crooked leg and his almost-sister, Rukmini. Of the temple priest, one-time servant of the red-eyed Pingakshi, who birthed the towns new divinity - Sugandha Enterprises. In her seventh novel, Kavery Nambisan takes us again, with great sensitivity and fierce clarity, into the heart of rural and small-town India and into the lives of everyday people, where everything is extraordinary. Interesting Facts Author shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and the DSC Prize for previous novel The Story That Must Not Be Told. About the Author: Kavery Nambisan is a writer and a surgeon. She picked up the pen after starting to practise surgery and has since combined two professions successfully, because she says - she does nothing else. She is the author of six novels: The Truth (Almost) About Bharat, The Scent of Pepper, Mango-coloured Fish, On Wings of Butterflies, The Hills of Angheri and The Story That Must Not Be Told (shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and the DSC Prize).
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The Competent Authority
A couple of decades from now, India is not shining the Chinese have nuked large parts of the country; Bombay has been obliterated; Delhi is in the throes of rigorous reconstruction; Bengal has seceded and is now a protectorate of China; the Maoists have taken over much of what remains. The southern states are a distant and tranquil place that nobody has visited in years. The most powerful person in the country is a deranged bureaucrat called the Competent Authority, who has used his official position as the head of the Bureau of Reconstruction, to subvert all forces of governmental authority. Cloaked in anonymity, his identity known only to his terrified minions, the CA rules the remnants of India with an iron fist. Although, in theory, the government and the armed forces still exist, the Prime Minister, who looks very familiar, and the General, who commands the Army, are mere puppets in the hands of the Competent Authority. All they can do is watch in horror as he tries to put in motion a fiendish plan to annihilate everyone in the country, for reasons that are completely logical. The only person who can stop him is Pintoo, a mutant twelve year old from Shanti Nagar, where all the poor people live. Determined to thwart the CAs plan and save the country from disaster, Pintoo employs three reluctant henchmen to help him: Pande, a corrupt and vicious policeman, Chatterjee, a pessimistic but determined CBI officer and Ali, the last surviving member of Al Qaeda. And then theres also the matter of the hand that has a mind of its own
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India in Love : Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st
India in Love: Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st Centuryis a ground-breaking look at the sexual revolution that is beginning to sweep through urban India. Bestselling author Ira Trivedi travelled from Shillong in the northeast to Chennai in the south, Konark in the east to Mumbai in the west, and over a dozen other cities and towns, in order to gain unprecedented insights into changing sexual mores, marriage and love in the 21st century. The book explores the mating habits of young Indians on college campuses and in offices; examines the changing face of Indian pornography and prostitution, probes Indias gay revolution; and delves into history, economics and sociology to try and understand how the nation that gave the world the Kamasutra could have become a closed, repressed society with a shockingly high incidence of rape and violence against womenthe dark underside to the greater sexual freedom that men and women in our cities have begun to enjoy today. Trivedi goes deep into one of the most enduring institutions of Indian society-marriage and investigates how it is faring in modern times. She interviews marriage brokers, astrologers, lawyers, relationship counsellors, love commandos, parents and nervous young brides and grooms, amongst others, to present a nuanced picture of the state of marriage in the country. She discovers that love marriages are skyrocketing and even the age-old arranged marriage is undergoing a transformation. Also on the rise are divorces, extra-marital affairs, open marriages, live-in relationships and the like. Supporting her eye-opening reportage with hundreds of interviews, detailed research, authoritative published surveys and discussions with experts on various aspects of sexuality and marriage, Trivedi has written a book that is often startling, sometimes controversial, but is always entertaining and original. India in Lovewill change the way urban Indians view themselves and one another.