Catagory: Biographies, Diaries & True Accounts

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was considered to be the biggest threat to the British hegemony.
He was prosecuted thrice for sedition.
Was termed ‘the father of Indian unrest.’
He was convicted for his fiery writings in his nationalist daily Kesari.
Tilak, the first definitive biography of the man who raised the slogan that ‘freedom is my birthright and I shall have it.’

Before Mahatma Gandhi, there was Bal Gangadhar Tilak – the revolutionary who ignited the spark of Indian nationalism. The Times, London, called him ‘the father of Indian unrest,’ and the one-time Secretary of State for India Edward Montagu felt he had ‘the greatest influence of any person’ on the Indian people. Above all, for the British Raj, Tilak was sedition-monger-in-chief, and it prosecuted him thrice for sedition.

Hailed as ‘Lokmanya’ or ‘One Revered by the People,’ Tilak transformed India’s fight for freedom from polite discourse to a mass uprising. His fierce writings, relentless activism, and controversial stances earned him the title ‘enemy of the British government’ from the Raj, which saw him as its greatest threat. And at a time the British were undermining Indian self-esteem and dismissing Indians as ‘uncivilized heathens,’ Tilak argued powerfully and relentlessly that there was much of enormous value in India’s past, its culture, heritage and civilization, awakening Indians to a sense of their own identity. This definitive biography traces Tilak’s journey from his early days in Konkan to his influential role across India, highlighting his battles against the British, imprisonments, and commitment to Swaraj.

Rediscover an icon of Indian history whose ideas and actions continue to resonate today. Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s story is not just a tale of resistance but a testament to perseverance and conviction.

A revelatory, comprehensive and perceptive autobiography – candid, compelling and authoritative

Over the decades, Fali S. Nariman has attained the status of a pre-eminent advocate whose views are not only heard by those in the corridors of power – both judicial and political – but also respected. This volume presents his life journey right from his childhood in Rangoon to the present. Starting with his formative years, when he had the good fortune to interact with many eminent judges and advocates, the author moves on to deal with a wide variety of important subjects, such as:

• The sanctity of the Indian Constitution and attempts to tamper with it.
• Crucial cases that have made a decisive impact on the nation, especially on the interpretation of the law.
• The relationship between the political class and the judiciary, and how political power can be asserted in the guise of judicial interpretation.
• The cancer of corruption and how to combat this menace.

The author also outlines measures to restore the now-low credibility of the legal profession. He delineates his role in several high-profile cases and describes the highlights of his tenure in the Rajya Sabha. This book is a must for both members of the legal profession and the lay reader who will find the contents informative, educative and thought-provoking.

A revelatory, comprehensive and perceptive autobiography – candid, compelling and authoritative

Over the decades, Fali S. Nariman has attained the status of a pre-eminent advocate whose views are not only heard by those in the corridors of power – both judicial and political – but also respected. This volume presents his life journey right from his childhood in Rangoon to the present. Starting with his formative years, when he had the good fortune to interact with many eminent judges and advocates, the author moves on to deal with a wide variety of important subjects, such as:

• The sanctity of the Indian Constitution and attempts to tamper with it.
• Crucial cases that have made a decisive impact on the nation, especially on the interpretation of the law.
• The relationship between the political class and the judiciary, and how political power can be asserted in the guise of judicial interpretation.
• The cancer of corruption and how to combat this menace.

The author also outlines measures to restore the now-low credibility of the legal profession. He delineates his role in several high-profile cases and describes the highlights of his tenure in the Rajya Sabha. This book is a must for both members of the legal profession and the lay reader who will find the contents informative, educative and thought-provoking.

Priyanka Mattoo was born into a wooden house in the Himalayas, as were most of her ancestors. In 1989, however, mounting violence in the region forced Mattoo’s community to flee. The home into which her family poured their dreams was reduced to a pile of rubble.

Mattoo never moved back to her beloved Kashmir—because it no longer existed. She and her family just kept packing and unpacking and moving on. In forty years, Mattoo accumulated thirty-two different addresses, and she chronicles her nomadic existence with wit, wisdom, and an inimitable eye for light within the darkest moments.