Ever wondered how to whip up the essence of India’s diverse flavors in your own kitchen? Krish Ashok‘s The Illustrated Masala Lab has the answer! Dive into an inquisitive world where cooking algorithms meet urban ingredients, and unlock a symphony of irresistible tastes. Ready to revolutionize your cooking game? You might to test the special theory of Indian Cooking!
Read this excerpt to spice up your life, one recipe at a time!
The Illustrated Masala Lab || Krish Ashok
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Special Theory of Indian Cooking(Conditions Apply)
Let us first get the conditions out of the way. This generalized set of algorithms will not cover every single culinary tradition in India. It will, for the most part, restrict itself to urban, middle class India, the kinds of ingredients that are likely to be available and cooking techniques that are practical in a smallish apartment. So, no tandoors, no wood fire and no nomadic horseman-style dum cooking by burying meat and rice into the ground with coal embers.
The second condition is that culinary traditions in India not only vary across state and linguistic boundaries, but also by caste and community, which is why the examples here will largely be restricted to the kinds of dishes available in run-of-the-mill restaurants. So forgive me if I have missed out Cudappah cuisine while including Hyderabadi. The intent here is to arm you with a way of thinking that will help you make a specific dish from, say, Odisha with confidence. The algorithms themselves may not cover every single sub-cuisine in the country. If this chapter ignores your community and state’s cuisine, it’s not deliberate. The examples are for representative purposes only. You can instantiate a version of this for your cuisine rather easily.
The third and final caveat is that we shall keep aside that universe within a universe of starters, snacks and tiffin items, because trying to cram that in will be the equivalent of boiling the Indian Ocean. Instead, we shall stick to gravies, rice dishes, breads, chutneys/raitas and salads. These algorithms will give you a wide-enough repertoire to start with. The rest of the journey, as always, is up to you. Treat this like high-school science education. University is on you.
So, the special theory of Indian cooking starts with the all-important question: What do you want to cook? Depending on your answer, you can opt for the following paths:
1. The Indian gravy algorithm: This will present a generalized algorithm and metamodel for preparing vegetables, legumes, meat or eggs in a sauce-like gravy that is flavoured in a specific regional style, like Malabar, Punjabi or Bengali.
2. The rice dish algorithm: A generalized method for preparing steamed rice, flavoured rice, khichdi, pulao and rice for biryani. There are numerous other ways of cooking rice in the subcontinent, but these five are the most utilitarian.
3. The Indian bread algorithm: Standardized and consistent methods for preparing doughs for unleavened breads (chapatti and paratha), leavened breads (naan and kulcha) and non-gluten-based breads (bajra or jowar roti). We will stop at the dough stage because rolling and baking/tawa operations are better learnt by watching an experienced hand. You can’t learn it from a book.
4. The chutney and raita generator: A metamodel for generating your own chutney and raita recipes from whatever ingredients you have available.
5. The salad generator: A metamodel for generating your own salad recipes by hitting the right balance of greens, crunch, protein, acid and flavouring.
The second question to ask is: How do you want to make this dish?
1. I’d like to see what’s in my fridge and pantry and make the best of it.
2. It’s my wife’s birthday and she is from Panjim, so I am looking to make a dish that evokes a specific regional cuisine, say pork vindaloo.
Once you have the answer to this, you need to execute Step 0, which is prepping the ingredients, after all consistency and productivity require you to approach home cooking the way restaurants do it. Also, prepping is not just cleaning and chopping, it includes a whole range of activities from brining to marinating to steaming and sautéing, all of which will make you a better home cook. In fact, a lot of prep work is actually cooking for the most part.
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Intrigued to know more?
Get your copy of The Illustrated Masala Lab by Krish Ashok wherever books are sold.
India has twenty-two official languages and many dialects spoken across the country. As we gear up to commemorate International Translation Day on 30 September, we bring a selection of classics translated from Indian languages to English which promise to introduce readers to great writers who would be lost without their translators.
Celebrate the beauty of translation as we open the doors to diverse stories from Marathi, Sanskrit, Assamese, Bengali, and Hindi. While the books represented are a tiny representation of the classic works in these languages, we hope it gives you a flavour of the region and helps you appreciate our diversity.
Shyamchi Aai || Sane Guruji
Translated from Marathi by Shanta Gokhale
In the words of author Sathya Saran, ‘Shanta Gokhale’s translation carries within it what I believe is the spirit of the original. The prose runs softly like a smooth flowing river that, even as it meanders its way through tricky terrain, manages to avoid any hurdles.’
Narrated over the course of forty-two nights, Shyamchi Aai is a poignant story of Shyam and his Aai—a mother with an unbreakable spirit. This evergreen children’s classic is an account of a life of poverty, hard work, sacrifice and love.
Tales from the Kathasaritsagara || Somadeva
Adapted from Sanskrit by Rohini Chowdhury
Do you know the story of Phalabhuti, who narrowly escaped a grisly fate?
Or of the kind-hearted Jimutavahana, who was willing to give his life to save a snake from death?
Or of young Shringabhuja, who married a rakshasa’s daughter?
