Calcutta is Amit Chaudhuri’s account of two years in the city. Using the 2011 elections as his fulcrum, Chaudhuri evokes all that is most particular and extraordinary about the city-from its houses with their slatted windows to its effervescent cultural life and its pujas and Christmas. He paints too an acute, and often ironic, picture of life in the city today-of its malls, restaurants, its middle class
who leave and then return reluctantly, and of its itinerant poor. Lyrical, brilliantly observed, and profound, Calcutta is one of the finest books ever written on the city.
Archives: Books
55
‘Tried to picture myself in a shady second-rate college and realized that even thinking
about it was difficult.’
Arjun Singh is a typical South Delhi brat whose biggest worry is securing a much-coveted seat in one of the city’s top colleges. But his ambitious plans come to a screeching halt when he scores a paltry ‘55’ in English in the board exams. Unable to meet the cut-off, Arjun is forced to take admission in a neighbouring second-grade college. Between grappling with his identity as a Sikh and facing repeated misfortunes in love, Arjun’s only solace is his three best friends from school who have also ended up in the same dump. What will happen to his future now?
Witty, naughty, and plain irreverent, 55 is a delightful, mad caper about growing up and surviving three tumultuous years in the hallowed corridors of Delhi University.
Amrita Sher-Gil
Beautiful and brilliant, Amrita Sher-Gil lived life on her own terms, scandalizing the staid society of her times with her love affairs and unconventional ways. In this fascinating biography, art historian Yashodhara Dalmia paints a compelling portrait of the artist who, when she died in 1941 at the age of twenty-eight, left behind a body of work that establishes her as one of the foremost artists of the century and an eloquent symbol of the fusion between the East and the West
Don’t Buy This Book Now!
Are you someone who likes to put off until tomorrow what you could do today? Do you draw up to-do lists, only to get frustrated that you aren’t able to follow them through?
This delightful book argues that procrastinators are often perfectionists, and structured procrastinating—doing one thing as a way of not doing something else—is sometimes extremely effective. And if you’re still stuck with that list of things to do, here is advice on how to tweak it so that it becomes more manageable: put something daunting, like “Learn Chinese” or “Renovate kitchen”, at the top; cleaning the house or doing the laundry is a great way to not do those things.
Written with wry humour and peppered with a wealth of insights, Don’t Buy This Book Now! The Art of Procrastination proposes an ingenious programme for getting things done by putting them off; it’s a must-read for anyone who has ever accused themselves of being a slacker.
Soulless Phantoms
This collection of twenty-five poems gives voice to one’s existentialist pondering, the innate desire of human beings to achieve, and the immense and bittersweet comfort of sepia-tinged memories.
Lose yourself in the quaint meanderings of Anam Shahab’s words—traverse and look at the vast landscape of the world through the eyes of a sensitive soul and an empathetic, ever-questioning mind.
Work It Out Without A Workout
I don’t get time to exercise
What’s the point of joining a fitness centre when I know I’ll quit
Working out is so boring
I want to follow a fitness regime but don’t feel motivated enough
I wish I could get fitter and slimmer
My kids don’t allow me a break
I am too busy and feel drained after gymming
In Work it Out Without a Workout veteran health expert Vesna P. Jacob breaks these myths and shows you how there is NO EXCUSE for not being fit, healthy, and happy. From improving your posture to shedding extra flab without strenuous workout, you can achieve it all and that too without going to a gym. With easy to follow exercises, even while driving, travelling, or working, now you can look good while having fun at the same time.
The Blind Man’s Garden
‘Love is not consolation, it is light’
From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil comes a novel set in the months after 9/11, when Western armies invaded Afghanistan-a story of love, hope and grief, of uncorrupted faith and of what it means to be alive.
Jeo and his foster-brother Mikal leave their home in Pakistan to help care for wounded Afghans. Within hours of entering the wide-horizoned Afghan landscape, Mikal and Jeo are separated and, emerging from the carnage, Mikal begins his search for Jeo. But his deepest wish is to return home-to the young woman he loves and who loves him, Jeo’s wife
Because Shit Happened
On a fateful winter day, Amol Sabharwal, co-founder of one of the most ambitious start-up ventures in the country, yourquote.in, decides to quit. What makes Amol quit his own business venture just when it is on the brink of raising its first round of funding?
Harsh Snehanshu, bestselling author of Oops! I Fell in Love! gives us an insider’s peek into the big, bad entrepreneurial world of fame, betrayal, lust for power, greed, and unethical business practices. Based on the real-life story of the start-up that the author co-founded in 2010, Because Shit Happened will tell you what NOT to do in a start-up.
An American Brat
Bapsi Sidhwa’s brilliant fourth novel chronicles the adventures of a young Pakistani girl in America with an enormously satisfying story and characters… The extended family of Feroza Ginwalla, a lively and temperamental girl, agonizes over the decision to send her to America for a three-month holiday. This act of apparent audacity arises from concern over Feroza’s conservative attitudes, which stem from Pakistan’s rising tide of fundamentalism. Feroza’s chaperone in America, an uncle only six years her senior, is her guide, friend, and the bane of her existence. Her relationship and adventures shape her alternatively hilarious and terrifying perceptions of the US. Feroza’s family in Pakistan, meanwhile, is in delicious turmoil over the possibility that American ways will ruin her…
