Finding the right job at the start of your career can be a hard row to hoe. Several factors such as the company’s reputation, job description, your designation, remuneration, skill set, attitude are to be considered before you embark on a career in a company.
Here are some general questions for you to think about and look answers for while planning your career. These questions may help you streamline your choices and develop your career.
What roles interest you?
Have you shortlisted the companies you’d want to work with?
Have you made a priority list of the shortlisted companies?
Have you found the right people to network with?
What are the most appropriate platforms for the job you are looking for?
What qualities do you have that will help you excel in the role you’d be applying for?
What value will your organization add in your career?
What value can you add to the organization you join?
10 Steps to the Boardroom || G.S. Rattan
If you’re on the first step of your professional journey and have found answers to the above questions, then jot down the information on the template given below. It may prove to be your guiding light in achieving your dream of reaching the boardroom.
Your Plan
The Company You Want to Work in:
Key Stakeholders:
What I Admire About the Company:
Vision of the Company:
Mission of the Company:
Why I Belong Here:
Job Description and Responsibilities
JD:
Responsibilities that I can take on:
Responsibilities that will require learning on the job:
Area of Jurisdiction
Performing areas:
What I can take a shot at:
Defining Results
Tangible:
Intangible:
Network and Follow
Possible Mentor 1:
Network to Follow on
Possible Mentor 2:
Where to Start:
Department I Would like to Start With
Option 1:
Option 2:
Option 3:
Attitude Matters
My key strengths:
What I need to work on:
What is valued by this organization?
Remember the words of the author of 10 Steps to the Boardroom: ‘The most important factor will always be the intensity of the fire in your belly. Everything else is either a catalyst or a deterrent.’
India’s mathematicians have made significant contributions over the last 5000 years. From the ever-popular Aryabhata, widely recognised for revolutionising the number system and Shakuntala Devi, universally admired for her fast mental calculations to pioneers forgotten by time, like Baudhayana, who explained the Pythagoras’ theorem nearly 3000 years ago, India has produced many trailblazers in the field of mathematics.
The Great Indian Mathematicians||Gaurav Tekriwal
Here are the stories of three such inspirational figures whose passion for knowledge and love for maths not only earned them world-wide acclaim but also brought prestige to the country.
1. Madhava – He is considered the greatest mathematician-astronomer to emerge from medieval India whose works laid the foundation for the Kerala School of Mathematics, which flourished between the late 14th century and the 18th century.
Madhava was a genius. He went a step ahead and linked the idea of an infinite series with geometry and trigonometry. He even obtained a way to calculate the value of pi correct to 13 decimal places, and this was two centuries before Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a polymath from Germany.
It is perceived that Newton and Leibniz independently found the methods of calculus by building on and borrowing from the works of mathematicians like Fermat, Taylor, Gregory, Pascal and Bernoulli. But what is not known is that the elements of calculus were already known in Kerala, India, for over 250 years. The West has now recognized this and accordingly renamed some results regarding the trigonometric series, previously known as the Newton, Gregory and Leibniz series, as the Madhava-Newton, Madhava- Gregory and the Madhava-Leibniz series, respectively.
2. Srinivasa Ramanujan – During his short life, Ramanujan independently compiled over 3900 identities and equations, which have all been proved by later mathematicians. This contributed to breakthrough research in mathematics and remarkable discoveries in crystallography and string theory.
It was in January 1913 that Ramanujan wrote the famous letter to a English mathematician Prof. G.H. Hardy of Cambridge University with numerous theorems he had researched and worked upon himself. Hardy was initially skeptical of Ramanujan’s work assuming that he was a fraud, but soon had to change his mind as he went through the theorems given in the letter. He finally concluded that Ramanujan was ‘a mathematician of the highest quality, a man of altogether exceptional originality and power’. Hardy then immediately made arrangements to invite Ramanujan to Cambridge University from India.
Ramanujan was elected as a member of the London Mathematical Society in 1917 and the next year, in 1918, Ramanujan was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society—the youngest ever at thirty-one years of age.
3. Shakuntala Devi – was India’s iconic ambassador in the field of mathematics and travelled the world enthralling audiences with her number- crunching prowess.
She was found displaying exceptional memorization skills by her father while he was showing her card tricks. She was only three at the time. At six, the young wonder, Shakuntala Devi started travelling with her father, doing roadshows, where she displayed her unique calculation abilities of large multiplications, cube roots of huge numbers and even questions related to dates! In 1980, at the Imperial College of London, she rose to meteoric success and global fame by multiplying two 13-digit numbers in 28 seconds flat.
In her bookIn the Wonderland of Numbers, she wrote ‘As for numbers, they hate nobody, and nobody can afford to hate them!’ She continues to give us hope that mathematics can also be fun and exciting and that it is essential to approach it with a spirit of curiosity!
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To know more about India’s finest mathematicians, read The Greatest Indian Mathematicians. It is an ideal introduction for the next generation of tenacious and curious maths wizards.
Amitav Ghosh is a name that needs no introduction, but being proponents of his literary art form, we find ourselves compelled to acquaint you with his life and accomplishments. For those who already know this, think of it as a refresher course.
Born in Calcutta during the summer of 1956, Ghosh spent his formative years hopping from place to place thanks to his father’s military background. He had the opportunity to experience living in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. He studied at the Universities of Delhi and Oxford and has been awarded multiple honorary doctorates. In addition to these impressive qualifications, he has been the receiver of numerous awards, including the Jananpith Award, the highest and oldest literary award in the country.
He possesses the ability to spin words in ways that create the most captivating tapestries, often using ornamental English, elevating his literary works to what appears to be high art and literature. Though he does not confine himself to one genre, a theme that often appears in his work is that of untold histories, ones that no one else sought to pursue. This is what he does in his newest piece of writing, The Nutmeg’s Curse, where he reveals the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.
Yes, we are all extremely excited about this book, but since we have to wait a few days before we can get our hands on it, here are a few (easy to obtain) Amitav Ghosh classics everyone ought to read!
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Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh
Gun Island
Bundook. Gun. A common word, but one which turns Deen Datta’s world upside down.
A dealer of rare books, Deen is used to a quiet life spent indoors, but as his once-solid beliefs begin to shift and he is forced to set out on an extraordinary journey. A journey that takes him from India to Los Angeles and Venice via a tangled route through the memories and experiences of those he meets along the way. There is Piya, a fellow Bengali-American who sets his journey in motion; Tipu, an entrepreneurial young man who opens Deen’s eyes to the realities of growing up in today’s world; Rafi, with his desperate attempt to help someone in need and Cinta, an old friend who provides the missing link in the story they are all a part of. It is a journey that will upend everything he thought he knew about himself, about the Bengali legends of his childhood and about the world around him.
