Category: Recommendations

With a slight drop in temperatures peeking around the corner, take it easy with the seasonal change by going through our new releases for August. From a ghost hotel to a quirky love story, there’s something for every kind of mood wave you’re riding.

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The Bellboy by Anees Salim

Latif’s life changes when he is appointed bellboy at the Paradise Lodge – a hotel where people come to die.

After his father’s death, drowned in the waters surrounding their small Island, it is 17-year-old Latif’s turn to become the man of the house and provide for his ailing mother and sisters. Despite discovering a dead body on his first day of duty, Latif finds entertainment spying on guests and regaling the hotel’s janitor, Stella, with made-up stories. However, when Latif finds the corpse of a small-time actor in Room 555 and becomes a mute witness to a crime that happens there, the course of Latif’s life is irretrievably altered. The Bellboy is as much a commentary on how society treats and victimizes the intellectually vulnerable as it is about the quiet resentment against religious minorities in India today.

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

One morning, Anders wakes to find that his skin has turned dark, his reflection a stranger to him. At first, he tells only Oona, an old friend, newly a lover. Soon, reports of similar occurrences surface across the land. Some see in the transformations the long-dreaded overturning of the established order, to be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders’s father and Oona’s mother, a sense of profound loss wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance to see one another, face to face, anew.

Challenges To A Liberal Polity by M Hamid Ansari

From Nehru’s vision for India as a major world power to the issues of citizenship, religion, democracy, the idea of plurality and Muslim identity in Indian society, inclusion/exclusion of Indian Muslims, the ‘mainstream’ decision-making process in India, the role of women in order to build a compassionate society, the implication for dissent, Muslims’ role and contribution to Indian culture, civilization and nation-building in the post-Independent India, among others, the book thrashes some of the burning issues of Indian polity and society.

Comprehensive, argumentative and evocative, this title will interest not only a broad spectrum of readers but also politicians, policymakers and students and scholars of Indian politics, history and sociology.

Chorashastra by V.J. James

Hoping to break out of his coconut-robbing father’s petty legacy and strike it big, a small-time thief breaks into the house of an eccentric professor. A strong believer in the theory that early Indian civilisations were scientifically advanced, the professor spends his days salvaging ancient texts, long forgotten or overlooked by scholars of present times. On the night of the break-in, he is immersed in Chorashastra, a manuscript rendered brittle and yellow by centuries, that holds within its pages mindboggling tips and tricks for thieves- most incredibly, the ability to open a lock by just looking at it. He hails the arrival of the thief as a sign and decides to test its theories on him.

Known for his subversive plots and narrative devices that mark a clear departure from contemporary Malayalam storytelling, V.J. James’s Chorashastra tells a gripping story of untethered ambition and the inevitable chase between crime and justice.

When I Am With You by Durjoy Datta

You can plan everything, but you can’t plan with whom and when you’ll fall in love, isn’t it?
Aishwarya, at twenty-eight years, would rather be a single mother than trust the ‘normal’ family structure. On her mind is the ambitious and good-looking Akshay, perfect genetic material, but he’s not ready to be part of her plans. Yet.
In comes Dhiren, who has made and lost his money in cryptocurrency. He takes up the first floor of Aishwarya’s nursery building and, by a queer coincidence, begins to work for her. Her friends Smriti and Vinny, as protective as mother hens, warn her against Dhiren. There is something that he’s hiding along with his friend Neeraj—they just don’t know what.
Crazy, quirky and so utterly romantic, this book is the ultimate relationship roller coaster!

India’s Most Fearless 3 by Shiv Aroor & Rahul Singh

An army medic who went beyond the call of duty amid a frenzy of treacherous bloodletting in Ladakh’s Galwan while his fellow soldiers fought the Chinese to death; the crew of an Indian Navy destroyer that put everything on the line to rescue hundreds from Cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea; an Indian Air Force pilot who ejected from his doomed fighter less than two seconds before it hit the ground, only to find he was missing a leg. This book presents their accounts, or of those who were with them in their final moments. India’s Most Fearless 3 features ten true stories of extraordinary courage and fearlessness, providing glimpses of the heroism Indian soldiers have displayed in unthinkably hostile conditions and under grave provocation.

The Hidden Hindu Book 2 by Akshat Gupta

The first battle is lost. The book of Mritsanjeevani is in the wrong hands but Nagendra’s plans are not limited only to immortality. What seemed to be the end of all wars was just the beginning of an incredible journey in search of a hidden verse. Om is still incomplete without the knowledge of his past, but he is not alone anymore. Two of the mightiest warriors of all time stand by his side. Two mysterious warriors stand unconditionally with Nagendra too or is there a hidden agendas behind all the allies? Who are LSD and Parimal in real and who is Om? Tighten your seat belts for an adventure in search of words that hold a bigger purpose than even immortality for Divinities and Demons.

Reading Sri Aurobindo by Gautam Chikermane & Devdip Ganguli

Sri Aurobindo dedicated his life to the transformation of humanity. His journey saw him traverse many paths, including that of poet, journalist, jailed revolutionary, philosopher, and radical mystic. Essays, translations, literary criticism, political articles, philosophical treatises, poetry, epics, plays and short stories-his writings encompass the depth and range of his extraordinary life. The modern sage commented on spiritual texts such as the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Gita, authored an epic poem, Savitri, presented his integral vision in The Life Divine, wrote on contemporary issues, all the while writing thousands of letters to guide his disciples, and even documenting his inner life in meticulous detail.

