Join rising YouTube star Alara, struggling but hopeful stand-up comedian Aarav, and zany but zen beach shack owner Ricky on a quest for the truth in You Live Only Once.
Discover yourself with Myra, Kabir and Sandy, three individuals who refuse to give up on themselves as they make life-changing decisions, in On the Open Road.
Embark on the adventure of growing up with Iti, Nishit and Shelly in Where the Sun Never Sets.
Bestselling author Stuti Changle’s trio of novels are life-changing stories of human relationships, of introspection, and of having the courage to follow your dreams.
Now together in this boxset, they promise to entertain, inspire and, of course, compel you to Make a Move.
Catagory: Literature & Fiction
Legends of the Lepchas
‘In the beginning there was nothing but vast emptiness on earth and in the sky. Itbu-moo, the Mother Creator, shaped the mountains, rivers and lakes. But something was missing. Why did her creation feel empty? So, taking a fresh ball of snow, she created the first man . . . and then the first woman. These became the chief deities of the Lepchas.’
Thus begins one of the stories in this delightful book, a compilation of folk tales of the Lepchas, passed down through the ages.
Custodians of a language and script of the same name, the Lepchas inhabit regions that currently fall under the state of Sikkim, in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, Ilam district of eastern Nepal and the south-western parts of Bhutan. Ancient lore suggests that they have inhabited in the region from time immemorial.
The tales included in this collection-describing gods, goddesses, people, animals and nature in a cohesive world where one cannot do without the other-skilfully bring to life the beliefs and rich culture of this unique community. Accompanying each short story are stunning illustrations, etching the lyrical sweep and mood of the tale.
Shiva Purana
The Shiva Purana is the fifth book in an eighteen-part series on the sacred Hindu texts known collectively as the Puranas. Translated with great rigor and precision, Bibek Debroy recounts the tales of creation and the many myths that surround Lord Shiva in twenty-four thousand shlokas and an introduction that simplifies the myth and history of the Puranas.
Brimming with insight and clarity, this translation presents readers with an opportunity to truly understand classical Indian texts. Previous translations by Bibek Debroy include the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Brahma Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.
Shiva Purana
The Shiva Purana is the fifth book in an eighteen-part series on the sacred Hindu texts known collectively as the Puranas. Translated with great rigor and precision, Bibek Debroy recounts the tales of creation and the many myths that surround Lord Shiva in twenty-four thousand shlokas and an introduction that simplifies the myth and history of the Puranas.
Brimming with insight and clarity, this translation presents readers with an opportunity to truly understand classical Indian texts. Previous translations by Bibek Debroy include the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Brahma Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.
Shiva Purana
The Shiva Purana is the fifth book in an eighteen-part series on the sacred Hindu texts known collectively as the Puranas. Translated with great rigor and precision, Bibek Debroy recounts the tales of creation and the many myths that surround Lord Shiva in twenty-four thousand shlokas and an introduction that simplifies the myth and history of the Puranas.
Brimming with insight and clarity, this translation presents readers with an opportunity to truly understand classical Indian texts. Previous translations by Bibek Debroy include the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Brahma Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.
Nala Damayanti
When Brahma the creator, fed up with humans, wants to undo this mistake and erase them, Hemanga the swan is horrified and pleads with Brahma to give him a chance to prove true love exists among mankind. The little bird, however, is sent to the kingdom of Vidarbha by Narada. That celestial troublemaker says Hemanga should unite Nala, the king of Nishadas, with Damayanti, the princess of Vidharbha.
Damayanti is a feisty beauty who has a mind of her own. She is no damsel in distress and has no need for a prince to rescue her. Nor has Nala any interest in finding love, for he is building a city for his tribe. Besides, he is a tribal king and thinks Damayanti is too above his position.
Hemanga almost succeeds in making them fall in love with each other when Kali hears of his plan. Trapped on earth as he is not the creator of Brahma, he can’t be free unless humans cease to exist. When he learns about Hemanga’s mission to save humans, he seizes his chance. If Damayanti gives up Nala, he can prove that no true love exists in a woman’s heart. Brahma will erase the human race and Kali will be free.
All that stands between the future of humans and the mighty Kali is a little bird and the determination of Damayanti.
