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Culture 50 Insights from Mythology
How do myths and stories influence culture? What is the difference between one culture and another, and how did these differences come to be? Are cultures fixed or do they change over time? Devdutt Pattanaik, India's leading mythologist, breaks down the complex maze of stories, symbols and rituals to examine how they shape cultures. He investigates how stories influence perception and construct truths, the cultural roots of the notion of evil and reveals the need for mythology through a telling of various Indian and Western myths. In doing so, he shows how myths reflect the culture they emerge from while simultaneously reinforcing the source. Culture: 50 Insights from Mythology is a groundbreaking work that contextualizes mythology and proposes that myths are alive, dynamic, shaped by perception and the times one lives in. About the Author Devdutt Pattanaik Writes, illustrates and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. He has, since 1996, written over thirty books and 700 columns on how stories, symbols and rituals construct the subjective truth (myths) of ancient and modern cultures around the world. His books include 7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art (Westland), Myth=Mithya : A Handbook of Hindu Mythology (Penguin), Jaya : An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata (Penguin), Sita : An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana (Penguin), Olympus : An Indian Retelling of the Greek Myths (Penguin), Business Sutra: A Very Indian Approach to Management (Aleph Book Company), My Gita (Rupa Publications) and Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik (Penguin).
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Numbers Don't Lie 61 Hidden Cricket Stories
"Impact Index is the closest anyone has come to producing crickets Moneyball moment. The frank, pithy insights from Test batsman Aakash Chopra add an extra dimension to a superb idea. Lawrence Booth, Editor, Wisden Alamanack. What I like about Impact Index is that it brings context to the performance of players through the generations.- Greg Chappell. Impact Index is a revolutionary new way of examining performances in cricket: within the context of the game, the conditions that the cricketer played in, the series or tournament, and his age. Created by Jaaideep Varma and led by him with Soham Sarkhel and Nikhil Narain, it constructs a hitherto unexplored macro view of each performance, resulting in the unearthing of truly surprising sometimes shocking stories. Within these pages are tales of cricketers who did not get their due, of rightful comparisons through eras and a completely unexpected look at players you thought you knew. The result is a lively retelling of cricket history. Former Test cricketer and writer commentator Aakash Chopra examines each of the sixty-one Impact stories, drawing on his trademark thoughtfulness, knowledge and experience. This book is an attempt to challenge and enrich conventional readings and ultimately to redefine them by looking at the big picture. You may never see the sport quite the same way again.",
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The Golden Son
The New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of Secret Daughter returns with an unforgettable story of family, responsibility and identity. The first of his family to go to college, Anil Patel carries the weight of his family's expectations when he leaves his village to begin a medical residency at one of the busiest and most competitive hospitals in America. Back home in India,Anil's closest childhood friend, Leena, struggles to adapt to her demanding new husband and relatives. Though Anil and Leena struggle to come to terms with their identities thousands of miles apart, their lives eventually intersect once more - changing them both and the people they love forever.Tender and bittersweet, The golden son illuminates the ambivalence of people caught between past and present, tradition and modernity, duty and choice, the push and pull of living in two cultures and the painful decisions we must make to find our true selves.
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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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Mystereous Affair Style
Agatha Christie’s first ever murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.
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Open : An Autobiography
Coaxed to swing a racket while still in the crib, forced to hit hundreds of balls a day while still in grade school, Agassi resented the constant pressure even as he drove himself to become a prodigy, an inner conflict that would define him. Now, in his beautiful, haunting autobiography, Agassi tells the story of a life framed by such conflicts Agassi makes us feel his panic as an undersized seven-year-old in Las Vegas, practicing all day under the obsessive gaze of his violent father. We see him at thirteen, banished to a Florida tennis camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promisesoes his lightning fast return. In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi's game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed and power.
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David Beckham:My Side
David Beckham is one of the world's foremost media icons, his popularity transcending sport and cultural divides. This is his own in-depth account of his career to date, for Manchester United and England, his childhood, family and personal life, and the full story of his transfer to Real Madrid. With endless newspaper column inches devoted to one of the most talked about men in the world, it seems that we know everything there is to know about David Beckham. Or do we?This is Beckham’s fascinating life story in his own words. His stormy relationship with United boss Alex Ferguson and the highs and lows of his career at Old Trafford. The England story, from being vilified by the nation before returning as the prodigal son, captain of his country and almost single-handedly guiding them to the 2002 World Cup Finals. And the full account of a turbulent 2002/03 domestic football season, when relations between Beckham and his manager hit a new low, culminating in his highly publicised transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid.Now from Beckham himself, we gain a vivid and at times searingly honest insight into the family man behind the famous footballer, the international model and fashion leader. He describes how he first met and then married ex-Spice girl Victoria Adams, and the upbringing of their two children Brooklyn and Romeo. How his family's every step is monitored by a possee of newshounds and paparazzi, and the threats to their safety. Also, the influence of his parents, growing up as a shy youngster in the family home, and how their subsequent split created a yawning chasm in his private life.This book is an intimate and soul-searching portrayal of a massive celebrity, a family man, and an awe-inspiring footballer – the likes of which we are unlikely to see again.
