The eleven stories cover a wide variety of themes, but all have in common the stylistic experimentalism which came to blossom fully in Tomb of Sand. There is an iconoclasm to Geetanjali Shree’s writing, especially beginning with this collection. Readers will soon learn that nothing is sacred to the author: narrative and genre conventions are summarily pushed off their pedestals and in their place we find…what? Entirely new ways of conceiving and presenting storytelling unfurl before us as we come to question our own rigid preconceptions of the short story genre. In one story, a woman spends all day compulsively walking in circles around her housing complex. There is no introduction, no explanation, no denouement. In another, a woman goes on a writer’s retreat, and in a pseudo-sci-fi turn of events, falls passionately in love with the sky. The other participants in the retreat are robots. In a third, “Butterflies” (included here), a narrator staying in a cottage in Kerala is overwhelmed with the grief over past events, but is surprised out of her self-indulgence by a mysterious group of young women who are either nurses or diabetes patients; she’s never sure which. Plots break, sentences shatter, grammar careens, new words are formed, and new narrative structures are erected and felled. Once Elephants Lived Here reveals to us the pathbreaking experiments that led to Geetanjali Shree’s magnum opus Tomb of Sand.
Archives: Books
Everyday Etiquette
Everyday Etiquette: The Art of Mindful Living is a heartfelt, practical guide to reclaiming the lost art of everyday grace—at home, online, and at work.
In a world that is faster, louder and increasingly distracted, small courtesies are disappearing. A greeting goes unsaid. Messages remain unanswered. Presence is replaced by screens. Yet it is often these smallest gestures that shape how we are remembered.
Blending timeless Indian values with contemporary relevance, Manik Kaur reimagines etiquette not as rigid rules or social performance, but as mindfulness in action. From navigating WhatsApp groups and workplace meetings to hosting with warmth, dressing with intention, and communicating with empathy, she shows how small acts can have a powerful ripple effect on our relationships and self-worth.
With warmth, wit, and wisdom drawn from her own life, Manik weaves relatable anecdotes and practical tools into a compelling narrative. Whether you’re a young professional stepping into a big-city job, an educator seeking life-skills content, or a parent raising children in a hyper-digital world, this book is for you.
Tiger Memories
As a teenager, Ullas Karanth explored the rich jungles of Malenad in Karnataka, driven by his innate passion for nature. Shocked by how people around him were slaughtering wildlife and his deep interest in tigers, he made their scientific study his life’s mission. After two decades of tireless effort and being inspired and mentored by American biologists, Karanth became a professional wildlife biologist.
Karanth pioneered the application of radiotelemetry and camera trap surveys to study big cats, line transects to count herbivores and advanced statistical models to accurately track wildlife populations. Simultaneously, he confronted real problems of wildlife and habitat protection by collaborating with colleagues, local communities and government agencies. Overcoming serious hurdles in his conservation journey, Karanth won national and international acclaim during a six-decade long career.
Tiger Memories is the engagingly crafted narrative of Karanth’s wildlife and conservation journey. Packed with adventures and filled with facts, this book belongs in every naturalist’s library.
Uprising
On a desolate, sinking island, a group of children witness their mothers living lives of cruelty and servitude.
Bought and sold by Amma, the sadistic madam who was once herself sold into slavery, the women have learned to accept their fate. Yet their children weave fantastic tales of escape, imagining that someday they will leave the island and enjoy a life of freedom.
When Kusum Khan, a young, educated woman from the city, is forcibly brought to the island, she too is subjected to Amma’s violent induction. Yet Kusum refuses to yield, and soon the collective complacency of her fellow prisoners turns into ferocity and defiance. Together, they begin a rebellion that will upend their island, their world and the very order of things. An earth-shattering drama of resistance and female power, Uprising gives voice to the silenced through the story of a revolution no one saw coming.
The Blue Book
I’ve been trying to belong to something bigger than a country.
Not a flag. Not a map.
A memory. A rhythm.
Thus begins Siddhesh Gautam’s graphic novel as it transcends time and space to introduce you to the iconic figures from the anti-caste movement in the subcontinent. Across several dream sequences, the author who is also the protagonist of this novel, engages in deep and powerful conversations with the men and women who fought tirelessly against the caste system and its horrors. Through these conversations, he also gains the inspiration and courage to carry on the anti-caste movement, to make sure those whose lives were spent in this fight did not go in vain.