These are just some of the many tales that make up Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara, a classic work of Sanskrit literature that is full of memorable characters. Within the pages of this book, you will encounter demons and demi-gods, faithful guards and foolish villagers, golden swans, magic pots and even automatons made of wood!
Taniya || Arupa Patangia Kalita, Meenaxi Barkotoki
Translated from the Assamese by Meenaxi Barkotoki
From the pen of Sahitya Akademi-winning Arupa Patangia Kalita’s comes her only children’s novel to date — Tainya. A timeless classic in Assam, the book has been masterfully translated in English by veteran Assamese translator Meenaxi Borkotoki.
Told in a non-linear format, the book traces Taniya’s journey from the foothills of Bhutan to her final resting place. The antics of this Bhutanese cocker spaniel captured in Kalita’s unmatched storytelling style tugs at all the right heart strings making it quite impossible for you not to react as you read long. An endearing story, the novel is a must-read for pet lovers and readers of Indian literature in translation, alike.
Timeless Tales || Vijaydan Detha
Translated from Marwari by Vishes Kothari
Giving a new lease of life to Vijaydan Detha’s ‘Batan ri Phulwari’, Vishes’s is a hand-picked compilation of the much-loved Rajasthani folktales—a fourteen-volume collection written over a span of nearly fifty years.
Retold in Detha’s magical narrative style complete with imagery, this selection offers some of the oldest and most popular fables from the Thar Desert region. Discover tales of handsome rajkanwars, evil witches, exploitative thakars, miserly seths, clever insects, benevolent snakes and more.
Another Dozen Stories || Satyajit Ray, Majumdar Indrani
Translated from Bengali by Indrani Majumdar
A tribute to Ray’s immaculate literary genius, this collection of short stories brings alive the magical, bizarre, spooky and sometimes astonishing worlds created by Satyajit Ray.
Featuring an extraordinary bunch of characters, the book contains Ray’s original artworks that will leave you and the little ones asking for more!
A Winter’s Night || Premchand
Translated from Hindi by Rakshanda Jalil
The ten stories in this book are an ideal introduction to Premchand and his concerns and ideas that remain relevant to this day.
The world in the book is inhabited by people like Halku, forced to spend the bitterly cold winter night in the open, without a blanket; Kaki, the old invalid aunt, ill-treated by her own relatives; and Shankar, reduced to being a bonded labour for the sake of a handful of wheat. Premchand describes their plights with unflinching honesty. Yet all is not hopeless in this world. There is also little Hamid, who buys tongs for his old grandmother rather than toys for himself; Ladli, who saves her share of puris for her blind aunt; and Big Brother, trying in vain to remember the strange names of English kings and queens.
Are you tired of financial uncertainty? Dive into Abhijeet Kolapkar‘s groundbreaking book, Money Works where he demystifies the art of financial planning. With a checklist that lays out practical steps, this excerpt hints at the transformational journey from money worries to money mastery.
Money Works || Abhijeet Kolapkar
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What Experience Reveals
Most of us live simple and straightforward lives; 90 per cent of our lives follow a pattern—school, college, job, marriage, life after marriage and retirement. We try hard to plan our lives. For example, in our twenties, we plan to finish our studies, buy a home by age twenty-seven, a car by age twenty-nine, and so on.
Our dreams need to be converted into goals to bring them to life. Pre-planning and execution are essential to achieve these goals.Also, backing our dreams with financial planning is important.
Most of us realize the importance of financial planning only as we cross our forties; however if we had realized the need for it in our twenties, a lot of our issues of the present might never have surfaced.
‘We do plan our finances but that does not last long.’
‘Is financial planning really necessary?’
‘Financial planning is not as easy as it seems.’
We hear such statements about financial planning.
Financial planning is clearly not unnecessary, and it is actually neither difficult nor impossible. It is a simple and straightforward process. What is really needed is to do it with the right intention and make sure you are proceeding with diligence.
Checklist for Successful Financial Planning
1. Plan your finances as early as possible: Delaying financial planning is injurious to your long-term financial health. Don’t start financial planning when emergencies arise.
2. Stay away from an extravagant lifestyle: Never celebrate by taking loans. Remember this line.
3. Avoid overuse of credit cards: One should use a credit card only when it is absolutely necessary. Using it just to avail of offers should be avoided.
4. Avoid comparing your situation with others: Know your limits. Instead of looking at what others are buying, think about whether those items are necessary and affordable for you. Understand your situation before spending.
5. Prioritize savings over spending: Expensive cars, gadgets and lifestyle choices may make you look rich, but will not make you a rich person. Prioritize saving and investing your earnings.
6. Save at least 5–10 per cent of your earnings every month: The first step in financial planning is to save every month and invest it to provide for emergencies.
7. Avoid financial investments you don’t understand: It is best to stay away from the type of investments you have no clue about. In case you still want to go ahead, do so with the help of a financial adviser. Practise caution while investing.
8. Buying an insurance cover is a must: Insurance is not an investment but a productive tool to financially cover yourself or your family members in emergencies. That is why everyone should get health insurance, accident insurance and term insurance.
9. Invest for the long term: To get the benefit of compounding, invest a major portion of your savings in long-term options.
