‘The civil servant who spoke truth to power’-Ramachandra Guha
M.N. Buch, known as the architect of Bhopal, was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2011. He studied economics at Cambridge University before joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957. He famously wrote five letters to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-ranging from the deterioration of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to Indo-American relations and how India must not be deferential to the US, and to assert the country’s right to help rebuild Afghanistan.
This book is a collection of twenty articles that have been divided into six major themes, namely the IAS, reforms (police, judiciary and electoral system), economics, social challenges (health, corruption and reservation), and governance and environment. Original and thought-provoking, this is a must-read for those concerned with the idea of India and how change can be brought.
What would you do if a bird with golden wings alighted on your terrace and offered you fabulous riches?
A poor little girl is rewarded with lovely gifts when she takes pity on a hungry bird and feeds it all the rice she has, but what happens when the girl’s greedy, nosy neighbour hears the story and tries to get bigger and better gifts for herself? Why did the once sweet sea water turn salty? How did it happen that the learned teacher forgot all his lessons and had to be helped out by the school cook? And what did the king do so that the people of his kingdom did not come to know that he has horrible donkey ears hidden under his turban?
Sudha Murty’s new, enchanting collection of stories bubbles over with fun. Delightful colour illustrations bring to life tales of magical creatures, princesses and kings, ordinary witty men and women in a book that will bring hours of joy to readers young and old.
Did you know that Brahma once had five faces?
Why do snakes have a forked tongue?
Do gods cheat?
Why does Shiva sport a crescent moon on his head?
The Trinity, consisting of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, is the omnipresent trio responsible for the survival of the human race and the world as we know it. They are popular deities of worship all over India, but what remain largely unknown are some of their extraordinary stories.
Award-winning author Sudha Murty walks by your side, weaving enchanting tales of the three most powerful gods from the ancient world. Each story will take you back to a magical time when people could teleport, animals could fly and reincarnation was simply a fact of life.
Features more than 20 handpicked gems by Sudha Murty
Includes popular stories like ‘Heart of Gold’, ‘The Rainy Day’ and ‘Gowramma’s Letter’
What do you do when your grandmother asks you to teach her the alphabet? Or the President of India takes you on a train ride with him? Or your teacher gives you more marks than you deserve?
These are just some of the questions you will find answered in this delightful collection of stories recounting real-life incidents from the life of Sudha Murty-teacher, social worker and bestselling writer. There is the engaging story about one of her students who played truant from school. The account of how her mother’s advice to save money came in handy when she wanted to help her husband start a software company, and the heart-warming tale of the promise she made-and fulfilled-to her grandfather, to ensure that her little village library would always be well supplied with books.
Funny, spirited and inspiring, each of these stories teaches a valuable lesson about the importance of doing what you believe is right and having the courage to realize your dreams.
Did you know there was a time when bears spoke, the moon laughed and babies were found inside fish?
Have you heard of the two-horned sage who had never seen a woman in his life?
Did you know Ravana’s half-brother was the god of wealth?
Have you ever seen a man with a thousand arms?
The tales in this collection surround the two most popular avatars of Lord Vishnu-Rama and Krishna-and their lineage. Countless stories about the two abound, yet most are simply disappearing from the hearts and minds of the present generation.
Bestselling author Sudha Murty takes you on an arresting tour, all the while telling you of the days when demons and gods walked alongside humans, animals could talk and gods granted the most glorious boons to common people.
Over 20 short stories, ideal for children of ages 5 and up
Includes popular stories: ‘The Princess’ New Clothes’, ‘Roopa’s Great Escape’ and ‘The Unending Story’
Every story is accompanied by colourful illustrations
Lucid and simple language of the book makes reading a pleasure.
Memories of a grandparent spinning tales around animals and mysterious characters have kept many of us rapt till date. Sudha Murty’s Grandma’s Bag of Stories is simply delightful. The story starts with Anand, Krishna, Raghu and Meena arriving at their grandparents’ house in Shiggaon. Overjoyed Ajji and Ajja(Grandmother and grandfather in Kannada) get the house ready, while Ajji prepares delicious snacks for children. Finally, times comes when everyone gathers around Ajji, as she opens her big bag of stories. She tells stories of kings and cheats, princesses and onions, monkeys and mice and scorpions and hidden treasures.
Though unlikely in combination, stories makes perfect sense when Grandma is the one narrating them.
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.
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?
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.
When Ritu goes shopping in an ordinary mall in an ordinary city on an ordinary day and takes a perfectly ordinary escalator to the lowest floor, the last thing she expects is to step out into the Underground Forest.
Trapped in this gloomy Forest, Ritu meets the Resident Magician, Serendipitous, and his assistant, Blanc-Noir. They need her help to go to the Blue King’s Castle, for within the castle, locked away in Dodgson’s Box, lies the spirit of Happiness. But the journey is long and the perils many. The road to the Castle leads through the Outcasts’ Village, past Girnewala Falls, through Mediapolis, through the Bureaucrats’ Maze. There are liars and philosopher-robbers, rabid-seeming dogs with wings, and cars that run only on high-octane emotions. And Ritu discovers, nothing is ordinary in this most extraordinary of adventure lands.
This novel’s epic sweep, its humour and charm, its references to classic works like The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, make it pure pleasure for those who enjoy language and wordplay, invention and adventure.
