Discover the heart of Kerala through stories that pulse with life and history. This book invites you to explore the world of sorcerers, warriors, and poets, where myth and reality intertwine. From the ancient gateway of Malabar to the vibrant communities that shaped its culture, these tales reveal the depth of Kerala’s heritage. Meet the figures behind the legends, delve into the histories that defined a region, and experience a society rich in tradition and intrigue. With a blend of deep insight and accessible writing, this collection offers a fresh look at Kerala’s fascinating past.
Catagory: Society & Social Sciences
Role Models
Role models are people who inspire us to dream bigger by broadening the horizons of our imagination. They
challenge us to go beyond limited possibilities by expanding our aspirational matrix. In this refreshing and unique account of the contributions of Indian Muslims to national life, Shehla Rashid brings together a formidable list of achievers, such as A.R. Rahman, Sania Mirza, Nigar Shaji, Dr Ausaf Sayeed and Huma Qureshi, among others, who have excelled in their respective fields. She postulates the idea of a ‘Muslim civil society’—a space where new ideas can germinate, allowing talent to achieve its full potential and reforms to take root. As Shehla brings their stories to life, she also offers insights into her own life, the choices she made, and the way forward for Muslims in a democratic political system.
Jayganw Ke Bahadur/जयगांव के बहादुर
क्या आप जानते हैं कि हिंदी के प्रसिद्ध लेखक अभिमन्यु अनत ‘मारिशस’ के निवासी थे और जिनके ढेर सारे उपन्यास और कहानी-संग्रह भारत में प्रकाशित हुए?
उन्हीं अभिमन्यु अनत का बेहद रोचक और साहस से भरपूर उपन्यास है जयगांव के बहादुर।
यह उस बहादुर युवक की रोमांचक कहानी है, जिसने एक अत्याचारी के चंगुल से गाँव को मुक्त कराया और फिर जिस गाँव में अमन-चैन की मधुर बंसी बजने लगी।
पढ़िए और समझिए इस बात को कि अगर हम में साहस है, जूझने की शक्ति है, तो कभी कोई हमारे साथ अन्याय और अत्याचार नहीं कर सकता।
India on the Move
Things start to heat up in the national capital when protests erupt in the campus of JNU against the protestors of the judicial hanging of Afsal Guru and Maqbool Bhat. Very soon the students would go from being research scholars to ‘jihadis’, ‘violent communists’ and ‘anti-nationals’ resulting in the larger questions of a true nationalist.
Slogans like Bharat mata ki jai and Jai Shri Ram, which were traditionally used to express reverence to the nation and a salutation to Lord Rama respectively, have been appropriated as political slogans. Whilst until now, Bharat Mata ki Jai and Jai Shree Ram ran parallel in the country’s political discourse, today they lead the same way. On one hand, there are those who view patriotism and nationalism as synonymous with blind obedience and conformity. On the other, those who believe in a more inclusive and diverse India, where dissent and criticism are essential components of a thriving and functioning democracy. This book attempts to view events following the JNU event, the farmers’ protest, Balakot strikes and the subsequent unravelling of deep fissures within us.
Mythakon Se Vigyan Tak/मिथकों से विज्ञान तक
मानव ने सवाल पूछना और जवाब ढूँढ़ना कब शुरू किया पता नहीं, पर एक बार शुरू किया तो सवालों और जवाबों का सिलसिला कभी नहीं रुका। इन्हीं सवालों और जवाबों की तलाश ने मानव ज्ञान की हर शाख़ को जन्म दिया। मिथक, कहानियाँ, धर्म, दर्शन, अध्यात्म, दर्शन, विज्ञान—प्रश्नों के उत्तर की तलाश का ही नतीजा हैं। सवालों की इस भीड़ में दो बड़े सवाल थे : ब्रह्मांड की उत्पत्ति और जीव-जंतु और मानव की उत्पत्ति कैसे और क्यों हुई। इतिहास हमें ये बताता है की कैसे और क्यों पूछने में एक बुनियादी अंतर है। कैसे से शुरू होने वाले सवाल हमें विज्ञान की तरफ ले जाते हैं और क्यों से शुरू होने वाले सवालों की तलाश हमें अध्यात्म और धर्म की तरफ। यह किताब ब्रह्मांड और जीवन के विकास की बदलती कहानी के उदाहरण को दर्शाती हुई ‘विज्ञान’ की परिभाषा चिह्नित करने की एक कोशिश है। इतिहास के पन्ने पलटते हुए यह किताब बताती है कि विज्ञान को, अध्यात्म और धार्मिक ज्ञान को छुए बिना, और इनके बीच लकीर खींचे बिना, पारभाषित नहीं किया जा सकता। विज्ञान और धार्मिक ज्ञान में कई बुनियादी तरह के फ़र्क़ में से एक अहम फ़र्क़ ये है कि विज्ञान में पुराने सच को ग़लत साबित करने पर जश्न मनाया जाता है और धर्म में हमेशा के सच पर उंगली उठाने से संकट पैदा हो जाता है।
The Living Legend
Rama is all of sixteen when Sage Viswamithra takes him to the Dandaka forest, with Lakshmana accompanying them. At first, the spirit of adventure fills the two teenage brothers, but when they enter the forest in broad daylight, it is a curtain of pitch darkness. The smell of decaying flesh, flashes of fire, and the gloom of animals, birds and foliage in terror affect Rama deeply. For the first time, he feels fear. He hears derisive laughter—is it from the forest, or is it within him?
