Hiran is born in 1857: the year of Mutiny and the year his father dies. Brought to Calcutta by his widowed mother he turns out to have few talents, apart from an uncanny ability to read a man’s fate in his palm. When luck gets him a job at the auction house, Hiran finds himself embroiled in a mysterious trade, and even more deeply embroiled in the affairs of his nefarious superior, the infamous Mr. Jonathan Crabbe.
Commissioned to procure a child for Mr. Crabbe’s opium addicted wife, he stumbles upon his own future. An unlikely hero, Hiran, the opium clerk, is caught up in rebellion and war, buffeted by storms at sea, by love and intrigue, innocently implicated in fraud and dark dealings.
Catagory: Non Fiction
non fiction main category
The Tata Group Beyond Business | A Tribute to Vision, Leadership, and Legacy by Sandeep Murarka
The Tata Group Beyond Business: Impact, Encomiums, and Accolades offers a compelling tribute to Ratan Tata and the extraordinary leaders who have shaped the Group’s 150+ years of history.
Through rare photographs, inspiring anecdotes, and meticulous research, this book captures the entrepreneurial spirit, governance excellence, and bold strategic moves that have placed the Tata Group at the forefront of global business. Beyond boardrooms, it reveals the Group’s enduring contributions to communities, education, sports, and culture.
The Tata Group Beyond Business is both a valuable reference and a source of inspiration. Whether you are a business professional, student, historian, or admirer of the TATA legacy, this book will deepen your understanding of a corporate giant that continues to shape India’s destiny and inspire generations.
Munger ki Rani
Born into a world that celebrated sons and silenced dreams, Manisha Rani dared to dance to her own rhythm. From surviving a broken home and battling small-town expectations to facing rejection after rejection on her way to the stage, she turned every ‘no’ into the fuel that powered her rise.
In Munger ki Rani, India’s beloved social media star opens up about her struggles, heartbreaks and the courage it took to transform her life. Unfiltered, funny and deeply personal, this book reveals what it really takes to make it as a new-age influencer in a world obsessed with perfection.
A story of grit, grace and the unstoppable spirit of a small-town girl who became a queen in her own right—Munger ki Rani is an inspiring read for anyone who dares to dream big.
BSF and Meghalaya: Through the Lens of a Borderman | A Poetic and Visual Journey Through One of India’s Most Breathtaking Frontiers
Meghalaya, the land of cloud-kissed plateaus, cascading valleys, and vibrant traditions, is more than just a frontier. It is a meeting ground of nature, culture, and resilience, where the Border Security Force (BSF) stands steadfast in its duty while also becoming part of the fabric of the land.
In this evocative coffee table book, Shri Harbax Singh Dhillon invites readers on a journey that is at once visual, historical, and deeply personal. Through photographs, sketches, and poetry, the book mirrors the many faces of Meghalaya, its breathtaking landscapes, its diverse communities, and the timeless rhythm of life along its borders. Interwoven is the story of the BSF, guardians of sovereignty who, beyond patrolling, also share bonds of trust and kinship with the people they serve among.
Both a tribute and a record, this volume celebrates the spirit of Meghalaya and the BSF, offering readers a work of beauty, memory, and belonging.
Climate Change 2100: Survive or Thrive?
By 2050, we may cross 2°C of global warming—humanity’s point of no return. Yet the future is not fixed. In this urgent and hopeful manifesto, solar scientist and climate activist Chetan Singh Solanki, known as the Solar Man and Solar Gandhi, shares lessons from his eleven-year Energy Swaraj Yatra, living in a solar bus to spread awareness. Blending science and philosophy, he introduces the AMG (Avoid, Minimize, Generate) framework, and the TUPEE Climate Habits: Travel less, Use wisely, Purchase less, Eat carefully and Eliminate electricity waste.
A wake-up call, a blueprint, and a practical guide — Climate Change 2100 shows us how to act now so that by 2100 humanity doesn’t merely endure, but thrives.
Stories from a Kargili Kitchen
The untold story of Kargil—told not through war, but through food
Tucked between some of the most forbidding folds of the Himalayas, Kargil is a land too often seen only through the lens of war—yet its valleys hold a tenderness, resilience and faith that endure through food.
