High-school best friends Ameena and Jamilla couldn’t be more different: while one smokes cigarettes in their school playground, the other is a member of her mosque’s discussion group in suburban Yorkshire. When heartbreak and doubt leave Ameena bereft and alone, she turns to Jamilla’s beloved Allah for solace and purpose.
It is then that both girls find themselves entranced by a powerful Internet preacher-Hejjiye, a woman running an orphanage home in support of the men fighting in the name of jihad. Leaving their families and country behind, they run to join the Islamic State in Syria to serve a cause they unquestioningly believe in.
However, things begin to change for the worse once Ameena marries Hassan, a jihadi leader, and suddenly Jamilla begins to see the world that she left everything for differently. Getting out is almost impossible, but there is one way. Will the girls choose a path which might change their lives beyond recognition?
Heart-wrenching, masterful and stunningly powerful, Jihadi Jane paints a vivid picture of militant-brides operating around the world and the terrifying cost of religious fanaticism.
Kalidasa’s most famous play refashions an episode from the Mahabharata, magnificently dramatizing the love story of Shakuntala, a girl of semi-divine origin, and Dushyanta, a noble human king. After their brief and passionate but secret union at her father’s forest ashram, Dushyanta must return to his capital. He gives Shakuntala his signet ring, promising to make her his queen when she joins him later. But, placed unawares under a curse, he forgets her-and she loses the ring that would have enabled him to recognize her. Will the lovers be reunited?
The world’s first full-length play centred on a comprehensive love story, The Recognition of Shakuntala is an undisputed classic of the ancient period. Vinay Dharwadker’s sparkling new translation is the definitive poetic rendering of this romantic-heroic comedy for the twenty-first century stage. His absorbing commentary and notes give contemporary readers an unparalleled opportunity to savour the riches of a timeless text.
In June 1975, Coomi Kapoor was a young reporter at the Indian Express in Delhi, when Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency, suspending civil liberties and sending opposition leaders to prison. In the dark days that followed, she personally experienced the full fury of the Emergency-her journalist husband was imprisoned on flimsy charges under the draconian MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), and her brother-in-law, Jana Sangh MP Subramanian Swamy, was on the run to evade arrest, while her family faced constant threats and harassment from the security forces.
Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi, her son Sanjay and his coterie unleashed a reign of terror that saw forced sterilizations, brutal ‘beautification‘ drives that left thousands of people homeless overnight, and students and other innocent people jailed without cause or trial, while the press was firmly muzzled under strict censorship rules.
This eyewitness account of the Emergency vividly recreates the drama, the horror, as well as the heroism of a few, during those nineteen months, 40 years ago, when democracy was derailed.
A young Rajput orphaned by the revolt of 1857 travels many years later from Cawnpore to Delhi to get the Divan of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib autographed by the great poet himself. Beni Madho Ruswa is entranced by the poet’s radiant presence. Young Mir Taqi Mir, a rising star in the world of poetry, meets the first great love of his life, Nurus Saadat, an exquisite beauty from Isfahan. A tumultuous love affair follows, accompanied by ravishing verse. Aspiring poet and wealthy businessman Darbari Mal Vafa pays a visit to Lucknow and learns of the life and work of the poet Shaikh Mushafi through the stories told by his widow.
Poets and poetry occupy centre stage in the fabulous stories of The Sun that Rose from the Earth, set in the great cities of north India and spanning the glittering age of the Mughals. Brilliantly reimagined by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, the poets-historical figures ranging from Ghalib, Mirza Jan-e Janan, Budh Singh Qalandar, Amir Khan Anjam, Mir, Kishan Chand Ikhlas, Haidar Ali Atash, Mushafi and many more-compose remarkable poems, find patrons, make love, fight their enemies and make their living.
The celebrated master of Urdu prose presents richly elegant and superbly realized portraits, from a time past, of those who exemplify the land and culture of Hindustan.
You know, MN,’ I said, ‘sometimes I can’t understand why you’re telling me these stories, or even what the stories mean. What do they mean, MN?’ Ever heard the one about my donkey? The man was nuts. I asked him a question, and he answered with another question. As thirteen-year-old Shashank sits despairing over his Maths homework, a little doodle comes alive and reveals himself as Mulla Nasruddin (MN). Shashank and the quick-witted MN strike up a close friendship, and MN’s never-ending stream of stories make Shashank wonder if he is an explorer, a time-traveller, a smuggler or a clown. Shashank starts writing down MN’s hilarious escapades—of falling off roofs and defeating the Travelling Brainies; of staying dry in the rain and finding a road on the top of a tree; how he once ate a whole basket of chillies; and how he tried to get rid of Timur the Lame’s pet elephant. Then one day, while doing a search for MN on the Internet, Shashank finds himself trapped in a magic grid that he must use his wits and courage to get out of. As he looks desperately for an escape route, MN’s words come back, ringing loud and clear, showing him how to confront his own fear and secret sorrow to emerge unscathed and happy. Taking the much-loved tales of Mulla Nasruddin into a young boy’s richly imaginative world, Sampurna Chattarji’s retelling is one that will entertain and move both adults and children alike.
