‘ . . . a valuable contribution both to the world of scholarship and to the larger public discourse’ – JAIRAM RAMESH
Indus Basin Uninterrupted, with an easy narration and rich archival material, brings alive a meandering journey of peace, conflict and commerce on the Indus basin. The Indus system of rivers, as a powerful symbol of the passage of time, represents not only the interdependence and interpenetration of land and water, but equally the unfolding of political identities, social churning and economic returns. From Alexander’s campaign to Muhammad-bin-Qásim crossing the Indus and laying the foundation of Muslim rule in India; from the foreign invaders and their ‘loot and scoot’ to the Mughal rulers’ perspective on hydrology and water use; from the British ‘great game’ on the Indus basin to the bitter and bloody Partition; and finally, as a historical pause, the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty-this book is a spectrum of spectacular events, turning points, and of personalities and characters and their actions that were full of marvel.
On 5 August 2019, Suhas Munshi was returning to Srinagar from a visit to legendary poet Habba Khatoon’s relic in Gurez, when an unprecedented curfew was imposed upon Jammu and Kashmir, and Article 370 was abrogated. Through his travels and conversations with people across the Valley, Munshi tries to give a sense of what that moment has meant to the common Kashmiri.
This insightful travelogue breaks away from the clichéd view of Kashmir, one that sees it either as an earthly paradise or a living hell. It takes you to unexpected places, into the homes of poets, playwrights and street performers; to a heartwarming Christmas service with the minuscule Christian community in Baramulla; and inside the barricaded city of Srinagar’s football stadium, which is a lively refuge for the elderly and their memories of a glorious past. Over three weeks, for fear of being abandoned in a harsh terrain, Munshi struggles to keep up with a group of Bakarwal nomadic shepherds as they make their way from Srinagar to Jammu over the mighty Pir Panjal mountains. And he finds a lone Pandit family living in a decrepit ghost colony in Shopian, the hub of militancy in Kashmir.
This World below Zero Fahrenheit presents a portrait of a people who’ve been overshadowed by the place they live in, even as it ruminates on the idea of home and exile.
‘The Shudras echoes Dr Ambedkar’s question in Who Were the Shudras? that he asked in 1946. More than 70 years later, Kancha Ilaiah and his team of authors revisit this issue to give Shudras a voice again’ -CHRISTOPHE JAFFRELOT
The Shudras: Vision for a New Path weaves together multiple dimensions of the predicament of India’s productive castes–in the spiritual, social, political, economic, philosophical and historical spheres. It reformulates their current position as well as future pathways. It strives to provoke Shudras-including regional political party leaders-all over India to realize their unique historical role in fighting unequal caste structures. And it gives a call to resist Hindutva, in which they have no liberated, equal space with the Dwija castes. At a juncture when the Shudra castes are regionalized and the Dwijas have become ‘national’, the fifth volume of the Rethinking India series, in collaboration with the Samruddha Bharat Foundation, seeks to bring home the real picture of their marginalized status in all key structures of the nation. It posits that the emancipation and progress of the Shudras are vital to sustain Ambedkar’s constitutional democracy and move towards socio-spiritual equality.
HEALTHY AND INFORMED COOKING FOR THE INDIAN KITCHEN
Preparing a meal for someone is an act of love, says Charmaine D’Souza, a nutritionist and a writer of many kitchen exploits. In her latest book, The Good Health Always Cookbook, D’Souza, along with her two daughters, Charlyene and Savlyene, offers the reader a peep into her childhood memories and her comfort food. With more than a
hundred recipes using easily available ingredients like jau, ragi and bajra, and local Indian fruits and vegetables, D’Souza gives you ample ideas for dishes that will not only tantalize your taste buds but also provide immense nutritional value. From healthy oatmeal bars to finger millet bread, from amaranth crepes to buckwheat molten cake, from hara channa chaat to spinach brownies, the book infuses a variety of ingredients to reinvent traditional recipes. Anecdotal, easy to follow and packed with useful tips, The Good Health Always Cookbook takes you on a delightful culinary journey.