Stories and Sutras by Virat Chirania

India is the birthplace of legends, the mother of culture and tradition, and as Indians, we love our stories. This book contains ten powerful stories of the original superheroes-stories that will leave a permanent impression on your consciousness and spill over in your conversations, stories of passion and patriotism, of valour and wit, of devotion and sacrifice, and of intelligence and faith.

When decoded, the accounts in this book are not merely stories-they are a treasure trove of wisdom, life hacks, leadership and management sutras. Did you know that Lord Hanuman can teach us communication skills, that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj can teach us how to run a startup and that Chanakya shows us how to use emotional intelligence in business strategy? Have you ever imagined Arjuna, Narada Muni, Kabir and Adi Shankaracharya as leaders and influencers and do you know about Rani Abbakka, one of the unsung battle queens of India? Stories and Sutras is a journey of these incredible tales and priceless sutras-an edutainment experience that is uniquely Indian and utterly global.

Heavens And Earth by Garima Garg

The ancient astrologer turned the impulse to answer this question into something meaningful by mapping the night skies and attempting to see in the movement of planets and stars an impact on human lives. But did all astrologers see the same night sky? Did the observations of the Hindu astrologer match those of the Greek? How did the Egyptians and the Chinese understand the influence of the Sun and the Moon on our lives?

Heavens and Earth examines the history of astrology, its many different systems and its development as a modern cultural phenomenon. Deeply researched and expertly narrated, the book contextualises the role of astrology in the ever-evolving human perspective of the cosmos and in understanding our place in it.

Temple Lamp by Mirza Ghalib

The poem ‘Chirag-e-Dair’ or Temple Lamp is an eloquent and vibrant Persian masnavi by Mirza Ghalib. While we quote liberally from his Urdu poetry, we know little of his writings in Persian, and while we read of his love for the city of Delhi, we discover in temple Lamp, his rapture over the spiritual and sensual city of Banaras.

Chiragh-e-dair is being translated directly from Persian into English in its entirety for the first time, with a critical Introduction by Maaz Bin Bilal. It is Mirza Ghalib’s pean to Kashi, which he calls Kaaba-e-Hindostan or the Mecca of India.

The Many Lives Of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna: An Authorized Biography by Veejay Sai

This is a story of the many lives of Dr Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna.
Veejay Sai’s in-depth research into his life and work led him deep into unseen archival material and across the Carnatic musical landscape of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Fortified by interviews with his family members, disciples and peers, The Many Lives of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, a definitive biography of the musical genius, is not only a revealing account of the personal traits and facets of an unparallelled genius, but is also a portrait of India’s classical music world, a place as much of beauty as of untrammelled egos.

Essential Reader: Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu was a prolific writer and speaker, publishing three collections of poetry during her life and delivered many rousing speeches throughout the freedom struggle and after India gained Independence. This book compiles her best-known work, as well as letters she wrote throughout her life to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore and others, to provide a glimpse into the kind of person she was and the ideas she believed in.
Through these pages, we can witness her innermost thoughts and feelings, and the important role she played in shaping the country’s freedom struggle and its ideas as a young nation, particularly through rousing speeches on the Education of Indian Women and the Battle of Freedom is Over, which were broadcast over the All India Radio on 15 August 1947.

How To Raise A Plant Baby by Vinayak Garg

Written for all plant parents trying to raise their plant babies in an urban setting, this book is built on basic principles that keep plants healthy and covers all topics that any plant parent need to know-how to prepare their space, how to choose the right plants for their home, how to care for the plants and keep them happy and how to get family and friends started with plants of their own.

With stories from the Lazy Gardener community, supplemented with chapter-end summaries, explanatory illustrations and plant lists, the book will equip the reader to ask the right questions as they continue to garden and cultivate their knowledge of gardening. Useful for both new and experienced plant parents, Vinayak Garg’s How to Raise a Plant Baby guides them and explains everything they need to know.

Sojourn by Amit Chaudhuri

An unnamed man arrives in Berlin as a visiting professor. It is a place fused with Western history and cultural fracture lines. He moves along its streets and pavements; through its department stores, museums and restaurants. He befriends Faqrul, an enigmatic exiled poet, and Birgit, a woman with whom he shares the vagaries of attraction. He tries to understand his white-haired cleaner. Berlin is a riddle-he becomes lost not only in the city but in its legacy. Sealed off in his own solitude, and as his visiting professorship passes, the narrator awaits transformation and meaning. Ultimately, he starts to understand that the less sure he becomes of his place in the moment, the more he knows his way.

The Dolphin And The Shark by Namita Thapar

The Dolphin and the Shark is born out of Namita Thapar’s experiences of being a judge on Shark Tank India and running the India business of the pharma company Emcure as well as her own entrepreneurship academy. The book emphasizes how leaders of today need to strike a balance between being a shark (aggressive leader) and a dolphin (empathetic leader).