Gun Island is a beautifully realised novel that effortlessly spans space and time. It is the story of a world on the brink of increasing displacement and unstoppable transition. However, it is also a story of hope of a man whose faith in the world and the future is restored by two remarkable women.
Sea Of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Sea Of Poppies
A motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts is sailing down the Hooghly aboard the Ibis on its way to Mauritius. As they journey across the Indian Ocean old family ties are washed away, and they begin to view themselves as jahaj-bhais or ship brothers who will build new lives for themselves in the remote islands where they are being taken.
A stunningly vibrant and intensely humane work, Sea of Poppies, the first book in the Ibis trilogy, confirms Amitav Ghosh’s reputation as a master storyteller.
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
River of Smoke
September 1838. A storm blows up on the Indian Ocean and three ships – the Ibis, the Anahita and the Redruth – and those aboard are caught in the whirlwind. River of Smoke follows the fortunes of these men and women to the crowded harbours of China where they struggle to cope with their losses – and for a few, unimaginable freedoms – in the alleys and teeming waterways of nineteenth-century Canton.
Written on the grand scale of a historical epic, River of Smoke, book two in the Ibis trilogy, will be heralded as a masterpiece of twenty-first-century literature.
Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh
Flood of Fire
It is 1839. The British, whose opium exports to China have been blockaded by Beijing, are planning an invasion to force China’s hand. In Calcutta, Zachary Reid, an impoverished young sailor, dreams of his lost love and of a way to make his fortunes. Heading towards Calcutta is Havildar Kesri to lead a regiment of Indian volunteers in the upcoming war. In Mumbai, Shireen Modi prepares to sail alone to China to reclaim her opium trader husband’s wealth and reputation.
In Canton, Neel becomes an aide and translator to a senior Chinese official as Beijing begins to prepare for war with Britain and the more he sees, the more worried he becomes for the Chinese have neither the ships nor the artillery to match the British in modern warfare. The future seems clear but do the Chinese know it?
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh
The Shadow Lines
As a young boy, Amitav Ghosh’s narrator travels across time through the tales of those around him, traversing the unreliable planes of memory, unmindful of physical, political and chronological borders. But as he grows older, he is haunted by a seemingly random act of violence. Bits and pieces of stories, both half-remembered and imagined, come together in his mind until he arrives at an intricate, interconnected picture of the world where borders and boundaries mean nothing. They are mere shadow lines that we draw dividing people and nations.
Out of a complex web of memories, relationships and images, Amitav Ghosh builds an intensely vivid, funny and moving story. Exposing the idea of the nation state as an illusion, an arbitrary dissection of people, Ghosh depicts the absurd manner in which your home can suddenly become your enemy.
The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh
The Great Derangement
Are we deranged?
Amitav Ghosh, argues that future generations may well think so. How else can we explain our imaginative failure in the face of global warming? In this ground-breaking return to non-fiction, Ghosh examines our inability-at the level of literature, history and politics-to grasp the scale and violence of climate change. The climate crisis asks us to imagine other forms of human existence-a task to which fiction, Ghosh argues, is the best suited of all forms. The Great Derangement serves as a brilliant writer’s summons to confront the most urgent task of our time.
Dancing in Cambodia by Amitav Ghosh
Dancing in Cambodia and Other Essays
Through extraordinary first-hand accounts Amitav Ghosh presents a compelling chronicle of the turmoil of our times.
Dancing in Cambodia recreates the first-ever visit to Europe by a troupe of Cambodian dancers with King Sisowath, in 1906. Ghosh links this historic visit, celebrated by Rodin in a series of sketches, to the more recent history of the Khmer Rouge revolution.
‘The Town by the Sea’ records his experiences in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands just days after the tsunami; and in ‘September 11’ he takes us back to that fateful day when he retrieved his young daughter from school in New York, sick with the knowledge that she will be marked by the same kind of tumult that has defined his own life.
The Imam and the Indian by Amitav Ghosh
The Imam and the Indian
The Imam and the Indian is an extensive compilation of Amitav Ghosh’s non-fiction writings. Sporadically published between his novels, in magazines, journals, academic books and periodicals, these essays and articles trace the evolution of the ideas that shape his fiction. He explores the connections between past and present, events and memories, people, cultures and countries that have a shared history.
Ghosh combines his historical and anthropological bent of mind with his skills of a novelist, to present a collection like no other.
The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh
The Calcutta Chromosome
In this extraordinary novel, Amitav Ghosh navigates through time and genres to present a unique tale. Beginning at an unspecified time in the future and ranging back to the late nineteenth century, the reader follows the adventures of the enigmatic L. Murugan. An authority on the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Ronald Ross, who solved the malaria puzzle in Calcutta in 1898, Murugan is in search of the elusive ‘Calcutta Chromosome’. With its astonishing range of characters, advanced computer science, religious cults and wonderful portraits of Victorian and contemporary India, The Calcutta Chromosome expands the scope of the novel as we know it, as Amitav Ghosh takes on the avatar of a science thriller writer.
The Circle Of Reason by Amitav Ghosh
The Circle Of Reason
Following the form of the raga in Indian classical music, Amitav Ghosh slowly builds the tempo of The Circle of Reason. The first part spans several decades, the second unfolds over a few weeks, and the third, like a scherzo, races through a day. Ghosh’s debut novel centres on Alu, an orphan enlisted by his foster father as a soldier in his crusade against the forces of myth and unreason. Suspected of terrorism, they are about to be arrested when a tragic accident forces Alu to flee his village. Pursued by a misguided police officer, Alu finds his way through Calcutta to Goa and on to a trawler that runs illegal immigrants to Africa. Tracing Alu’s journey across two continents, The Circle of Reason is an exceptional novel by one of India’s most celebrated writers in English.
In An Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
In An Antique Land
Packed with anecdotes and exuberant details, In an Antique Land provides magical and intimate insights into Egypt from the Crusades to Operation Desert Storm. It exposes the indistinguishable and intertwining ties that bind together India and Egypt; Hindus, Muslims and Jews.
By combining fiction, history, travel writing and anthropology, to create a single seamless work of imagination, Ghosh characteristically makes us rethink the political boundaries that divide the world and the generic boundaries that divide narratives.
