Experience the very best of Ruskin Bond’s writings in one book.
If only the world had no boundaries and we could move about without having to produce passports and documents everywhere, it really would be ‘a great wide beautiful, wonderful world’, says Ruskin Bond.
From his most loved stories to poems, memoirs and essays, Writing for My Life opens a window to the myriad worlds of Ruskin Bond, India’s most loved author. Capturing dreams of childhood, anecdotes of Rusty and his friends, the Ripley-Bean mysteries, accounts of his life with his father and his adventures in Jersey and London among others, this book is full of beauty and joy-two things Ruskin’s writing is mostly known for.
With a comprehensive introduction, this is the perfect gift to all the ardent readers and lovers of Ruskin’s effervescent writing. A wide collection of carefully curated and beautifully designed stories, this book is a collector’s edition.
Myra wants to quit her job.
Kabir is looking to resign from the board.
Sandy just dropped out of college.
Discover yourself within these restless twenty-somethings as they stand on the cusp of making life-changing decisions. Battling their inner demons and societal taboos, they wish to live life on their own terms. Their passion brings them together and with nothing but Ramy’s travel blog as their guiding star, they set out on the open road to follow what they desire.
But their journey entails a devastating personal loss, an undying fear and a host of obstacles. Will they be able to
realize their shared dream? Or will they succumb to the hardships on their road to freedom?
On the Open Road is an inspirational story of three ordinary individuals who refuse to give up on themselves.
A heinous crime has been committed-seven girls are brutally gang-raped by a group of upper-caste men. As news quickly spreads, their village comes under the national spotlight; journalists, policemen and ministers filter in, each trying to get to the bottom of the truth and find the culprits. Long oppressed, the girls from the minority community refuse to utter the names of the men; feigning ignorance and burdened by shame, they grapple with notions of honour and purity.
Lustre presents to us the portrait of a society-of a village afflicted by communal strains-as tensions rise with the police force coming under pressure, afraid the villagers will be seduced into joining the local Naxalite movement. As things take a violent turn, the novel offers a glimpse into the true situation in some parts of India as well as the collective psyche of a community-their thoughts on propriety, violence, subjugation, and, most importantly, revolution.
The C3 unit in the Intelligence Bureau is the node of the country’s counter-terrorism operations. At its discreet headquarters in New Delhi, intelligence officers work hard behind the scenes to thwart threats, keep track of targets and make sure the country is kept safe. When Mumbai becomes the victim of a series of horrific bomb blasts, Ravi Kumar, the chief of C3 known for his unorthodox but brilliant methods, is entrusted with the responsibility to neutralize the threat posed by a new terrorist organization called Lashkar-e-Hind.
Together with his three young recruits, Mihir, Jose and Cyrus, Ravi uncovers a plot that is much larger and threatens the very fabric of the country’s peace and stability. Through their network of agents, covert missions, tabs on the Hawala market and cultivation of contacts, they must tread carefully to protect the citizens of India. And they must do it all from the shadows, navigating the murky corridors of espionage and intelligence services.
In Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell’s Dystopian vision comes to life. Set in an imagined future, the people live under a totalitarian regime where ‘Big Brother’ is always watching. And while everyone seems to have accepted the new reality, Winston is struggling. Haunted by his memories, he remembers a world where the truth wasn’t doctored, and your thoughts were your own. As Winston seeks pleasure through small acts of rebellion, the ever-looming threat of the Thought Police grows stronger. But everything changes when Winston comes across ‘The Brotherhood’-a revolutionary secret organization that is conspiring to overthrow the government . . . A startling work of fiction, 1984willhaunt you long after you finish reading this book.
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Animal Farm is Orwell’s searing political satire of the Russian Revolution. The oppressed animals of ‘Manor Farm’ overthrow their cruel master, Mr Jones, in a bid to establish a just and equal society. But as the days progress, the naïve animals find themselves in the throes of a treacherous conspiracy that threatens to destroy everything they’ve worked for.
SWOONWORTHY ROMANCE MEETS RIVETING SATIRE IN THIS TIMELESS CLASSIC
He is all pride, and she prejudiced. When Mr Darcy arrives at the quiet town of Hertfordshire, everyone is excited. So what if he’s a bit of a snob, or despises all things social? He, like his best friend Mr Bingley, is an ideal bachelor with a magnificent estate.
But there’s one person who absolutely detests him.
Vivacious and witty, Elizabeth Bennet would like nothing to do with the arrogant Mr Darcy-but fate has other plans. When Mr Bingley starts courting her sister Jane, Elizabeth is forced to cross paths with Darcy again and again. As the two of them spend time in each other’s company, Darcy can’t help falling for Elizabeth’s wit and charm, while she’s forced to reconsider her own feelings for him.