10. Regularly re-evaluate and review your financial strategies: You may have planned a robust financial strategy but failed to implement it or made a few wrong financial decisions. To understand this, you need to frequently review your financial strategies.
○ Re-evaluation: The goals based on which we decided on our investments in the past may change. For example, you may feel that saving money for your children’s higher education is more important than buying an expensive car, which was your earlier goal.
○ Review: We can re-prioritize our goals based on our current needs, after periodical reviews.
11. Discuss your strategy with your partner: Have a healthy discussion with your partner about your financial goals. Whether your partner is an earning member or not, you should consider their point of view as well.
12. Be ready for change: Life is full of surprises—be prepared, mentally and financially, to face any unexpected situations that may arise.
13. Read up on financial matters: You should regularly engage with financial newspapers, magazines, blogs and social media pages. Also, you should have books on the subject handy in your personal library.
14. Don’t be an emotional fool! Many a time we make decisions based on our emotions, which may lead to financial losses. Hence, you should stay away from overconfidence, lack of confidence, haste, work, anger, greed, lust, jealousy, etc., while making your financial decisions.
15. Self-confidence is essential: No one can play your part better than you. That is why you need to study the subject of finance in depth and make the right decisions to get the most out of your wealth.
With this checklist, you can start financial planning based on the goals you want to achieve
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Get your copy of Money Works by Abhijeet Kolapkar wherever books are sold.
Ever felt lost in the fitness maze? Say goodbye to the confusion as we dive into Yasmin Karachiwala‘s latest fitness book. The Perfect 10 isn’t just a read – it’s your roadmap to fitness happiness. Experience the magic of matching your exercise style with your fitness goals. From easygoing routines to intense challenges, there’s a workout made just for you.
The Perfect 10 || Yasmin Karachiwala
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Finding your fitness happiness is very important if you want to make a lifelong commitment to fitness because you cannot sustain something that doesn’t give you joy. Increasing the want factor is about identifying your exercise personality and customizing an active lifestyle for yourself. And while many people like the pushing, the shouting, the yelling, the looking into-the-mirror-and-pumping, not everyone does. As there are people, there are fitness personalities, and identifying yours could be key to you sticking to a routine and giving yourself something to look forward to.
Ready to discover your fitness persona? Take this exciting quiz and find your perfect fit!
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Get your copy of The Perfect 10 by Yasmin Karchiwala wherever books are sold.
In his new book, Middle of Diamond India writer Shashank Mani talks about a big change happening in India. As India celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary of being independent, something important is taking place. Instead of only big cities and rich people being the focus, more attention is going to people from smaller towns and areas. These folks are often called the “middle class.” This change is different from before when we mostly noticed the rich and the poor, reshaping the conventional pyramid analogy into a more encompassing and multifaceted diamond-like structure.
Read this insightful excerpt to know more about what Middle of Diamond truly means.
Middle of Diamond India || Shashank Mani
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Morphing a Pyramid to a Diamond
As India crossed its seventy-fifth anniversary of Independence, this upsurge has picked up pace. Those from Tier 2 and 3 districts, such as Ahmednagar or my native Deoria, are now in the majority and asserting themselves. The aspirations of this segment are on the rise. The language barrier remains—Indian languages and hesitant English versus the annexe-honed English of the cantonment or a metro. But the centre of gravity has shifted firmly to this segment in the middle. This new centre will define the political, social, cultural and economic trajectory of the country over the coming twenty-five years.
In a paper published in 2002, C.K. Prahalad and Stuart Hart, two renowned management professors, came up with the phrase ‘Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid’. Prahalad expanded this theory into a book,1 which described the emerging market demography as a Pyramid. It invited corporates to search and seek a fortune at the Bottom if they made goods and services to appeal to people with lower incomes and cash flows.
About a decade ago, analysts began to sense that this reality was shifting with the emergence of the Middle. A 2010 World Bank report divided the 7 billion of the world’s population into four broad categories of countries. There were countries with a population of about a billion where per capita GDP was above $12,000. Another one billion lived in countries where the per capita GDP was between $4000 and $12,000. A third group of countries, to which India belonged, had a population of 4 billion and a per capita GDP range of between $1000 and $4000. Finally, one billion people lived in countries with a per capita GDP below $1000.2 The vast majority—four billion—were in countries in the Middle. As the number of people in extreme poverty fell sharply, the vision of the world as a Pyramid, with a small number of elites gazing down at the poor from their perch at the top, was getting outdated.
Over the past decade, that ‘emerging middle’ has risen further, consisting of 800 million Indians and shaping countries like India into a Diamond.