Divided into fifteen chapters, the book focuses on various business mantras. The author shares personal stories, anecdotes about Emcure’s evolution over the years as well as learnings from entrepreneurs who have inspired her. The Dolphin and the Shark also include references to pitches from Shark Tank India‘s Season 1. Straight from the heart, candid and authentic, this book will inspire and motivate every reader to push their limits.

Leaders In The Making by Arvind N Agrawal & T V Rao

Leaders in the Making provides in-depth interviews of thirty HR leaders (drawn from public as well as private sectors), including stalwarts like Santrupt Misra, Rajeev Dubey, Aquil Busrai, Anil Sachdev, N.S. Rajan and Anil Khandelwal. These life stories provide highlights of early childhood, education and career over the years. They include the points of inflexion, major influencers and lessons learnt to become who they became. The authors provide an analysis of these thirty stories to establish a pattern of the life journeys, competencies and values these leaders displayed.

The DREAM Founder by Dhruv Nath

The DREAM Founder is an essential entrepreneurship guide for early-stage Indian start-ups. It also has interviews with some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world of start-ups, such as Sanjeev Bikhchandani of Naukri.com, Deepinder Goyal of Zomato, Meena Ganesh of Portea Medical and Dr Annurag Batra of Businessworld.

Including start-ups that have succeeded and also those who have failed, Dhruv Nath shares how you can become a DREAM Founder with these simple steps:
· Dream big
· Right team
· Execution
· Attitude
· Make opportunities out of crises

The IT Story Of India by S. ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu & Krishnan Narayanan

The story of Indian IT is the story of trials and triumphs, persistence and resilience, and luck, foresight and planning. This book chronicles the history of Indian IT over the past six decades. It includes interviews with over fifty pioneers who built and shaped the Indian IT sector. Conceived as a book on business history, this book analyses the evolution of India’s IT sector and helps readers understand the importance of collective efforts in building world-class sustainable institutions.

The Cave: An Internet Entrepreneur’s Spiritual Journey by Alok Kejriwal

By the time he was thirteen, Alok Kejriwal had begun to have profound spiritual experiences. Separated from his parents at birth, he was raised under the loving care of his Nana and Nani. During the course of these life-altering events, Alok realized that his life was not going to be a usual one. Over the next few years, Alok met unusual and blessed holy men who uplifted him. He visited temples and sacred places where he had transformative experiences. In November 2011, Alok visited a remote cave near Ranikhet in Uttarakhand that changed him forever. The Cave is an insightful, honest and deeply personal account of Alok’s spiritual journey. With characteristic candour, he shares intimate aspects of his life that bring meaning and balance to his journey as a successful digital entrepreneur.

Your Complete Guide To Wellness Box Set

In the ten-year anniversary edition of the classic that revolutionized the way Indians think about food and their eating habits, Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight teaches you simple steps you can take towards maintaining a healthy and proper diet and understanding your body and its nutritional requirements.

In FROM XL TO XS, Bollywood’s celebrated yoga instructor Payal Gidwani Tewari teaches you simple and easy to follow principles and exercise routines to lose (or gain) weight, stay fit, and transform your body structure. With photographs, celeb workouts, and useful tips by stars, From XL to XS is the best gift you can give yourself.

In Skin Rules, Dr Jaishree Sharad, one of India’s top cosmetic dermatologists, gives you a revolutionary six-week plan to healthy, blemish-free skin. From the basics-identifying your skin type, acquainting yourself with the fine print on labels-to home remedies, choosing the right make-up and the latest advancements in skincare treatments, this book has the answers to all your skin woes.

Wealth Creation Made Easy Boxset by Saurabh Mukherjea

Written by India’s most loved fund manager, this box set is the ultimate toolkit for being financially free.
Diamonds in the Dust offers Indian savers a simple, yet highly effective, investment technique to identify clean, well-managed Indian companies that have consistently generated outsized returns for investors. Based on in-depth research conducted by the award-winning team at Marcellus Investment Managers, it uses case studies and charts to help readers learn the art and science of investing in the US$3 trillion Indian stock market. The book also debunks many notions of investing that have emerged from the misguided application of Western investment theories in the Indian context. Vital and indispensable, this book will serve as the ultimate manual on investing and provide practical counsel to readers to achieve their financial goals.
Coffee Can Investing offers a simple strategy to make not 10 not 15 but 20 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) on your investments. Using this strategy one can easily grow their money four to five times whilst taking half the risk compared to the overall market. The book decodes the secret to identifying low-risk investments that generate great returns.

When one thinks of Pride Month, we understandably visualize the rainbow. But symbolism is only the tip of the iceberg. Through stories both fiction and nonfiction, we are able to best empathise with and see the nuances that shade the seven colours of the flag.

Celebrate Pride with our list of recommendations. Keep scrolling to find your perfect queer read! 

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I Am Onir and I Am Gay by Onir with Irene Dhar Malik

The award-winning filmmaker Onir, whose directorial debut, My Brother Nikhil (2005), broke new ground in LGBT representation on the Indian silver screen, opens up fully for the first time. From his childhood days in Bhutan to when he was a young man with no connections in the Hindi film industry who dreamt big and fought to carve a niche for himself, Onir takes the reader through his struggles and triumphs to offer an intimate glimpse of his fascinating journey to success.
I Am Onir and I Am Gay is a raw, eloquent and inspiring memoir about confronting and transcending frontiers. Written with his sister Irene Dhar Malik, this emotionally gritty and unabashedly honest personal story is a pathbreaking narrative of hope, love and the pursuit of dreams.