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
The Glass Palace
Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her. Through this brilliant and impassioned story of love and war, Amitav Ghosh presents a ruthless appraisal of the horrors of colonialism and capitalist exploitation.
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
The Hungry Tide
Between the sea and the plains of Bengal, on the easternmost coast of India, lies an immense archipelago of islands. Some are vast and some no larger than sandbars; some have lasted through recorded history while others have just washed into being. These are the Sundarbans. Here there are no borders to divide fresh water from salt, river from sea, even land from water. The settlers of the Sundarbans believe that anyone without a pure heart who ventures into the watery labyrinth will never return. Survival is an everyday battle for these people who have managed to strike a delicate balance with nature.
But the arrival of Piyali Roy, of Indian parentage but stubbornly American, and of Kanai Dutt, a sophisticated Delhi businessman, threatens to upset this balance. Kanai has returned to the islands on the request of his aunt, a local figure, for the first time since the death of his uncle, a political radical who died mysteriously in the aftermath of a local uprising. When Piya, who is on the track of the rare river dolphins, hires Fokir, an illiterate but proud local man to guide her through the backwaters, Kanai becomes her translator. From this moment, the tide begins to turn.
Amitav Ghosh has discovered another new territory, summoning a singular, fascinating place, another world, from its history and myth, and bringing it to life. Yet The Hungry Tide also explores another and far more unknowable jungle: the human spirit. It is a novel that asks at every turn: what man can take the true measure of another?
Countdown by Amitav Ghosh
Countdown
On 11 May 1998 the Indian government tested five nuclear devices some forty kilometers from Pokaran. Seventeen days later Pakistan tested nuclear devices of its own. About three months after the tests, Amitav Ghosh went to the Pokaran area, after which he visited Kashmir as part of the defense minister’s entourage. He also went to the Siachen glacier in the Karakoram Mountains where Indian and Pakistani soldiers have been exchanging fire since 1983. Ghosh then travelled through Pakistan and Nepal. Countdown is partly a result of these journeys and conversations with many hundreds of people of the subcontinent. In its description the book is haunting and evocative; and its analyses of the compulsions behind South Asia’s nuclearization, and the implications of this, are profound, deeply disturbing and, ultimately, chilling.
In a delightful conversation with the author of The Power of Make-Believe: Parenting trough Pretend Play, we asked questions about parenting, her inspiration to write the book, and how her book can be of help to modern parents.
Here’s what the author had to say!
The Power of Make-Believe || Shouger Merchant Doshi
What inspired you to write this topic?
I was inspired to write on this topic for several reasons. I definitely believe that the power of communication is one that has taken me far in life and the ability to speak well and write well is something that can benefit you in any given situation or in any career one may opt for. If there is one gift you can give your child – let it be that of a good vocabulary. And to engender that, I came up with fun ways to increase my communication with my son. Pretend play was one of the foremost ways to do that. I also felt like there wasn’t enough material out there on how play is so beneficial for children and how adults should engage in pretend play specifically with children. Moreover, I wanted to detail activities that I was doing with my son that were edutainment – educational but yet entertaining and the casual nature of it made it fun and light.
What research went into writing this book?
I researched lauded professionals and experts in the field and looked up important studies such as the Meredith Rowe study which details how the quantity and quality of words impact your child’s development and the Root-Bernstien study that shows a positive relation with creative performance when as a child you dwell in make-believe worlds. There is also substantial research to show a nexus between pretend play and higher academic / career achievement and accomplishment which I looked into and mentioned in the book to show mothers that play is as good, if not better than pedagogic learning.
You wrote, ‘Caring for a child is not an easy job.’ What gaps have you observed in the modern parenting style?
Being a parent is not easy – parenting involves many processes – you have a million tabs open in your brain and a million to-do lists. Caring for a child involves being a teacher, being a doctor, being a class monitor, playdate organizer, a driver, chef, student, playmate, nanny… and much much more. Needless to say, it takes up a lot of your brain space and time and sometimes we lose sense of ourselves. Many Indian mothers tend to believe that being there for their children at all hours of the day and maybe folding on their personal goals and ambitions is the best way to be present. I am of the opinion that one must receive a sense of self validation or achievement professionally or personally outside of being a mother or else one feels a shift in identity.
You mentioned in your book that ‘children need to develop a variety of skill sets to optimize the process of their growth.’ What, according to you, are the three most important life skills parents can inculcate during their children’s early development?
I think children learn their own set of skills and find out what they are good at over time. It is our job as parents to identify their strengths and help them hone those skills, should they be inclined. However, what is in our control is to ensure
a) independence and self-reliance,
b) enhanced communication skills (vocabulary and dialogue) and problem solving skills and
c) empathy, kindness and generosity (treating other children and adults well).
These are skills we can inculcate in our children through play, books and good conversation.
How do you think your book will help parents in the Covid-19 crises?
The Power of Make-Believe is about getting back to the basics. Through lockdowns and our children being unvaccinated, we are more at home now than we ever were. These activities are meant to be enjoyed and planned with excitement and the best part of all is the process not the outcome. I definitely think parents will enjoy the activities in the book and hopefully will take time out to do them. The curated books list at the end of the book is based on topics that you may want to have with your child such as racial diversity, cultural diversity, LGBTQ rights, acceptance of a sibling, nanny separation, and other such important topics. I feel a book can really help spark a good conversation between parents and child and the books mentioned are tried and tested by a bibliophile herself.
Menaka Raman’s fascinating book about the launch of India’s first ever rocket, Topi Rockets From Thumba, has charmingly beautiful illustrations made by Annada Menon.
In a delightful chat, the duo shared about their ideas, inspirations, and experiences of writing and illustrating the book.
Questions for Menaka Raman, Author
What inspired you choose this theme and instance from history?
The iconic photograph of the two scientists pushing the nose cone of the rocket on the back of a bicycle the starting point of this book for me. I just found something so moving about the image and when I started reading the story behind it I was hooked. I had to no more!
Topi Rockets from Thumba || Menaka Raman, Annada Menon, Illustrator
What research went into writing this book?