If we look at an economic classification of India in 2020, it had approximately 200 million Indians at the top with an average per capita GDP of Rs 4 lakh per year, or $5000, which in PPP terms is close to $15,000 per capita. The bottom segment consists of 400 million Indians, with a per capita income of Rs 80,000 per year or $1000, which translates to $3000 in PPP, poor even by sub-Saharan standards. The remaining 800 million people comprise the ‘emerging middle’ with a per capita income of Rs 1.5 lakh or $2100 per capita, which translates to $6000 in PPP terms, now a clear majority. The top of this Diamond-shaped India earns 2.6 times more than the middle and almost five times more than Bottom. These numbers are averages, with each segment having higher and lower incomes. What the world calls Indian ‘middle class’ resides mostly at the bottom end of the Top. The vast majority of those in the Middle are ‘emerging middle class’, or simply ‘Middle India’. Middle India has around 800 million people, 11 per cent of the global population. On a PPP basis, the Middle has, on an average, a GDP that is the same as the whole of India, at $6000 per capita in PPP terms.
Middle India can also be broadly located in the 750 districts that make up our country. Each district will have some proportion of the Top, Middle and Bottom segment, but if we take an average classification, a diamond shape emerges here too. The top segment resides in thirty metro and Tier 1 districts, such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Thane, Gurgaon and others, and on average coincides with the top income segment. When I studied at Modern School, Humayun Road, I was rubbing shoulders with the children of these Indians. These districts have approximately 160 million Indians, and in the main, they are prosperous. On the other extreme are 470 Tier 4 districts where 460 million Indians live, largely coinciding with the bottom income segment. These districts are smaller in size and on average are still poor, such as the district of Dhemaji in Assam or Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. Sandwiched between these two segments are 240 districts classified as Tier 2 and Tier 3 districts where 780 million Indians reside—57 per cent of India’s population, in places such as Allahabad in UP, a Tier 2 district, or Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, a Tier 3 district. The US, that other large democracy, also witnessed a similar morphing after the Second World War as expressed by Edward Humes, ‘After the war, economic distribution in the US began to resemble a diamond, relatively small number of poor and rich at either end, with a big fat middle at the centre.’ The post-Second World War growth of the US was also powered by a similar shift.
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Get your copy of Middle of Diamond India by Shashank Mani wherever books are sold.
As the leaves begin to change and the cozy embrace of autumn envelops us, let’s kindle a love affair with these enchanting audiobooks that are as comforting as a warm cup of tea on a crisp fall day. From ancient legends to thrilling cyber mysteries, these stories will engage your senses and tug at your heartstrings leaving you craving for more.
Victory City || Salman Rushdie
In the wake of an insignificant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for the Goddess, who begins to speak out of the girl’s mouth. Granting her powers beyond Pampa Kampana’s comprehension, the goddess tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga – literally ‘victory city’ -the wonder of the world.
Cyber Encounters || Ashok Kumar, O.P. Manocha
Cyber Encounters delves deep into the nebulous cyberspace, to bring twelve fascinating accounts of cybercrime. Ashok Kumar, DGP, Uttarakhand Police and a veteran in the systematic fight against cybercrime in the state, and OP Manocha, an ex-DRDO scientist, unfold a specific type of cybercrime in each tale, based on a true story. Packed with information on the crime, its investigation and the apprehending of the criminals, this illuminating insider account is a must-read.
Do Different || Amit Sinha, Joy Bhattacharjya
in Do Different, we offer diverse perspectives on the man: from a fellow wicketkeeper and competitor reminiscing on Dhoni’s early years; to MSD’s first agent with his perspective on the journey of brand Dhoni; to an international fast bowler who played with MSD since his first-class days and then starred for him in the Indian Premier League.
The Force Behind The Forces || Swapnil Pandey
The Force behind the Forces is a collection of seven true stories of eternal love, courage and sacrifice. Written by an army wife, Swapnil Pandey, this book brings to light moving stories of unimaginable valour in the face of broken dreams, lost hopes and shattered families. It proves that bullets and bombs can only pierce the bodies of our soldiers, for their stories will live on in the hearts of these brave women forever, women who have dedicated their lives to the nation, without even a uniform to call their own.
Eden || Devdutt Pattanaik
Eden explores the vast world of Abrahamic myths from a uniquely Indian prism, through storytelling that is intimate but not irreverent, and to introduce readers to the many captivating tales of angels, demons, prophets, patriarchs, judges and kings. It also retells stories from Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Zoroastrian mythologies that influenced Abrahamic monotheism over time.
The Perfect 10 || Yasmin Karachiwala
The Perfect 10 will show you that all it takes is ten minutes a day to start that journey and will be packed with exercise plans, movement ideas and lifestyle changes punctuated by stories of real journeys of real people. Get up. Move with Yasmin Karachiwala. And see how your body and your life changes.
Office Secrets || Harish Bhatt
Office Secrets offers a selection of fascinating and useful secrets that can help you be far more successful at your workplace. As a bonus, they can make you happier as well. You will find within a range of subjects-whether the best methods of fighting exhaustion, organizing your work desk, the power of listening, why kindness is so important, workplace lessons from Hercule Poirot and what you can learn from the cookies that your colleagues eat.
Bravehearts of Bharat || Vikram Sampath
History has always been the handmaiden of the victor. ‘Until the lions have their own storytellers,’ said Chinua Achebe, ‘the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter!’ Exploring the lives, times and works of the fifteen long-forgotten and mostly neglected unsung heroes and heroines of our past, Bravehearts of Bharat brings to light the contribution of the warriors who not only donned armour and burst forth into the battlefield but also kept the flame of hope alive under adverse circumstances.
