An anonymous whistle-blower and an astounding 2600 GB of data. A giant leak of 11.5 million financial and legal records. A global collaboration of over 100 news organizations working in twenty-five languages in eighty countries. More than 350 reporters on the trail for nine months in complete secrecy.
The Panama Papers exposed in black and white the crime and corruption of the rich and powerful who stashed away their wealth in tax havens. This is the India story of the mega investigation.
The Panama Papers shook the world, woke up governments and showed what investigative journalism could achieve even in a post-truth world through a path-breaking alliance between an individual whistle-blower and a coalition of global media. The only Indian publication in the global collaboration, the Indian Express played a crucial role. Now, for the first time, award-winning journalists Ritu Sarin, Jay Mazoomdaar and P. Vaidyanathan Iyer tell the backstory of hot leads and cold trails, of open denial and veiled intimidation.
The Panama Papers underlined the loot of public money and the need for tax reforms. In an age of rising inequality, the importance of public funding to fight poverty cannot be overstated. The lack of public confidence in regulatory frameworks or political will also fuels perceptions of illegitimacy of wealth. In India, black money has gained more currency than ever as a political metaphor and future electoral gains may well depend on the perceived success of a war against illegal wealth. Financial corruption though cannot be defeated without transparency in election funding. The Panama Papers reignited a global debate on surmounting these challenges.
Archives: Books
Across the Line
A tale of borders and beliefs shaped by the games people play
1947
New Delhi. Cyril Radcliffe’s hands are clammy, partly from the heat but mostly from the enormity of the task assigned. Mopping the sweat off his brow, he picks up his pen, draws a deep breath–and a dark line.
Rawalpindi. A barbaric frenzy of rioters fills the streets, disrupting a game of pithoo between Toshi and her brother, Tarlok, shattering their lives unimaginably.
2008
Rawalpindi. Cricket-crazy Inaya is sneaking out behind her father’s back for net practice when she discovers that she is not the only one in her family keeping a secret.
New Delhi. Jai accidentally stumbles upon an old, hidden away diary in his kitchen. The date of its last entry: 17 August 1947.
As Jai and Inaya’s unlikely worlds collide, another story unfolds. A story that started with the drawing of a line. A story that shifts the truth in their lives.
‘Compelling and uplifting . . . lingers long after the last page is turned‘ Vidya Balan
We, The Children Of India
Former Chief Justice Leila Seth makes the words of the Preamble to the Constitution understandable to even the youngest reader. What is a democratic republic, why are we secular, what is sovereignty? Believing that it is never too early for young people to learn about the Constitution, she tackles these concepts and explains them in a manner everyone can grasp and enjoy. Accompanied by numerous photographs, captivating and inspiring illustrations by acclaimed illustrator Bindia Thapar, and delightful bits of trivia, We, the Children of India is essential reading for every young citizen.
On Balance
In this autobiography, Leila talks about its joyous as well as its difficult moments. Figuring prominently are her early years of homelessness and struggle, her straying into law while in England with her husband Premo, and later practising in Patna, Calcutta and Delhi; and her happy marriage of over fifty years, including the experience of bringing up three remarkable children: writer Vikram, Zen Buddhist dharmacharya Shantum and film-maker Aradhana.
Intertwining family life with professional, Leila movingly describes the years after her father’s premature death when as children they were obliged to live with friends. There are also delightful vignettes: Premo and her turning an old mansion into a splendid home in Patna, Vikram’s writing of the novel A Suitable Boy, Shantum’s ordination as a Buddhist teacher by Thich Nhat Hanh and Aradhana’s marriage to Peter, an Austrian diplomat, and work as art director on films like Earth and Water.
Intimate, intricate, charming and often amusing, On Balance presents a rich and heart-warming portrait of an exceptional woman, her family and her times.
Let’s Talk On-Air
Do you want to be an RJ and entertain tons of listeners? Then this book is for you!