The first lesson he recalls from the sage Vashistha is: What is the task at hand? How can he understand the gravity of what is happening? Is the earth calling out for help? He gathers his fragmented thoughts and, feeling for the arrow from his quiver, shoots at a shape-shifting demon who terrorizes the forest.
The Living Legend is packed with twists and reflections and hosts the strength of relationships with nature that Rama, Sita and Lakshmana make to restore balance in life. The forest of inner evolution was transformative in their youth, and it is in our time too.
Sita’s Voice in the Assamese Rāmāyaṇa: Selected Verses from the Rāmāyaṇa of Mādhava Kandalī and the Uttarakāṇḍa of Śaṅkaradeva
Sita’s Voice in the Assamese Rāmāyaṇa is a translation of select verses from the Assamese Saptakāṇḍa Rāmāyaṇa of Mādhava Kandalī, Śaṅkaradeva and Madhavdeva, written between the 14th-15th centuries CE. This vernacular rendition of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa has been translated with a scholarly introduction by Tilottoma Misra. The selected verses represent a distinctive creative rendition of the Vālmīki text from the region of Assam by adding new emotional and philosophic dimensions to it. Especially in the Uttarakāṇḍa ascribed to Śaṅkaradeva, Sita’s voice acquires a unique quality in her final rejection of Rāma thereby expressing her ultimate disillusionment with him, the much-acclaimed paragon of all virtues.
The Human Algorithm: Cyberpsychology for Digital Age
In today’s hyperconnected world, our lives have become increasingly intertwined with the technology we interact with. While innovations like smartphones and the Internet have brought unprecedented convenience and connectivity, they have also introduced new risks and challenges.
In The Human Algorithm, Dr Robin K. Mathew takes readers on an eye-opening exploration of the complex digital landscape and our ever-evolving engagement with it. With chapters delving into smartphone addiction, the impact of technology on cognitive development, threats such as cyberbullying, online predators, and the dark web, this book shines a revelatory light on the often-overlooked aspects of our online existence. This comprehensive work also dedicates chapters to the internet’s role in fuelling anxiety and hypochondria, the emergence of cyber dating and romance, and the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), among other crucial topics.
All in all, this richly researched and compellingly argued compendium will equip you with the knowledge and insights to navigate the digital age with awareness and resilience.
The Company of Violent Men
In The Company of Violent Men, investigative journalist Siddharthya Roy takes us on an unflinching and deeply personal journey into reporting violent political conflicts in South Asia. From the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, where drugs and human trafficking run rampant, to the forests of Chhattisgarh, where Maoist rebels and the Indian State have waged a war for half a century, on to the enduring conflict zone of Kashmir, caught between India, Pakistan, Roy narrates the cycles of brutality, exploitation, and injustice in which everyday people are caught.
From a genocide survivor—a little girl—who asks for nothing more than a hot meal to an aspiring suicide bomber with cannabis-laden dreams of global destruction, Roy paints kaleidoscopic and haunting portraits of mercenaries and middlemen, refugees and insurgents—each complex and morally ambiguous. As he navigates the minds of others, Roy often turns the lens inward with uncompromising honesty, examining his own evolution as a journalist and the ethical dilemmas he faces.
This part memoir, part reportage, crackles with the urgency of war dispatches. And yet, pausing and meditating, it peels back hurried headlines, making readers bear witness to what the reporter saw when he ‘looked beyond the burqa and the beard, beyond the olive-green of one fighter and the camo fatigue of the other, and talked to the humans who wear these facades’.
Semiotics of Rape
In Semiotics of Rape, Rupal Oza follows the social life of rape in rural northwest India to reveal how rape is not only a violation of the body but a language through which a range of issues—including caste and gender hierarchies, control over land and labor, and the shape of justice—are contested. Rather than focus on the laws governing rape, Oza closely examines rape charges to show how the victims and survivors of rape reclaim their autonomy by refusing to see themselves as defined entirely by the act of violation. Oza also shows how rape cases become arenas where bureaucrats, village council members, caste communities, and the police debate women’s sexual subjectivities and how those varied understandings impact the status and reputations of individuals and groups.
In this way, rape gains meaning beyond the level of the survivor and victim to create a social category. By tracing the shifting meanings of sexual violence and justice, Oza offers insights into the social significance of rape in India and beyond.