But the two of them are still worlds apart-he’s a rich aristocrat while she hails from an economically weaker family. Will they be able to set aside their differences? Or will the two of them risk losing a chance at true love and happiness? A charming comedy of manners, Pride and Prejudice is a stunning battle of the sexes that is equal parts entertaining and astute.
A HAUNTING TALE OF DARK LONGINGS AND TRAGIC LOVE
Bitter, brooding, and cynical-Heathcliff resides at ‘Wuthering Heights’, a run-down estate on the bleak Yorkshire moors. But he wasn’t always like this.
Youthful and wild, once upon a time, Heathcliff had been in love with the singularly charming Catherine Earnshaw. They’d grown up together-he, a lowly gypsy foundling adopted by Catherine’s father, and she, a proper lady, born in a family of repute. Their romance was doomed from the start.
And yet, they fell in love-an epic, all-consuming love that threatened to devour them whole.
But Heathcliff wasn’t alone in his affections, for Catherine had caught the eye of another man: Edgar Lipton, a rich and well-bred youth, who, everyone agreed, was a perfect match for her. Trapped by societal expectations, Catherine made a choice that triggered a tempestuous series of events, changing their lives forever.
Astonishingly poetic and heart-achingly tragic, Wuthering Heights is a gothic masterpiece that will immerse you in a world that is both beautiful and nightmarish.
Welcome to the roaring twenties, where money, debauchery, and dancing go hand-in-hand. It is the summer of 1922,and the enigmatic millionaire, Jay Gatsby, is in love. He has everything he could ever want, except the one thing that always remains out of reach-the beautiful socialite Daisy Buchanan, a former lover, now married to someone else.
At his Long Island mansion, he throws lavish parties-drowning days and nights into drinks and dancing. But all the money in the world cannot fill the emptiness in his heart.
Alone, untouched by the glitz and glamour of the American rich, he stews in his secret longing. But everything changes when Gatsby befriends Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s new neighbour, who reunites the two lovers. Then begins a tale of obsession, madness, and tragedy that unravels Jay Gatsby’s life forever.
AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF STORIES BY ONE OF INDIA’S MOST EXCITING NEW WRITERS
From the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi winner Vasudhendra comes a powerful collection of stories that shock, move and amuse by turns. As the characters struggle to find their feet in a fast-changing India, they mirror our unspoken dilemmas, torn loyalties and the loss of innocence.
In the extremely popular ‘Red Parrot’, an innocuous image from childhood returns to haunt a man when he visits his idyllic hometown. In ‘Recession’, the desire for a child leads a couple down unexpected paths. In other stories, a young woman in love rethinks her future when buried family secrets are suddenly revealed; a boy learns that insomnia may be the symptom of something more ominous; lonely apartment residents discover the thrills and perils of social media.
Deftly crafted with gentle wit and a lightness of touch, each gripping story exposes the deepest contradictions of modern life. The fluid translation retains the flavour and nuances of the original Kannada, creating a rich reading experience.
FROM THE BOOK
‘The dance was called Paper Dance, where couples were asked to dance within the boundaries of a newspaper spread out on the floor. Stepping out of the boundary led to disqualification. As Devika was single, someone from the crowd stepped forward. It was Vinayak Kulakarni. . . . Devika sensed her partner’s hesitation. He would forget his steps the moment he touched her. His ears turned red and he refused to look into her eyes. His boisterous friends shouted to him from behind: “Hey, Kulki, come on, get closer.” But, the more she boldly held his waist and drew him nearer, the more he would shrink; he held on to her gingerly. Devika egged him on nonstop, eventually helping him break out of his shyness. By the time the newspaper size shrank to the size of a paper towel, they were still in the game and, finally, Devika won. That was when she whispered her mobile number in his ear.’
The blind matriarch, Matangi-Ma, lives on the topmost floor of an old house with many stories. From her eyrie, she hovers unseeingly over the lives of her family. Her long-time companion Lali is her emissary to the world. Her three children are by turn overprotective and dismissive of her. Her grandchildren are coming to terms with old secrets and growing pains. Life goes on this way until one day the world comes to a standstill-and they all begin to look inward.
This assured novel records the different registers in the complex inner life of an extended family. Like
the nation itself, the strict hierarchy of the joint-family home can be dysfunctional, and yet it is this home that often provides unexpected relief and succour to the vulnerable within its walls.
As certainties dissolve, endings lead to new beginnings. Structured with the warp of memory and the weft of conjoined lives, the narrative follows middle India, even as it records the struggles for individual growth, with successive generations trying to break out of the stranglehold of the all-encompassing Indian family.
Ebbing and flowing like the waves of a pandemic, the novel is a clear-eyed chronicle of the tragedies of India’s encounter with the Coronavirus, the cynicism and despair that accompanied it, and the resilience and strength of the human spirit.
