In June 2001, the king of Nepal and almost his entire family were massacred. Unrest, simmering over the previous decade, boiled over and pushed the nation into free fall. In 2005, the dead kings brother reinstated monarchy, crushing any hope that parliamentary democracy would flourish in Nepal. A period fraught with uncertainty and intense turmoil ensued: the Maoists waged a bloody Peoples War; the monarchy mounted a bloodier counter-insurgency effort; political parties bickered and fought endlessly; and the citizens bore the brunt of it all. Wide-ranging in scope the book spans the beginning of the monarchy, through the early democratic movements, to the present Forget Kathmandu is many things: history, memoir, reportage, travelogue, analysis. But, above all, it is an unflinching, clear-sighted attempt to make sense of the bad politics that plagued and continues to plague the country. It remains as worryingly relevant to present-day Nepal as it was when first published in 2005.
In Accidental India: A History of the Nation's Passage through Crisis and Change, noted journalist-analyst, Shankkar Aiyar, examines India's ascent through the paradigm of seven game changers: the economic liberalization of 1991, the Green Revolution of the sixties, the nationalization of banks in 1969, Operation Flood in the seventies, the mid-day meal scheme of 1982, the software revolution of the nineties, and the passing of the Right to Information Act in 2005. He argues that these turning points in the country's history were not the result of foresight or careful planning but were rather the accidental consequences of major crises that had to be resolved at any cost
Award-winning author Cyrus Mistry's 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 newborn's 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 Year's 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 Flower is another triumph from one of the country's most gifted storytellers.
Chanakyas New Manifesto: To Resolve theCrisis within India Acclaimed author Pavan K. Varmas new book analyzes themultiple challenges facing the country today and proposes clear andunambiguous solutions to them. Chanakya (c. 270-380 BCE) was classical Indias greatestthinkerand teacher. Through his unparalleled ability to deviseresult-oriented military, political, and administrative strategy,heoverthrew one king, crowned another and paved the way for theestablishment of Indias first great empire. His seminal work, theArthashashtra, arguably the worlds first comprehensive treatiseonstate craft and governance, was written approximately twothousand years before Machiavellis The Prince. What would Chanakya do if confronted with the various crisesthat beset contemporary India? Using this question as the startingpoint for his new book, celebrated writer and thinker Pavan K.Varmahas drawn up a practical and detailed plan, modelled on theArthashashtra, to bring about reform and change in five key areasthat require urgent attention-governance, democracy,corruption,security, and the building of an inclusive society.Whether it is laying the foundation for an independent andeffective Lokpal, ordecriminalizing politics and successfullyweeding out the corrupt,the solutions he proposes are substantive,well within the constitutional framework, and can make all thedifference between intent and action. Chanakyas New Manifesto is both a call to action as well as adeeply insightful account of the challenges facing thecountrytoday. It is a book that should be attentively read byeverybodywith a stake in Indias future. About Author: Pavan K. Varma Pavan K. Varma studied history at St Stephens College, Delhi,andtook a degree in law from Delhi University. He has been presssecretary to the president of India, official spokesman of theForeign Office, director general of the Indian Council for CulturalRelations, and Indias ambassador to Bhutan.
Rupi birthed her eldest son squatting in the middle of a paddy field, shin-deep in mud and slush. Soon after, Gurubari, her rival in love, gave her an illness that was like the alakjari vine which engulfs the tallest, greenest trees of the forest and sucks their hearts out. Now Rupi, once the strongest woman in her village, lives out her days on a cot in the backyard, and her life dissolves into incomprehensible ruin around her. The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey is the story of the Baskeys the patriarch Somai; his alcoholic, irrepressible daughter Putki; Khorda, Putki s devout, upright husband, and their sons Sido and Doso; and Sido s wife Rupi. Equally, the novel is about Kadamdihi, the Santhal village in Jharkhand in which the Baskeys live. For it is in full view of the village that the various large and small dramas of the Baskeys s lives play out, even as the village cheers them on, finds fault with them, prays for them and, most of all, enjoys the spectacle they provide. An astonishingly assured and original debut, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey brings to vivid life a village, its people, and the gods good and bad who influence them. Through their intersecting lives, it explores the age-old notions of good and evil and the murky ways in which the heart and the mind work.
