Shraddha is a ritual where once a year, three generations of elders who have passed away are venerated by their loved ones. When Sudha Murthy went to perform the shraddha for her father, she was turned away, because she was a woman. “No woman has ever performed this ritual,” the pandit said.
Sudha Murty questions the importance of meaningless ritual while still being devoted to tradition – what does it mean to be a religious woman in the 21st century? A searching and powerful piece on reaching a balance between old and the new as a woman.
How deep is the love of a good woman? Sudha Murty unpacks the love of three different women, in how they go against society’s demands for selfless acts. Each woman knows the struggles they face to find water every day. Each woman knows that the power to bring water to homes lies only in the hands of powerful men. Each woman does what is needed to make sure that happens anyway. The struggle and pain of being a good woman in rural India is brought to life beautifully by Sudha Murty.
When a farmer invites another to come live with him and help with his farm, he thought it would be easy. But their wives cannot get along. Kashibai is hard working with a temper, and Fatimabai is lazy with a gentle nature. Through years of irreconcilable strife, a sudden tragedy pulls the life of these women inextricably together. Can a woman really surpass her own unhappiness for the sake of her enemy’s child? Sudha Murty gently tells this eternal tale of struggle and redemption through the power of a mother’s love.
Sudha Murty explores how a single moment of kindness can change an entire life. Chitra was an abandoned girl alone on a train without a ticket. Sudha couldn’t bear to leave a girl alone on the railway station late at night. What could she do? How much responsibility can one woman take for a the life of a strange girl child? Sudha Murty deftly explores the tenderness of selfless, small actions, and how a single person can make all the difference in the world.
It was the spring of 1947 when Lord and Lady Mountbatten arrived in New Delhi. India was on the brink of civil war. The reluctant Vicereine was a rebel, a rule-breaker. She was a troubled soul, a great beauty, a firecracker. But there was more to Edwina than met the eye. The glamour was a façade; behind it was a highly intelligent woman of influence and power.
The only one to truly understand her for who she was was Jawahar, her friend, confidant and so much more.
No one could have imagined the maelstrom of intrigue, and the events and relationships that would change their lives and those of millions of Indians forever. Set amid the turmoil of Partition, The Last Vicereine is a heartbreaking story of the birth of two nations, of love, grief, tragedy, inhumanity and the triumph of hope.
Vallabhbhai Patel, popularly known as Sardar Patel, was one of India’s towering leaders, whose contribution to the Indian Republic is immense. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to join the freedom struggle, Patel was at the forefront of the Quit India movement, and was arrested by the British a number of times. After Independence, he served as India’s first home minister and deputy prime minister. A successful lawyer, he used his legendary negotiation skills to unite the 550 princely states and colonial provinces under the Union of India, to create the nation we know today.
The speeches and writings collected here showcase Vallabhbhai Patel’s unique vision for his beloved country-his staunch belief in communal harmony, benefits of freedom for all citizens and in peace and cooperation between different regions.
Guided by their sharp business acumen and adaptability, Sindhis have braved Partition, fled from one nation to another, and weathered ups and downs in the economy to set up some of the biggest companies in the world. In Paiso, Maya Bathija, former head of content of the Sindhian, brings to you the extraordinary stories of five Sindhi families and the empires they have built over the years through Gary and David Harilela of the Hong Kong-based Harilela Group, renowned for their hotels; Ramola Motwani, chairwoman and CEO of the real-estate investment and development company Merrimac Ventures; India’s first individual angel investor and chairman of Americorp Ventures and IndiaLand Properties, Harish Fabiani; Dilip Kumar V Lakhi, head of Lakhi Group-one of the biggest diamond suppliers in the country; and Jitu Virwani, real estate kingpin and CMD of the Embassy Group.
Through the journeys of these incredibly successful companies, built painstakingly by many generations, this book takes a close look at the Sindhi way of doing business.
When Jamsetji Tat started a trading firm in 1868, few could have guessed that he was also starting an important chapter in the making of modern India. Jamsetji saw that the three keys to India’s industrial development were steel, hydroelectric power, and technical education and research. A century and a half later, the Tatas can claim with justice to have lined up to the vision of their founder.
This edition includes the story of how the Tatas, with Ratan Tata at the helm, have had to grapple with change in the post-1992 era of economic reforms, when the opening up of India to the world came as both a challenge and a blessing. In a frank epilogue, Ratan Tata talks about the difficulties he faced in implementing change, including resistance from his colleagues. This new edition also has a postscript on the Nano, which has given the most global prominence to the Tata brand.
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 significant contributions in areas like factory reforms, labour and social welfare, medical research, higher education, culture and arts, and rural development.
An exhaustive and unforgettable portrait of India’s greatest and most respected industrialist. Written with J.R.D. Tata’s co-operation, this superb biography tells the J.R.D. story from his birth to 1993, the year in which he died in Switzerland. The book is divided into four parts: Part I deals with the early years, from J.R.D’s birth in France in 1904 to his accession to the chairmanship of Tatas, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, at the age of thirty-four; Part II looks at his forty-six years in Indian aviation (the lasting passion of J.R.D’s life) which led to the initiation of the Indian aviation industry and its development into one of India’s success stories; Part III illuminates his half-century-long stint as the outstanding personality of Indian industry; and Part IV unearths hitherto unknown details about the private man and the public figure, including glimpses of his long friendships with such people as Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and his association with celebrities in India and abroad.
In this charming and insightful story, Deepak Singh chronicles his journey as an Indian immigrant in the United States of America.
Deepak falls in love with an American visiting India as an exchange student. The young couple gets married and leaves the country to live the American dream. Unfortunately for Deepak, he soon realizes that reality was completely different.
Armed with an MBA from a good B-school and quitting a cushy job in BBC, Deepak moves with his wife. But once in the US, all he is able to get is a minimum-wage job in an electronics store. Every day he confronts an unfamiliar American culture. He experiences the deeply entrenched racism and observes first-hand the crushing reality of being poor in America.
‘Fresh off the plane’, Deepak tells an intimate tale of living in an unfamiliar place, being the perennial outsider and making a mixed marriage work.
How May I Help You is a moving tale of love, empathy, vulnerability and hope that will keep you hooked till the last page.
