In the small villages of India, the setting sun brought an end to everything—including Anna Mani’s precious reading time. Determined to change this, Anna dreamed of a world where light could last beyond nightfall.
But when modern electricity finally arrived, it came with a cost: skies clouded with dark, choking smoke. Anna
realized that the first solution isn’t always the best one.
Discover the inspiring true story of a scientist who turned her childhood frustration into a lifelong quest, harnessing the clean and powerful energy of the sun and wind.
There exists a deep curiosity about the Indian Air Force in civilian minds—fascination with the glamour of its aircraft and the men and women who fly them. This stands especially true after the IAF’s pivotal role in the high-stakes Operation Sindoor.
In the follow-up to the widely successful first book, Air Warriors 2 showcases more untold stories of quiet professionalism under fire and courage in the face of peril, set against the backdrop of the IAF’s day-to-day operations. From insights into Operation Sindoor and the lessons drawn from it, to boisterous games of cricket at the NDA and perilous landings on Siachen’s tiny helipads — Wing Commander Arijit Ghosh reveals a whole new side of the men and women in blue.
Deeply researched and engagingly told, the true stories in Air Warriors 2 seek to inspire, enthral, and fascinate every reader.
Over four hundred years ago, a Muslim queen defied an empire. Chand Bibi—ruler, military strategist, and diplomat—stands among the most remarkable figures of early modern India. This book brings her world to life, moving between palace intrigue, battlefield strategy, poetry, and politics.
Historian Sarah Waheed uncovers the multilayered world of the Deccan region that shaped Chand Bibi and her battles against the Mughal empire under Akbar. Interwoven with the queen’s storied past is the author’s personal journey across archives, crumbling forts, and Sufi shrines; through forgotten manuscripts and contested memories; and into the mysteries that both illuminate and conceal Chand Bibi’s life.
Deeply researched and narratively evocative, this is the definitive portrait of a woman who fought for her homeland and sought to unify a fractured region—and of the quest to bring her story back into view.
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.
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.
Is there a moment, so pliant, that we can nudge it towards any future we desire?
Sometimes I believe that there is such a moment. In a lifetime, once.
In an unnamed nation that’s about to rupture, Priyamvada (Poppy), a Hindu and Tariq, a Muslim are in love. In a few hours, Tariq intends to propose; Poppy intends to say yes. Both assume that they’ll fend off political blowback. For, surely, their privilege will protect them.
But will it? Will Poppy and Tariq sustain a love so wholesome, so cossetted, that it remains impervious to a dystopian state? Or will the two be rent apart by chance and circumstance? What will their lives look like as they plunge into a brave new future, together or apart?
Written in alternating chapters, Like Being Alive Twice trails fact and possibility—the tale as-it-was and the tale as-it-could-have-been-if-only—arranging and rearranging, tweaking and nudging; hoping to find a lasting peace in one or the other story; hoping, above all else, that such peace will prevail over murderous times.
Politically urgent, stylistically intrepid, and relentless in its commitment to scrutinizing love, loss and the language of privilege, Like Being Alive Twice tells of the frantic pursuit of life piled upon life, even as a bloodied world closes in.
Sometimes life takes you to places so dark,
You can’t even see the stars.
But don’t forget the light that’s inside you–
That you’re made of stars too.
A Light That Never Goes Dark is an illustrated collection of poetry and prose you can turn to when you feel dark inside. Whether you’re navigating difficult seasons, heartbreak, growth or simply the complexity of being human, it is here to hold space for you and gently guide you back to the light that exists within.
Hi, I’m Sitara, and just for the record: I am this close to having it all figured out.
Here’s where I am: 29, lawyer in a dead-end job, hopelessly in love with my colleague Nikhil (who sees me as a plus-one, not the one), and swimming in ideas to dig myself out of this hole—open a bakery, write that fantasy novel, start an upcycling business—without much follow-through.
Instead, I go to work every day. Like a normal, well-adjusted person.
I’m fine. Everything is fine.
And then there’s Samar. Sworn enemy, permanent headache, and charming to a fault. Annoyingly, inexplicably always around Samar, who took one look at my carefully managed life and decided it was his problem to fix. But now I can’t stop wondering if he’s onto something.
I’ve spent my whole life waiting to be chosen. But as it turns out, the only person who hasn’t taken a chance on me…is me.
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.
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.