Hungry Humans by Karichan Kunju

This translation of the groundbreaking Tamil novel Pasitha Manidam, first published in 1978, offers deep insight into the conservative and caste-conscious temple town of Kumbakonam, viewed here with dispassionately cold clarity as a society that utterly fails its own.

Ganesan returns, after four decades, to the town of his childhood, filled with memories of love and loneliness, of youthful beauty and the ravages of age and misfortune, of the promise of talent and its slow destruction. Seeking treatment for leprosy, he must also come to terms with his past: his exploitation at the hands of older men, his growing consciousness of desire and his own sexual identity, his steady disavowal of Brahminical morality and his slowly degenerating body. Sudha G. Tilak deftly builds upon Karichan Kunju’s prose to expose this world, raw, real, without frills or artifice. 

Tell Me How To Be by Neel Patel

Renu Amin always seemed perfect: doting husband, beautiful house, healthy sons. But as the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Renu is binge-watching soap operas and simmering with old resentments. She can’t stop wondering if, thirty-five years ago, she chose the wrong life. In Los Angeles, her son, Akash, has everything he ever wanted, but as he tries to kickstart his songwriting career and commit to his boyfriend, he is haunted by the painful memories he fled a decade ago. When his mother tells him she is selling the family home, Akash returns to Illinois, hoping to finally say goodbye and move on.

By turns irreverent and tender, filled with the beats of ’90s R&B, Tell Me How to Be is about our earliest betrayals and the cost of reconciliation. But most of all, it is the love story of a mother and son each trying to figure out how to be in the world.

Eleven Ways To Love: Essays

People have been telling their love stories for thousands of years. It is the greatest common human experience. And yet, love stories coach us to believe that love is selective, somehow, that it can be boxed in and easily defined. This is a collection of eleven remarkable essays that widen the frame of reference: transgender romance; body image issues; race relations; disability; polyamory; class differences; queer love; long distance; caste; loneliness; the single life; the bad boy syndrome . . . and so much more.

Pieced together with a dash of poetry and a whole lot of love, featuring a multiplicity of voices and a cast of unlikely heroes and heroines, this is a book of essays that show us, with empathy, humour and wisdom, that there is no such thing as the love that dare not speak its name.

Shikhandi, and Other Tales They Don’t Tell You by Devdutt Pattanaik

Queerness isn’t only modern, Western or sexual, says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. From Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife; Mahadeva, who became a woman to deliver a devotee’s child; Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband; Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend and many more. 
Playful and touching—and sometimes disturbing—these stories when compared with tales of the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh, the Greek Ganymede, the biblical Sodom or the Chinese ‘cut sleeve’ Emperor reveal the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness. Devdutt Pattanaik’s new book builds on profound ideas that our ancestors shared but which we have rarely inherited.

Red Lipstick: The Men in My Life by Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

The first inklings and stirrings of lust that Laxmi remembers came from noticing big, strong arms, the hint of a guy’s moustache over his lips, billboards that advertised men’s underwear. Laxmi found this puzzling initially. Was there a woman inside him who couldn’t really express herself because of some last-minute mix-up that god did at the time of his birth? Struggling with such existential questions, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, eminent transgender activist, awakens to her true self: She is Laxmi, a hijra.
In this fascinating narrative Laxmi unravels her heart to tell the stories of the men-creators, preservers, lovers, benefactors, and abusers-in her life. Racy, unapologetic, dark and exceptionally honest, these stories open a window to a brave new world.

Besharam by Priya Alika Elias

Besharam is a book on young Indian women and how to be one, written from the author’s personal experience in several countries. It dissects the many things that were never explained to us and the immense expectations placed on us. It breaks down the taboos around sex and love and dating in a world that’s changing with extraordinary rapidity. Like an encyclopedia or a really good big sister, Besharam teaches young Indian women something that they almost never hear: it’s okay to put ourselves first and not feel guilty for it.

Part memoir, part manual, Besharam serves up ambitious feminism for the modern Indian woman.

A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi by Manobi Bandopadhyay

When a boy was born in the Bandhopadhyay family, all rejoiced. A son had been born after two girls and finally, the conservative father could boast about having sired a son. However, it wasn’t long before the little boy began to feel inadequate in his own body and began questioning his own identity: Why did he constantly feel like he was a girl even when he had male parts? Why was he attracted to boys in a way that girls are? What could he do to stop feeling so incomplete?

With unflinching honesty and deep understanding, Manobi tells the moving story of her transformation from a man to a woman; how she did not just define her own identity, but also inspired her entire community.

An Unsuitable Boy by Karan Johar

Karan Johar is synonymous with success, panache, quick wit, and outspokenness, which sometimes inadvertently creates controversy and makes headlines. 
But who is the man behind the icon that we all know? Baring all for the first time in his autobiography, An Unsuitable Boy, KJo talks about the ever-changing face of Indian cinema, challenges and learnings, as well as friendships and rivalries in the industry.
Honest, heart-warming and insightful, An Unsuitable Boy is both the story of the life of an exceptional filmmaker at the peak of his powers and of an equally extraordinary human being who shows you how to survive and succeed in life.

