On 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India was adopted formally and came into effect. Its preamble set out in brief the enlightened values it enshrined and hoped to engender. In a radical shift from mainstream constitutional history, this book establishes Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s irrefutable authorship of the preamble by uncovering the intellectual origins of its six most central concepts-justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, dignity, and nation.
Although Dr Ambedkar is universally regarded as the chief architect of the Constitution, the specifics of his role as chairman of the Drafting Committee are not widely discussed. Totally neglected is his almost single-handed authorship of the Constitution’s Preamble, which is frequently and mistakenly attributed to B.N. Rau rather than to Ambedkar.
This book establishes how and why the Preamble to the Constitution of India is essentially an Ambedkarite preamble. It is clear that its central concepts have their provenance in Ambedkar’s writings and speeches. Through six eponymous chapters, this book unfolds the story of the six constitutional concepts. In doing so, it spotlights fundamental facts about modern Indian history, as well as Ambedkar’s revolutionary political thought, hitherto ignored in conventional accounts.
Catagory: Non Fiction
non fiction main category
Dare to Dream
Born in a small village in Punjab at the turn of the century, Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi began his career in the industry at Shimla’s Cecil Hotel on a monthly wage of Rs 50. But he was not destined to remain in that position for long. With a combination of clear-sighted thinking, frugality and sheer hard work, he managed to put together a plan and the finances necessary to acquire his first hotel, Clarkes. That was only the beginning. Decades later, the Oberoi Group has over thirty-one luxury hotels and two river cruise ships in six countries, and is acknowledged as a standard to aspire for. In this well-researched and candid biography, written with the cooperation of the late M.S. Oberoi, Bachi Karkaria describes how a man from modest beginnings became the head of an internationally celebrated hotel chain. It also shows how a major business is built up, run and kept at the top.
Khushwant Singh’s Book of Unforgettable Women
“Though I am nothing to look at, it is women who have sought my company more than I have sought theirs.” ‘Khushwant Singh’
In Khushwant Singh’s Book of Unforgettable Women, India’s most widely-read and irreverent author and columnist profiles some of many women in his life. From Ghayoorunnisa Hafeez, the girl who forever changed his attitude towards Muslims, to his wife, Kaval Malik, who is allergic to media publicity; from his old grandmother to the controversial artist Amrita Shergil; from Mother Teresa to Phoolan Devi, Khushwant Singh paints colourful and true-to-life portraits of the women he has known, loved, despised, admired, and lived with. The book also includes some of the women Khushwant Singh has conjured up in the numerous stories and novels he has written over sixty years. The lively Martha Stack (-Black Jasmine’), Lady Mohan Lal (-Karma’), Jean Memsahib (-The Memsahib of Mandla’), the hijra-whore Bhagmati (Delhi), the insatiable Champak (I Shall Not Hear The Nightingale), dark-eyed Nooran (Train to Pakistan) and the free-spirited Molly Gomes (The Company of Women) are only a few of Khushwant Singh’s larger-than-life characters who are sure to entertain and amuse the reader.
Collected Stories
Written by the founder editor of “Yojana”, and editor of the “Illustrated Weekly of India”.
Get Moving!
EASY PRACTICAL WORKOUTS BY THE FITNESS EXPERT AT CULT.FIT
Shwetambari Shetty’s Dance Fitness workouts and training programmes are a phenomenon that’s taken the country by storm. Her philosophy is simple: you have to get moving. The human body is designed to move, not sit on a couch or at a desk all day. She shows you how to incorporate beneficial movements and exercises into your day-to-day activities, without devoting extra time to them.
Get Moving! will help you design your own training programme according to your goal-whether it’s weight loss, muscle gain or just better fitness-and show you how to enjoy the exercises you do. With daily workout plans, simple illustrations to guide your form, and helpful tips about what to eat before and after an exercise session, this book will help you get results and become the best version of yourself.
Home Remedies Vol. 3
A comprehensive bibliography of scientific articles, separate glossaries of English and non-English technical terms, a multi-language index of plant names and detailed illustrations make this volume an illuminating rediscovery of herbs that have come into their own as purveyors of a health and happiness increasingly hard to come by.
Home Remedies Vol. 2
Curry, Curry, Curry
The curry goes international with a vengeance in this wide-ranging collection of recipes, not a few of them originals. Beginning with curried soups (starting, inevitably, with that hoary Raj relic, mulligatawny), Rai goes on to give a good selection of vegetable, meat, fish, chicken, and rice-based curries. A bonus to those who find curry-making too time consuming are three basic sauces: Persian, Mughal and Madras, which can be fridge-stored to make an “instant” curry. Another boon to the harried cook is the clarity with which Rai sets out his recipes-measurements are provided in metric, British and American systems and each curry progresses from “singlefry” (Rai’s term for that tricky process of bhunao) masala, through “follow-up” and “during cooking” masalas to “finishing” masala and “garnish” masala… With sections on raitas, accompaniments, this is a tempting medley of curried concoctions, with not only “heart”, but plenty of soul.’
Grit, Guts And Gumption
This is the story of the carefully planned resurgence of the State Bank of India (SBI) from a laid-back incumbent under threat from private players to a customer-oriented competitive organization that has outperformed rivals despite several constraints. The leadership at SBI succeeded in reshaping perspectives and profitability at the bank, which employs a staggering 200,000 people, not withstanding salary restrictions and regulatory bottlenecks. While the primary thrust was on changing employee attitude towards their own organization and, of course, its customers, the transformation exercise was broad-based encompassing fundamental changes in technology, processes and business-mix alike. In about three years beginning 2006, SBI not only defended its own lair against the siege of younger, leaner, meaner rivals but actually took the battle to the attacker’ domains. SBI’s size and setting make the story an inspiring example to other organizations, particularly in the public sector.
Written in a fluid and engaging style, and backed by facts, figures, analysis and anecdotes, the book challenges several stereotypes and dogmas common in today’s management circles.
Ambrosia For Afters
Fifteen-year-old Tenral leads two lives.There is the one she leads with her family and her friends at school-‘a skin-of-milk life, easy and forgiving, like five o’clock sunshine’. Into her other, difficult life, move her English teacher, Mrs Alfie, and her dead lover. Tenral recreates their romance, taking her clues from Mrs Alfie’s dramatic rendering of poetry, and tries to reconcile the past with the present through her own fairy tales. Even as her friends look on, disapproving of her flights of fancy, Tenral’s complex imaginary world widens to include the dour maths teacher, Mr Tilak, and Mrs Alfie’s mad mother, who spills the secret about Mrs Alfie’s navy blue baby. Events hurtle towards a frightening climax as Mrs Alfie emerges from Tenral’s world of make-believe to reveal the truth. Tenral can reject this truth, and escape into her world of fantasy. Or she can embrace real life with its hardships and disappointments, in the hope that, in the end, it is all worthwhile, for there is always ambrosia for afters.