Asha Bhosle: The Voice of a Thousand Moods – A Biography
The definitive story of a voice that defined generations and now echoes forever.
Few artists have shaped the sound of a nation the way Asha Bhosle did. This riveting and revelatory biography brings together rare insights, fascinating anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes moments that illuminate the journey of one of the most versatile singers the world has ever known.
A Guinness World Record holder and recipient of the Padma Vibhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Asha Bhosle held audiences spellbound for over six decades. Her voice—fluid, fearless, and endlessly adaptable—breathed new life into every genre she touched: from haunting melodies to exuberant rock-’n’-roll, from tender ghazals to high-energy disco, from romantic ballads to playful, seductive numbers.
Drawing on vast experience and unmatched exposure, the author captures the lesser-known, deeply human story behind the legend—the choices, the challenges, and the sheer resilience that powered her extraordinary journey. What emerges is not just a portrait of an artist, but of a woman who refused to be confined by expectations. This is also the story of her defining relationships: her nuanced, often-debated equation with sister Lata Mangeshkar, and her creative evolution through iconic collaborations with O. P. Nayyar, S. D. Burman, Ravi, and R. D. Burman.
Guided by her belief that ‘the world has no time for losers,’ Asha Bhosle rose—against odds that would have defeated many—to stand tall, independent, and unmatched. Now, as the music world bids farewell to an irreplaceable voice, this book reads not just as a biography, but as a tribute—timely, timeless, and deeply moving. A story of a supernova whose brilliance will never fade.
Simple Thinking
We are obsessed with complexity and constantly seek elaborate responses to overcome challenges. The Power of Simple Thinking offers an alternate way to look at problems. Remember simplicity isn’t the absence of sophistication, rather it is finding clarity amidst chaos. If you are overwhelmed with clutter, see how a shift to simplicity can reduce outside noise and unlock smarter solutions.
Wedding on the Maharaja Express
Vir has spent his life quietly loving Vani. Now, against all odds, he’s about to marry her on the opulent Maharaja Express—a moving palace for their week-long nuptials as they travel across India. But Vani doesn’t love him yet, so Vir makes a deal: if he can win her heart before the train reaches its final stop, the wedding goes ahead. If not, he walks away.
As the Maharaja Express keeps moving, the dreamy destination wedding soon becomes a runaway train for family drama. Exes show up uninvited. Blackmail, ego clashes over regressive traditions and betrayals disrupt the celebrations.
Then, after one explosive night, a guest is found dead.
With the train derailed and no one allowed to leave, every passenger becomes a suspect. On the Maharaja Express, love is a gamble, and someone is willing to kill to win.
Chand Bibi
In 1595, the Muslim warrior queen Chand Bibi of the Deccan sultanates defeated the most powerful forces of her time: Mughal imperial armies. Who was this queen? And what kind of world made her possible? In this, the first book about Chand Bibi, the author focuses upon the inadequately studied subject of Muslim female power in premodern India. But In Search of Chand Bibi is not just another book about a Muslim woman of medieval India. It is also the author’s personal journey as a historian and the process of doing research about the past.
The Girl in Chains
Kill the target. Kill the evidence. Kill yourself.
A killer who had never fired a gun in her life—until she took a perfect headshot. A puppet who didn’t know she had strings. A detective chasing ghosts through her grief.
At a packed rally in Delhi, a young woman calmly raises a pistol and executes a cabinet minister. Then, without hesitation, she turns the gun on herself. The media screams terrorism. The public whispers suicide. But CBI officer Simone Singh sees something colder. A setup.
While nursing her dying mother and fending off shadows from her past, Simone is hurled into the most personal case of her life. The assassin left behind no motive, no trail—just a single whispered name: Daayan.
Worse, Simone’s own partner, Inspector Lucas, is hiding a secret that could destroy everything they’ve built.
As the body count rises and Delhi spirals into chaos, Simone must uncover a conspiracy woven through power and silence. But in a game where everyone is a pawn, exposing the truth might be the very thing that finally breaks her.
Twisted, taut, and emotionally explosive, The Girl in Chains is a heart-stopping race against the truth that was never meant to survive.