Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar spent almost her entire life fighting against the devadasi system in Tamil Nadu, a practice that dedicated young girls to temples, where they were meant to be available for the sexual needs of priests and landowners. Sold off by her parents, and brought up to dedicate herself as a dasi, she managed to escape this fate and make a life for herself. Her battle against the devadasi system was met with considerable resistance, not only by those with vested interests in keeping the devadasis inside temples, but often by the devadasis themselves. But Moovalur persisted, taking her cause, and its wider ramifications into the broader politics of the Congress party, and later the Self-Respect Movement. Despite this, in the annals of recent Tamil history, she was hardly known, until the publication, in 2006 of Moovalur Ramamirtham: Vazhvum Paniyum (translated here as The Life and Work of Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar). Put together through interviews with her surviving relatives and fragments garnered from a handwritten manuscript, this is the first book to document the ‘braveheart’ of Dravidian history, Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar.
Archives: Books
Why Would I Be Married Here?
Why Would I Be Married Here? examines marriage migration undertaken by rural bachelors in North India, unable to marry locally, who travel across the breadth of India seeking brides who do not share the same caste, ethnicity, language, or customs as themselves.
Combining rich ethnographic evidence with Dalit feminist and political economy frameworks, Reena Kukreja connects the macro- political violent process of neoliberalism to the micro-personal level of marriage and intimate gender relations to analyse the lived reality of this set of migrant brides in cross-region marriages among dominant-peasant caste Hindus and Meo Muslims in rural North India.
Why Would I Be Married Here? reveals how predatory capitalism links with patriarchy to dispossess many poor women from India’s marginalized Dalit and Muslim communities of marriage choices in their local communities. It reveals how, within the context of the increasing spread of capitalist relations, these women’s pragmatic cross-region migration for marriage needs to be reframed as an exercise of their agency that simultaneously exposes them to new forms of gender subordination and internal othering of caste discrimination and ethnocentrism in conjugal communities. Why Would I Be Married Here? offers powerful examples of how contemporary forces of neoliberalism reshape the structural oppressions compelling poor women from marginalized communities worldwide into making compromised choices about their bodies, their labour, and their lives.
The Feminisms of Our Mothers
In this remarkable collection of essays about their mothers, women from Pakistan explore the many meanings of feminism and its varying interpretations through generations. How, they ask, do these meanings change, mould, attract and detract within and between generations? How do women bridge the cracks that emerge in these formations as they hold within them the joys, sorrows, conflicts and contradictions of their multiple feminisms?
Intentional Health
A nurturing guide to whole-body health that completely integrates traditional Eastern and modern Western healing practices.
By combining a 5,000-year history rooted in time-tested, ancient traditions with cutting-edge science, Dr. Chiti Parikh, executive director of the Integrative Health and Wellbeing Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a clinical professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, provides the steps you can take to bring your body into a lasting state of balance and live a longer life with more energy, less pain, and renewed confidence.
No matter where you are along your health journey, Dr. Chiti will help you achieve balance by letting you in on seven ancient secrets from circadian rhythms to the mind-body connection to digestive fire. With Dr. Chiti’s guidance, you too can become intentionally healthy by:
• Setting a positive health intention and visualizing how you’d like to feel
• Diving into ancient health principles
• Engaging in a 28-day vitality regimen to jump-start your journey to optimal health
• Becoming equipped with the knowledge to identify imbalances as soon as they occur
After all, health is not the mere absence of disease. Health is living a life full of energy and manifesting your true potential, with your body as your best ally.
