Unlike people born in Panjab who have a direct connection with, and hence a memory of the land, I have no liminal or tangible marker of belonging to Panjab. While my family did hail from Panjab, I was neither born here, nor do I live here. I have no address, bank statement, Aadhaar card, passport or land ownership to prove my connection with Panjab.
In 2015, Amandeep Sandhu began an investigation that was meant to resolve the ‘hole in his heart’, his ’emptiness about matters Panjab’. For three years, he crisscrossed the state and discovered a land that was nothing like the one he had imagined and not like the stories he had heard.
Present-day Panjab prides itself on legends of its military and valorous past even as it struggles with daily horrors. The Green Revolution has wreaked ecological havoc in the state, and a decade and a half of militancy has destabilised its economy and governance. Sikhism-the state’s eclectic and syncretic religion- is in crisis, its gatekeepers brooking no dissent and giving little spiritual guidance. And Panjab has yet to recover from the loss of its other half, now in Pakistan.
This revised edition includes a chapter on the 2020-21 farmers’ struggle which proved beyond doubt that the old spirit of the land with its undercurrent of resistance to power and hegemony still beats away. The hope that Panjab’s unyielding knots can be untied continues to linger.
Catagory: Non Fiction
non fiction main category
91 Predictions
Is Pluto a planet? Or a dwarf planet? The controversy rages. But this planet, on the fringes of our solar system, has immense astrological significance, unexplored by the Vedic and Western astrologers. Author and scientific astrologer Greenstone Lobo believes Pluto symbolises destruction and regeneration-as the mythological Rudra Shiva.
In a scary and uncertain world-on the edge because of a pandemic, economic crises, ecological disasters and pandemonium in politics, Lobo looks towards Pluto to make sense of the past, present and the future.
He describes the planet’s journey over the last 250 and the next fifty years, as well as the grand scale on which it can operate. Exploring its character and impact, Lobo discusses his techniques for predictions, the cyclical nature of Pluto, how it changed the world order and its relationship with astrological signs.
From his unique insider’s perspective-as someone familiar with the ways of Pluto through his research-Lobo predicts what to expect and how to prepare for it through 91 predictions. What will the next fifty years bring? When will the world see the last of the pandemic? Who will lead India next? Can India win the next Cricket World Cup? What does the future hold for Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt? What lies in store for star kids Suhana Khan, Hrehaan Roshan, Aarav Akshay Kumar and Aaradhya Bachchan? What about Messi, Angelina Jolie, Rihanna, Beyoncé and others who hold our imagination today?
Through these predictions of good fortune and disasters, scandals and affairs, readers will gain an intimate sense of the rogue planet and its centrality to astrology.
Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye
Lieutenant General K.J.S. ‘Tiny’ Dhillon, an Infantry veteran from the Rajputana Rifles with about four decades of military service, has served multiple tenures in Kashmir.
In this book, ‘Tiny’ Dhillon opens a hitherto-closed window, not only to his life but also to Kashmir. He recounts fascinating tales about the toughest challenges he encountered, from age three right up to those from his multiple tenures in Kashmir from 1988 to 2020, where it was his responsibility to maintain a balance between counter-terrorism operations on the one hand and to use military soft power on the other. Dhillon retraces his entire journey, from being a young boy to becoming the Commander of the Chinar Corps, with Kashmir as an inseparable part of this story.
As a first-hand account, the book touches on and demystifies the myths, half-truths, whats, ifs and whys of the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits; the barbarous attack on an Indian security convoy in Pulwama district, in which forty CRPF personnel were killed; the Balakot air strikes; and the abrogation of Article 370 and its impact on the socio-political, economic and law-and-order situation, among other incidents. It takes us behind the scenes to bring out the nuances of various intriguing developments at a critical juncture in the history of J&K.
Anecdotal, candid and evocative, Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye brings to light the true stories from this Army veteran’s life. It focuses on the personal, professional and, most importantly, family life of a soldier in the Army, and will not only provide an insight into the trials and tribulations he faced but will also inspire a wide spectrum of readers, especially young defence aspirants.
Find Tiny Dhillon online:
Twitter: @Tiny_Dhillon
Instagram: @tinydhillon
Facebook: @TinyDhillon
Doglapan
This is the unfettered story of Ashneer Grover-the favourite and misunderstood poster boy of Start-up India.
Raw, gut-wrenching in its honesty and completely from the heart, this is storytelling at its finest.