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Just Imagine
he remarkable SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS enthralls, enchants, and touches the heart once again, revisiting her classic Risen Glory, with a new and breathtaking romantic dream. The War Between the States may be over for the rest of the country, but not for Kit Weston. Disguised as a boy, she's come to New York City to kill Baron Cain, the man who stands between her and Risen Glory, the South Carolina home she loves. But unknown to Kit, the Yankee war hero is more than her most bitter enemy -- he's also her guardian. And he'll be a lot harder to kill than she's figured on... Believing that Kit's a boy, Cain offers the grubby rapscallion a job in his stable. But he has no idea what he's in for, and it's not long before the hero of Missionary Ridge discovers the truth. His scamp of a stable boy is a strong-willed, violet-eyed beauty who's hell-bent on driving him crazy. Two hard-headed, passionate people.... Two stubborn opponents with tender souls.... Sometimes wars of the heart can only be won through the sweetest of surrenders. The War Between the States may be over for the rest of the country, but not for Kit Weston. Disguised as a boy, she's come to New York City to kill Baron Cain, the man who stands between her and Risen Glory, the South Carolina home she loves. But unknown to Kit, the Yankee war hero is more than her bitterest enemy--he's also her guardian. And he'll be a lot harder to kill than she's figured on . . . Believing that Kit's a boy, Cain offers the grubby rapscallion a job in his stable. But he has no idea what he's in for, and it's not long before the hero of Missionary Ridge discovers the truth. His scamp of a stable boy is a strong-willed, violet-eyed beauty who's hell-bent on driving him crazy. Two hard-headed, passionate people . . . Two stubborn opponents with tender souls . . . Sometimes wars of the heart can only be won through the sweetest of surrenders.
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Intermission
He wondered why he, forty-four-year-old successful entrepreneur, faithful husband and competent father of a sixteen-year-old boy, a man with the stolidity of half his life behind him and the certainty of what lay ahead, should wait every morning for a glimpse of this girl, like a teenager in the first throes of an infatuation. From the author of the best-selling Keep the Change comes a new novel about Delhi’s suburbia. Set in Gurgaon, the dazzling face of modernity in India, Intermission takes us into the lives of Varun and Gayatri Sarin, not-so-happily-married corporate couple who are trying to come to terms with life in India after several years of an ordered existence in the First World. Varun is focussed on running his own business; Gayatri yearns for her friends and her life in the US. Their son Anirudh is grappling with his first adolescent crush. From intrusive in-laws and absconding domestic staff to potholes and pigs on the road, there is a new challenge to be confronted every day.Then Varun meets Sweety, young mother-of-twins, who is living her dream life in a nuclear family, and everything changes. For him, for Sweety, and insidiously, for everyone around them. A beautifully told story of illicit love and divided loyalties, Intermission explores lives within a gated community with just the right touch of irony and compassion.
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Mamista
Deep in Marxist Guerilla territory a hopeless war is being fought. The Berlin Wall is demolished. Marx is dead. Try telling that to Ramon and his desperate men hiding in the jungle cradling their AK 47s, dusting off the slabs of Semtex and dreaming of world revolution. MAMista takes us to the dusty, violent capital of Spanish Guiana in South America, and thence into the depths of the rain forest; the heart of darkness itself. There, four people become caught up in a struggle both political and personal, a struggle corrupted by ironies and deceits, and riddled with the accidents of war. They are four people who never should have found themselves bound together in a mission for revolution. Ralph Lucas, the Australian doctor, came to the jungle on charitable business, strictly civilian. Tending frontline casualties of war, with too few medical supplies and only a beautiful but untrained woman by his side, was not on the agenda. Gerald Singer, tough, black warrior, with an indomitable sense of humour, was already in guerrilla territory. He can take it. Up to a point. Angel Paz, part charming youngster, part violent hoodlum, has theories about everything. His arrogance will set in motion the last terrible endgame. But it is Inez who will suffer the most; for being a woman, an educated woman. At guerrilla headquarters she was Ramon’s right-hand. In the jungle she is the butt of men’s jokes and the subject of their fantasies. For the men in Washington this MAMista ‘patrol’ is just one short entry in a busy worldwide agenda. But for the three men and one woman trapped in the jungle of our nightmares it is the sentence of death. Never has Deighton portrayed so accurately the terror and the tedium of war, or the shifting alliances and betrayals between people who have nothing to lose but their lives. This new reissue includes a foreword from the cover designer, Oscar-winning filmmaker Arnold Schwartzman, and a brand new introduction by Len Deighton, which offers a fascinating insight into the writing of the story. About the Author Born in London, Len Deighton served in the RAF before graduating from the Royal College of Art (which recently elected him a Senior Fellow). While in New York City working as a magazine illustrator he began writing his first novel, The Ipcress File, which was published in 1962. He is now the author of more than thirty books of fiction and non-fiction. At present living in Europe, he has, over the years, lived with his family in ten different countries from Austria to Portugal.