‘This was always going to happen.’
Tara Mullick falls in love with Jay Dhillon at first encounter. Her pull toward the older, brilliant billionaire is an unyielding force that carries her through Catholic school in Kolkata to four years of recklessness at college in the American Midwest. Things come to a head upon Tara’s return to India. She comes face-to-face with the socially oppressive realities of her world, and then, six years after their initial meeting-with Jay himself.
Edgy and compelling, Hedon is a stunning debut novel that explores the vagaries of love and heartache, and what it means to not know where you belong.
This is the story of the carefully planned resurgence of the State Bank of India (SBI) from a laid-back incumbent under threat from private players to a customer-oriented competitive organization that has outperformed rivals despite several constraints. The leadership at SBI succeeded in reshaping perspectives and profitability at the bank, which employs a staggering 200,000 people, not withstanding salary restrictions and regulatory bottlenecks. While the primary thrust was on changing employee attitude towards their own organization and, of course, its customers, the transformation exercise was broad-based encompassing fundamental changes in technology, processes and business-mix alike. In about three years beginning 2006, SBI not only defended its own lair against the siege of younger, leaner, meaner rivals but actually took the battle to the attacker’ domains. SBI’s size and setting make the story an inspiring example to other organizations, particularly in the public sector.
Written in a fluid and engaging style, and backed by facts, figures, analysis and anecdotes, the book challenges several stereotypes and dogmas common in today’s management circles.
‘War is my creed, my anchor and my strength’ It is the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra War. The Kauravas and the Pandavas have reached a stalemate, even though the former has the mightier army. The frustrated Kauravas finally decide to deploy a deadly strategy known as the Chakravyuh-a battle formation that is seemingly impossible to break. When Krishna and Arjuna, the only two people who know the secret to penetrating the Chakravyuh, are lured away from the battlefield, it is up to young Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, to save the Pandavas from certain defeat. A true Kshatriya, Abhimanyu breaks through the maze and reaches its heart, leaving his soldiers far behind and thus directing the Kaurava onslaught entirely towards himself. Full of breakneck action and high drama, this stunningly illustrated graphic novel tells the story of one of the greatest heroes from the Mahabharata, who single-handedly turned the tide of the ultimate war between dharma and adharma.
Five years ago, Arjun Kadam was a cop, a rising star in the ranks of the Mumbai Encounter Squad. A tragic event sends him spiralling into depression and drug abuse and Kadam is reduced to a pale shadow of his former self when he becomes the victim of a hit-and-run that also claims the life of a street urchin. Waking from a month-long coma, Kadam is determined to catch the culprit. He’s rapidly sucked into the deep, dark heart of Mumbai, from the glitzy tinsel of Bollywood to the dank depths of the Mumbai Underworld, where the line between the police and the criminals has been blurred beyond recognition. Obsessed with his mission, Kadam sets off a desperate gambit of deadly intrigue and deception that pits him against the very machine of violence and corruption he once helped create.
Fifteen-year-old Tenral leads two lives.There is the one she leads with her family and her friends at school-‘a skin-of-milk life, easy and forgiving, like five o’clock sunshine’. Into her other, difficult life, move her English teacher, Mrs Alfie, and her dead lover. Tenral recreates their romance, taking her clues from Mrs Alfie’s dramatic rendering of poetry, and tries to reconcile the past with the present through her own fairy tales. Even as her friends look on, disapproving of her flights of fancy, Tenral’s complex imaginary world widens to include the dour maths teacher, Mr Tilak, and Mrs Alfie’s mad mother, who spills the secret about Mrs Alfie’s navy blue baby. Events hurtle towards a frightening climax as Mrs Alfie emerges from Tenral’s world of make-believe to reveal the truth. Tenral can reject this truth, and escape into her world of fantasy. Or she can embrace real life with its hardships and disappointments, in the hope that, in the end, it is all worthwhile, for there is always ambrosia for afters.
Freedom was then a far vision, and no one really expected to see a free India in his or her lifetime. The hundreds and thousands of men, women and teenagers, whose stamina and sacrifices led to our independence, were the real heroes of the Non cooperation movement. For people like them, Anand Bhawan was a symbol of the struggle.’ Writing about her growing up years, author Chandralekha Mehta, Pandit Nehru’s niece, gives us a peek into the momentous years of the freedom struggle. This was the age of Satyagraha, when the country was awakening to new realities, trying to shape her own destiny and inching her way to freedom, all brought about by the vision of one man Mahatma Gandhi. The author and her family, the Nehrus in Allahabad, were prominent participants in the extraordinary and historical events of the time.