The Winning Way 2.0 || Anita Bhogle, Harsha Bhogle
In The Winning Way 2.0, Harsha Bhogle and Anita Bhogle share the key elements that make a winning team. Answering key questions on management and strategy, the authors highlight some important points to remember, making them easier to interpret and understand by comparing them to certain aspects of cricket.
Sita’s Ascent || Vayu Naidu
Inspired by myriad age-old and culturally diverse retellings, Vayu Naidu creates a rich, deeply moving and original work of fiction, Sita’s Ascent illuminates the physical and emotive landscape of a woman in exile, who crosses the desert of loss and ascends the abyss of abandonment with the power of love that transforms the narrators and the listeners.
Check Out Our Latest Audiobooks for Children!
The Magic of the Lost Temple || Sudha Murty
City girl Nooni is surprised at the pace of life in her grandparents’ village in Karnataka. But she quickly gets used to the gentle routine there and involves herself in a flurry of activities, including papad making, organizing picnics and learning to ride a cycle, with her newfound friends.
Things get exciting when Nooni stumbles upon an ancient fabled stepwell right in the middle of a forest.
Join the intrepid Nooni on an adventure of a lifetime in this much-awaited book by Sudha Murty that is heart-warming, charming and absolutely unputdownable.
The Magic Drum and Other Favourite Stories || Sudha Murty
Sudha Murty’s grandparents told her some of these stories when she was a child; others she heard from her friends from around the world. These delightful and timeless folk tales have been her favourites for years, and she has recounted them many times over to the young people in her life. With this collection, they will be enjoyed by many more readers, of all ages.
Taatung Tatung and Other Amazing Stories of India’s Diverse Languages || Vaishali Shroff
Early humans leaving messages on cave walls; three men on a raft stumbling upon a language they weren’t looking for; a secret language that evolved to hide a people; the world’s only undeciphered language that is 4000 years old. The stories in this book take you from the northeastern-most tip of our country to the forests in central India, from indigenous languages that are thousands of years old to those that have developed recently.
Engrossing, entertaining, and packed with trivia, this book is for non-fiction lovers and students, who have a keen interest in all things India.
Step into the world of wisdom with Dhruva by Gauranga Darshan Das. The book presents Dhruva’s insights on relationships and success in simple yet profound ways. Learn to communicate better, nurture connections, and achieve success while embracing positivity and self-improvement with Dhruva’s Pearls of Wisdom.
Dhruva || Gauranga Darshan Das
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Dhruva’s Pearls of Wisdom
Relationship Sutras
1. Restrict the urge to speak stiffly and raise the intensity to speak sweetly.
2. Using pleasing words can make a wonderful world within you. Why not be happy free of cost?
3. When you envy others for what they have, you forget what you have. So, beware of envy.
4. Replacing superiority complex with sensitivity and envy with appreciation wins us more friends.
5. Get rid of pride by recognizing how blessed others are. Dismiss envy by seeing how blessed you are
6. Negativity is like seeing dark clouds. Positivity is like embracing the rain. Make your choice.
7. Let’s be wise to seek opportunities to grow amidst reversals and inspire others to do so.
8. Finding hope in hopeless situations is indeed a herculean task. Why not seek help from the One who arranged it all?
9. Let other’s misbehaviour not stimulate our ill behaviour.
10. When you see good in others, you replicate the way God sees you.
11. Don’t be too eager to point out other’s flaws, give them space to realize on their own.
12. Our heart is too tiny to accommodate all sorts of dirt and the Divine at the same time. Let’s cleanse the heart from the dirt of greed, envy and pride.
13. Modern age austerity is to stop gossiping and start speaking for others’ benefit.
14. Selflessness enlivens relationships while selfishness estranges them.
15. Disapproval of others’ misdeeds is necessary but disowning them is not.
16. Be grateful to those who guided, inspired and supported you. Start with your mother.
17. Get rid of the heavy weight of ‘grudges’ to lighten your heart.
18. Devotion doesn’t stop the rains of distress but it equips you with an umbrella.
19. Never give up your love for your dear ones and tag it as philosophy
20. 6. Rejecting the entire basket of fruits just because one is rotten will make you miss the real sweetness.
21. While selfish agendas expressed through violence are barbaric, selfless service accompanied by necessary violence brings about true peace.
Success Sutras
1. It’s not worth being impulsive or getting unduly affected by difficulties. Let’s seek the solution that lies beyond lamentation.
2. An unshakable resolve despite reversals and tests is a time-tested formula for success.
3. It’s wise to learn from those relatively more successful than you instead of being envious.
4. It’s worth befriending someone who is equally successful instead of competing.
5. It’s sensible to guide someone who is not as successful as you instead of being oppressive.
7. Focus on a character that inspires people’s hearts rather than accomplishments that impress their minds.
8. The mind makes us deliberately commit downtrodden acts and then fools us by claiming it to be a mistake.
9. While hoping for the best, we shouldn’t put our hands to rest.
10. Stop worrying about useless thoughts and start pulling your mind away from them. It’s difficult but not impossible if we are determined!