Born from years of travel, cooking and friendships, foodways researcher Yash Saxena gathers voices from mountain kitchens and firesides—of shepherds, monks, farmers and mothers who feed a world shaped by both faith and frost. From slow-simmering broths to shifting borderlines, from ancient Bon rituals to the echoes of Bofor gunfire, each story reveals how a community sustains itself through ritual, memory and the quiet grace of everyday cooking.
Blending memoir, travelogue and cultural history, this is part food book, part love letter and part act of remembrance—a tender, sensory journey through Kargili kitchens, whose flames fight to keep centuries of wisdom alive against the winds of change.
Farmer Power
In September-October 2020, around 300,000 Indian farmers marched to New Delhi, to protest against three new farm laws by stationing themselves on national highways around the capital for over a year. This movement, the largest farmer assertion in recent times, with its firm commitment to democracy, civil disobedience and peaceful resistance, carved out a distinct political space for itself.
For over a decade prior, farmer groups had repeatedly tried to highlight agricultural issues neglected by successive governments. However, what transpired after 2020 was a unique moment in the history of world social movements.
Farmer Power examines the 2020-21 movement and delves into its evolution, history and what made it unique on the global scale. This book also looks into broader agricultural sector issues, including the challenges faced by small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, and the limitations of the procurement system. It seeks to highlight the policy interventions made by Indian state in the past two decades on these issues. This comprehensive account is essential for anyone interested in the politics of agriculture, livelihoods, and rural scenarios.
Thinking of Winter
When Shantanu left for the United States, the promise of a new life felt quiet, isolating and cold.
Then Winter arrived. A puppy adopted selfishly.
Shantanu did not realize how much this decision would shape his life.
Everyone loves their dogs, naturally. Every dog is a good boy, naturally. But Winter is no ordinary dog. With old soul eyes and a heart that made room for everything, Winter skipped the chaos that any puppy is entitled to. Instead, he chose a unique path, like a gentleman who had wandered in from another time, and decided he would share it with the world.
From the snowed-in streets of Ithaca to the restless rain of Mumbai, between these pages is an adventure of a lost adult and a special dog. In Winter’s stillness, lie lessons on how to stay. In his charm, one learns how to meet the world with softness. In his quiet daily life, are buried hints on how to heal.
These adventures are a tender chronicle of companionship, resilience and the small, surprising ways in which a four-legged friend set out to change a few many worlds.
The Waking Dead
A haunting in the Indian heartland ends with a priest’s violent death.
Enter Samir Grey—fiendishly intelligent, terminally unsociable and catastrophically human. No divine
visions, no lightning-shaped scar—just a mind that won’t quit and a tongue sharp enough to draw blood.
To uncover the truth, Samir must descend into a nightmare of uniquely Indian horrors: corpse-eating
vetalas, vengeful pishachs, ghouls, demons, and the most terrifying of all, bureaucracy and red tape.
Wickedly funny and blisteringly acerbic, The Waking Dead drags urban horror kicking and
screaming into small-town India, where folklore and reality bleed into each other—and the real monsters
may be the ones still breathing.
Doing the Right Thing
Ratan Tata was an iconic leader who shaped the Indian industry. He inspired an entire generation. When he passed away in 2024, millions of Indians felt a sense of deep personal loss.
In this unique and engaging book, Harish Bhat, bestselling author and a Tata veteran, explores what lay at the heart of Ratan Tata’s extraordinary leadership. His steadfast desire to always ‘do the right thing’ appears to have shaped his thinking and actions. But what exactly does this mean?
In these pages, through inspiring real-life stories drawn from Ratan Tata’s long career, this strong belief comes to life vividly. Why did he decide to create the Tata Indica? Why did he say: ‘A promise is a promise’? What led him to walk away from a large business opportunity for Tata Chemicals? Why did he telephone the managing director of Tata Steel a second time? How did he ensure fairness to everyone during a process of divestment? Why and how did he lead the fight against cancer? How did he respond to the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai?
This book is full of such fascinating and many untold Ratan Tata stories. Through these compelling narratives and the lessons they hold, this powerful book will guide you towards ‘doing the right thing’ in your own life.