Bewafa tells four short stories, each discussing a different shade of infidelity in today’s times when societal norms are still the same–archaic. However, the urge to explore and experiment amongst the youth is at an all-time high. This friction, if not handled well, could lead to unexpected roads. Each story, though high on emotions, unfolds in a thrilling narrative.
Archives: Books
The Book Of Buddha
Around 2500 years ago a thirty-five-year-old man named Siddhartha had a mystical insight under a peepul tree in north-eastern India, in a place now revered as Bodhgaya. Today, more than 300 million people across the globe consider themselves beneficiaries of Gautama Buddha’s insight, and believe that it has irrevocably marked their spiritual commitment and identity. Who was this man who still remains such a vital figure for the modern-day questor? How did he arrive at the realization that ‘suffering alone exists, but none who suffer; the deed there is, but no doer thereof; Nirvana there is, but no one seeking it; the Path there is, but none who travel it’? The Book of Buddha traces the various stages of the spiritual journey undertaken by a man who started out as Siddhartha the Seeker, achieved understanding as Shakyamuni the Sage and attained supremacy as Tathagata the Master—finally reaching transcendence as Jina the Victor when he was transformed into the Buddha and became the Enlightened One. Combining personal insight with a deep understanding of Buddhist philosophy, Arundhathi Subramaniam gives the reader a sensitive and revealing portrait of the Buddha and his role in shaping and transfiguring the course of history. In this passionate and deeply felt rendition of the Buddha’s life she explores his enduring impact, and affirms that though he promised no quick-fix solution to life’s problems, Buddhism has remained truly democratic because it holds out the promise of self-realization for all.
My Mother Is in the Indian Air Force
Rohan thinks his mom is a bit like a a superhero-she flies in to save the day, she loops and swoops between the clouds, she even jumps off planes wearing parachutes! But her job demands that she keep moving from place to place, and Rohan doesn’t want to move again. Not this time. Can he find a way to stay?
Read on to find out about the people and their families whose big and small acts of heroism make the Indian air force formidable!
Close To Home
‘A breezy novel with snappy dialogue and mercurial twists of plot’ —Bapsi Sidhwa
All Mrinalini Singh wants, she has. A loving husband, a competent cook, the vague hope of a book deal one day. But when her old roommate Jahanara accuses her of being selfish, Mrinalini is forced to practise altruism on the nearest available target: her maid’s toddler. All this caring doesn’t come easy, though; and it hardly helps that her husband Siddhartha has quit his lucrative job and acquired parental ambitions. Or that Brajeshwar Jha, her upstairs tenant and literary rival, has not only published his book before Mrinalini, but also lampooned her and Siddhartha in it.
Close to Home is a wry look at the small compromises, manipulations and sustained self-delusion of young men and women possessed of good fortune . . . and only looking for good lives.
Astra
The world should burn . . . burn like a star!
The balance of the world is askew.
The winds speak of a terror from the south. Ravana, the Lord of Lanka, is on the march. Seers whisper that he has awakened Starsong, a mythical astra of the gods. And that he thirsts for this weapon that will make him invincible.
But there is one thing that he hasn’t considered. Up high in the glistening tower of the city of Ulka is a boy, held captive.
Today is the day Varkan, the young prince of Ashmaka, will taste freedom. Today is the day he will lay claim to his destiny as the wielder of Starsong.
And along the way, perhaps he will change the destiny of the world itself.
The Story of Babur
This is the story of Babur, the first Mughal emperor of Hindustan. It is based on the Babur Nama, in which Babur writes about the events in his life, and of the people and things he loved or hated. Descended from two legendary conquerors, Chenghis Khan and Amir Temur, Babur spent much of early life losing kingdoms, wandering through the Uzbek mountains and almost living the life of a vagabond. This is the story of the strange and wonderful things the future brought to him.
Lavishly illustrated in Mughal miniature style paintings, this action-packed tale of this legend, king and adventurer will fascinate children and their parents alike.
Superzero
Is SuperZero just another boy with a pushy momwho, like every other mother, believes her sonis special? Whatever the answer, fantastic thingssimply seem to happen around him. Despite hisfather’s reservations, his mother has her wayand enrols him into the SuperHero School. Butdoes SuperZero have what it takes to be a capedcrusader?
River of Smoke: From bestselling author and winner of the 2018 Jnanpith Award
September 1838. A storm blows up on the Indian Ocean and three ships–the Ibis, the Anahita and the Redruth–and those aboard are caught in the whirlwind.
River of Smoke follows the fortunes of these men and women to the crowded harbours of China where they struggle to cope with their losses–and, for a few, unimaginable freedoms–in the alleys and teeming waterways of nineteenth-century Canton.
Written on the grand scale of a historical epic, River of Smoke, book two in the Ibis trilogy, will be heralded as a masterpiece of twenty-first-century literature.
Super Zero and the Grumpy Ghosts
Close on the heels of his first two crazy adventures, the peskiest . . . sorry, super-est superkid in town falls plonk THUD c r a s h into a third. Everyone, including BigaByte, is in a lousy mood because someone’s stealing their laughs. Whaaa? Plus SuperZero’s mom has a scary surprise for him. Plus, plus, plus, there’s a cunning clone in school who’s turning himself into everyone else and creating full-on chaos. (Pssst, that’s your cue, SuperZero. Do your thing!) So much trouble can only be good news for SuperZero fans. Here come the hahas and high action once again.
Sea Of Poppies: From bestselling author and winner of the 2018 Jnanpith Award
A motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts is sailing down the Hooghly aboard the Ibis on its way to Mauritius. As they journey across the Indian Ocean old family ties are washed away, and they begin to view themselves as jahaj-bhais or ship brothers who will build new lives for themselves in the remote islands where they are
being taken. A stunningly vibrant and intensely human work, Sea of Poppies, the first book in the Ibis trilogy, confirms Amitav Ghosh’s reputation as a master storyteller.