Love Bi The Way by Bhaavna Arora

Rihana is a painter who is trying to find inspiration in love. Zara is a businesswoman trying to make a niche for her company in a male-dominated world. Rihana is fire, Zara is ice; Rihana is openly sensual, while Zara is more cautious with her heart-they are opposites that attract. They are different people bound together by their house, called Cupid, and their pet golden retriever, Tiger.

But Rihana finds herself a string of sexy men, while Zara emerges out of her shell and meets an actual prince who sweeps her off her feet. Can these relationships last? And what road will they take when love happens bi the way? As both of them navigate their fulfilling careers and try to leave behind troubled pasts, they find solace in each other. 

June always feels like a vacation, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s all those years spent in school, but even as we grow older June always feels like a month for changing the routine and exploring different landscapes. From revisiting the seminal to being guided towards something new, this month’s releases lend a reflective gaze appropriate for the halfway point of the year. Keep scrolling, you may just find the book that will turn your life around.

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The Life And Times of George Fernandes by Rahul Ramagundam

Chronicling the story of George, who rose from the streets of Bombay to straddle the power corridor, The Life and Times of George Fernandes: Many Peaks of a Political Life opens a window to the life of George Fernandes and traces the course of the Socialist Party in India from its inception in the 1930s to its dissolution into the Janata Party in the late 1970s. With 1980 as the dividing line, the book explores India’s post-independence politics.

Thought-provoking, comprehensive and absolutely unputdownable, this first definitive biography of George Fernandes is a tour de force.

Jezebel by K.R. Meera (tr. by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar)

Jezebel, a young doctor in Kerala, struggles against the cruel realities of a patriarchal world-realities that not even her education, resolve or professional brilliance can shield her from. Her already contentious divorce proceedings go suddenly awry, and her unhappy marriage holds complex secrets. In K.R. Meera’s blistering new novel, which takes the form of a courtroom drama to show us the rich inner worlds of its characters, we see Jezebel reflect on her life and its pivotal points as she takes the stand. Through her memories, we see her grow from a reticent, serious young woman to a rebel who refuses to bend to the conventions of society.

In this elegant translation from Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar, K.R. Meera’s hypnotic prose makes resonant allusions to the Bible in powerful ways that elucidate the correlations between legend and the protagonist’s life while also exploring how sexuality and gender roles are manipulated by the dictates of society.

I Am Onir And I Am Gay by Onir with Irene Dhar Malik

The award-winning filmmaker Onir, whose directorial debut, My Brother Nikhil (2005), broke new ground in LGBT representation on the Indian silver screen, and opens up fully for the first time. From his childhood days in Bhutan to when he was a young man with no connections in the Hindi film industry who dreamt big and fought to carve a niche for himself, Onir takes the reader through his struggles and triumphs to offer an intimate glimpse of his fascinating journey to success.

I Am Onir and I Am Gay is a raw, eloquent and inspiring memoir about confronting and transcending frontiers. Written with his sister Irene Dhar Malik, this emotionally gritty and unabashedly honest personal story is a pathbreaking narrative of hope, love and the pursuit of dreams.

A Thousand Kisses Deep by Novoneel Chakraborty

Humiliatingly rejected by Haasil, even after she thought she had him, Pallavi sets forth on a self-destructive path, seeking one life thrill after the other. All she desires is to heal the wounds that haunt her every move, not allowing her to be herself. Neither can she forget Haasil nor can she reach him anymore. That is until she meets Palki, Haasil’s ex-wife who is presumed dead by the world.

A Thousand Kisses Deep is an emotional whirlwind depicting modern layered relationships, lost love and how, sometimes, destiny’s plans are quite contrary to what we have been coveting all our life.

Stop Weighting: A Guidebook to a Fitter, Healthier You by Ramya Subramanian

A film actor from the South and a household name as a television anchor, Ramya’s career spans over a decade. In recent years, she’s carved an increasingly popular presence in the health and fitness space and is a certified fitness and nutrition life coach. Her YouTube channel called ‘StayFitWithRamya’ has a wonderfully active audience.

During the 2020 lockdown, she began writing a fitness memoir in which she shares her roller coaster of a fitness journey and her encounters working in the media over many years-good, bad and ugly. The book digs deep into those stories, mistakes and life lessons; in short, an authentic story of how her mess became her message. Ramya also discusses the effects of mental health on one’s fitness journey, plus her book is extremely approachable and not at all intimidating.

Operation Sudarshan Chakra by Prabhakar Aloka

The much-awaited sequel to Operation Haygreeva is here!

Haunted by Operation Haygreeva, Ravi Kumar and his team of young recruits come together to pick up from where they left off. Tabrez, the leader of Lashkar-e-Hind (LeH) has escaped to Pakistan and is expanding the scale of his operations against India for revenge. Despite having faced severe personal trauma, Ravi and his team come together to launch deft counterterror and counterintelligence manoeuvres, codenamed Operation Sudarshan Chakra, putting everything, including their individual safety, at risk.

Madam Sir: The Story of Bihar’s First Lady IPS Officer by Manjari Jaruhar

After an unexpected turn of events upended the homemaker role her parents had planned for her, Manjari Jaruhar overcame extraordinary odds to become the first woman from Bihar to join the country’s elite police cadre.