So much research! This was my first attempt at creative nonfiction and I was so nervous. I wanted to make sure I got all the facts straight and the timelines right. Plus, the more I read about Dr. Sarabhai and the amazing team of scientists behind this historic moment, the greater a sense of responsibility I felt I wanted to convey what Dr Sarabhai was like, why people were so drawn to him and of course his infectious enthusiasm. My starting point was Amrita Shah’s biography of Dr Sarabhai and then I went on to read Lavanya Karthik and Shamim Padamsee’s children’s biography of Dr APJ Kalam, ISRO A Personal History by R.Aravamudan and From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet by Dr. UR Manoranjan Rao. Articles, papers and interviews with people who worked at ISRO were all key to my research. I also wanted to get things like the names of the characters right, so I reached out to friends for help and advice on that!
Of course at the end of it all I had so much research notes that I had to decide what to keep in the story! That was hard!
How did you decide to compare the ‘nose cone’ of rocket with ‘topi dosa’?
When I first saw the photograph of the nose cone on the cycle, it really struck me ‘Wow! This looks like a topi doas!’ I must have been hungry at the time!
Are you planning to write another book on similar theme?
I would absolutely love to! Now that I’ve had a taste of it, my antennae are up for other great stories like this!
Questions for Annada Menon, Illustrator
What intrigued you about the story of Topi Rockets from Thumba at first? What made you illustrate it?
When I was offered to illustrate for the book I already was in the zone of being intrigued by the topic of outer space. I follow and have also read a book by the astronaut Chris Hadfield. He increased my curiosity of space and to this day does. Though I was aware of Dr. Sarabhai , I didn’t know details of his endeavours. His story and drawing it from the perspective of Mary, the charatcer in the book, was a lovely way to celebrate his work. I guess apart from that the idea of drawing rockets excited me. It poked the child in me to have fun on the journey of illustrating the book.
How did you finalise the style of art for this book? What other styles were your options?
This was actually finalised with the help of my art director, Antra. We actually wanted to go for a very textured yet slightly detailed approach to the illustrations. I like that the book has 2 spreads that are based on Mary’s imagination. The pages consist of what a rocket would like according to Mary to how a rocket is fighting a storm. I had to make sure these pages stood out from the raw look of the other pages to show the simplistic environment of Thumba. I actually didn’t ponder over too many style options. From the author to the editor, they wanted some of my existing approaches if drawing to flow into it. Hence I just went with my gut to execute it.
How different or similar was the first draft to the final version?
Well, the ideas from 90% of the sketch / draft stage were carried forward to the final stage. I think anything that changed while illustrating are mostly the technical aspects of the book. Since it is a STEM book we had to make sure scientific elements were accurate . I also had to make sure that the people of Thumba and the place itself looked close to what it may have been during the 1960s . There aren’t too many image references to these from the mentioned time. The tricky part is most of these images are black and white so representing or reimagining them in color was a fun experience.
What do you think is special about the illustrations in this book?
I actually don’t know if this a ‘blow one’s own trumpet’ kind of question (chuckles). Well, I guess what I can say about the illustration that it has been drawn with a lot of innocence and curiosity. The book is meant to subtly introduce a child to the beauty of space and a brief introduction to Dr. Sarabhai’s contribution to India’s space program. Since it is a light read the illustrations are meant to compliment the same. Also, in a subtle way the illustrations are an ode to nature’s elements water, earth , wind and fire (3 elements depicting Thumba and 1 depicting a rocket). I guess for me these little things make it special.
Asoca-often spelled Ashoka-was hailed as Ashoka the Great, the emperor who ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent and was pivotal in the spread of Buddhism from India to other parts of Asia in the third century BC. But his life as emperor was not always led by non-violence. History has it that he masterminded one of the biggest and deadliest wars ever fought, and it was the insurmountable grief he experienced at the sight of the people dying and dead on the battleground that made him turn to Buddhism and take a vow of ahimsa.
Who was the man, and who was the king? What were his demons, and what gave him strength? Asoca: A Sutra, drawn from research and portrayed with energy and complexity, transports the reader to the era of the Mauryan dynasty with atmospheric vividness and insight.
Here are 5 memorable characters from Irwin Allen Sealy’s historical novel
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Asoca||Irwin Allen Sealy
Asoca – The nonconformist, mighty emperor of the Mauryan empire. A contrarian by nature, he is stubborn but thoughtful. He may not the most good-looking man, but for his mother he is her ‘little rhizome.’
‘From early childhood words were a game, and the pleasures of this game were those of reshaping the world… Rule your speech and you rule the world. My voice owed a little to every person and place I had known and admired, but the mix was mine alone.’
‘The hardest part, I found, was sitting there at all once all your factotums had left: alone with empire, imagining the extent of it off to one side and then the other way and then forward and backward on every side till you felt yourself positively abandoned.’
‘Every kingdom needs an honest, fearless man…to show up both the charlatan who seizes power and the incumbent who has lost his way.’
Uncle K – The shrewd strategist of Mauryan legacy, the creator of the immense Arthashastra, Asoca’s Uncle K is always by the King’s side. The King’s chief advisor, Uncle K talks like a book and his eyes, ears and mind are everywhere.
“Crooked as his name portends, bent in every part, twisted from hairpiece to toenails, this aged crow makes blackness look grey. Guile is younger—the hills are younger—than Kautilya, maker and keeper of kings.”
“The arch-monarchist for whom the kingdom was more important than his tenure as prime minister, than his own position as kingmaker, than life itself.”
Bindusara, the Dotted – He is the handsome Mauryan King, the man of virtues who prefers reconciliation to war. He grew up to rule—and to rue the day he was born.
‘My father Bindusara was a handsome man. Good looks were important to him, and they reappeared in his firstborn like vindication. Susima was a mirror in which he saw his chief virtue displayed, and father and son took it less as a gift of nature than as a divine right: it was a mark of approval, even, you would think, accomplishment.’
‘Father, whose sword leapt from its scabbard in the course of every rousing speech, whose lusty verses were applauded in the gardens at the annual festival, and whose concubines lived in terror of a visit on any given night, this man was crying.’
Madhumitta – Her name implies nectar of the gods. She is Asoca’s Queen Bee, his anchor, the woman he loved and desired.
‘The look in her eye said she would serve the truth. Such assurance burns in the elect; it is what creates disciples. Her determination awed me. Service was to me an abstract concept, a secular, almost departmental thing. For Madhumitta it was an article of faith.’
‘Madhumitta, dear wife, I cannot believe you have forgotten me in your nunnery. I have forgotten nothing, not the tender abstraction on your forehead, not the soft broom in your gentle hand of a morning, not the silent reproof to an erring child or errant husband, not the loving kindness you spread through that house you ruled.’