‘A literary heavyweight’-Indian Express
In these bold, wry and ebullient stories, Meera’s astonishing range of narrative techniques is on full display as she expertly lays bare the faultlines behind the façade of everyday life, sometimes with dark humour and sometimes with astoundingly bitter sadness.
Classic Vikram and Vetal stories retold for our times The king slashes his way through the forest, his sword cutting down the terrifying rings of leaves and branches. He climbs a tamarind tree and brings down a corpse hanging from its highest branch. Just as he turns to make his way out of the gloomy forest, an eerie voice cackles in his ear . . . Thus begins the saga of Vikramaditya, the brave and noble king, and the Vetal, his tormentor from the spirit world. As Vikramaditya trudges through the forest, the Vetal narrates stories to him, ending each with a riddle that tests the king’s famed sense of justice, his ideas of right and wrong. Many centuries later, a twelve-year-old girl, disgusted at the way her summer holiday is turning out, runs away to a dusty field where she meets a strange old man sitting under a large tree. The man tells her stories about kings and queens and people of long ago, tales of generosity, courage and wisdom as well as of treachery, deceit and great stupidity. Incredibly, each of the stories deals with ideas and issues that are being debated at home by her eccentric grandmother. She also learns that these are the ancient Vikram and Vetal stories, and that King Vikramaditya had asked for a boon wanting these tales to be handed down generations. But who is the old man? And what connects the girl to a king from ancient times? Deftly weaving together the age-old Vikram and Vetal stories with the mysterious happenings of a summer holiday, Poile Sengupta brings alive these classic tales in a new, energetic way. Funny, sad, serious and weird, this unique retelling proves how relevant these tales remain even today.
An ancient throne reveals forgotten tales of the bravest and noblest of kings—Vikramaditya When Upa’s father gets kidnapped from the tiny village where he was working, Upa and her mother move to her great-grandmother’s house in a small town, to recover from the shock. There the dejected and worried mother and daughter are befriended by an odd-looking stranger who insists on telling them stories of King Vikramaditya and his long-lost throne.
Centuries after Vikramaditya’s death, King Bhoja unearthed his magnificent throne and decided to make it his own. But each time he set foot on it, a statue carved on its side came alive and told him a story of Vikramaditya’s kindness. The statues warned Bhoja that he should sit on the throne only if he could match Vikramaditya in his deeds, and each time Bhoja came away humbled. For whether he was diving to the bottom of the seas to discover fantastic jewels, or deflecting the planet Saturn from its path in order to save his kingdom, or simply trying to help a miserable cow fallen into a ditch, there was never one to match Vikramaditya in courage and generosity.
As Upa and her mother listen to these magical stories they begin to see the goodness in the people around them and recognize the relevance of the tales of King Vikramaditya in their lives today. Thought-provoking and always entertaining, Poile Sengupta’s retelling of these ancient stories makes them come alive like never before.
Mango trees are court witnesses
Magical sticks identify thieves
Birbal must take a trip to heaven
The friendship between Emperor Akbar and his minister Birbal created history and some delightful stories! The tales of Akbar and Birbal have been passed on from generation to generation, enthralling young and old listeners alike. This book brings together a selection of these stories, along with fascinating historical details about the Mughal court, the emperor and his witty courtier.
With well-researched introductions to each aspect of Mughal life, Amita Sarin recreates Akbar’s court in all its grandeur and vitality. The stories in this collection are both amusing and thought-provoking, both historical and timeless.
David Headley, the American-Pakistani also known as Daood Gilani, lived a double life. One day he would stroll through Central Park in his tailored Armani suit as a true New Yorker, and the next he would browse in the bazaar in Lahore wearing traditional Pakistani clothes. One day he would drink champagne at the most extravagant clubs; on another he would prostrate himself in prayer in remote Pakistan and pledge fidelity to Allah.
Born in 1960, the son of an American mother and Pakistani father, with one blue eye and one brown, Headley grew up between East and West. He was attracted to both worlds, even working as an informant for the US government, until one day he found he had to choose between the place of his birth and a radical form of Islam preaching global jihad. This is the disturbing story of the mastermind behind the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people-who, two months later, flew to Copenhagen to plan another act of terror with the help of al-Qaeda sleeper cells in Europe.
Veteran journalist Kaare Sørensen has reconstructed his movements and planning in a tense feat of reportage. His account, based on extensive reporting, eyewitness interviews, and documentation, including wiretaps, court transcripts, and emails by Headley accessed from a chat room cache of 9000 messages, offers unprecedented insight into the mind of the terrorist.