Set against the backdrop of significant events such as the Bhagalpur blindings, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Lalu Prasad’s reign in Bihar, Madam Sir looks at the IPS from the inside, through a woman’s eyes. This is a story that will inspire you to pursue your dreams and infuse you with the spirit to reach impossible heights.

Sone Chandi Ke Buth: Writings on Cinema by K.A. Abbas

Sone Chandi Ke Buth is a collection of writings on cinema that includes the observations, thoughts and reflections of one of the pioneering film directors and journalists in the country, K.A. Abbas. This book includes incisive profiles of personalities such as Prithviraj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, V. Shantaram and others; film reviews and essays that interrogate the line between art and stardom in the Hindi film industry; and short stories that lift the veneer of Bollywood’s glamorous world.

Vishnu Purana by Bibek Debroy (tr.)

The Vishnu Purana is part of a series of eighteen sacred Hindu texts known collectively as the Puranas. It occupies a prominent position among the ancient Vaishnava Puranas which recount tales of creation and the many incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It describes the four classes of society, the four stages of life, and key astronomical concepts related to Hinduism.

Having previously translated the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, and the Brahma Purana, this translation from Bibek Debroy presents readers with an opportunity to truly understand the classical Indian mythic texts.

Kundalini Yoga For All: Unlock the Power of Your Body and Brain by Kamini Bobde

Kundalini, the primordial energy resides in all of us, lying dormant at the base of our spines. Very few know the secret of how to arouse it from its slumber.

Kundalini Yoga for All will take you through this journey with explanations of the various stations you will encounter. Starting with cleansing and tuning your body to the step-by-step guide of your daily Kundalini yoga practice, this book will empower you to experience your highest potential in brain, body and awareness to meet all challenges of life with equanimity and experience bliss which is every human’s birthright.

Take this exciting journey within to discover the divine energy, so you can enhance every sphere of your life-professional, personal and spiritual.

The Architect Of The New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party by Ajay Singh

In less than forty years of its existence, the Bharatiya Janata Party has become the world’s largest political party and continues to go from strength to strength in Indian politics. Although its historic rise may seem organic to some, there is much internal deliberation and planning that has aided the growth of this 180-million-member organization.

Using in-depth research and concrete examples, The Architect of the New BJP examines the past of the party, including the vision of its founders, as well as its future. Based on extensive interviews with many party workers, leaders and observers, this is the story of how the veterans of this cadre-based party, appreciating its limitations, developed a unique Indian model that eventually transformed the BJP into the election-winning machine it is today.

Unsung: Poems by Arunoday Singh

Arunoday Singh’s first volume of poetry presents a collection of his most popular work alongside new material, where he delves inwards and probes questions of love, loss, longing everything that ails the human heart. He has amassed a large, involved following on Instagram, where he shares his poetry in handwritten calligraphy under the handle @sufisoul. The poems are deceptively simple and intensely piercing. They are divided into four sections that explore the themes of the self, the elements, breaking and healing, the search for divinity, and the light and darkness of the spirit.

Live Your Best Life: Understanding Menopause for a Wiser, Happier and Healthier You by Dr Amrinder Bajaj

One thing that bonded Mona, Meera and Sheila were their evening walks. This was the time they talked about their families and work, responsibilities and challenges. Then slowly things began to change, and it was not long before they began talking hot flashes, heavy bleeding, sudden weight gain and other scary symptoms. They thought these were issues that they need to live with as they aged.

Enter Doctor Dua, an experienced gynaecologist who takes all of them under her wing and helps them understand and deal with their individual symptoms and more. From physically taking care of oneself to mental adjustments, she changes their perception from the fear of Menopause to treating it as another phase in their lives.

Live Your Best Life is a gentle, friendly guide to negotiating Menopause and living a fulfilling life both in body and in mind.

The Many Lives of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna by Veejay Sai

Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, the internationally renowned Carnatic vocalist, was a child prodigy and proficient at a number of musical instruments. He was a school dropout, a teenage poet and composer, a restless mind, a versatile musician, a polyglot, wordsmith, a pioneer and an unparalleled musical genius, and this is the story of the many lives of the iconic maestro. With in-depth research into archival material, fortified by interviews with his family, disciples and peers, Veejay Sai’s definitive biography of Balamuralikrishna traces his journey in the world of music, a place of beauty as well as egos.

Equal, Yet Different: Career Catalysts for the Professional Woman by Anita Bhogle

Equal, Yet Different is exactly how women want to be treated and need to be treated. We now have a large and growing pool of highly talented and professionally qualified women. This book talks about the catalysts that are required for women to reach peak potential conditions, people, or even mindsets at home, at work, and in the ecosystem. Anita Bhogle draws from the professional experiences and wisdom of a large number of women leaders and experts, and this book will benefit all those interested in women’s careers-women themselves, their spouses, bosses, and even HR folk.

Selling Anything Anywhere: Sindhis and Global Trade by M.A. Falzon

Examining the social and cultural infrastructure that sustains Sindhi business networks, Selling Anything Anywhere provides a rich historical context. By tracing the origin of Sindhi Trade to the annexation of Sindh in 1843, when it was incorporated into an expanding global economy, Falzon locates Sindhi business within the dynamics of the contemporary Indian diaspora and features several success stories both from India and outside.