Take a deep dive into the lives of fourteen eminent radio presenters to learn about the people behind the iconic voices that have entertained us via the airwaves-one of the oldest forms of communication. Gain some insight into these media influencers’ life stories-on and off air-and how each unique voice has a phenomenal journey, and an exclusive story, to tell. Get to know the challenges, ideals, inspirations, favourite songs and icons of the popular radio jockeys of our time, including the legend Ameen Sayani, and maybe this can be a career which inspires you too!
The ISIS Peril
As early as 2014, after the fall of Mosul, maps of ISIS showing a desire to take over South Asia started to appear on social media. But how far has that borne fruit? Or has it always been more of an ill-conceived chimera?
One of the shortcomings of our understanding of ISIS in India-and indeed in South Asia-is that neither the media nor the public discourse seems to know what ISIS itself is. The militant group has eclipsed Al Qaeda to become the most feared terror group in the West, and it continues to expand its influence, despite losing the territory it had captured. And yet, its shadow on South Asia has not been grasped quite as clearly.
In The ISIS Peril, Kabir Taneja explores the psychology of South Asian jihadists through the discussion on various narratives from Kashmir to Kerala, the Islamic State’s online propaganda strategies by way of Twitter, Facebook and Telegram, leading to the radicalization and subsequent recruitment of the youth, to the Holey Bakery attack in Bangladesh in 2016 and the Easter weekend bombings in Sri Lanka in 2019.
Based on detailed and rare primary sources, Taneja uncovers the ideological underpinnings of the jihadist movement in South Asia, and in the process, not only exposes its fault lines but also highlights the challenges in defeating not just the world’s most feared terror group but something more powerful, an ideology that it represents.
Chinaman
Retired sportswriter, W.G. Karunasena is dying. He will spend his final months drinking arrack, upsetting his wife, ignoring his son, and tracking down Pradeep S. Mathew, an elusive spin bowler he considers ‘the greatest cricketer to walk the earth’.
On his quest to find this unsung genius, W.G. uncovers a coach with six fingers, a secret bunker below a famous stadium, an LTTE warlord, and startling truths about Sri Lanka, cricket, and himself.
Ambitious, playful, and strikingly original, Chinaman is a novel about cricket and Sri Lanka-and of Sri Lanka through its cricket. Hailed by the Gratiaen Prize judges as ‘one of the most imaginative works of contemporary Sri Lankan fiction’, it is an astounding book.
Becoming (Hindi)
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America-the first African-American to serve in that role-she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her-from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it-in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations-and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Khushwantnama
‘At 98, as I look back on my life, I think about what has enriched it, what’s been important to me, the mistakes I’ve made, and what my experiences have taught me…’
If there’s anyone who’s been around, seen it all and lived life to the hilt, it has to be Khushwant Singh. India’s most popular and prolific writer has, over the years, enlightened and outraged in equal measure, and enriched our lives with his humour, his honesty and his sharp insights and observations.
Khushwantnama is a meditation on a life lived fully and the lessons it has taught the author. Here is his distilled wisdom on subjects as diverse as old age and the fear of death; on the joy of sex, the pleasures of poetry and the importance of laughter; on how to cope with retirement and live a long, happy and healthy life. Here, too, are his reflections on politics, politicians and the future of India; on what it takes to be a writer; and on what religion means to him.
The Vintage Sardar
Khushwant Singh has spent a lifetime waging war against hypocrisy, humbug and intolerance. It has made him India’s most provocative and popular columnist. This new edition brings together his essays and articles on themes as varied as God, the afterlife, the banning of books, caste, prostitution, crank calls and pets. His skills as a raconteur and journalist are used to brilliant effect in his sketches of Raj Kapoor, Phoolan Devi, Zia-ul-Haq and the Dalai Lama, as also in his travel pieces on Nagaland and France, among other places. The Vintage Sardar ends with a frank and introspective autobiographical piece.
Khushwant Singh’s distinctive candour, wit and insight make this an engaging and sparkling collectors’ edition.