Susima – The eldest son of Bindusara, heir apparent of the empire. The apple of everyone’s eyes, he become Asoca’s arch-rival in his quest for the throne.
‘He [Susima] was, truth be told, the noblest of us all. He didn’t lie or cheat or push and shove and scramble. But then, he didn’t have to. He carried himself as if the crown were a settled thing.’
‘Susima, ultimate theoretician, wrapped in birchbark scroll for armour. He was still the master of the cool shot, born of meditation and intellect; I was the poor guerilla. A Susiman universe was the opposite of mine.’
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Asoca: A Sutra leaves the reader breathless with the full-bodied richness of Sealy’s prose, his trademark whimsy and his imaginative modern reconstruction of that enigmatic and brilliant ruler of the Indian subcontinent.
Covid might have taken away one of our most beloved authors, Subhadra Sen Gupta this year, but when schools reopen and children are back to their libraries, we could meet her again. In every children’s library in India, there’ll always be a corner that would sound like the shrieky excitement and the giggly wonder of kids and it would forever belong to the writer who said she wrote stories for the best readers in the world – children.
Since decades now, she is one of the ‘most issued’ authors in our school libraries along with J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl. Her books were the first few that introduced children of India to literature that was based in the environment they belonged to. Her characters had names like ours, lived in cities like ours and had a life that we could relate to, unlike the western culture that had been dominating children’s and adult literature in India. Most importantly, Sen Gupta made history interesting for so many of us!
She took us through historical times with stories of unknown and unsung characters like a young maid of a princess during the Mauryan period or a dhobi who learnt to sing from Tansen under the reign of Akbar. The author introduced a literary culture that revolutionized writing in the day! Inculcating the thought that every story matters, whether it is the tale of a king or a pawn, interweaving genres together so children can learn about history through interactive storytelling or to make the habit of reading genuinely fun- Sen Gupta did it all!
While some of her most recounted stories are The Story of the World’s Worst Cook, Goodbye Pasha Begum and Mystery of the House of Pigeons, she went on to do something quite remarkable and extraordinary. She wrote The Constitution of India for Children and created a handbook in a fun and digestible format, explaining the most important document of our nation and even addressed issues like the participation of women in the drafting of the constitution.
Unfortunately, the literary icon passed away in May of this year due to Covid-19, at the age of 68, with probably more interesting stories and books inside her, waiting to be inked on paper.
However, we do have one last gift from her to the world and we’d love to share it with you! Told through the portraits of children growing up in the villages, towns and courts of our country, Let’s Go Time Travelling Again is Subhadra Sen Gupta’s sequel to the series and a vivid glimpse into our past.
Let’s Go Time Travelling Again || Subhadra Sen Gupta
How did Indian mulmuls make it into Cleopatra’s wardrobe? Who popularized the Mahabharata in households across the country? Did our ancestors really identify Jupiter and Saturn without even a telescope?
Find the answers to these and many other unusual questions about the India of yesterday. Go time travelling through the alleys of history and explore the many occupations that have existed through time – from dancers and playwrights to farmers and doctors. Sift through snapshots of the rich life led by ordinary Indians and discover unexpected titbits about language, food and culture.
This last book by our beloved author is replete with fascinating stories, information, and trivia about our ancient civilizations, kingdoms, and people.
Yes, we have made it to September, said goodbye to ‘hot girl summer’ and prepared ourselves for the lazy season. But before you go asking people to wake you up when September ends, you have to see all the amazing book releases you’d miss if you chose the Sleeping Beauty life. Our latest literary haul has the potential to keep you occupied until next fall. If you take our advice into consideration, we’d suggest you settle down with a strong cup of your favourite caffeinated beverage instead, because you’re going to want to stay awake for this months reading recommendations.
The Elephant in the Womb||Kalki Koechlin
The Elephant in the Womb
Motherhood is the greatest job in the world…right?
In this unique graphic narrative, we finally have that candid, funny and relatable book on pregnancy and parenting that mothers, expectant mothers, and anyone even thinking about motherhood have been waiting for. Actor and writer Kalki Koechlin opens up about so much that we don’t talk about-the social stigma of abortions and unmarried pregnancies, the toll that pregnancy takes on a body, the unacknowledged domestic labour of women, the emotional rollercoaster of giving birth, bouts of postpartum melancholy, the unsolicited parenting advice from every corner, and of course the innumerable moments of joy and delight in bringing a real little person into this very weird world.
With whimsy and compassion, with uproariously funny art and spellbinding honesty, The Elephant in the Womb blends the deeply private with the blazingly political. It’s an eye-opener for anyone who has ever thought that pregnancy was all about the glow and that motherhood was all about fulfilment. From fixing broken parts to enduring untimely farts, Koechlin’s nuanced prose-gorgeously illustrated by Valeriya Polyanychko-tells us the bare-faced truth about the physiological discomfort and manic expectations that make it a bittersweet experience.
With a combination of personal essays and think-pieces, journal entries captured in real time, reflections and anecdotes, this is the motherload!
The Blind Matriarch||Gokhale Namita
The Blind Matriarch
The blind matriarch, Matangi-Ma, lives on the topmost floor of an old house with many stories. From her eyrie, she hovers unseeingly over the lives of her family. Her long-time companion Lali is her emissary to the world. Her three children are by turn overprotective and dismissive of her. Her grandchildren are coming to terms with old secrets and growing pains. Life goes on this way until one day the world comes to a standstill-and they all begin to look inward.
This assured novel records the different registers in the complex inner life of an extended family. Like
the nation itself, the strict hierarchy of the joint-family home can be dysfunctional, and yet it is this home that often provides unexpected relief and succour to the vulnerable within its walls.
As certainties dissolve, endings lead to new beginnings. Structured with the warp of memory and the weft of conjoined lives, the narrative follows middle India, even as it records the struggles for individual growth, with successive generations trying to break out of the stranglehold of the all-encompassing Indian family.
Ebbing and flowing like the waves of a pandemic, the novel is a clear-eyed chronicle of the tragedies of India’s encounter with the Coronavirus, the cynicism and despair that accompanied it, and the resilience and strength of the human spirit.
On a Wing and a Prayer||Kushal M Choksi
On A Wing and a Prayer
What would you do if your life turned upside down overnight?
Witnessing the devastation of 9/11 before his eyes and narrowly escaping death, Kushal’s life was never going to be the same again. Suddenly, all his pursuits felt meaningless and he felt a void within him like he had never felt before-until one day, when he reluctantly decided to spend an afternoon with a spiritual master in New York City.
