Shobhaa Dé has been many things to many people: supermodel, celebrity journalist, bestselling author, friend, rival, colleague and confidante. In this engagingly candid memoir, a woman who has been a familiar face and name to millions (although few known to her) finally reveals the true self behind the public persona.
Insiders know that besides her commitment to work and the frantic pace of her life, Shobhaa Dé’s first priority in life has always been her family. Here she writes poignantly of her early years, and of her relationship with her parents and siblings, her husband and her children.
Written in a consistently confident and candid voice, Selective Memory: Stories from My Life is remarkable for the honesty with which it captures the essence of a fascinating woman who has become a legend in her own time
Catagory: Biographies, Diaries & True Accounts
Final Victory
On 8 January 1979, in the late evening, Naval, the third son of Pirojsha Godrej, was brutally stabbed at his residence, along with his daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. This dastardly attack, incited by a powerful trade union leader in Mumbai, outraged people in trade circles and the public at large. The victim was one of those rare industrialists who had forged a legendary bond with his workers; he trusted their essential goodness, believing he could have no enemies—a fatal flaw according to the author—, in as much as they thought Naval could never do them wrong.
In Final Victory: The Life—and Death—of Naval Pirojsha Godrej, B.K. Karanjia draws upon his reminiscences of Naval from their five-decade-long friendship, interviews with Naval’s family, friends, associates and workers at Godrej, and his private papers, to paint a warm and compelling portrait of a man with an exceptional strength of mind and character. We get a glimpse of Naval, a mechanical wizard, who was chosen by his father to join the business straight out of high school. Learning skills from the shop floor upwards, led Naval to support a hands-on approach in tackling problems, ‘never expecting others to do what he would not undertake himself.’ His affinity for machines led Naval to develop the Godrej Tool Room, and to initiate the hugely successful typewriter and refrigeration lines of business that, with safes and Storwels, made Godrej a household name. He was deeply involved in the construction of the Godrej industrial garden township at Vikhroli, considered among the monst environment-friendly.
In keeping with the Godrej family’s deep commitment to worker welfare and human development, Naval played an important role in setting up the Naoroji Godrej Plant Research Center, the Foundation for Medical Research, and the Mandwa Project of the Foundation for Research in Community Health.
Rich in detail, the book also brings out Naval’s humility and simplicity, his tremendous drive and energy, his quick anger at preceived injustice, his mischievous wit, and love of sports, especially sailing. Full of anecdotes, this lively account of an extraordinary life, affirms Naval’s place as one of the builders of the House of Godrej.
A. R. Rahman
A.R.Rahman is an Indian film composer, record producer, musician and singer. His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won twenty five Filmfare Awards, four National Film Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, two Grammys and two Academy Awards.
Working in India’s various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2003, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, has sol…d more than 100 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide, and sold over 200 million cassettes, making him one of the world’s all-time top selling recording artists.
Time Magazine has referred to him as the “Mozart of Madras” and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal
Mahatma Gandhi
With a new introduction by Makarand R. Paranjape
The life of Mahatma Gandhi is the story of a legend. In Mahatma Gandhi: The Great Indian Way, Raja Rao upends the genre of the literary biography with inventive non-linear chronology, through dialogue and anecdote, situating the physical within the metaphysical, and with a text that is both retrospective and contemporary at the same time. By mapping genealogies and distilling them, Rao focuses on Gandhi’s years in South Africa, the birth of non-violent resistance, and then moves into the epic freedom struggle in India, which brought Gandhi to worldwide renown in his own lifetime.
With an emphasis on the idea of dharma as a framework for Gandhism, both in South Africa and India, this is the story of the man as much as the Mahatma.