M. S. Subbulakshmi (1916-2004), who was popularly known as MS, was one of India's greatest classical musicians. Born into a humble devadasi home, her talent and dedication to her art made her one of India's most critically acclaimed classical singers. She was the first Indian musician to receive the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, in addition to numerous other awards. Jawaharlal Nehru called her 'a Queen of Music' and Sarojini Naidu dubbed her 'the Nightingale of India'. Her fellow musicians were no less generous in their praise. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan said she was Suswaralakshmi (the Goddess of the Perfect Note) while Kishori Amonkar said she was Aathuvansur or music's 'Eighth Note' (there are only seven notes that are basic to all musical forms). MS's genius had principally to do with her exquisite voice, her extraordinary range and her unequalled command of all the material she worked with, whether it was Carnatic music, Hindustani music or devotional music such as bhajans.In this, the definitive biography of the musician (previously published as MS: A Life in Music), award-winning biographer T. J. S. George traces her journey from her beginnings as a singer in Madurai, through her breakthrough performance at the prestigious Madras Music Academy in 1932, to her carving out a place for herself as a cultural icon. Besides exploring MS's genius, the author describes the musical and social milieu that she was part of, and the various barriers she was instrumental in breaking in the course of her journey to superstardom. He covers her stint as an actress and looks at how her career was helped by various mentors and sponsors, including C. Rajagopalachari, India's last governor general. He pays particular attention to the role of her husband, T. Sadavisam, in the creation and burnishing of MS's reputation. He examines the various controversies that surrounded her origins, and also underlines her essential humility and generosity. Told with a music connoisseur's passion and understanding, M. S. Subbulakshmi: The Definitive Biography is an enthralling portrait of a musical legend.
During the chaos of partition in 1947, something dreadful happened in the city of Jalandhar in Punjab. As a result of this, Salman Rashid's family fled Jalandhar for Pakistan, the newly created country across the border. They were among the nearly two million people uprooted from their homes in the greatest transmigration in history. Besides those who fled, other members of the family became part of a grimmer statistic: They featured among the more than one million unfortunate souls who paid with their lives for the division of India and creation of Pakistan. After living in the shadow of his family's tragedy for decades, in 2008, Rashid made the journey back to his ancestral village to uncover the truth. A time of madness tells the story of what he discovered with great poignancy and grace. It is a tale of unspeakable brutality but it is also a testament to the uniquely human traits of forgiveness, redemption and the resilience of the human spirit.
A wildly original and humorous account of growing up as an Indian woman. Unladylike is a memoir that spans four decades of the author's life. From stories about a childhood spent wishing she could change everything about her life (including her parents), to her chronically delayed puberty, and the self-esteem issues that accompany a flat chest, Vaz doesn't pull any punches. She takes us through her college years, where under the vigilance of Catholic nuns she grappled with a major decision-to have or not have pre-marital sex as well as the discovery that the female body is capable of some very strange sounds at very inappropriate times. Out of respect for various ex-boyfriends, she will dwell on just one man-her wheat-eating, milk-drinking Jat husband. From their extra-long courtship (that he didn't tell his mother about), to their wedding day and beyond, there are lessons for every girl who has ever thought 'one day I'd like to be married'. The lesson is: 'Don't say you weren't warned
Arun Ferreira is from the East Indian community, the original Mumbaikars, whose villages became the localities of a sprawling metropolis. He graduated from the prestigious St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, and has been an activist since his student days.Ferreira is also a cartoonist whose drawings on social and political issues have appeared in various publications, as well as in student and worker magazines. Since his release in 2012, he continues to actively engage with issues of political prisoners, prison reforms and democratic rights. He is presently pursuing a degree in law and researching the history of the democratic rights movement in Mumbai
Poignant, witty, melancholic and intense, this is the best of four decades of prose from one of India's masters of the written word. The worst thing about being a human being is being a human being. 'I wish I was bird', as the railway clerk in Nissim Ezekiel's poem says. But if I were, the worst thing about being a bird would be being a bird. Welcome to the world of Adil Jussawalla, poet, columnist, critic. The essays and entertainments collected in this volume take in everything from language to poetry, from ethics to model aero planes, from death and addiction to travel and alienation. In these pages, you will meet poets, novelists, construction labourers, gamblers and, most startlingly, Jussawalla himself as a boy who lost himself at the movies as the acned adolescent on a ship watching a storm at sea as the flaneur of South Mumbai. Poignant, witty, melancholic and intense, this is the best of four decades of prose from one of India's masters of the written word.
Tales of Fosterganj by Ruskin Bond is a fiction that opens window to a remote and quaint village Fosterganj, located around the hills of Mussoorie.The story traces the journey of a writer from Delhi, who lands up in Fosterganj by chance. Though initially annoyed by the place and the people, he decides to stick there because of the interesting viewpoint he gets from his bathroom. Being a writer, he tries to isolate himself but his constant encounters with the natives makes him realise that each
Selected and translated by renowned writer, editor and translator Arunava Sinha, the twenty-one stories in this anthology represent the finest example of the genre. Some of the world's finest short fiction has originated (and continues to flow) from) the cities, villages, rivers, forests and plains of Bengal. This selection features twenty-one of the very best stories from the region.Here, the reader will find one of Rabindranath Tagore's most revered stories 'The Kabuliwallah' in a glinting ne
Saving Wild India spells out new and innovative ways to govern our wilderness and safeguard its future. In his new book, naturalist and conservationist Valmik Thapar gives us a bold yet considered plan to preserve and protect our dwindling forests, wildlife and wilderness areas. Saving wild India (whether we realize it or not) is of critical importance to the quality of life we lead today. It should therefore be a priority, both at the level of the state and that of the individual, to sort out t
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