Untangling Conflict: An Introspective Guide for Families in Business by Janmejaya Sinha, Carol Liao, Ryoji Kimura & Brittany Montgomery

Drawing on decades of lessons learned from supporting families and the businesses they own, Untangling Conflicts untangles messy threads of conflict within family businesses by examining issues laden with emotion, those related to the rights, benefits, and restrictions of ownership, and issues of business strategy. By exploring these three threads of conflict, the authors help families understand, prevent, and respond to disagreements, without disrupting the family business. Lastly, the book offers tools to align expectations and reduce friction between families, non-family employees, and the partners of the family-owned businesses.

Delve into Dalit History Month with this collection shedding light on Dalit communities’ resilience, struggles, and victories. From discovering Dr. Ambedkar’s instrumental role in shaping India’s Constitution to unraveling the complexities of caste, each book invites us to learn and unite in solidarity. Come along as we explore these powerful voices, their stories and often forgotten aspects of Dalit history and society.

In The Foresighted Ambedkar, Anurag Bhaskar argues that India’s Constitution was drafted not just between 1946 and 1950 but over the course of four decades. Dr Ambedkar was the only person to have been involved at all the stages related to the drafting of the Indian constitutional document since 1919. These stages bear the imprint of his contribution and role.

Sanatan is the gut-wrenching story of Bhimnak Mahar and his ilk, who have been subjected to barbaric abuse and inhuman discrimination by the upper castes over centuries. The story begins with the young Bhimnak in pre-Independence India. It then traverses time and geographical boundaries to end with Bhimnak’s grandson. The circular narrative pattern is reflective of the endless cycle of pain that the Mahars are unable to break free from, no matter how hard they try, no matter where they go, no matter if they change their identity and religion. Using myths, the Puranas and historical texts as resources, Sharankumar Limbale rewrites Dalit history in this novel as he attempts to tell the truth, with an intention to build what he calls ‘a new and progressive social order’. Limbale not just brings his reader face to face with uncomfortable realities, he also suggests what could be an alternative social order in the future.

In 1871, the British enacted the Criminal Tribes Act in India, branding numerous tribes and caste groups as criminals. In This Land We Call Home, Nusrat F. Jafri traces the roots of her nomadic forebears, who belonged to one such ‘criminal’ tribe, the Bhantus from Rajasthan.
This affecting memoir explores religious and multicultural identities and delves into the profound concepts of nation-building and belonging. Nusrat’s family found acceptance in the church, alongside a sense of community, theology, songs and carnivals, and quality education for the children in
missionary schools.

Caste as Social Capital examines the workings of caste through the lens of business, economics and entrepreneurship. It interrogates the role caste plays in the economic sphere in terms of facilitating the nuts and bolts of business and entrepreneurship: finance, markets and workforce. Through this qualitative view of caste, an entirely new picture emerges, which forces one to view the age-old institution of caste in a new light.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a Dalit American activist, issues an appeal to action for readers everywhere, not just in South Asia. By examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective—and by laying bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed—she connects Dalit oppression to struggles for liberation among Black, Indigenous, Latinx femme, and Queer communities.

In India, the use of reservations or affirmative action is highly divisive. Many people oppose it because they believe it compromises the concept of “merit” and runs counter to the idea of equality of opportunity, despite the fact that it is legally required and supported by historians, political scientists, and social activists. Abhinav tracks the development of the reservation policy in These Seats Are Reserved.

Yogesh Maitreya describes his eventual discovery of the written word, literature, and the Ambedkarite heritage, which helped shape his goals, identity, and the eventual career choice of publishing books after hopping from job to job to make ends meet. This new and radical voice shares his story in the most direct and unfiltered manner possible, as it actually happened, giving us readers the green light to be open and vulnerable when we share our own stories.

Fear and Other Stories serves as a stark reminder of the perils that Dalit life entails, a life that is plagued by unfathomable violence and fear even in the most innocuous circumstances. Veteran Gujarati author Dalpat Chauhan describes these real-life instances of frustration and rage in this compilation of short stories with startling vividness. His characters examine historical, mythological, and literary legends while highlighting the viewpoints of the marginalised. They also chronicle a long history of defiance.

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd pens a thought-provoking critique of Brahmanism and the caste system in India, while anticipating the death of Hinduism as a direct consequence of, what he says is, its anti-scientific and anti-nationalistic stand. This work challenges Hinduism`s interpretation of history, with a virulent attack on caste politics, and also takes a refreshing look at the necessity of encouraging indigenous scientific thought for the sake of national progress.

A multitude of Dalit truths and their battles against the lies perpetrated by the caste system are reflected in the pages of this book, pointing towards a future filled with promise and prospects for the coming generations. This eighth volume in the Rethinking India series, published in collaboration with the Samruddha Bharat Foundation, probes the pathway to be followed by the Dalits as articulated by Ambedkar’s Constitution. The essays offer deeper insights into social, educational, economic and cultural challenges and opportunities faced by the Dalits, the varied strategies of political parties for their mobilization and the choice to be made by the Dalits for attaining social equality.

