‘I am the rakshasa Ghatotkacha, born of the Lord Bhimasena and the lady Hidimba. I rule over hill and vale, wood and stream, protecting the spirit of the forest and all who live in it.’
Young Chintamani Dev Gupta, on holiday in a bird camp near Lake Sattal, is transported via a wormhole to the days of the Mahabharata. Trapped in time, he meets Ghatotkacha and his mother, the demoness Hidimba. But the gentle giant, a master of illusion and mind-boggling rakshasa technology, wields his strength just as well as he knows the age-old secrets of the forest and the elemental forces. And in his enlightening company, Chintamani finds himself in the thick of the events of the most enduring Indian epic.
An intense yet tender look at a rare friendship as well as the abiding puzzles of the past, this is a fascinating read.
In 1980, a brilliant young American scholar, George H. Gadbois, Jr., met five judges of the Supreme Court of India. The judges gave him astonishing details: about what they actually thought of their colleagues, about the inner workings and politics of the court, their interactions with the government and the judicial appointments process, among many other things. This was only the beginning. Over the course of that decade, Gadbois visited India on two more occasions and conducted over 116 interviews with more than sixty-six judges of the Supreme Court of India (nineteen of whom held the post of chief justice of India),
and others such as senior lawyers, politicians, relatives of deceased judges, and court staff. During each meeting, Gadbois diligently took down handwritten notes, which he later typed up on his typewriter, recording nearly every detail of what the judges had told him, sometimes to a fault.
Relying on these typewritten interviews, Abhinav Chandrachud sheds light on a decade of politics, decision-making and legal culture in the Supreme Court of India. This book yields a fascinating glimpse into the secluded world of the judges of the Supreme Court in the 1980s and earlier.
How did the world become what it is today? How and when were thecountries formed? Where did people come from? How did art, technology,science, language and literature begin? In The Puffin History of theWorld- Volume 1, Roshen Dalal traces the origin of human beings and thedifferent aspects of their development and growth, right from the big bangand the origin of the universe, up to CE 1500.Well-researched and comprehensive, this book speaks of great civilizationsand empires, epics, myths and legends, religions old and new, wars andconquests, clothes, food and lifestyle, trade, travel and adventure andmuch more. It packs in exciting trivia, numerous maps and illustrationsthat provide a breathtaking overview of global history.Ideal for students and young readers, this amazing reference guide helpsto bring the past to life like never before.
Maps and mountains, lions and tigers, rivers and oceans-all sorts of things you didn’t know about India’s geography
Could you be related to a blond Lithuanian? What if ostriches once roamed in India? Did you know that India is the only country that has both lions and tigers? Who found out how tall Mt Everest is?
If you’ve ever wanted to know the answers to questions like these, this is the book for you. In here you will discover various things you never expected, such as the fact that we still greet each other like the Harappans did or that people used to think India was full of one-eyed giants. And sneakily you’ll also know more about India’s history and geography by the end of it. Full of quirky pictures and crazy trivia, this book takes you on a fantastic journey through the incredible history of India’s geography.
Making and selling sweets day after day is the life of Vishnudas Mithaiwala, the owner of The Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop. However, when Laddoo appears at his doorstep one night, claiming to be his estranged sister Revati’s son, Vishnu’s life is thrown into confusion. More craziness ensues when Anu turns up, also insisting that she’s Revati’s child! With no idea how to discern the real Mithaiwala, life is full of chaos for Vishnu, as the two children compete to prove their identity.
And Laddoo, worried about his parents, who have suddenly disappeared, is thrown another curveball-he senses a ghostly presence in the house! When a plot to steal the Mithaiwala family’s valuable recipe book is hatched, Laddoo tries to use this new psychic ability to save the day.
Borrowing from Sanghadasa’s Jaina version of the Ramayana, Mandodari-one of the least known characters of the Hindu epic-is finally given a voice.
Considered to be one of the most beautiful apsaras, she was married off to the mighty Ravana, the legendary king of Lanka. In her story, she speaks about her struggles after her marriage, her insecurities and her pious nature that challenged her husband’s growing aspirations. She narrates the rise of Ravana’s power and the blunders he made that ultimately caused the downfall of Lanka.
Despite her husband’s faults, Mandodari loved him and advised him to follow the path of righteousness. Ravana’s defeat in a thirteen-day war turned him into a villain. But what if he were the real hero on his side of the war? What if his downfall was a result of scheming to push him out of power? This is Mandodari’s story.
The call of the wild
Hudhud is horrible to everyone. He polishes off his classmates’ lunches, plays cruel pranks on his teachers and troubles innocent creatures. Until his strange new history teacher decides to set him straight.
The lesson? A curse! Now Hudhud must roam the vast earth . . . with-and as-the greatest migratory animals. His goal? To find the answer to all wrongs. And so begins Hudhud’s remarkable journey: as a blue whale calf separated from his mother in the deep; as a trusting caterpillar who befriends a hunting spider; as a competitive caribou on a perilous trek; as an Arctic tern too scared to fly . . . But fly across the world he must, if he hopes to ever return home.
Follow Hudhud on this surreal trip, through the Arctic Ocean and the Sahara Desert, among fragrant flowers and tall grass, and find out all about the inner lives of some majestic animals and the wonders of the wild.
To counter seas of cars, rising petrol prices, and snarling traffic—Reva Electric Vehicle is India’s offering to the world in the shape of a zero emission, green mobility option.
Dr Maini recounts the story of Reva—India’s first commercial electric vehicle—from the inception, ideation, designing the car to taking it to the world. It is a story coloured with hope, determination, disappointment, success, and jubilation—it is the passion for making green commuting a viable possibility come alive in these pages from Reva’s journey.
It is the story of a team that believed in its products against all odds. A story of many firsts, this book is an immortal account of India soundly on the forefront of electric vehicle movement with this unique car.
The number of people being diagnosed with asthma is increasing but it remains one of the most misunderstood diseases of our times. Given the levels of pollution in many metropolitan cities and states in India, most of us are able to identify the impact on our lungs. But did you know that many a times the medicines and bronchodilators prescribed to asthmatics to temporarily relieve the symptoms actually weaken the lungs over a period of time?
Using authentic remedies and principles from Ayurveda and macrobiotics, The Asthma Cure is a step-by-step practical guide with natural remedies, easy-to-follow wholesome recipes and daily food plans to help a person heal bronchial asthma, wheezing and other lung-related conditions naturally.
From outlining the relationship between food and inflammation to the role digestion plays in healing asthma, and the foods that strengthen and heal the lungs, this is the most comprehensive and solution-oriented book on the subject yet.
In a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name, lived a professional storyteller named Rashid and his son Haroun.’ Thus begins Rushdie’s magical and delightful book, which is comprised of hundreds of stories, funny and sad, all of them juggled at once, together with sorcery and love, wicked uncles and fat aunts, and mustachioed gangsters in yellow check pants.