By turns essay, memoir and cultural study, Finding the Raga is Amit Chaudhuri’s singular account of his discovery of, and enduring passion for, North Indian music: an ancient, evolving tradition whose principles and practices will alter the reader’s notion of what music might – and can – be. Tracing the music’s development, Finding the Raga dwells on its most distinctive and mysterious characteristics: its extraordinary approach to time, language and silence; its embrace of confoundment, and its ethos of evocation over representation. The result is a strange gift of a book, for musicians and music lovers, and for any creative mind in search of diverse and transforming inspiration.
We’ve all killed houseplants. But a plant’s death is a good starting point, because it can help us answer the important question: Why did it die? Equipped with the right knowledge, you can make plants thrive for many years. How Not to Kill Your Houseplants is the first-ever comprehensive guide on how to care for houseplants in the Indian context. In this book, you will learn how to choose the right plants for your space and lifestyle, the right light requirements, when and how to water and fertilize them, the best potting mixes, and how to propagate plants.
With simple and effective advice, and seventy houseplant profiles, accompanied by stunning pictures, plant parenting has never been easier.
‘Susegad’ is a Konkani word that has no exact translation in English. Goans use it to convey the sense of contentment, fulfilment and relaxation that everyone associates with Goa and its culture. Clyde D’Souza, bestselling author and proud Goan, shows us the wonderful, unique elements that help Goans achieve susegad, and what you can do to add a pinch of this magic to your life, no matter where you live.
As Clyde takes us on a journey through Goa’s beautiful beaches, lush greenery, exquisite cuisine, mix of Portuguese and Konkani culture, its history, festivals, music and architecture, you’ll learn what makes Goans tick and how they’ve created habits and routines that lend happiness and calm to their lives. Interviews with noted Goans, short stories, recipes and pictures in this book bring out what it means to be Goan, and help you find your own susegad.
This book lucidly illustrates how a leader can bring out the very best in people by coaching them, and how coaching can unleash creativity as well as innovation while inspiring teams to play to their potential. It also examines how coaching helps leaders maintain a fine balance between managing and guiding, and between appraising and supporting their teammates. While many excellent books have been written about leadership, talent and coaching, this is a rare book that stands boldly at the intersection of leadership and coaching.
This is a book for our times. Businesses are facing a new reality, characterized by a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. This new reality has forced organizations to depart from conventional command-and-control practices to a completely new model – a model in which leaders support and guide, rather than instruct and control, their team members.
Exploring some of the key ingredients of impactful leadership, Coaching offers tips and tricks, backed by research and incisive insights, on how to become an effective leader-coach. Peppered with interesting anecdotes and analogies, drawn from sports, performing arts and other walks of life, the book is a breezy read. Interviews with corporate leaders and academics further enrich the narrative. Guaranteed to make for a very interesting read, the book will be useful to leaders, aspiring leaders and especially those that wish to transition from being just good leaders to extraordinary ones.
The feeling of not belonging is very strong in these stories and almost as strong and sharp is the vision which not just inhabits the characters but also peeps into the psyche of its readers. But also alongside is a reassurance, a feeling of oneness. At the centre of these stories is this duel between oneness and separation. Nidheesh’s stories portray the complexities of life in modern urban areas and also the sense of alienation. The stories portray the shallowness of life not just in its telling but also in its structure- some are just oneliners.
In a long and versatile career spanning thirty-five years, Ramachandra Guha has produced a vast body of work. Each time, he has broken new ground-his pioneering environmental histories of India and his still-relevant work on ecology and equity; his social histories of Indian cricket; his monumental history of the Indian republic; his biographies of Verrier Elwin and Gandhi; his anthologies of ecological, social and political thought in India; and his collections of biographical and political essays.
Sparked by Guha’s wide-ranging and important work, A Functioning Anarchy is a collection of essays by historians, social scientists, ecologists and journalists.