From being a Wall Street trader immersed in the material world to embarking on a quest to find answers to life’s biggest questions, Kushal Choksi writes about his doubts, struggles and revelations on a spiritual path as a left-brained sceptic.
On a Wing and a Prayer is one such (true) account of one man finding himself on a fifteen-year long journey shadowing the spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The Lovers of Rampore||Ashok Chopra
The Lovers of Rampore
In The Lovers of Rampore, Ashok Chopra delves into the many mysterious forms of love thus introducing a mystic quality to the everyday lives of his characters. From the thrills of lust to the joys and fears of genuine commitment, to the exploration of desire and dispassion that exist in all relationships, this is the story of love in all its different manifestations.
Raja Rajvendra Veer Bahadur Singh married Rani Padmakshi Devi Singh, a woman thirty-three years younger to him, after losing his first wife. Theirs is a love built on respect, trust and the desire to support each other against all odds. In Rampore, their son, the dashing Yuvraj, is curiously averse to the very ideals his parents’ marriage embodies, choosing instead the path of instant gratification. In Mumbai, we’re introduced to Vikram Desai-an enigmatic architect whose principles, charm and persona change the course of all those whom he interacts with.
Ashok Chopra weaves a contemporary Bayeux tapestry of richly detailed stories which are mature, slow-burning and strum with a quiet passion that cuts across class, gender, and age, fundamentally altering the way we perceive love. In doing so, he also challenges society’s archaic understanding of the bonding between people.
10 Steps to the Boardroom||G.S. Rattan
10 Steps to the Boardroom
There is no linear path to reach the top. In today’s day and age, when there is so much competition and nepotism that is being spoken about, one has to wonder: Does talent and merit have a chance? In my opinion, they do. So how does one knock on the door of success and reach the boardroom?
This book takes you through the crucial ten steps you need to climb as you progress in your career to reach the top via the author’s own personal journey. Each chapter deals with one specific quality that a CEO is required to have and is accompanied with a worksheet next to it that will help you chart your growth. Peppered with wisdom and experience, each story will help you understand the implications of your decisions and the right career stage that one should look at making a move. An absolute must-have for anyone looking to make a mark in their corporate career.
The Battle of Rezang La||Kulpreet Yadav
The Battle of Rezang La
On 18 November 1962, the Charlie Company of the 13 Kumaon Battalion, Kumaon Regiment, fought a Chinese attack at Rezang La Pass in Ladakh, India. The company comprised 120 soldiers and was led by Maj. Shaitan Singh. Of these soldiers, 110 were martyred in the attack.
The Indian search party, which visited the battlefield on 10 February 1963, made a startling discovery-the frozen bodies of the men who had died were still holding guns in their hands, having taken bullets on their chests. One PVC (Param Vir Chakra), eight VCs (Vir Chakras), four SMs (Sena Medals) and one M-in-D (Mentioned-in-Dispatches) were awarded to the soldiers of the Charlie Company, making it one of the highest decorated companies of the Indian Army to this day. The valour of the Charlie Company not only successfully stopped China’s advance, but it also resulted in the Chushul airport being saved, thereby preventing a possible Chinese occupation of the entire Ladakh region in 1962. According to reports, a total of 1300 Chinese soldiers were killed trying to capture Rezang La. The Charlie Company was an all-Ahir company, and most of the soldiers who fought the battle at 18,000 feet came from the plains of Haryana. The Battle of Rezang La is their story.
Yogiplate||Radhavallabha Das
Yogiplate: The Basics of Sattvik
Ayurvedic diet varies by body type, a person’s nature, their lifestyle and the food they grew up eating. Nobody knows that better than Radhavallabha Das, who cooked for thousands of devotees and monks at the ISKCON ashram in Mumbai and the adjoining Govinda’s restaurant.
In Yogiplate, he teaches us how to identify our unique body type, lists the vegetables, fruits, grains and spices that will suit us, and e xplains how sāttvic food nourishes the body, mind and inner soul. Written in a conversational style, Radhavallabha shows us how to pair the correct ingredients, avoid the ones that are harmful to us, and focus on the oil, salt and water that we use for cooking.
This book will teach you how to tailor a unique diet that will form the foundation of a happy and healthy life.
The Unforgiving City and Other Stories||Vasudhendra
The Unforgiving City and Other Stories
From the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi winner Vasudhendra comes a powerful collection of stories that shock, move and amuse by turns. As the characters struggle to find their feet in a fast-changing India, they mirror our unspoken dilemmas, torn loyalties and the loss of innocence.
In the extremely popular ‘Red Parrot’, an innocuous image from childhood returns to haunt a man when he visits his idyllic hometown. In ‘Recession’, the desire for a child leads a couple down unexpected paths. In other stories, a young woman in love rethinks her future when buried family secrets are suddenly revealed; a boy learns that insomnia may be the symptom of something more ominous; lonely apartment residents discover the thrills and perils of social media.
Deftly crafted with gentle wit and a lightness of touch, each gripping story exposes the deepest contradictions of modern life. The fluid translation retains the flavour and nuances of the original Kannada, creating a rich reading experience.
Sita||Bhanumathi Narasimhan
Sita
Sita, the beloved princess of Mithila, is one of the most revered women in Indian history; so well known, yet probably the least understood. At every crossroad of her life, she chose acceptance and grace over self-pity. Her life was filled with sacrifice yet wherever she was, there was abundance. It was as if she was carved out of an intense longing for Rama, yet she had infinite patience. In every situation she reflected his light and he reflected her love.
In her, we find someone who is so divine yet so human.
In this poignant narration, Bhanumathi shows us the world through the eyes of Sita. We think what Sita thinks, we feel what she feels, and for these few special moments, we become a part of her. And perhaps, through this perspective, and Sita’s immortal story, we will discover the true strength of a woman.
Passionate About Baking||Deeba Rajpal
Passionate about Baking: Everything Chocolate
A home baker for over 20 years, food stylist and photographer Deeba Rajpal put her passion to the test when she decided to blog about her adventures in the kitchen. Soon, her simple yet delectable dessert recipes accompanied by beautiful, evocative imagery struck a chord with people across the globe, turning her blog, Passionate about Baking, into one of the most popular blogs in the country.
