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Long considered as Kalidasa’s greatest work, Raghuvamsam is an epic poem in classical Sanskrit. It recounts the legendary tales of the Raghu dynasty, whose scions include Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. In this majestic mahakavya, Kalidasa invokes the whole gamut of literary flavours, ranging from the erotic and the heroic to the tragic, horrific and peaceful. The forbears and the descendants of Rama are all brought to life. Within these pages we see the ideal couple, Dilipa and Sudakshina, their son Raghu’s valour and generosity, the tragic love of Aja and Indumati, the travails of Dasaratha, the feats of Kusha and Atithi, and finally, the dynasty’s downfall with Sudarshana and Agnivarna.
Composed in nineteen cantos, this mesmerizing, lyrical and very accessible new translation of Raghuvamsam will continue to enthrall readers with its insights into ancient India, its land, people and seasons, and its social and cultural values that are still relevant today.

Born in a cowshed into a once-illustrious family, Manjit Bawa entered the world of pencil and charcoal by accident. Unlike his contemporaries, Manjit did not blindly ape Western trends, choosing instead to base his art on Indian mythology and references. Shunning greys, dull blues and browns, he adopted brazen yellows, luminous greens, bright crimson, turquoise and indigo as his own. It wasn’t long before a Bawa solo show was completely sold out and he was counted among India’s finest and most original artists. He won the Lalit Kala Akademi Award in 1980.

Chronicling Manjit Bawa’s personal and professional journey and the myriad influences that shaped him, Ina Puri writes to life his many facets-artist, poet, pacifist, singer, musician, actor, father, husband and friend. She gives us delightful peeks into Bawa’s life and milieu as he cycles across the countryside, charcoal stick in hand, sketching bearded fakirs, Sufi singers and monuments in ruins; walks behind Bertrand Russell in an anti-war procession in London; and organizes, along with fellow artists, ‘Rejects 1984’, an exhibition to challenge the dogmatic art establishment.

Evocative and insightful, In Black and White has, as Manjit Bawa says in his foreword, ‘the right mix of colours’.

The debates around Hindus and Muslims, Islam and the West have become ever-more relevant in contemporary politics. In this timely book, historian Raziuddin Aquil conducts a dispassionate and incisive study of Islam in India-from its heyday in the medieval period to its transformation by colonialism. Drawing on texts from the medieval and early modern periods, Aquil reveals the host of factors that contributed to the evolution of Indian Islam and its diverse practices-the orthodoxy of the ulama, the attempts by Muslim rulers to establish religious dominance, the conflict with Sikhism, the impact of Sufi traditions and the rise of Urdu as a popular language.
Ambitious in scope, provocatively argued and painstakingly researched, The Muslim Question examines the legacy of the Muslim rule in India and, in the process, presents Islam as a complex and continually changing tradition.