non fiction main category
When you get trapped in darkness, finding your way out can be a long and lonely battle, especially when the war is within your own head. Here’s a peep inside a mind struggling with itself.
Inside a Dark Box is a simple book about what depression can feel like.
Through the ages, strong, inspirational women and girls have risen in response to uncertainty and injustice. A timeless call to arms that many like Fatima Jinnah, Asma Jehangir, Sheema Kirmani, Nighat Dad and Malala Yousafzai have always been answering.Demonstrating that one girl can change everything.
Fearless: Stories of Amazing Women from Pakistan chronicles the lives of fifty such incredible women-scientists, lawyers, politicians, activists and artists-who incite hope, inspire action and initiate dialogue. Fiercely bold, this beautifully illustrated book holds up a mirror to South Asians across the world and highlights that their voices are crucial.
Bubbling with indefatigable energy, Alyque Padamsee was a unique genius who had mastered both theatre and advertising. Famous for playing Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough’s film Gandhi, he also created several iconic advertisement campaigns on Indian television.
A Double Life takes you on a memorable, sometimes hilarious, trip spanning nearly all the years of Padamsee’s brilliant career. It also offers you a chance to go backstage with the man dubbed ‘God’, as he unfolds thrilling scenes from his high-voltage life. With acute human insights that illuminate the book like flashes of lightning, Padamsee reveals the hidden stories behind the provocative ads for megabrands like Liril and Kama Sutra, and behind blockbuster productions like Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Set in the backdrop of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, this book recollects Taslima Nasrin’s early years. From her birth on a holy day to the dawn of womanhood at fourteen to her earliest memories that alternate between scenes of violence, memories of her pious mother, the rise of religious fundamentalism, the trauma of molestation and the beginning of a journey that redefined her world, My Girlhood is a tour de force.
Saeeda Bano was the first woman in India to work as a radio newsreader, known then and still as the doyenne of Urdu broadcasting. Over her unconventional and courageous life, she walked out of a suffocating marriage, witnessed the violence of Partition, lost her son for a night in a refugee camp, ate toast with Nehru and fell in love with a married man who would, in the course of their twenty-five-year relationship, become the Mayor of Delhi. Though she was born into privilege in Bhopal-the only Indian state to be ruled by women for four successive generations-her determination, independence and frankness make this a remarkable memoir and a crucial disruption in India’s understanding of her own past.
The Amritsar Massacre of 1919 was a seminal moment in the history of the Indo-British encounter, and it had a profound impact on the colonial relationship between the two countries. In this dramatic telling, which takes the perspectives of ordinary people into account, the event and its aftermath are strikingly detailed. Wagner argues that General Dyer’s order to open fire at Jallianwalla Bagh was an act of fear and its consequences for the Indian freedom struggle were profound. Situating the massacre within the ‘deep’ context of British colonial mentality and the local dynamics of Indian nationalism, Wagner provides a genuinely nuanced approach to the bloody history of the British Empire.
The narrator in Jeet Thayil’s second full-length collection abandons the sectarian histories of 1990s’ Bombay for New York City-and the events of September 11, 2001. In the faux prologue poem, ‘About the Author’, he stands on ‘Sixth, watching ruin, with/a handful of rain and a prophecy’, a citizen of no country except the republic that gives the book its title. English here is more than a language. It is a source of divinity, and it holds a hard-won tenderness for all things living.
India’s biggest sports stars share their secrets for finding greatness
From Anju Bobby George’s unexpected gold medal at the World Athletics Final in Monaco to Abhinav Bindra’s Olympic gold in Beijing, India’s sportspersons have constantly proved that they stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s best. However, as easy as they might make it look, their success is the result of years of struggle, focused training and relentless hard work to overcome several challenges.
Dear Me is a collection of letters from some of the most-celebrated names in sports-Milkha Singh, Vishwanathan Anand, Bhaichung Bhutia and many more-who write to their younger selves and remember the moments that changed their lives. An uplifting reminder that dreams do come true, this book allows you to be inspired by their extraordinary stories.
The Maria girls from Bastar practise sex as an institution before marriage, but with rules-one may not sleep with a partner more than three times; the Hallaki women from the Konkan coast sing throughout the day-in forests, fields, the market and at protests; the Kanjars have plundered, looted and killed generation after generation, and will show you how to roast a lizard when hungry. The original inhabitants of India, these Adivasis still live in forests and hills, with religious beliefs, traditions and rituals so far removed from the rest of the country that they represent an anthropological wealth of our heritage.
This book weaves together prose, oral narratives and Adivasi history to tell the stories of six remarkable tribes of India-reckoning with radical changes over the last century-as they were pulled apart and thrown together in ways none of them fathomed.
Is my baby not well?
When can I introduce my baby to solid foods?
Becoming a new mother can be an exciting yet overwhelming time. No matter how prepared you are, there will always be many confusing moments, opinions and a whole lot of drama! And just like any other new mom, Esha Deol Takhtani was faced with many such questions soon after the birth of her two daughters-Radhya and Miraya.
One day, when one of her baby girls was throwing a tantrum, Esha decided to come up with a plan, one that would ensure her child eats right and is happy in the process! And thus began her adventures in motherhood. With the help of her cook, nurse and some of the best paediatricians in Mumbai, she set off on a journey to document her experiences in motherhood in the hope that it would help other mothers too.
Packed with advice, tips, stories and easy and delicious recipes for toddlers, Amma Mia reflects the personal journey of one woman’s transformation into a mother. Informative and easy to follow, this book will help new mothers navigate the ups and downs of raising a healthy toddler and make their child fall in love with food.