11. With character and determination in place, age and gender don’t even qualify as criteria for success.
12. Don’t be overconfident in your power, seek empowerment from the source of all power— God.
13. Determination means to terminate our temptations. Guidance means finding out how to do so.
14. Let your success make others happy but don’t equate making others happy with success
15. A mother can play the role of a mentor, father, brother and whatnot. Can anyone repay her?
16. Make sure your ‘detachment’ doesn’t become ‘irresponsibility.’
17. Don’t be too possessive about temporary possessions or positions.
18. When the world seems to be full of pains, recognize them to be your mind’s endless complaints. Win the war within to defeat the wars without.
19. Want to dismiss peace? Then give anger a seat.
20. For the soul this world is foreign. Be a holiday maker, not a stress receptor.
21. Don’t decorate the golden cage (body) forever. Remember to nourish the hungry bird (soul) that’s starving within
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Get your copy of Dhruva by Gauranga Darshan Das wherever books are sold.
Unlucky Aanchal turns the tables in Durjoy Datta‘s latest novel World’s Best Girlfriend. Winning a Mahindra Holidays trip to the Andamans could finally break her streak of bad luck and misfortune, but what happens when a charismatic stranger enters the scene? Get ready for a ride of fate, love, and unexpected twists!
Read this exclusive excerpt to know more about the meet-cute (or is it meet-not-so-cute?) You decide!
World’s Best Girlfriend || Durjoy Datta
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Three months ago, a Mahindra Holidays employee had hounded me at Big Bazaar to fill up a contest form: One Lucky Winner Gets a Fully Paid Vacation to the Andamans!
We, the Madans, never fill out contest forms because we are the exact opposite of lucky. Everything we touch turns to ashes. It’s as if God didn’t shuffle the card deck before dealing them to us. All we got were cards of humiliation, frustration, despair and hunger.
A year after I was born, Papa’s new shop—Aanchal Stationery—closed down. A few months later, a tree fell on his scooter.
When I was three, Maa fell down while bathing me and has three crooked toes and a slightly unbalanced walk to remind her of that.
My younger brother’s birth was supposed to change the tide. He, too, failed. When I was four, I stepped on my brother’s hand and broke two of his fingers. He made it worse in the following months by getting sick too often and draining money on antibiotics, injections and visits to the emergency ward.
When I was eight, Papa’s second store—now named Ankit Stationery—shut shop.
Our family turned to religion. The pandits said, Griha bhari hain, once the stars align, we will bathe in cold and sleep in silk. Poojas and havans, rings on our fingers, lockets on our necks didn’t change our fortunes.
When religion didn’t work, we turned to academics. It was our last bastion: luck could be broken by the surety of mathematics, science, geography. For six years, I stood second in class and missed out on the school scholarship.
Maa’s stitching business lost money.
Papa got beaten up after his tuition students failed.
We lost our savings in the bank scam.
Mobiles were snatched from our hands.
We never once won anything in a contest or on a scratch card.
Until this Mahindra Holidays vacation.
Only because I filled up that form. I saw the resort on the pamphlet. I saw the people in the images. It was everything I wanted.
Our conversation is cut short by a boy’s compelling, booming voice.
‘Amit, Daksh here, it’s my first time with Mahindra Holidays. I’m so glad you’re trying to get the rooms ready for us. We really appreciate that,’ he says in his gravelly, husky voice. ‘But we have some old people in the group with low blood sugar, and my sister is too young to be waiting this long.’
His voice is deep, like it’s coming from inside a cave. It reverberates inside my rib cage even though he’s ten yards away from me. I stand on my toes to get a good look at him, but all I can see is his floppy hair.
‘I understand—’
‘You absolutely don’t, Amit, or you would have given us a correct time estimate earlier. Now, one of two things is going to happen. Either all of us are going to the restaurant and we’ll have a long, leisurely breakfast for free till you get things sorted here, or all of us are going to post reviews on Tripadvisor and Google with heartbreaking images to go with it. I promise you, Amit, I will make the old people lie down here and photograph them as if they are dying.’
The confused crowd mumbles in agreement.
Amit’s smile slowly disappears and a frown settles in.
He tells the group that he will talk to the management and get back to us in fifteen minutes. It doesn’t take him that long.
‘The restaurant is straight ahead and then right,’ Amit informs us dryly, his voice devoid of any enthusiasm. ‘Mahindra Holidays is always working to deliver your best vacation.’
Free breakfast.
Maa squeezes my arm excitedly.
‘That boy’s clever,’ whispers Maa.
‘Not clever,’ I respond. ‘Just rich. Had I paid for this vacation, I would have fought too.’
‘You just said we deserve to be here, Didi,’ taunts Ankit. ‘You could have fought. Instead, you were very happily having welcome drinks.’
‘Shut up.’
‘Maybe our luck’s changing,’ says Papa, brightly.
I shake my head to warn him. Papa is the only optimist among the four of us, even though he has suffered from the legendary bad luck of the Madans the most. He should know better than anyone that whenever things seem to go our way, something goes wrong. Over the years, we have learned to not laugh a lot, or allow ourselves to be very happy. The law of averages works against us.