In late-nineteenth-century Kerala, a man flamboyantly rode a villuvandi (bullock cart) along a road. What might sound like a mundane act was, at that time, a defiant form of protest. Riding animal-pulled vehicles was a privilege enjoyed only by the upper castes. This man, hailing from the untouchable Pulaya community, was attacking caste-based discrimination through his act. He was none other than Ayyankali, a social reformer and activist.

Featuring several such inspiring accounts of individuals who tirelessly battled divisive forces all their lives, this book seeks to enhance present-day India’s imagination and shape its perception of the Dalit community.

Battles of Our Own (Nija Nija Panipatha) by Jagadish Mohanty (1951-2013), was published in 1990. It is set in the coal mining area of western Odisha, where the author worked all his life. The conflict between the coal mine administration and the trade union in an industrial setting gives the novel its plot, characters and atmosphere. The conflict-ridden world of a colliery makes it an exemplar of the ‘industrial novel’ in Odia and perhaps in Indian literature. The setting of the novel makes it unique, setting it apart from the majority of mainstream Odia novels of the time, with their polite and placid settings and their themes of romance or social success.

Based on the blood-curdling murder of a Dalit boy by Rajput landlords in Kodaram village in 1964, Vultures portrays a feudal society structured around caste-based relations and social segregation, in which Dalit lives and livelihoods are torn to pieces by upper-caste vultures. The deft use of dialect, graphic descriptions and translator Hemang Ashwinkumar’s lucid telling throw sharp focus on the fragmented world of a mofussil village in Gujarat, much of which remains unchanged even today.

Dalit Millionaires is a collection of profiles of fifteen Dalit entrepreneurs who have braved both societal and business pressures to carve out highly profitable niches for themselves. The book is a vivid chronicle of how the battle has moved from the village well to the marketplace.There are tales describing how the multimillionaire Ashok Khade, at one time, did not have even four annas to replace the nib of a broken pen, how Kalpana Saroj, a child bride, worked her way to becoming a property magnate, and how Sanjay Kshirsagar moved on from a 120-foot tenement and now seems well on his way to becoming the emperor of a firm worth Rs 500 crore.The only common thread through these stories is the spirit that if you can imagine it, you can do it.

After Rohith Vemula’s suicide sparked protests and outrage across the country, questions about discrimination against Dalits and other castes have once again come to the forefront. With its long history of caste-based politics, it remains a sore subject that India still cannot properly address.

Meena Kandasamy in ‘He Has Left Us Only His Words’ and Gopal Guru in ‘For Dalit History Is Not Past But Present’ write about why even education in India still functions in the shadow of caste-politics, and how India has never really escaped its past. Read on, to find out more.

On the third day after the death of Bangaravva, a solemn procession making its way toward the graveyard encounters a strange obstacle. A blast of wind rises up in revolt, the embers flare and the sacred ritual fire falls to the ground. The ceremony is ruined because custom demands that the ritual fire never touch the ground.

What follows is chaos and confusion. Who will bear the blame for things going awry, and how might they be set right? The division between castes and communities comes to the fore as the panchayat struggles to pronounce justice.

Born into an untouchable community, Anna Bhau Sathe’s upbringing and experiences shaped his writings and political activism. Winner of the Maharashtra Government’s ‘best novel’ award, Fakira, among his best-known works, is one of the first prominent Dalit novels in Marathi.
The undaunted and ceaseless battle of the eponymous character, Fakira, for the collective welfare of his community forms the narrative. He revolts against the rural orthodox caste system and the British Raj to save his village from utter starvation, humiliation, and death. His efforts are dramatic and daring, and his methods in violation of the law. When attempts to capture him fail, the British authorities hold the community hostage, stating that unless Fakira surrenders, they will torture his people to death.

To best understand and address the inequality in India today, Arundhati Roy insists we must examine both the political development and influence of M.K. Gandhi and why B.R. Ambedkar’s brilliant challenge to his near-divine status was suppressed by India’s elite. In Roy’s analysis, we see that Ambedkar’s fight for justice was systematically sidelined in favor of policies that reinforced caste, resulting in the current nation of India: independent of British rule, globally powerful, and marked to this day by the caste system.

In The Doctor and the Saint, Roy exposes some uncomfortable, controversial, and even surprising truths about the political thought and career of India’s most famous and most revered figure. In doing so she makes the case for why Ambedkar’s revolutionary intellectual achievements must be resurrected, not only in India but throughout the world.

In this explosive book, Suraj Yengde, a first-generation Dalit scholar educated across continents, challenges deep-seated beliefs about caste and unpacks its many layers. He describes his gut-wrenching experiences of growing up in a Dalit basti, the multiple humiliations suffered by Dalits on a daily basis, and their incredible resilience enabled by love and humour. As he brings to light the immovable glass ceiling that exists for Dalits even in politics, bureaucracy and judiciary, Yengde provides an unflinchingly honest account of divisions within the Dalit community itself-from their internal caste divisions to the conduct of elite Dalits and their tokenized forms of modern-day untouchability-all operating under the inescapable influences of Brahminical doctrines.

Broaden your horizons and widen your perspective. Time to add these voices to your bookshelf and experience what it feels like to read and learn and become better versions of your own selves!