Inspired by her blog, this book is a collection of some of her most loved chocolate dessert recipes for every kind of indulgence. With healthy, tasty yet easy-to-make chocolate delights — from tarts, tea cakes and cupcakes to cookies, traybakes and cakes for special occasions — and simple tips and tricks, Deeba shows you how working with chocolate can be oh so fun!
Good Genes Gone Bad||Narendra Chirmule
Good Genes Gone Bad
The field of biotechnology has evolved over the past four decades, developing medicines which are curing diseases. But this journey of success has been tough and arduous, built upon the shoulders of major failures. Good Genes Gone Bad highlights seven such colossal failures in drug development-all of which culminated in the development of novel drugs-weaving together various analogies through the stories and thus allowing the reader to understand complex biological phenomena. These stories include treatment of medical conditions such as genetic clotting disorder (haemophilia), childhood-diarrhoea (rotavirus vaccine), preventing HIV infection, activation of the immune systems to treat cancer, gene therapy for treatment of diseases caused by gene-defects/mutations, cell therapy for treatment of leukaemias, and finally the success of Biocon’s approval of the first biologic drug for breast cancer.
Written by the former R&D head of Biocon, India’s largest pharmaceutical company, Good Genes Gone Bad is a fascinating look at the complex world of medicine and drug development, providing the readers with a sense of magnitude of challenges and the extent of difficulty that it takes to make novel medicines.
Economist Gandhi||Jaithirth Rao
Economist Gandhi
The Political Economy of the Mahatma, Its Roots and Relevance.
This book is a refreshing take on Gandhi’s economic philosophy. It provides insights into the hidden facet of Gandhi’s personality, and his thoughts on economics and capitalism. The book captures aspects of Gandhi’s thinking usually missed by those who are sure they know Gandhi.
This is probably the first book on Gandhi that claims that Gandhi was not against business and capitalists. In fact, the author maintains that Gandhi was a Baniya by caste, and this is what explains Gandhi’s positive approach towards business, trade and wealth.
Kathmandu Dilemma||Ranjit Rae
Kathmandu Dilemma
The first two decades of the new millennium have witnessed a dramatic socio-political transformation of Nepal. A violent Maoist insurgency ended peacefully, a new constitution abolished the monarchy and established a secular federal democratic republic. Nevertheless, political stability and a peace dividend have both remained
elusive. Nepal is also buffeted by changing geopolitics, including the US-China contestation for influence
and the uneasy relationship between India and China.
As a close neighbour, India has been deeply associated with the seminal changes in Nepal, and the bilateral relationship has seen many twists and turns. Partly a memoir, this book examines India’s perspective on these developments, in the context of the civilizational and economic underpinnings of the India-Nepal
relationship, as well as issues that continue to prevent this relationship from exploiting its full potential. Though there are several Nepalese accounts that deal with this subject, there are few from an Indian point of view. Kathmandu Dilemma fills this gap.
A Thousand Cuts||T.J. Joseph
A Thousand Cuts: An Innocent
In 2010, T.J. Joseph, a professor of Malayalam at Newman College, Kerala, framed an innocuous question for an internal examination that changed his life forever. Following a trumped-up charge of blasphemy, members of a radical Islamist organization set upon him in public, viciously maiming him and chopping off his right hand. His memoir, told with amazing restraint and wry humour, is the moving tale of his life and family as they went through hell and beyond. Here’s the extraordinary story of a man who survived dismembering only to be betrayed by his
own Church. Let alone stand by him, it robbed him of his livelihood and isolated him from his community, driving Joseph’s long-suffering wife to melancholia and eventual suicide. Joseph’s story is one of fortitude, will power, forgiveness and compassion, told with rare wit that will make readers chuckle through their tears.
This is a tale that will leave the reader seething, weeping and smiling by turns.
Eternal Echoes||Sadhguru
Eternal Echoes
Beautifully designed, Eternal Echoes is a compilation of poems by Sadhguru between the time period of 1994 and 2021. These poems cover every aspect of his life and travels. There are poems on nature, environment, human nature, the experiences, and resonances he has felt during these three decades and many more. These poems seem simple at first. However, as one reads, one begins to understand the hidden layers within. The words and meanings linger on…
This book is a very special collector’s item for all the followers of Sadhguru that they can savour for years to come. It is also perfect as a gift to loved ones
A.A. Jafri was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. He is an economist by day and a writer by night. Of Smokeless Fire is his first novel.
We caught up with him and asked him a few questions that really intrigued us. Keep reading to find out his answers.
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Of Smokeless Fire||A.A. Jafri
Of Smokeless Firewas your first published book, was it also your first attempt at writing one?
I started writing from a very early age, first with poetry and then short stories in Urdu. Initially, I think it was an exercise in self-discovery, a stream of consciousness experience without much structure or order. This novel was the first time I wrote in a serious, sustained way. So, yes, this is my first attempt at writing with the hope of getting my work published.
How was writing this book as an experience for you? Do you plan on writing and publishing more works in the future?
For me, writing Of Smokeless Fire has been a joyous journey. It has given me a sense of perspective, a place to give voice to my thoughts, memories, and reflections. Writing this novel has also been an incredibly cathartic experience, providing me with the means to revisit Pakistan’s complicated history and delve into the aftermath of the partition of India that my parents’ generation experienced. By creating and recreating characters and situations, it has helped me frame some uncomfortable questions.
As for the future, I’m writing a prequel to Of Smokeless Fire, imagining the life Noor ul Haq, one of the novel’s protagonists in the story, led in pre-partition India. What made him who he was? And why was the sense of belonging and displacement so pronounced in his life? While my present novel, among other things, explores the relationship between Noor and his son Mansoor, the prequel examines Noor’s relationship with his father.
You’re an economist who deals with facts and figures all day, what compelled you to write fiction?
Behind facts and figures, there are always stories of human beings—how people live, how they scrape a living, and how they die. I have always questioned the way professional economists have dealt with human problems. My interest in economics has always been related to issues of poverty and economic development. John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath about how families got uprooted by the Great Depression. Charles Dickens’s Hard Times is about the social and economic conditions of the early industrial age and how it dehumanized workers. Fiction sometimes explains economics better than professional economists. I often imagine the “what-ifs” of policies. Although my novel raises questions about alienation and belonging, I hope it also reveals deep-seated economic issues and issues of class and gender in our society. I’m compelled to write the human interest behind these issues.
Is the story in fact, purely fiction, or are there bits and pieces drawn from life and experience?