Fruits of the Barren Tree (Phoolange, Shortlisted for Madan Puraskar 2021)
Darjeeling, late 1980s. The demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland has taken a violent turn. The Green Party is at war with the Red Party-and with the state’s security forces. Murder, loot, terror and arson beset the Himalayan foothills.
Fruits of the Barren Tree is a story of that time, and of Relling, a small village near Darjeeling. In Relling there’s Basnet, the village shaman, and his wife; there’s Jhuppay, their son-incorrigible thief, truant and amateur drunk; and also Nimma, Jhuppay’s great love, whose only desire in life is that he take the path of virtue. There’s Chyaatar too, former army man, now a militia commander in the Green Party, who rules the village with an iron hand. Ever the miscreant, nothing Jhuppay does can win Nimma’s heart. But when the Red Party hires his loudspeaker for a meeting-the first innocent, honest job of his life-it sets Jhuppay, Nimma and Chyaatar on a murderous course that fate itself cannot derail.
Originally published in Nepali as Phoolange, this sharp, evocative novel is the story of a failed movement and a cautionary tale of how easily the contagion of violence can infect a community. Intensely visual and imbued with a strong sense of place, it is equally a compelling portrait of Darjeeling away from the brochures and the postcards.
Filmi Stories
The eight stories of this collection are about unforeseen terrors and adventures, surreal comedies, the apocalypses and the sublime poetry of everyday life. A disgruntled trucker sets out to kill his rival, ending up as the saviour of migrant workers trapped by a pandemic. A novice jailor breaks the law only to learn that nothing in this world is beyond pardon. A corpse dressed immaculately in a suit is discovered on a beach, the trail of the suspects stretching across continents in casinos and cruise ships. The nude paintings of a dead artist set the stage for a murder in a gallery. Hunt for a terrorist leads to a dangerous game of luring a prey out of its lair using a human bait. A man finds himself as the sole passenger of an airplane flying from one deserted airport to another. An innocent shopkeeper learns the wisdom of the Mahabharata on the verge of losing his innocence.
Written with words and marked by light and shadow, sounds and silence, these tales stalk a bunch of unruly actors performing roles that take on lives of their own.
I Hear You
Most expectant mothers talk to their unborn. But what if the unborn starts to respond?
Mahika is hoping that a baby will breathe new life into her dead marriage. But all her pregnancies meet the same fate, because no baby is perfect for Shivam, her genius geneticist husband. Until there is one. Rudra, the world’s first genetically altered foetus, is Shivam’s perfect creation and Mahika’s last hope.
The six-week-pregnant Mahika has just walked into her fertility clinic when she discovers an anonymous note that discloses the ugly truth behind her pregnancy. Before Mahika can come to terms with the fact that her husband’s quest for perfection has marked its territory in her womb, she finds herself locked in her own house. But then she discovers that her unborn son has extraordinary powers. As weeks pass by, Rudra calibrates and recalibrates his powers with one aim-Mahika’s freedom.
But Rudra needs more than his newly acquired powers to free his mother. He needs to betray his creator, his father. And he must do it before it’s too late.
Fear and Other Stories
Chauhan’s writing is resistance literature. It echoes the harrowing screams of a people long suppressed.
Fear and Other Stories is a reminder of the inherent dangers of the Dalit life, a life subjected to unimaginable violence and terror even in its most mundane moments. In this collection of short stories, veteran Gujarati writer Dalpat Chauhan narrates these lived experiences of exasperation and anger with startling vividity. His characters chronicle a deep history of resistance, interrogating historical, mythological and literary legends, foregrounding the perspectives of the disenfranchised.
Chauhan deftly wields his prose to counter dominant narratives, pointing out gaps and voicing the silences within. In ?The Payback, for a change, we see famished savarnas begging Dalit families for food that they scorn otherwise. The eponymous Fear follows the heroic but doomed resistance of Dalit youths fighting against savarna men with the ‘right’ to enter their homes and molest women inside. And the allegorical Cold Blood features a doctor who tries to leave behind his identity with his surname, only to be reminded of it when the savarnas accept his blood, but not water from his hands.
Hemang Ashwinkumar’s nimble translation introduces the English reader to Chauhan’s heart-wrenching stories while unmasking a rural Gujarat unrecognizable from its supposedly vibrant idylls. His introduction to the book not just contextualises Chauhan’s work, but is also a touching and thought-provoking commentary on the larger canvas of Dalit literature.