Cricket Drona
Cricket Drona takes us through the life of cricketing genius Vasoo Paranjape, who left a defining impact on the game, shaping the careers of some of Indian cricket’s greatest figures, from Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar, from Rahul Dravid to Rohit Sharma. This book is a first-hand chronicle of stories, life lessons and game-changing experiences, written in the words of those who were lucky enough to have crossed paths with Paranjape at just the right time in their careers. For generations of cricketers across India, and even for some in other parts of the world, Paranjape has been an inspiration, a mentor, friend and guide. Peel back the layers and get to the core of a life that nurtured and nourished generations of India’s best cricketing talent.
Jinnah
Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been both celebrated and reviled for his role in the Partition of India, and the controversies surrounding his actions have only increased in the seven decades and more since his death. Ishtiaq Ahmed places Jinnah’s actions under intense scrutiny to ascertain the Quaid-i-Azam’s successes and failures and the meaning and significance of his legacy. Using a wealth of contemporary records and archival material, Dr Ahmed traces Jinnah’s journey from Indian nationalist to Muslim communitarian, and from a Muslim nationalist to, finally, Pakistan’s all-powerful head of state. How did the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity become the inflexible votary of the two-nation theory? Did Jinnah envision Pakistan as a theocratic state? What was his position on Gandhi and federalism? Asking these crucial questions against the backdrop of the turbulent struggle against colonialism, this book is a path-breaking examination of one of the most controversial figures of the twentieth century.
A Life in Science
A Bharat Ratna talks about his life in science in India
Dr C.N.R. Rao talks about his journey and what it takes to become a great scientist. With rare photos, the book covers his early years, his inspirations, the odds he had to overcome to pursue his dream and what it means to be a scientist in India.
The Kargil Girl
In 1994, twenty-year-old Gunjan Saxena boards a train to Mysore to appear for the selection process of the fourth Short Service Commission (for women) pilot course. Seventy-four weeks of back-breaking training later, she passes out of the Air Force Academy in Dundigal as Pilot Officer Gunjan Saxena.
On 3 May 1999, local shepherds report a Pakistani intrusion in Kargil. By mid-May, thousands of Indian troops are engaged in fierce mountain warfare with the aim to flush out the intruders. The Indian Air Force launches Operation Safed Sagar, with all its pilots at its disposal. While female pilots are yet to be employed in a war zone, they are called in for medical evacuation, dropping of supplies and reconnaissance.
This is the time for Saxena to prove her mettle. From airdropping vital supplies to Indian troops in the Dras and Batalik regions and casualty evacuation from the midst of the ongoing battle, to meticulously informing her seniors of enemy positions and even narrowly escaping a Pakistani rocket missile during one of her sorties, Saxena fearlessly discharges her duties, earning herself the moniker ‘The Kargil Girl’.
This is her inspiring story, in her words.
Network 18
As Indians got their first taste of satellite television during the first Gulf War, Raghav Bahl saw his future in the signals flickering across the small screen. Armed with burning ambition, keen business sense and amazing audacity, he assembled a group of talented professionals and rank beginners to launch one of India’s earliest start-up success stories. Starting from a small room in New Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave, Television Eighteen (TV18) grew into Network18, one of India’s biggest media conglomerates spanning television, print, films, the Internet, business and general news, drama and entertainment. In less than two decades filled with excitement, adventure and frequent crises, Network18 launched pioneering properties, television and film careers, and racked up partnerships with blue-chip media brands like CNBC, CNN and Viacom. But a mix of hubris, overreaching and external factors set it up for a free fall.
This is a story of brilliant ideas, severe setbacks, naked aggression, spectacular victories and fatal flaws. It’s a story of a media empire that could only have been Made in India.
Me And Ma
Capturing the beauty of a mother-daughter relationship, Divya Dutta in this moving memoir celebrates her mother’s zest for life that made her into the woman she is today. Divya walks us through the most intimate memories of her life, those that strengthened her relationship with her mother. The incredible bond she forged with her mother helped her through difficulties, times good and bad, that led to her becoming an award-winning actor of stature in the Indian film industry.
Me and Ma is a celebration of Divya’s exemplary achievements. It is also an honest, intimate and heartfelt tribute to the force behind her success-her mother.