A first-of-its-kind account, Bulletproof is the story of a female combat journalist and her encounters with insurgency from north-east India. Going beyond mere statistics, of deaths and arms recovered, and other documentary evidence, it shows us how conflict impacts women, children, health, environment, sanitation, wildlife and society. This book is a collection of rare human stories from one of the most under-reported regions in the world.
Catagory: Non Fiction
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The Reluctant Billionaire
NOMINATED FOR TATA LITERATURE LIVE AWARDS AND SHORTLISTED FOR GAJA CAPITAL BEST BUSINESS BOOK PRIZE
The book is an untold human story of an enterprise and its creator, Dilip Shanghvi, who raced ahead of Mukesh Ambani to become the richest Indian in 2015
Shanghvi is one of the most interesting and least understood business minds of India whose journey has been shrouded in mystery because of his reticence.
The book reveals the riveting story of the fiercely intense personality that lies beneath his calm demeanour. Based on interviews with over 150 friends, family members, rivals, former aides and Shanghvi himself, it traces his transformation from a quiet, curious child working in his father’s small shop to an astute strategist, who built India’s largest pharma company, Sun Pharma, despite being untrained in science.
The tale unravels his contrarian and controversial bets that made Sun a global force, and him a ‘turn-around’ artist. It is also about the friends and family Shanghvi started his company with, the hurt and emotional conflicts surrounding their separation, and how Shanghvi staked his closest relationships to professionalize Sun.
This book is an extraordinary story of an ordinary man, who chooses to stay anti-famous. He would rather have his face unrecognized, his story untold. But at a time, when a billion dreams are simmering in an aspiring India, this tale is for everyone who has once had a secret dream, an insanely bold one.
Beyond Asanas
Downward dog, tree pose, Marichyasana . . .
Have you ever wondered how these names for yoga poses came about, inspired from animals, nature, and even sages?
Using thirty carefully researched asanas, yoga teacher Pragya Bhatt draws upon her own yoga practice and research to make a connection between ancient Indian mythology and modern yoga practice.
By depicting the beauty and form of each asana through the lens of Joel Koechlin, this book intends to add meaning and value for practitioners and non-practitioners alike, shedding new light on a familiar subject.
Go!
Bright-eyed aspirants in sports-from badminton to gymnastics-are training across the country. Homegrown leagues are attracting the world’s best athletes and professionals. The country boasts multiple World No. 1 teams and athletes, and sporting achievements are handsomely rewarded.
Much of this was simply unthinkable at the turn of the millennium. Today, there is no longer a doubt that an Indian can excel at sports. A country is changing the way it looks at sport and, along the way, how it looks at itself.
Go! features a never-before-seen collection of essays by leading athletes, sports writers and professionals, who together tell a compelling story of India’s ongoing sporting transformation.
Trial by Fire (Hindi):Agnipareeksha
At 4:55 p.m., a swirling mass of thick, smoke engulfed the balcony section a well-known cinema hall in posh south Delhi. In the absence of fire exits and ushers to help the patrons, the people seated on the balcony found themselves trapped. By 7 p.m., fifty-nine people had died.
Among these were Unnati and Ujjwal. Their parents, Neelam and Shekhar, decided to fight the prolonged battle to ensure their kids get justice, for they saw no other reason to live. It’s been twenty-one years now, since the fire. But their fight with justice, for justice continues. This is their story.
Jaya
High above the sky stands Swarga, paradise, abode of the gods. Still above is Vaikuntha, heaven, abode of God.
The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean ‘victory’. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha. In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve.
What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata. In this enthralling retelling of India’s greatest epic, the Mahabharata, originally known as Jaya, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants, including the Pandavani of Chattisgarh, Gondhal of Maharashtra, Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and Yakshagana of Karnataka.
Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the worship of Draupadi as a goddess in Tamil Nadu, the stories of Astika, Madhavi, Jaimini, Aravan and Barbareek, the Mahabharata version of the Shakuntalam and the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. With clarity and simplicity, the tales in this elegant volume reveal the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years.
For the Love of God
Between the third centuries BC and AD were written thousands of verses in Tamil that have collectively come to be known as Sangam literature. The expressions of love between a man and a woman in these love poems gave way to passionate expressions of devotional love, where the heroine became the devotee and the hero became God. Through the centuries of patriarchy, women negotiated varied levels of existence and largely went unnoticed until they found a path for self-expression through bhakti or devotion. While the dominant form of worship was to prostrate before God, women found innovative ways of personal expression, often seeing the lord as a lover, friend, husband, or even son. The individual outpourings and the unfettered voices of these women refused to be drowned in the din of patriarchy gathering momentum until this became a pan India movement.
In For the Love of God, Sandhya Mulchandani delves deep into historical accounts of these women who fell in love with God.
On Meditation (Hindi): Kaise Karein Dhyaan?
In today’s challenging and busy world, don’t you wish you knew how to quieten your mind and focus on yourself?
In On Meditation, renowned spiritual leader, Sri M, answers all your questions on the practice and benefits of meditation. With his knowledge of all the various schools of practice and the ancient texts, he breaks down the complicated practice into a simple and easy method that any working man or woman, young or old, can practice in their everyday lives.
Roots to Radiance
Do you wish you looked perfect, but don’t have the time or money for expensive treatments? Look no further than Roots to Radiance-your self-care bible to good skin, hair, teeth, nails, etc., and, most importantly, good health.
In Roots to Radiance, you will find 500+ tips and tricks that will help you stay in your ‘A game’. By using its easy-to-make solutions drawn from traditional Indian wisdom, you can lessen and even replace chemicals with wholesome, natural ingredients that will enrich and enhance your daily beauty routine.
From refreshing life lessons to inevitable struggles and motivational inspiration, this book will help you sail through every beauty or life concern you’ve ever had.
The Rise of Goliath
What can best illustrate India’s journey in the last seven decades? Disruptions.
Almost every decade of India’s history since Independence has been marked by major disruptions.
India became independent through an act of disruption-Partition-that killed millions in communal violence and turned many more into refugees. The turn towards a model of state-led economic development delivered as big a shock to the economy as did the food crisis or the spike in crude oil price. If the Emergency in 1975 shook the foundations of India’s democracy, the unprecedented balance-of-payments crisis of 1990 turned India towards a path of economic reforms. Just as the reservation of jobs for backward castes changed the idiom of India’s politics, the movement for building a temple for Ram drove India closer to becoming a majoritarian state. No less disruptive have been the telecom revolution, the banking crisis, demonetization and the launch of the goods and services tax.
How did these disruptions impact India? How did they influence the rise of this Goliath?
This is the story of twelve disruptions that changed India. The book also provides a peek into the kind of disruptions India could face in the coming years.