Malloban is set in North Calcutta in the winter of 1929. The eponymous protagonist, a lower-middle-class office worker, lives in College Street-a locality known for its bookstores, publishing houses, and universities-with his wife Utpala and their daughter Monu. The novel unfolds through a series of everyday scenes of dysfunction and discontent: bickering about bathrooms and budgeting, family trips to the zoo and the movies, a visit from Utpala’s brother’s family which displaces Malloban to a boarding house, and the appearance of a frequent late-night visitor to Utpala’s upstairs bedroom. Meanwhile, the daughter Monu bears the brunt of her parents’ “unlove.”
Arguably the most beloved poet in modern Bangla after Tagore, Jibanananda wrote a significant number of novels and short stories discovered and published after his death. Malloban is his most popular novel.
Catagory: Literature & Fiction
Sahyadri Adventure: Koleshwar’s Secret
Far out in the Sahyadris rises a mountain called Koleshwar. Amidst its caves and rumbling streams lie many secrets, secrets that Anirudh discovers when he wakes from a strange dream. Vikram, Aditya, Chitra and Anirudh are now tasked with trying to make sense of his dream. How does Anirudh inexplicably recognize not just every contour and ridge of the lush, monsooned hills but also know every minute detail of the vanished Fort of Mumbai? Will this group of budding adventurers decode the forgotten legacy, buried in the ancient slopes of the Sahyadris, before everything tips over the edge?
Journey to the Sahyadris in the concluding instalment of this riveting tale where history meets adventure in one of the most beautiful locales of India.
The Millennial Yogi
‘How do I fight? I see failure at every juncture,’ said Jay.
‘If we divide our life the way we sort laundry, we will never find peace,’ replied Vini.
Jayshankar Prasad, or Jay, has had a shady-yet-mercurial rise in his journey as an entrepreneur, but he has little idea as to what is around the corner. On the other hand, Vini, a mystic monk, has already been there, and knows what it is like to have it all and then lose it in an instant. Greed . . . power . . . money . . . are all transitory.
In a serendipitous twist of fate, Jay crosses paths with the enigmatic Vini and thus begins a cathartic and transformative journey. The Millennial Yogi is the zeitgeist parable for anyone searching for meaning and purpose in life. With prose that is both photographic and profound, Deepam Chatterjee has crafted an extraordinary tale of loss, redemption and the fight for one’s soul in an increasingly materialistic world.
Play With Me
Sid is a successful photographer in a boutique ad agency. He is single and has everything he wants-a great job, great colleagues and a hassle-free life. But if there is one thing that has eluded him, it is love. Until the gorgeous, free-spirited Cara walks into his life. The two begin a charged affair that disrupts all his notions of love and transforms the way Sid thinks about pleasure. But then something strange happens-Sid finds himself falling in love with another woman.
Growing Up Gay in the 90s
It was the best and brightest of times . . .
You’d think a Bombay teen’s life in the early 90s would be the usual sunshine and rain. But when this regular teenager realizes he’s gay, things suddenly get interesting.
Pop culture and its massive influence on a young gay boy lie at the core of this memoir. Bear witness to his transition to adulthood as he traverses a big, burgeoning city and the gay scene slowly blooming at its fringes.
Dada Comrade
‘This fine translation has once again returned Yashpal’s story to that fraught arena where every warrior appears exhausted today’-Ravish Kumar
‘A daring and unusual novel’-Vasudha Dalmia
‘A remarkable contribution to literary translation in English’-Apoorvanand
Harish, a young revolutionary in pre-Independence Lahore, upsets his party by questioning its credo of underground armed resistance. Escaping the party’s wrath, he becomes a labour activist, but is soon framed by the British government. Meanwhile, Shailbala, his comrade and lover, must take a decision about her pregnancy. As she courageously defies social norms and stands up to her influential father, can she find an ally within the revolutionary party-with Dada–Harish’s erstwhile mentor and antagonist–as its autocratic leader?
Yashpal’s first and semi-autobiographical novel, Dada Comrade is considered the pioneering political novel of Hindi literature. It raises questions about freedom and equality, as well as about sexuality and marriage-subjects as urgent today as in those times. In this first-ever English translation, Simona Sawhney brilliantly captures the force and intensity of the original, which had heralded the arrival of a literary genius.
Gang of Four
Jo Gam Hamse Zyada Ho, Khushi Nazdik Hoti Hai,
Chamakte Hain Sitare, Raat Jab Taarik Hoti Hai.
Jab Naam Sahil Ho
To Gir Gir Ke Sambhalna Padata Hai.
To Mar Mar Ke Jeena Padata Hai.
Kadam Ladakhadate Hon to Bhi
Majbooti Se Pairon Par Khada Hona Padta Hai.
Neelam Ki Maut Ne Usake Wajood Ka
Purja Purja Bikher Diya Tha
To Bhi Apni Vyaktigat Trasadi
Se Ubarana Lazmi Tha.
Hans Kar Dikhana Zaroori Tha
Bhale Hi Dil Rota Ho.
Ghatotkach Ke Mayajal Mein
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.
Something I’m Waiting to Tell You: The sequel to the National bestseller Something I Never Told You – ‘Limited-edition digitally signed copies’
‘Letting go of her was not easy but winning her back was harder than anything I could have ever imagined’
After nearly losing the love of his life to a terrible accident, Ronnie realizes how much he loves Adira and what an idiot he had been to hurt her. What’s more, her overprotective mother now takes care of her, and does not like Ronnie being anywhere near her daughter.
He’s going through hell-unable to go back in time and fix things, unable to say what he missed saying to her, ‘I love you . . .’
All he wants now is a second chance, to trace his steps back into a loving relationship and win Adira over. It will not be easy because life is tough; love, even tougher.
Something I’m Waiting to Tell You is the sweet, intense conclusion of a story that started with Something I Never Told You, a book that will teach you a thing or two about soulmates.
Panchali
A fascinating illustrated rendition of the all-consuming Mahabharata … A spectacular show of words and images dealing with love and death, loyalty and duplicity, conflict and concord, and much more …
Impelled by elemental forces of death, destruction and creation, Panchali, with electrifying visuals cinematically construed, reaches its climax: two consecutive games of dice. Marred by deceit, treachery and trickery, and fuelled by obsession, passion and rage, the gambling episode provides the preface to the coming, all-consuming Mahabharata war.