We follow the hotel staff to the restaurant. That’s when I see the boy for the first time. He’s in a loose black T-shirt and a pair of black shorts. His hair is glorious, falling over his ears. He is the colour of wet sand, his jawline is jagged, and he has a high forehead. He’s handsome in a way boys are when they are just turning into men. I first think he’s carrying a bag in his hand. When I look closely, I see it’s a little girl. He’s carrying her like a sack, and she’s bobbing, giggling and squealing happily in his grip. He’s carrying her as though she weighs nothing. When he turns, I see his eyes. There’s a sense of surety in them, a sense of danger, a sense of entitlement and definitely, arrogance.
***
Get your copy of World’s Best Girlfriend by Durjoy Datta wherever books are sold.
Dive into a handpicked collection of books that unlock the secrets to success, challenge traditional thinking, and inspire personal growth. From workplace wisdom to extraordinary journeys, entrepreneurial endeavors, and captivating corporate tales, these books offer insights that are both enlightening and entertaining. Whether you’re a business enthusiast or an aspiring leader, these books are your gateway to a world of knowledge and inspiration.
Play to Transform || Avinash Jhangiani
Play to Transform is a book that challenges the traditional mindset of business leaders and encourages them to tap into their inner child to accelerate transformation with purpose. The book argues that we are all born creative geniuses with an innate ability to empathize deeply with others, but somewhere along the way, we have lost touch with these qualities. In the post-pandemic world, leaders need to be more empathetic and agile than ever before, and a conscious shift in mindset is required to achieve this.
Office Secrets || Harish Bhat
Office Secrets offers a selection of fascinating and useful secrets that can help you be far more successful at your workplace. As a bonus, they can make you happier as well. You will find within a range of subjects-whether the best methods of fighting exhaustion, organizing your work desk, the power of listening, why kindness is so important, workplace lessons from Hercule Poirot and what you can learn from the cookies that your colleagues eat.
Harish Bhat wields his pen with his signature insight to delight, inspire, provoke and change the way you see offices forever.
Unlocked || Gezim Gashi
Gezim Gashi recounts his extraordinary journey-from escaping the Kosovo genocide to becoming the first Albanian-Swede to launch a high school institute in the United States – Gezim lays out a path to personal success and fulfillment that is accessible to all, regardless of their background. With his mentorship, readers will be inspired to overcome obstacles and achieve their biggest goals.
Unlocking Unicorn Secrets captures the entrepreneurial journeys of some of India’s new-age founders and looks at the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. It covers themes such as developing an idea, building out the minimum viable product (MVP), finding a co-founder, setting up the founding team, raising funds and scaling the business, among others. Through primary research and a series of interviews conducted with the founders of these billion-dollar companies, the authors weave a narrative that is both accessible and informative.
The Big Bull of Dalal Street || Neil Borate, Aprajita Sharma, Aditya Kondawar
The Big Bull of Dalal Street looks at the life of India’s big bull, as Rakesh was famously known, both as a person and as a professional. Providing a fascinating account of his journey, it analyses the records of Jhunjhunwala’s investments and interviews he has given over the years. More than just a biography, a large section of the book is devoted to understanding the stocks that made him rich and the mistakes he made. Looking at the journey of the legendary investor, the book offers retail investors some useful insights—-benefits of long-term investing, mistakes one should avoid in the stock market, risk associated with leveraged trades, among others.
Exprovement || Hersh Haladker, RA Mashelkar
Through the various examples highlighted in this book, Hersh Haladker and Raghunath Mashelkar emphasize that searching for growth opportunities within an offering’s existing industry usually results in incremental improvement, whereas exponential improvement can be achieved by drawing parallels from outside of the current context.
Unfinished Business || Nandini Vijayaraghavan
Unfinished Business is a chronicle of contemporary Indian corporate history, narrated through the professional trajectories of four high-profile businessmen: Anil Ambani, Naresh Goyal, V.G. Siddhartha and Vijay Mallya. Following these four entrepreneurs’ careers and professional decisions, Unfinished Business throws light on the evolution of Indian capitalism during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, set against the backdrop of a dynamic political, regulatory and business climate in India. And, with great insight, clarity and analysis, Nandini Vijayaraghavan explores the takeaways for entrepreneurs, regulators, lenders and investors in this compelling, illuminating read.
Doglapan || Ashneer Grover
A young boy with a ‘refugee’ tag growing up in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar outpaces his circumstances by becoming a rank-holder at the pinnacle of academic excellence in India-IIT Delhi. He goes on to do an MBA from the hallowed halls of IIM Ahmedabad, builds a career as an investment banker at Kotak Investment Banking and AmEx, and is pivotal in the making of two unicorns-Grofers, as CFO, and BharatPe, as co-founder.
The Dolphin and The Shark || 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).
Work 3.0 || Avik Chanda, Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay
Work 3.0 tackles this and some of the other most pressing and complex questions of the present age, head-on. Avik Chanda and Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay employ rigorous research supplemented with industry reports, business case studies, expert interviews, anecdotes, their personal expertise and insights, to present a rich multi-disciplinary brew that spans economics, statistics, public policy, history, sociology, psychology, law, political science, literature and philosophy. Highly ambitious in scope, astonishingly rich in analytical detail and far-reaching in its conclusions, the book will change the way you think about the future and how the past and present still shape it.