‘When Anjali and I were really little, we were sort of afraid of our grandmother, Ammuchi.’
Aditya and Anjali love listening to their grandmother’s stories, particularly the scary one about the ghost in the tree. But the night their grandmother passes away, all her stories seem to lose their meaning.
Then something happens that is more mysterious and magical than any story. Could their grandmother still be with them after all?
Stunningly illustrated and told in gorgeous, poetic prose, this is a poignant and moving story about bereavement and healing.
Join Amma and her boys as they travel to Shirdi, home to one of India’s most celebrated saints-Sai Baba. Hear the story of one of the most loved and revered mystics. Walk around the neem tree that gave him shelter. Relish a few moments in Dwarka Mai, the dilapidated mosque that became his home. Visit Dhuni Mai, the ever-burning fire Sai Baba had lit, and receive his blessings. Hear stories of the countless miracles he performed as you pay respects at the Shri Samadhi Temple, where he rests.
Feel Sai Baba’s all-pervasive presence, blessings and grace as you soak in the spirit of this sanctum. Listen to his teachings of Shraddha and Saburi and his beliefs of ‘Allah Malik’ and ‘Sabka Malik Ek’. Let Amma take you on a journey to witness the life of this unique saint who taught by example, compassion and kindness and who, for a century, has been drawing millions of adoring devotees every year.
Told through interesting stories with captivating illustrations, this book brings alive an important place of worship in an engaging and non-preachy way.
The companion volume to the best-selling Puffin History of India for Children: 3000 BC-AD 1947, Roshen Dalal’s new history of post-Independence India tells the story of the making of the nation that we live in, and the events and personalities that have shaped it in recent times. The Puffin History of India for Children: 1947 to the Present begins at a turning point of Indian history, as India attains independence and the British withdraw from the subcontinent. Independent India’s first few years are eventful and epoch-making: before the traumas of Partition and of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi have fully subsided, the focus must shift to laying the blueprint of the new nation, with the making of the Constitution, the integration of the 565 princely states, the setting-up of the administrative, legislative and judiciary systems, and the establishment of an infrastructure for industry and agriculture. In a lucid and informal style, the book then tells the fascinating story of India over the next fifty years, beginning with the premierships of Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi and proceeding to Jayaprakash Narayan and the Emergency, the ousting of the Congress party and the rule of the Janata government headed by Morarji Desai. The author describes the dramatic turnarounds of the 1980s and ’90s, from Indira Gandhi’s return to power to her subsequent assassination, Rajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership, the governments of V.P. Singh and P.V. Narasimha Rao, and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rise to power, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee heading a National Democratic Alliance government. Along with periods of growth, the book looks closely at times of turbulence: the Indo-China War of 1962, the war with Pakistan in 1965, the 1971 Bangladesh War, and the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Happy Hours: The Penguin Book of Cocktails is a first of its kind and all that you will need to set up your very own bar and make it the most talked-about one in town.
It will show you how to master basic techniques and impress your guests: keep your glasses sparkling clean, create decorative ice cubes and use a cocktail shaker with panache. It will tell you about the origins, production and classification of different types of liquor, and provide smart tips on preserving and serving them. It will treat you to a splendid selection of over 650 recipes-from classics such as the Tom Collins and Daiquiri to unique concoctions like the Maheshwar Margarita (a feni-Cointreau-lemon juice mix) and Mango Bellini to inventive punches, mocktails and heady mixtures guaranteed to cure hangovers-complete with meticulous instructions on measurements, suggested glassware and garnishes, as well as a few tricks to reinvent popular mixes.
Along the way, you’ll also pick up
– Up-to-date information on premier liquor brands and their availability in India
– Entertaining asides on sundry topics of interest, from the most expensive whisky in the world to the status of alcohol in ancient Indian society
– Crucial advice on how to recover from a night of hectic partying
– A comprehensive glossary that provides clear definitions of otherwise unfamiliar terms
Whether you’re a professional bartender or a generous host, planning a lavish party or simply looking to add zing to an evening drink, this stylish, sumptuous book is the ultimate companion for your bar.