Intentional Health offers a clear road map for self-regulating our biology for optimal health and longevity. What was once considered alternative medicine is now supported by advances in epigenetics and neuroplasticity. Our conscious choices and habits of thinking, feeling, and behavior can restore healing and make chronic illness optional. This book is an excellent guide for anyone seeking a joyful, energetic body, healthy emotions, clear mind, and lightness of being. – Deepak Chopra
Rethinking India: The Politics of the Marginalized
The Rethinking India series, spearheaded by the Samruddha Bharat Foundation and Penguin Random House India, objectively rethinks the current socio-economic, political and cultural paradigms, and poses disruptive ideas addressing structural problems. Leveraging the unique intellectual vantage points of India’s foremost thinkers and practitioners, the three books included in this box set critically reflect on the lived realities of the Dalit, Shudra, Adivasi and Denotified communities. Sensitively juxtaposing ‘what should have been’ with ‘what is’, the books propose a visionary blueprint that will both deepen and further India’s constitutional promise for these communities. This is a must-have set for politicians, policymakers, academics, activists, journalists, students and anyone working on issues of social justice, equality, fraternity, liberty and welfare in India.
The Naga Warriors 1
To prepare for the future, our ancestors created the Naga sadhus—a clan of warriors for the protection of Dharma, as proclaimed by Adi Guru Shankaracharya in the eighth century. This sect of Shiva devotees has stood firm, living selflessly and fighting fearlessly. For centuries, they have died the death of heroes, serving and saving Dharma and the temples.
In the year 1757, 111 Naga sadhus borrowed the majestic weapons of the idols of their gods. Fueled by their belief in Lord Shiva, they gathered an invincible courage to protect the temples of Gokul. They stood as an indestructible wall, led by Ajaa, a fearless Naga warrior, against the Afghan army of 4000 men, a cavalry of 200 horses and 100 camels, and 20 cannons. The brutal Afghan army was led by Sardar Khan, the most ruthless commander of Emperor Ahmed Shah Abdali, ill-famed for the demolition of temples and building a history of genocide in Bharat.
The fight continues. This is the Naga warrior’s commitment to courage and determination. This is the clash of Shiva devotees against the devils that lie under men’s skin. This is the Battle of Gokul.
I Don’t Love You Anymore
Dear reader,
I hope this book feels like a warm hug to you. I wrote this book for the ones who feel everything too deeply. You’re right, I wrote this book for you.
This book was meant to find you if you’ve ever loved someone who didn’t love you back, if you’ve ever over-invested in the wrong people or if you have a hard time letting go.
I Don’t Love You Anymore is a book that’ll feel like home to you. I promise it’ll hold you gently on your worst days.
Love,
Rithvik
Worthy: How to Believe You Are Enough and Transform Your Life
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
What has self-doubt already cost you in your life? WORTHY is how you change that.
Imagine what you’d do, if you FULLY believed in YOU! When you stop doubting your greatness, build unshakable self-worth and embrace who you are, you transform your entire life! WORTHY teaches you how, with simple steps that lead to life-changing results!
“In life, you don’t soar to the level of your hopes and dreams, you stay stuck at the level of your self-worth. In your business, leadership, relationships, friendships and ambitions, you don’t rise to what you believe is possible, you fall to what you believe you’re worthy of. When you build your self-worth, you change your entire life. WORTHY teaches you how. I wrote WORTHY for YOU if you have some self-doubt to destroy and a destiny to fulfill!” – Jamie Kern Lima
Author Jamie Kern Lima’s first, instant New York Times bestselling book, Believe It, captured her journey of going from Denny’s waitress to billion-dollar entrepreneur by learning to believe in herself. And now her second, much anticipated, upcoming book WORTHY is the playbook for how YOU can believe in YOU!
If you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt, felt like you don’t have what it takes…or that who you truly are isn’t enough, even if you’re really good at hiding it from the world, WORTHY is for you. If you’ve been underestimating your talent and gifts, or battle imposter syndrome, WORTHY is for you. If you’ve been letting fear of failure and rejection hold you back, WORTHY is for you. If you’ve learned to please others so much that you end up betraying yourself, WORTHY is for you. If you’re sick and tired of what self-doubt has already cost you in your life, in your goals, in your relationships, and in your hopes and dreams, WORTHY is for you! If you’re ready to expand your self-love, ignite your self-confidence and wake up your self-worth, WORTHY is for you!!
When you change what you believe you’re worthy of, you change your entire life.
