He appears out of nowhere in a sleepy little neighbourhood in suburban Kerala. He calls himself Shunya, the zero. Who is he? A lunatic? A dark magician? A fraud? Or an avadhuta, an enlightened soul? Saami-as they call him-settles into a small cottage in the backyard of the local toddy shop. Here he spins parables, blesses, curses, drinks endless glasses of black tea and lives in total freedom. On rare occasions, he plays soul-stirring melodies on his old, bamboo-reed flute. Then, just as mysteriously as he arrived, Shunya vanishes, setting the path for a new avadhuta, a new era. This first novel by Sri M is a meditation on the void which collapses the wall between reality and make-believe, the limited and the infinite. With its spare storytelling and profound wisdom, it leads us into the realm of ‘shunya’, the nothingness of profound and lasting peace, the beginning and end of all things.
Catagory: Literature & Fiction
Operation Sudarshan Chakra
Ravi Kumar, head of the Central Counterterrorism Command (C3) of the Intelligence Bureau, is haunted by the partial success of Operation Haygreeva. He and his team of young recruits-Mihir, Cyrus and Jose-exposed designs of a hitherto-unknown terrorist outfit, the Lashkar-e-Hind (LeH), responsible for the Mumbai train blasts. But the mission they had staked their lives on remains significantly unfinished.
The LeH’s leader, Tabrez, had managed to escape to Pakistan. Looking to expand the scale of his operations and strike back at India in previously inconceivable ways, Tabraz becomes the lynchpin of a sinister K2 plan of the Pak ISI to leverage different socio-political anxieties and create a vast network of radicalized minds penetrating deep into Indian society, to destabilize the delicate fabric that holds the nation together.
Despite having faced severe personal trauma, Ravi and his team come together to launch deft counterterror and counterintelligence manoeuvres, codenamed Operation Sudarshan Chakra, putting everything, including their individual safety, at risk.
Alice in Wonderland (PREMIUM PAPERBACK, PENGUIN INDIA)
One fine afternoon, young Alice tumbles down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonderland–a strange and fascinating place where nothing is as it seems.
Utterly lost but still hopeful, Alice follows the White Rabbit through the labyrinthine roads of Wonderland. Along the way, she meets a host of interesting creatures and finds herself in bewildering situations. She has tea with the infuriating Mad Hatter, engages in puzzling conversations with a vanishing cat, and plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts–all in the breath of a single afternoon.
Stumbling and struggling through the magical world of Wonderland, there seems to be no way out; will Alice ever find her way back home?
Full of the unexpected and the extraordinary, Alice in Wonderland is an entertaining and enchanting work of children’s fiction. A timeless classic, it has been enjoyed by readers across age groups and is one of the most well-loved stories of all time.
Siddhartha (PREMIUM PAPERBACK, PENGUIN INDIA)
Set in India during the time of the Buddha, Siddhartha is the most influential and famous novel of Nobel Prize-winning author Hermann Hesse.
Desiring spiritual fulfillment, Siddhartha, a young Brahmin, leaves his home to become an ascetic-and on his journey meets the wise Gotama, the famous Buddha. But Siddhartha believes no teacher, however great, can discover meaning for an individual-and so continues alone on his quest to find himself.
In his journey Siddhartha experiences life as a pious brahmin, a Samana, a rich merchant, a lover, and a father-shifting between decadence and asceticism as he navigates the material world. Still unhappy, still unfulfilled, Siddhartha is on the verge of giving it all up when he encounters the ferryman. The events that follow change his life forever.
Thought-provoking, inspiring, and utterly profound-this spiritual novel has influenced generations of readers, writers, and thinkers.
The Wizard of Oz (PREMIUM PAPERBACK, PENGUIN INDIA)
One minute young Dorothy is playing with her pet dog Toto, the next minute she’s flying.
A powerful tornado whisks her miles and miles away, dropping her into the mystical land of Oz where nothing is as it seems. Now she must follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City, to find the only person who can help her-the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
As Dorothy sets off on her strange quest, she is joined by a scarecrow who seeks a brain, a tin man who longs for a heart, and a cowardly lion who is desperate for some courage. Together with her newfound friends, Dorothy must embark on an enchanting adventure, meeting a host of enchanting creatures along the way.
Will Dorothy ever get home? Or will the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys catch her first? Read The Wizard of Oz to find out.