A young boy with a ‘refugee’ tag growing up in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar outpaces his circumstances by becoming a rank-holder at the pinnacle of academic excellence in India-IIT Delhi. He goes on to do an MBA from the hallowed halls of IIM Ahmedabad, builds a career as an investment banker at Kotak Investment Banking and AmEx, and is pivotal in the making of two unicorns-Grofers, as CFO, and BharatPe, as co-founder.
As a judge on the popular TV show Shark Tank India, Ashneer becomes a household name even as his life turns upside down. Controversy, media spotlight, garrulous social media chatter descend, making it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.
Welcome to the World of the Tatas
The Creation of Wealth is R. M. Lala’s bestselling account of how the Tatas have been at the forefront in the making of the Indian nation-not just by their phenomenal achievements as industrialists and entrepreneurs but also by their singular contributions in areas like factory reforms, social welfare, medical research, higher education, arts and rural development.
In The TCS Story and Beyond, S. Ramadorai, one of the country’s most respected business leaders, recounts the steps to the extraordinary success of Tata Consultancy Services, one of the world’s largest IT software and services companies, and outlines a vision for the future where the quality initiatives he undertook can be applied to a larger national framework.
Tatalog: Eight Modern Stories from a Timeless Institution provides readers with an insider’s glimpse of the challenges faced by the Tata companies and how they rose above it all and carved a name for themselves.
The 1971 Indo-Pak War Collection
Mrs K M Mathew’s Finest Recipes
Few have championed the cuisine of Kerala like Mrs K.M. Mathew (1922-2003), who authored many a column and twenty-three cookbooks, introducing an entire generation to the culinary culture of the state. A true master of the craft, she travelled across the length and breadth of Kerala, visiting homes and restaurants, noting down recipes, before going back home to experiment with dishes repeatedly until they were perfect. Eventually, she ushered in a shift from the oral telling of recipes to written instructions, and before long, due to her innovative and easy step-by-step approach to cooking, her cookbooks were being
gifted to newly married couples. Even today, her books not only serve as a treasure chest of unforgettable recipes but also inspire new readers to rush to the kitchen.
Mrs K.M. Mathew’s Finest Recipes brings a definitive compilation of her all-time top recipes, which have been enjoyed around the world, to a new generation of readers.
The Perfect 10
Fitness looks hard. Weight maintenance looks difficult.
It is a culture that has normalized conversations that have been internalized so deeply that we forget that many are the same half-truths or untruths repeated for so long that they become part of our conditioning.
Normalize this: fitness is easy.
This book will show you that all it takes is ten minutes a day to start that journey and will be packed with exercise plans, movement ideas and lifestyle changes punctuated by stories of real journeys of real people. Get up. Move with Yasmin Karachiwala. And see how your body and your life changes.
Dr. Cuterus
No matter what kind of bits you have, the ‘private’ bits between our legs often leave us with … many feelings and many questions.
Is it big enough? Is it too big? Why is it so dark? And hairy? How are babies made? Why do periods hurt? As John Mayer so beautifully sang, your body is a wonderland, but in the land of the Kama Sutra, we often forget this. Words like vagina, clitoris, penis, scrotum tend to confound and embarrass people.
Maybe even you, dear reader?
Even though everyone has a body, nobody wants to talk about it. Especially those ‘private’ bits. With so much shame and stigma, we have nowhere to go to learn and understand our bodies. Instead of a beautiful, technicolour musical, our relationship with our bodies remains a drab black and white production.
This is where this book comes in-a one-stop scientific, funny, and easy to understand guide to everything
you’ve always wondered about what’s ‘down there’.
Or even up there! Whatever your concern, Dr Cuterus has got you covered.
And How Do You Feel About That?
Ever wondered what REALLY happens in the therapy room?
For too long, therapy has been seen as taboo in our society and is shrouded in myth–it’s only for the weak or ‘crazies’, it’s just blaming your parents, a therapist ‘only listens’ and so on. In this book, Aruna Gopakumar and Yashodhara Lal bust those myths and show you how therapy actually works.
With decades of combined experience in the field, these two therapists share fascinating stories based on their practice. You’ll meet the woman who sends secret messages to her husband during arguments; the towering tattooed man who realizes he can’t save his sister; the teenager whose life is revealed in the tale of a lonely bear; the divorced man angry with his ex-wife for starting to date again; the fiery gay young man impatient to change the world; the lady who won’t relax until her daughter is perfect; and many more.
Written with authenticity, warmth, simplicity, and lightness, And How Do You Feel About That brings you an understanding of the world of possibilities that opens up when we embark on an inner exploration – in dialogue with another.