Why was the appreciation of gardens considered a symbol of Victorian aristocracy? Why do the Japanese find it easy to power-nap in public spaces? Why did Charles Baudelaire ascribe Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s restless nocturnal wanderings to a pathological dread of returning home? Why is a tense Gurgaon CEO hitting anxiety-laden golf balls into the night? Why was an obscure ninth-century Arab scholar’s library confiscated? And what do any of these mean for the average person immersed in the ‘daily decathlon’ of life?
Employing a philosopher’s mind and an artist’s eye, Banerjee takes us to still places in a moving world, the place where two rivers (do ab) meet and forests write themselves into history.
Catagory: Fiction
Fiction main category
The Thousand Faces Of Night
What makes a dutiful daughter, wife, and mother? What makes a good Indian woman?
Devi returns to Madras with an American degree, only to be sucked in by the old order of things-a demanding mother’s love, a suitable but hollow marriage, an unsuitable lover who offers a brief escape. But the women of the hoary past come back to claim Devi through myth and story, music and memory. They show her what it is to stay and endure what it is to break free and move on. Sita has been the ideal daughter-in-law, wife and mother. But now that she has arranged a marriage for her daughter she has to come to terms with an old dream of her own. Mayamma knows how to survive as the old family retainer, bending the way the wind blows. But, through Devi, she too can see a different life.
A subtle and tender tale of women’s lives in India, this award-winning novel is structured with the delicacy and precision of a piece of music. Fusing myth, tale and the real voices of different women, The Thousand Faces of Night brings alive the underworld of Indian women’s lives.
SAANSON KE SITAR PAR
This is a collection of Gopaldas Neeraj’s final works. Kumar Chandrahas, the music composer on some of these verses, has curated these works on the insistence of Neeraj ji himself. Neeraj ji wanted his last work to be a collection of Chandrahas’s favourite songs. Chandrahas ji has also included a few of his own poems that are close to Neeraj ji’s heart.
Things to Leave Behind
Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2021
‘A personal story of the way that the caste system in India [. . .] imprison[s] the humanity of those within them’-Gloria Steinem
Kumaon, 1856. History has already begun its steady march. Six native women clad in black and scarlet pichauras huddle around Naineetal Lake, attempting to cleanse it of ominous influences. These are the days of Upper Mall Road (for Europeans and their horses) and Lower Mall Road (‘for dogs, servants and other Indians’). Amidst a theatre of British impunity, feisty young Tilottama Dutt, whose uncle is hung when he protests the reigning order, and her daughter, Deoki, confront change as Indians and as women.
Things to Leave Behind brings alive the romance of the mixed legacy of the British-Indian past. Full of the fascinating backstory of Naineetal and its unwilling entry into Indian history, throwing a shining light on the elemental confusion of caste, creed and culture, illuminated with painstaking detail, here is a fascinating historical epic and Namita Gokhale’s most ambitious novel yet.
Angaaron Par Nange Paanw
Madhav’s ghazals offer a much-needed insight into the transforming (and transformed) society and the lives of men who endure the daily trials of walking barefoot on burning coals-falling prey to a growing restlessness. Life and Man play two essentially distinct roles in this refreshing and timely perspective on life in the modern city.
In these ghazals, the many uncertainties of everyday life are presented in various different ways. Even though he talks about social concerns, the individual is always at the heart of Kaushik’s poems:
Main sangtaraash bhi hota toh kya bana leta
Sheher mein koi nahin kadradaan patthar ka
Sanjeev Sanyal’s India
Bestselling author Sanjeev Sanyal’s fresh and provocative vision of India
In three original and insightful books, acclaimed writer Sanjeev Sanyal takes readers on a journey through India’s fascinating prehistory, its glorious ancient lineage and its quirky contemporary times. In the celebrated book, Land of the Seven Rivers, combining scholarship with sparkling wit, Sanjeev sets out to explore how India’s history was shaped by its geography, moving from geological and genetic origins to present-day Gurgaon. In the ambitious The Ocean of Churn, Sanjeev chronicles the grand sweep of history along the Indian Ocean, from East Africa to Australia, offering a mesmerizing glimpse into the heart of a vibrant civilization. Sanjeev’s first work of fiction, Life over Two Beers and Other Stories, is an entertaining ride through the charming absurdities of twenty-first-century India, crackling with irreverence and wit.
Here is the perfect collection to savour, treasure and gift for those who wish to see a different India.
One Part Woman Box Set
The complete story of Kali and Ponna-and the heartbreaking dilemma that besets them.
In One Part Woman, Kali and Ponna’s desperate hopes for a child converge on a possible solution that puts their marriage-and their love-to the ultimate test.
In the two parallel sequels that follow-both of which pick up the story right where One Part Woman ends-two completely different scenarios play out, exploring unforeseen consequences in the future of this once-happy couple.
Pocketful O’ Stories
*ITC’s Engage, one of India’s leading fragrance brands and a segment leader with its pocket perfumes, collaborated with the best-selling romance author of India, Durjoy Datta in an exciting crowd-sourced campaign to invite micro tales that celebrate the unexpected moments of love. The crowd-sourced online campaign, to launch the convenient and innovative pocket-sized Engage ON, received a staggering 11,200 entries within a month. The best micro tales have been compiled – infused with Durjoy’s own moments of love – to represent an intriguing journey of playful romance.
Memories Of Fire
Memories of Fire is the compelling story of five childhood friends meeting after a gap of fifty-four years. They embark on a journey into the past, laden with nostalgia and humour, and encompassing all the ugly and wonderful things life has to offer.
Inspired by true events and interspersed with the dark contemporary history of India and Pakistan, Ashok Chopra has created remarkably realistic characters who tackle prejudice, prestige, privilege and even prison head-on. He skillfully weaves together five storylines as the friends move in and out of each other’s lives. The result is a defining voyage through life, one that queries tough choices and the price one is willing to pay for them. It also asks the epic questions: What makes for happiness? Why do people make certain choices and not others? And why do men and women willingly make tremendous sacrifices for those they love?
Ashok Chopra has created an authentic, densely peopled universe with a distinctive period charm. Memories of Fire is a vast, colourful, emotional, political and social journey, with a cast of characters who are interesting, sympathetic and lifelike.
‘A simple, gripping tale which unfolds across a turbulent period of modern Indian history. The strength of this novel lies in its fascinating mix of complex characters. Through expressive dialogue and eloquent description, Chopra takes his readers on a memorable journey across terrain that is both familiar and surprising’-Shashi Tharoor, MP and author
‘I really enjoyed Ashok Chopra’s memoirs and I look forward very much to reading his first venture into fiction’-Vikram Seth, author
BHAGWADGITA
This book is a modern interpretation of the Bhagvadgita by one of India’s foremost thinkers and visionaries, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He presents a version of ancient wisdom that can cater to the needs of the present times.