What does the elegant nostalgia of Argentina have in common with the raffish nonchalance of Australia? And what do both these countries have in common with North Korea? They are all ‘lonely places’ cut off from the rest of the world by geography, ideology or sheer weirdness. And they have all attracted the attention of Pico Iyer.
Whether he is documenting the cruising rites of Icelandic teenagers, being interrogated by tipsy Cuban police or summarizing the plot of Bhutan’s first feature film (‘a $6500 spectacular about a star-crossed couple: she dies, he throws himself on the funeral pyre, and both live happily ever after as an ox and a cow’), Iyer is always uncannily observant and acerbically funny.
When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today-not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through literature, of the lunar Japan that still lives on behind the rising sun of geopolitical power.
All this he did. And then he met Sachiko.
Vivacious, attractive, thoroughly educated, speaking English enthusiastically, if eccentrically, the wife of a Japanese ‘salaryman’ who seldom left the office before 10 p.m., Sachiko was as conversant with tea ceremonies and classical Japanese literature as with rock music, Goethe and Vivaldi. With the lightness of touch that made Video Night in Kathmandu so captivating, Pico Iyer fashions from their relationship a marvellously ironic yet heartfelt book that is at once a portrait of cross-cultural infatuation-and misunderstanding-and a delightfully fresh way of seeing both the old Japan and the very new.
Ever since he first read Graham Greene, Pico Iyer has been obsessed by the figure of the writer and by one of the great themes of Greene’s work: what it means to be an outsider. Wherever he has travelled-usually as an outsider himself-Iyer has found reminders of Greene’s life, observed scenes that might have been written by Greene, written stories that recall Greene. Yet, as Iyer recounts the history of his obsession, another phantom image begins to assert itself, one that Iyer had long banished from his inner life-that of his father.
In every corner of India, there is a wealth of folktales-funny, fabulous and fantastical. In this collection, Eunice de Souza brings together one hundred and one wonderful stories, both familiar and unknown. Their subjects are diverse – how the world was made, how kings should rule, the tales of wise and foolish men and women, and animal fables.
Some stories are about well-known heroes – Akbar and Birbal, Vikram and Betal, Tenali Raman – while some introduce new ones, like Gulalla Shah, the brave man from the hills, and Parmanand, the reluctant guru from Andhra Pradesh. There are also sundry appearances by the devil, beautiful temptresses and supernatural creatures. This is a true collector’s item, encompassing the entire range and diversity of the oral tradition in different parts of the country, and with bold an vivid illustrations by Sujata Singh.
Dev and Simran. A couple living in the heart of Bombay and grappling with everyday married life and the loss of a child. Then Dev dies and Simran is left to pick up the pieces with the help of a close-knit group of friends. Grieving in their own personal ways for Dev, they try, as best they can, to support Simran through her ordeal. As this diverse group of people interact, reminisce and navigate some of life’s harshest, funniest and most ordinary moments, we share their agonies and joys, their personal hang-ups, their insecurities and strengths. Intense, witty and moving, Dev and Simran is a quiet and graceful tribute to life.
‘My Snowdrop is rare, he is exotic. He is the most wonderful squirrel in the whole wide world. I want my squirrel back.’
The Rose Garden’s beloved squirrel, Shikar-Snowdrop to young Mitalee-has vanished without a trace. No one can find him! Last seen in the company of a paradise flycatcher-a stunning bird with a long white tail-he has left no other trail. So, to save their friend, the loyal bird gang must fly to distant forests to track down the glamorous creature, who might just be able to help.
Return to the ledges of the fountain in the Rose Garden to read about the enthralling capers of your favourite feathered friends and bird-squirrel as they swap stories of daring and wonder.
The ultimate anthology of Indian poetry from the Vedas to the present in all the major Indian languages
These My Words is an anthology of magnificent breadth, ranging from Valmiki to Agha Shahid Ali, Aurobindo to Vikram Seth, Andal to Tagore, spanning Indian poetry in its myriad forms, styles and languages. The poems speak for themselves and to each other, as folk songs and tribal epics sit alongside classical Sanskrit and formal Tamil verse is a companion to contemporary Bengali or Dogri. There is Ghalib in praise of love, Tukaram on religious bigotry, Ksetrayya on divine love through the erotic, Gieve Patel on identity. In Eunice de Souza and Melanie Silgardo’s carefully curated selection, each poem illumines exquisitely the tradition of Indian poetry.
Delhi’s power circles are shocked to discover that ex-RAW chief Sadiq Sheikh has been murdered. Kabir Anand is settling into his new life as a professor of Shakespeare studies in Mumbai, when a call from the PMO thrusts him back into the world he is trying to forget. A brilliant agent who served under Sadiq Sheikh, Kabir was forced to leave RAW because of a disastrous mission in Balochistan in 2006-part of India’s covert support of the Baloch rebels. Kabir must now revisit those ghosts, avenge his mentor and face his deadliest enemies- Mullah Omar and the ISI-while racing against time to save his country.
A gripping thriller, researched with the assistance of the US and Indian intelligence agents, war correspondents and crime writer S. Hussain Zaidi.
From schools of excellence to brilliant improvement in the board examinations and state-of-the-art facilities, government schools in Delhi rock. The implementation of innovative concepts like ‘happiness curriculum’ and ‘entrepreneurship mindset programme’ in Delhi government schools has brought about revolutionary change in the public school education system in the national capital of India.
Manish Sisodia, Delhi’s deputy chief minister and education minister, is the visionary instrumental in ushering in such a transformation. Recounting his experiences and experiments as an education minister, this book offers blow-by-blow account of this amazing success story. Shiksha, a book of hope and possibilities, will inspire everyone who is poised to make a difference in society through education.
Two-time Winner of the Giller Prize
Munir Khan, a recent widower from Toronto, meets the charming and witty Mohini Singh, a married liberal newspaper columnist, in the bar of the high-brow Delhi Recreational Club. An enigma surrounds the Kenya-born, westernized and agnostic Munir, and an inexplicable attraction takes root. Delhi’s streets, monuments and ruins become the setting of their passionate affair.
A terror attack shakes the city just as Jetha Lal and his acolytes, self-proclaimed protectors of cows and Hindu women, raise decibel levels at the Club. Meanwhile, Mohini’s parents’ wounded memory of the Partition and a family trip to Shirdi only serve to exacerbate her anxieties and deep sense of guilt. And even as Jetha Lal’s menacing shadow looms over them, Munir and Mohini cannot let each other go. At what cost their passion?
Written with trademark sensitivity and a sharp, affecting vision, A Delhi Obsession is M.G. Vassanji’s most urgent novel yet. Set in contemporary times, it unravels an unexpected yet prophetic story of passion, love and faith, amidst the placid environment of an elite Delhi club. Cutting close to the bone, this searing novel will compel you to confront your profoundest dilemmas.
