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Miss New India
Nineteen-year-old Anjali Bose, born into a traditional family in Gauripur, is enrolled in a B.Com programme. Her father, a government clerk, and her mother, a housewife, want her to marry a suitable Bengali boy of their choice. But Anjali, intelligent, ambitious and charming, dreams of adventure and self-fulfillment. Convinced that she has a right to pursue personal happiness, Anjali is a member of a new generation of Indians. Her teacher, Peter Champion, an expat, recognizes Anjali�s potential and encourages her to act on her dreams. When a meeting with the bridegroom candidate her father has selected goes horribly wrong, she decides to take charge and runs away from home. With her well-connected teacher�s help, she arrives in Bangalore, a thriving IT hub, crowded with young migrants, who like her, have come in search of jobs in call centres. In Bangalore, suddenly feeling free of the confines of class, ethnicity and gender, Anjali hurls herself into building a new life. Of course, a new life in a New India comes at a cost .
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The Philosophy Of Sardar Jokes
Ik vaari ik sardar si... Koi vaddi gal nahin... Hun assaan saare Bante haan... The sardar joke has an unmatched originality, verve and versatility, not to mention a wild balle-balle undercurrent. Capturing all the affection and abandon that accompanies its best renditions, funny but not tawdry, an ode not a slur, this eclectic collection introduces readers to a hitherto unexplored dimension of sardar humour. Through the rustic foibles of Banta and his friends, we are gently reminded that the joke really is on us and all our pretensions. And if the American baseball star Yogi Berra can be hailed as a philosopher and his sayings celebrated as Yogi-isms, should our own Banta Singh’s glories be kept from their due? Hence Bantaism. Oye just enjway! About The Author Niranjan Ramakrishnan grew up in Delhi and lives in the USA. His articles on politics and current affairs have appeared in print and online publications in India and America. In other lives, he has worked for a bank and run two software companies.