The Jungle Book (PREMIUM PAPERBACK, PENGUIN INDIA)
Mowgli is not an ordinary boy; he can climb trees like a monkey and even outrun a tiger. He is a child of the jungle. Discovered at the edge of a cave in the Seeonee hills, Mowgli was taken under the care and protection of a family of wolves when he was no more than a baby. Now adopted by the wolf-pack, he slowly grows up away from the world of men. Along the way he makes life-long friends: Baloo the brown bear and Bagheera the wise panther who help him learn the laws of the jungle.
But the jungle can be a dangerous place.
Together the trio face unforeseen dangers and find themselves caught up in exciting adventures-until Mowgli finally comes face-to-face with Shere Khan the tiger, and the Bandar-Log.
Join Mowgli on his journey through the jungle. Meet Little Toomai, Akela, Rikki-tikki-tavi, Kaa, and other fascinating creatures-and find yourself transported to the enchanting world of The Jungle Book!
Jezebel
Translated from the Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar
Jezebel, a young doctor in Kerala, struggles against the cruel realities of a patriarchal world-realities that not even her education, resolve or professional brilliance can shield her from. Her already contentious divorce proceedings go suddenly awry, and her unhappy marriage holds complex secrets. In K.R. Meera’s blistering new novel, which takes the form of a courtroom drama to show us the rich inner worlds of its characters, we see Jezebel reflect on her life and its pivotal points as she takes the stand. Through her memories, we see her grow from a reticent, serious young woman to a rebel who refuses to bend to the conventions of society.
Like the Biblical story of Queen Jezebel, who was much maligned as a scheming harlot and infamously thrown to her death from her palace window, Jezebel is a novel that asks if independent women can ever live lives that are free of judgement K.R. Meera’s hypnotic prose, in this elegant translation from the Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar, makes resonant allusions to the Bible in powerful ways that elucidate the correlations between legend and the protagonist’s life while also exploring how sexuality and gender roles are manipulated by the dictates of society.
Vishnu Purana
LORD VISHNU AND THE CREATION
The Vishnu Purana is part of a series of eighteen sacred Hindu texts known collectively as the Puranas. It occupies a prominent position among the ancient Vaishnava Puranas which recount tales of creation and the many incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It describes the four classes of society, the four stages of life, and key astronomical concepts related to Hinduism.
Brimming with insight and told with clarity, this translation of the Vishnu Purana by Bibek Debroy presents readers with an opportunity to truly understand the classical Indian mythic texts. Debroy has previously translated the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, and the Brahma Purana.
Pocketful of stories 3.0
ITC Engage, one of India’s leading fragrance brands is back with its much-loved bestselling series Pocketful O’ Stories 3.0 in collaboration with the bestselling romance novelist Durjoy Datta.
This year’s theme, #RomanceUnlocked captures the poignant yearning of lovers during the time of lockdown. Couples invaded the digital space and found new ways to connect and keep their romance alive. Their stories of love and longing inspired the latest edition of this series.
People were invited to submit their microtales about love in the new normal. Almost 35,000 entries were received within a month, making this edition already a huge success.
Here’s presenting a compilation of the best tales that also includes Durjoy’s own stories of love and longing in the time of lockdown.
The Wait
“Damodar Mauzo’s stories present us with vivid glimpses of the richly diverse, cosmopolitan reality of contemporary Goa. In these perceptive, keenly observed stories Hindus, Catholics and Muslims all find ways to co-exist, in defiance of bigotry.” AMITAV GHOSH
A cab driver, who assumes the identity of whoever his clients want him to be, finds himself in a tricky situation with a passenger. A late-night call leads a doctor down a path of lust and desire, but with unexpected results. A writer acquaints himself with a thief who had broken into his house. A migrant worker falls in love but wonders how he can present himself as a suitor. A young man, having lost the love of his life, takes it upon himself to resolve another couple’s dilemmas.
Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo’s sometimes bizarre, sometimes tender stories, set largely in
Goa, create a world far removed from the sun and sand and the holiday resorts. Here you find villagers facing moral choices, children waking up to the realities of adult lives, men who dwell on remorse, women who live a life of regret and communities whose bonds are growing tenuous in an age of religious polarization. Probing the deepest corners of the human psyche with tongue-in-cheek humour, Mauzo’s stories reveal the many threads that connect us to others and the ease with which they can be broken. Written in simple prose and yet layered in nuances, The Wait is a collection that brings to the anglophone world one of the doyens of Konkani literature.