In the 1980s, the streets of Dongri, Pydhonie, Nagpada, Agripada and Byculla witnessed some of the bloodiest gang wars and reigns of terror India had ever seen. These neighbourhoods became the battlegrounds of crime. But when did it all begin?
Tracing it back to the 1930s, when Abdul Karim Sher Khan Pathan, aka Karim Lala—considered one of the first feared dons of Bombay—arrived in the city. He soon mastered the tricks of the trade with the Pathan lords Babul Khan and Jumma Khan, thus gradually establishing his dominance. As the Pathans grew in power, resentment against them simmered among the Pathans. Petty criminals from the city’s streets and markets began to evolve into ‘dadas’ and ‘bhais’, forming gangs of their own.
This gave rise to the first generation of dons—figures including Karim Lala, Haji Mastan and Dilip Aziz—who built empires through smuggling, extortion and other rackets. Over time, these groups diversified, regrouped and expanded into larger syndicates of organized crime.
But the next generation of gangsters were ruthless. Power struggles turned volatile, and many began to pose serious threats to one another. Dawood Ibrahim and his allies too emerged during this time. What followed was an era of bloody rivalries, gangsters eliminating their rivals with impunity, openly defying the police.
Rakesh Maria, the veteran Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who led some of India’s most high-profile investigations, reflects on the tumultuous history in this extraordinary book, When It All Began. Replete with rare information, landmark cases and the full arc of gang wars at every turn, the account captures the rise and fall of Bombay’s underworld like never before. With its authoritative voice and an insider’s perspective, this book will grip you to the very end.
Two families. One shared garden.
And a rose bush growing right in the middle.
They played together, laughed, argued,
and made up—life was wonderful.
Until the parents had a fight. The garden was divided.
Can the children, with a little help from their pets,
bring back the peace?
A beautifully illustrated tale with a timeless message, The Rose Bush gently shows children that even when disagreements pull people apart, kindness and cooperation can bring them back together. With warmth and hope, this story helps young readers understand conflict, reconciliation, and the power of friendship, reminding us all that peace can bloom again, just like a rose.
Tarun wants a pet. Desperately. Especially since his best friend Joey has a brand-new puppy. But Papa says no, Mummy says no-no , and Daadi says achoo! So Tarun sets off on a pet hunt, trying to charm everything from birds to baby crocodiles—and even Aunty C.
Just when Tarun is about to give up, a fat cat brings news. Is there hope yet for the petless boy? Or just more
mosquito bites, pigeon poop and trouble?
Everything is perfect. Faizya and Kalpesh are smashing it at their basketball sessions—until one teeny, tiny (okay, massive, monstrous, mega) mistake. And then . . . boom! Disaster strikes!
The BFFs pull out all the stops to win over Coach Dollar, but he has a game plan of his own.
Can Faizya and Kalpesh make a comeback on the court? Or is this the final whistle for their basketball dreams?
While spending the summer vacation at their grandmother’s home in the hills, Nikoo and her younger brother Zubin spot a fantastical leaf creature and decide to get to the bottom of it.
But a mystery is hard to solve when you’re too busy quarrelling over a goat!
The plot thickens when Zubin suddenly disappears. Has the leaf creature whisked him away? And is there more to a goat than meets the eye?
They told you to hustle. They forgot to tell you how to survive.
DeepTech isn’t a sprint. It’s years in the lab before a single sale. It’s moonshot ambition colliding with marathon endurance. It’s investors who want speed and a mission that can’t be rushed.
Moonshots and Marathons is the unfiltered playbook for founders building the impossible—satellites, AI breakthroughs, climate solutions, life-saving biotech.
Three insiders who’ve invested in, scaled, and advised hundreds of DeepTech companies reveal the real rules: how to choose battles, protect your IP, survive the ‘valleys of death’, and exit without selling your soul.
If your ideas could change the world, this is the book that shows you how to last long enough to make it happen.
A taut, immersive chronicle of endurance’ Time Magazine
‘One of the most compelling and unflinching books you will ever read’ Daily Telegraph
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Be’eri, shattering the peaceful life Eli Sharabi had built with his British wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Dragged barefoot out of his front door while his family watched in horror, Sharabi was plunged into the suffocating darkness of Gaza’s tunnels. In total he endured a gruelling 491 days in captivity – all the while holding onto the hope that he would one day be reunited with his loved ones. In the first memoir by a released Israeli hostage, and the fastest-selling book in Israel’s history, Sharabi offers a searing firsthand account of survival under unimaginable conditions – starvation, isolation, physical beatings, and psychological abuse at the hands of his captors.
Eli Sharabi’s story is one of hunger and heartache, of physical pain, longing, loneliness and a helplessness that threatens to destroy the soul. But it is also a story of strength, of resilience, and of the human spirit’s refusal to surrender. It is about the camaraderie forged in captivity, the quiet power of faith, and one man’s unrelenting decision to choose life, time and time again.
Reminiscent of Elie Wiesel’s Night, Hostage is a profound witness to history, so that it shall be neither forgotten nor erased.
India’s Forests aims to explore the history of Indian forests in a new way. It is a result of several years of deliberations on how to think about the Indian forests from a historical perspective. It revisits more than the question of the role of forests in India’s long history. It seeks to bring to light new insights on how changes in society, culture, and polity have reshaped forests and continue to do so.
Forests mean not one but many things to different people. While seen as ecologically crucial in many ways, they are also a storehouse of resources in more than one way. They have also been the arena and subject of critical social movements, among whom Chipko gained special prominence in India almost half a century ago. They are also sites of social, political, scientific and cultural contestation.
Forests are battlegrounds for more than just timber and land. Forests are contested not only as a resource but also in ideational terms. What constitutes a forest, for whom, when, and where can it be, is often a contentious issue.
2023 NAPPA Award Winner
The magical story of a compassionate hero who learns how to always care for others and to never give up—for kids ages 4–8.
Lokeshvara shows us that with compassion,
we can always pick up the pieces of a broken heart,
and be stronger, more loving, and more wise than before.
Lokeshvara is a compassionate hero who lives above the moon. He tries to help every single being in the world but gets frustrated when he realizes that he can’t save everyone. Lokeshvara becomes so disheartened that he explodes into a thousand pieces. With a little help from a wise friend and teacher, the pieces are put back together in a way that can benefit even more beings than before.
Lokeshvara’s tale of compassion and resilience teaches us that even when we feel overwhelmed by the suffering we see in the world, we can still find creative ways to help those around us.
With beautiful illustrations that use a unique approach to color, shadows, and perspective to evoke a sense of magic and wonder, this retelling of a classic Asian Buddhist tale is timely and meaningful for kids and grown-ups alike.
Explore a fresh telling of the inspiring, mysterious, and magical life of the great master Padmasambhava—the Lotus-Born—who planted the seed of Buddhism in Tibet that is still blossoming today, beautifully illustrated for ages 10+.
The Lotus-Born is one of the most iconic and important figures in Tibetan history. Here, his magical life story is outlined in colorful and captivating detail, offering young readers a rare glimpse into his fierce adventures and battles that transformed Tibet, a land of malevolent spirits and wild folk, into a fertile ground for Buddhism. The rich and vibrant spiritual tradition that resulted in Tibet has thrived for over one thousand years. This timeless tale is sure to capture the imagination of future generations, just as the oral, theatrical, and written accounts of it have in the Himalayas for centuries.