I can’t envision any story as solely fiction; it has to emulate lived experiences and invent replications. My novel is, of course, a fabrication, but it also draws from people I met or knew or heard about, the conversations I eavesdropped on, the fleeting encounters with strangers, the myths I grew up with, the rumors that circulated. I have tried to retrieve all those memories—real or fantastic—and applied them to a concocted reality, imagining the what-ifs and trying the why-not. The change of fortunes in Joseph’s and Mehrun’s lives—the servants’ children—in Of Smokeless Fire is fictitious but inspired by stories of real people who broke out of the cycle of grinding poverty.
The lines from the Qur’an that serve as an epigraph to Part I of the book are rather significant. What made the ‘djinn’ so central to your plot while you conceptualised your story?
I grew up listening to stories about djinns and reading about their existence in the Qur’an. I knew many who believed in a literal interpretation of djinns, while others explained them metaphorically. Opinions about the sacred often become such a steadfast belief that no amount of fact or logic can shake that certainty. Even followers from the same faith have conflicting views about such beliefs. It is like you are speaking a different language in the chaos of contrasting opinions. I felt that such disjunctions needed to be told in a story. So often, disparate explanations create an interesting plot, bringing in contradictions, contempt, and cruelty. I wanted to capture all that in my novel.
In my story, Noor explains what the word djinn means. It is something hidden, the part of everyone’s self that’s concealed, even from our own selves. According to him, one needs to discover that reality. He tells his son that if he finds his inner djinn, he will find his true self. My book explores the internal struggle that one has with oneself.
Devika Rangachari is an award-winning author of several historical fiction books for children. Her book Queen of Fire came out in April this year. It brings to vivid life the interior life of Lakshmibai, the nineteenth-century queen of Jhansi, thrust into a position she does not desire but must assume, and of her son, who is cowed by the challenges he has to face but determined to live up to his mother’s courage.
We recently got the chance to ask her some questions about her enthusiasm for writing for children and the challenges involved, how she decides on her protagonists and her favourite historians. Read on to find out her answers!
Queen of Ice, Queen of Earth, and now, Queen of Fire, we are sensing a pattern here. Is there a specific reason why we see you writing about queens in Indian history? How do you decide who’s going to be the protagonist of your next book?
A word about these three books, to begin with. Queen of Ice is the story of Didda who ruled Kashmir in the tenth century for around fifty years despite being physically lame. Her rule formed part of my doctoral research on gender in early medieval north India. Didda’s powerful and competent rule notwithstanding, she has been virtually removed from historical narratives of Kashmir due to the gender bias that exists in the writing of history. Alternatively, she has been vilified for daring to challenge patriarchal stereotypes and follow her ambition. Queen of Earth, on the other hand, deals with Prithvimahadevi who ruled the Bhaumakara dynasty of Odisha in the ninth century. Her reign formed part of my post-doctoral research on gender in early medieval Odisha. Prithvimahadevi
managed to hold her own over a rival populace and, additionally, employed clever tactics to justify her rule, indicating her political shrewdness and sagacity. In a similar vein to Didda, however, she has either been made invisible in historical accounts of Odisha or criticised for her rule. I wanted to enable my young readers to know about these important women from the past whom they are unlikely to get to know about through their textbooks or any other source.
Queen of Fire, which deals with Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, is slightly different because it aims to resurrect the real woman behind the name. In most accounts of this valorous queen, she is treated almost like a goddess and no weight is given to her emotions, thoughts or fears. Nor is her relationship with her adopted son, Damodar, given any importance. I have, however, examined both these aspects in my book.
While the stories of all these women are extremely inspiring, there is no specific reason for my current focus on queens. It is just something that happened organically. If I decide that the story of a particular woman from history, culled from my academic research, is interesting and engrossing, then she becomes the protagonist of my next book. At least, that is how it has been so far!
Writing historical fiction involves a lot of research, and the task gets more complex when the subject needs to be adapted for a younger audience. What has been your experience like writing historical narratives for children? Could you also shed some light on your research process?
The challenge in writing historical fiction for children is that history is a subject that most of them dread, in any case, and, therefore, I have to make my writing enjoyable and gripping while, at the same time, maintaining a balance between historical fact and fiction. The aim is to draw my readers into the world of history and enable them to discover for themselves how exciting it really is. In addition, I have to ensure that I do not drown the narrative in facts and what could be construed as dry details. Historical accuracy is essential but the writing should convey the elements of the past in a painless and palatable manner. I have, however, immensely enjoyed the process of writing historical narratives for young readers.
My research process involves studying the original sources pertaining to the historical period or personality I am writing on. These could range from texts and inscriptions to coins, buildings and other archaeological material. For instance, the Rajatarangini, a Sanskrit text written by a poet, Kalhana, in the twelfth century is pivotal as a source for Didda’s reign, along with some coins and inscriptions that she issued. In Prithvimahadevi’s case, the sources are even more meagre, principally featuring two inscriptions that she issued and some references to her in contemporary sources. In Rani Lakshmibai’s case, though, there is plentiful information, ranging from memoirs to letters to archival documents. Historical sources become more difficult to come by the further back in time one goes. There are significant gaps in our knowledge of the early medieval queens, for instance, and a lot of guesswork is involved in order to fill these.
Are there some women in Indian history whom you feel particularly moved by, but have not written about yet?
There are several—royal and non-royal—who played important roles in the polity and society of the early medieval period but have not received the acknowledgement that they deserve in the historical narrative. Apart from some powerful women in Kashmir, there are others in the south who have not really been the subject of much research or writing so far. I would like to write about many of these.
When you are not writing and researching, what would we find you occupied with?
I love reading, so I would be curled up with a book.
Who are your favourite historians on Indian history?
There are several but I will mention only two of them. Prof. Nayanjot Lahiri, my doctoral supervisor, is a well-known archaeologist who has, in addition, managed to encapsulate her research—such as on the Indus valley civilisation and on the discipline of history, as a whole—into extremely readable books for the general reader. Another historian that I greatly admire is Prof. Upinder Singh who has also successfully managed to write about the Indian past in a very accessible, engrossing manner for the layman reader, particularly on the ancient and early medieval time spans.
What are some of your favourite historical retellings?
I grew up reading Jean Plaidy who has written an enormous range of historical fiction. Her works made me develop a real love for history. I also enjoyed Hilary Mantel’s works of historical fiction, especially her trilogy on Thomas Cromwell and the Tudor court under Henry VIII of England, and Philippa Gregory’s writing.
