In this book, Renuka Narayanan, one of Indias leading mainstream commentators on religion and sprituality, looks at ways to fill the empty space that Sartre famously called ‘the God-sized hole’ in our consciousness. Eschewing extreme viewpoints, she tries to apply the ‘Big Idea’ to our little lives, and makes many interfaith discoveries. This volume contains a selection of her writings in ‘Faithline’, the popular column.
Archives: Books
The Great Indian Love Story
The Great PBI – Indian Love Story is set in a PBI – World where appearances mean everything and nothing is as it seems. There’s no time for love in a PBI – World that revolves around the latest Ferraris, the hottest nightclubs, diamonds, single malts, cocaine and ecstasy. In this whirl of wild parties, sex and drugs we meet Serena Sharma who lives her life one debauched night at a time, always falling for the wrong men. Her life is a rollercoaster ride: her father’s death followed by her mother’s remarriage, a broken heart and a lost love. Adding to this is her torrid affair with Amar Khanna—a trophy husband, coke addict and serial adulterer. Riya, jaded by her unsuccessful attempt to find a job in America, returns to Delhi to find the city of her childhood changed beyond recognition. Striking an unlikely friendship with Serena, Riya finds her complacent torpor shattered. The Great PBI – Indian Love Story is also the story of Parmeet, Serena’s mother, who looks for passion outside her marriage with disastrous consequences, and S.P. Sharma, Parmeet’s husband, who is driven to violence by her infidelity. Ira Trivedi weaves together sex, revenge, glitz, friendship and a chilling murder to create a potent cocktail in this gripping novel on the perfidious nature of love and power.
Finger Pointing To The Moon
In Finger Pointing to the Moon: Talks on the Adhyatma Upanishad, Osho draws on the ancient wisdom of this Upanishad to reflect on God, religion and the liberation of the self. Religion for him is not worship, devotion and prayer, but mumuksha, the deep longing for freedom from the fetters of everyday life that can lead a seeker on the path to enlightenment. When one reaches this state of kaivalya, the abode of truth and eternal bliss beyond mind and speech, one becomes unified with the God within oneself. Then one achieves true knowledge and true mastery over the self. These seventeen talks that Osho delivered at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, make this book a truly enriching guide for those seeking to look within and find answers to the enigmas of human existence.
Flight Of The Alone To The Alone
The ancient Kaivalya Upanishad is a search for ultimate freedom. It begins with a prayer to strengthen the senses. It takes great individual effort to become free, says Osho, but before making that effort, a greater, existential power has to be invoked: ‘the first effort’. Embracing the senses is not a sign of weakness or indiscipline. The senses are, on the contrary, the door to experiencing the divine, a means to freedom. Often people misunderstand this, calling that which comes within the grasp of our sense organs ‘the world’ and that which doesn’t, ‘the divine’. According to this Upanishad and to Osho, both are divine. That is why Osho continually emphasizes the importance of love, celebration, creativity and humour on the path of awareness. Flight of the Alone to the Alone brings together a series of talks given by Osho on the Kaivalya Upanishad. It explores the nature of existence and tackles some of life’s most fundamental challenges: achievement, loneliness, the eternal quest for happiness, and freedom.
On The Kebab Trail
Create the Moti Mahal magic in your own home
The kebab is one of India’s-and the world’s-most beloved foods. In On the Kebab Trail, Monish Gujral, grandson of the founder of the Moti Mahal chain of restaurants, the legendary Kundan Lal Gujral, travels the world in search of the most delectable kebabs, providing some rare family recipes along the way.
Here are Turkish clay-pot kebabs, Kashmiri Tabak Mas and Arabian hamburgers. And here are the definitive recipes of all the classic Indian kebabs-kakori, pasanda, boti, gilafi. Including vegetarian and fish kebabs, and recipes for chutneys and breads, On the Kebab Trail is the ultimate indulgence for all kebab lovers.
What Would You Do To Save The World?
Riya has always had a secret ambition-winning the coveted Miss Indian Beauty crown. It’s Riya’s chance to turn fantasy into reality. The Miss Indian Beauty contest could well be her ticket to instant fame and success. After all, she’s good-looking, intelligent, confident and, most importantly, tall-how difficult could it be? But Riya is in for a dose of reality, as she soon finds herself in the company of twenty-two gorgeous girls, under house arrest in a five-star hotel in Mumbai for a rigorous training session that will test them all to their limits. With each girl’s eyes set on the crown, the mood is emotionally charged and the atmosphere intense, exhilarating, vicious and explosive all at once. What Would You Do to Save the World? is a delightfully entertaining first novel which reveals the dust behind the diamonds, the tears behind the plastic smiles, and dishes the dirt on what really goes on behind the scenes of a beauty pageant.
The MGR Murder Trial
A gripping collection of stories about thedarkest years in Sri Lankan historyWritten with acuity and flair, the stories inThe MGR Murder Trial conjure powerful anddisturbing vignettes of the violence, fear andtrauma unleashed during the years of Sri Lanka’scivil war.
Me And Ma
Capturing the beauty of a mother-daughter relationship, Divya Dutta in this moving memoir celebrates her mother’s zest for life that made her into the woman she is today. Divya walks us through the most intimate memories of her life, those that strengthened her relationship with her mother. The incredible bond she forged with her mother helped her through difficulties, times good and bad, that led to her becoming an award-winning actor of stature in the Indian film industry.
Me and Ma is a celebration of Divya’s exemplary achievements. It is also an honest, intimate and heartfelt tribute to the force behind her success-her mother.
I Too Had a Love Story – 10th anniversary edition
This 10th anniversary edition of I Too had a Love Story brings to life one of the decade’s most-loved romance novels with gorgeous illustrations in a brand new design. With a personal note from the author, this book is a collector’s edition. It will also make for a fabulous gift.
Do love stories ever die? . . . How would you react when a beautiful person comes into your life, and then goes away from you . . . forever?
Not all love stories are meant to have a perfect ending. I Too Had a Love Story is one such saga. It is the tender and heartfelt tale of Ravin and Khushi–two people who found each other on a matrimonial site and fell in love . . . until life put their love to the ultimate test.
Romantic, emotional and sincere, this heartbreaking true life story has already touched a million hearts. This bestselling novel is a must-read for anyone who believes in the magic of love . . .
A Drop of Blood
Mohan Karan has been blessed with exceptional good looks-and a rare blood type. An orphan with few connections, he finds that his degree in English literature is unable to secure him a proper job. However, he discovers he can make good money by selling his blood to a private blood bank. And while this opens up unexpected possibilities for this unemployed graduate, little does he realize that it all comes at great personal cost.
This short, blistering novel launched Joginder Paul’s literary career, cleverly exploring the insidious ways in which the mighty habitually prey upon the vulnerable. Incisive in its observations, A Drop of Blood also ably tackles themes of female desire. Snehal Shingavi’s lucid translation makes this important work available in English for the first time.