This book is about how to do that.
IN WORTHY YOU’LL LEARN HOW TO…
• Get Unstuck from the Things Holding You Back
• Build Unshakable Self-Love
• Unlearn the Lies the Lead to Self-Doubt
• Embrace The Truths That Wake Up Worthiness
• Stop Dimming Your Light and Doubting Your Greatness
• Let Go of Past Mistakes and Restore Self-Confidence
• Overcome Limiting Beliefs and Embody Empowering Ones
• Eliminate Your Fear of Rejection and Failure
• Learn to Believe You’re Enough Exactly as You Are
• Transform the Meaning You Give to Your Own Story and Identity
• Follow the Roadmap for Achieving True Fulfillment in Life
• Achieve Your Hopes and Dreams by Believing You Are Worthy of Them
• Embrace Who You Truly Are
And much more…
Are you ready to unleash your greatness and believe in the power that is YOU? Are you ready to finally stop believing the lies that you’re unlovable, unqualified or not (fill in the blank) enough? Are you ready to triumph over the thoughts holding you back, destroy self-doubt and truly know and believe you have what it takes to accomplish your greatest goals and wildest dreams?
Imagine…what would you do if you had zero self-doubt and unshakable self-worth? What would you do if you fully believed in YOU?
Learn With Ladybird – Key Maths Skills (5-7 years)
Make key maths skills easy and fun with this colourful, engaging activity book featuring six friendly animal students from Ladybird Class.
Your little learner will join the diverse characters of Ladybird Class as they practise new skills every day. Packed with activities and games, Key Maths Skills has been developed and written by primary educators, making it the perfect book to support your child’s early maths skills and build their confidence. This 4-1 activity book includes: Addition and Subtraction, First Multiplication, Maths Problem-Solving and Mental Maths.
They will practise:
– adding and subtracting larger numbers
– multiplying and dividing in 2s, 5s and 10s
– using number sentences in different contexts
– addition, multiplication and division in different contexts
– measurements, number sequences and patterns, estimating and number squares
– while gradually building on what they have already learned.
This book includes lots of fun educational games and activities, as well as helpful parent notes and activity answers to support learning and give children a sense of achievement.
Children who enjoy this title could also try Key English Skills: A Learn with Ladybird Activity Book 5-7 years.
Looking for another school-bag bestseller? Discover:
Shapes, Colours and Numbers: a Learn with Ladybird 4-in-1 activity book 3-5 years
First Reading and Writing: a Learn with Ladybird 4-in-1 activity book 3-5 years
Key English Skills: a Learn with Ladybird 4-in-1 activity book 5-7 years
Learn With Ladybird – Shapes, Colours and Numbers (3-5 years)
Learn with Ladybird is a range of activity books that provides fun yet educationally robust content for children aged 3-7 years
Your little learner will join the diverse characters of Ladybird Class as they practise new skills every day. Packed with activities and games, Shapes, Colours and Numbers has been developed and written by primary educators, making it the perfect book to support your child’s early maths skills and build their confidence. This 4-1 activity book includes: Count from 0 to 20, First Sums, Shapes, Colours and Patterns and Counting Games.
They will practise:
– recognising colours and shapes, finishing repeating patterns
– counting numbers from 0 to 20 in different contexts
– writing each number in the correct way (with guidance for left-handed children)
– sums and using number sentences in different contexts
– pen control and key early maths concepts and vocabulary
– while gradually building on what they have already learned.
This book includes lots of fun educational games and activities, as well as helpful parent notes and activity answers to support learning and give children a sense of achievement. Children who have completed this title can move on to Key Maths Skills: A Learn with Ladybird Activity Book 5-7 years.
Looking for another school-bag bestseller? Discover:
Key Maths Skills: a Learn with Ladybird 4-in-1 activity book 5-7 years
First Reading and Writing: a Learn with Ladybird 4-in-1 activity book 3-5 years
Key English Skills: a Learn with Ladybird 4-in-1 activity book 5-7 years