How Business Storytelling Works || Sandeep Das
Whether you are a corporate professional, an entrepreneur, a tech guru, a marketer, a strategy consultant, a social media influencer or a student, the book tells you how to succeed in the REAL world. Sandeep brings in nuggets from his numerous storytelling workshops at leading corporates and business schools, and intersperses it with illustrations and hordes of popular culture references, making the book
as engaging as a good story. So, what are you waiting for? Head to the checkout counter.
The Company We Keep || Divya Khanna
The Company We Keep is a market research-based exploration of Indian corporate culture. It looks beyond the glamour and jargon of the business world to individual stories that share real personal insights into the aspirations, vulnerabilities, pressures and possibilities of corporate careers and lives. These are urgent conversations we need to keep having as we reflect, review and decide where we can go from here.
Gautam Adani || R.N. Bhaskar
Gautam Adani needs no introduction. One of the richest men in the world, he also helms a business empire that is now India’s largest player in ports and renewable energy. He is also the country’s largest private sector player in sectors like airports, city gas distribution, power transmission, thermal power, edible oil, and railway lines. Yet, look beyond these facts, and startlingly little is known about Gautam Adani, the maverick businessman; about his motivations and vision; about his life, and the episodes, minor and major, that propelled him to make the choices he did.
Build Don’t Talk || Raj Shamani
Your school taught you how to run in the race; it didn’t teach you how to win. And that’s what this book is for. To help you win the race. Packed with useful advice gleaned from his own journey as an entrepreneur and content creator, this book by Raj Shamani is a must-read.
Rahul Bajaj || Gita Piramal
Rahul Bajaj is a billionaire businessman, the chairman emeritus of the Bajaj Group and a former member of Parliament. This book is not just the story of Rahul Bajaj but the story of India. The author takes us through the country’s transformation from the time Rahul Bajaj’s mother was imprisoned during the freedom struggle to the prism of his eventful life.
Based on unrestricted interviews, the book is full of anecdotes, business learnings and political asides. It is, at its core, a moving human story.
Investonomy || Pranjal Kamra
Investonomy not only explains modern value investing principles but also unveils certain secrets of the stock market. It busts popular myths and misconceptions as well. A thorough reading of this book will enable you to chart your own investment plans, and soon, you’ll be all set for your personal wealth-creation journey through equity investment. Investonomy is an initiative to empower existing, as well as potential, investors like you.
Unfiltered || Ana Lueneburger, Saurabh Mukherjea
A pioneering book, Unfiltered: The CEO and the Coach, for the first time, opens the doors that normally shield the confidential world of coaching conversations. The book, through its candour, helps readers fully grasp the life-changing impact that coaching can have. Conceived as a leadership development book, the authors share the narratives (both individual and mutual) of their partnership over the course of five years. The resultant narrative provides not just unique insights that executives and entrepreneurs will find useful for their own development but also deep insights into how, by understanding ourselves, we move towards mastery over the world at large.
The Dream Founder || 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.
Step into a fresh perspective on leadership with Leading from the Back. Authors Ravi Kant, Harry Paul, and Ross Reck present a game-changing approach forged through diverse experiences. This engaging parable challenges traditional norms, making leadership resonate in today’s dynamic world. Are you ready to lead from a different angle?
Read this exclusive excerpt to know why ‘Leading from the Back’ style of leadership is here to stay.
Leading from the Back || Ravi Kant, Harry Paul, Ross Reck
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I have tucked my learnings inside this fable, like silver in a packet.
—Adapted from early-ninth century verses of
the Abbasid princess Ulayya bint al-Mahdi*
On the face of it, Leading from the Back runs counter to the conventional and commonly understood style of leadership—‘leading from the front’. The question is why should you want to look at it? Two reasons, in my view—one, leading from the back has been successfully implemented over five decades under diverse situations in companies large and small, which gives it great credibility. Impressive results have been achieved and it should not be mistaken as a ‘soft’ option nor as an accidental flash in the pan. Two, leading from the front was possibly the operative style in the early days of military warfare when a leader was required to show his face in the front (infantry or cavalry) and energize and motivate troops through sheer personal valour. However, this style of leadership, though very popular in the US, is coming under great stress because:
1. Organizations have become large and complex and supply chain markets have become diverse.
2. ‘Black swan’ events, which are difficult to predict but are seen as inevitable in hindsight, could occur with greater frequency.
3. Technology is changing how businesses and organizations are run.
4. The workplace dynamic is rapidly changing and will continue to change.
This clearly requires leadership that is not the domain of one person nor concentrated in one person—the one who is constantly put in the spotlight as if others don’t matter and the final outcome is impervious to the external environment. The current situation demands that leadership is distributed and that’s what Leading from the Back is all about.
The challenge for us was how to introduce a new concept against a powerful, long-established concept of leadership. The solution we came up with was a story, a parable. Stories have been around since people began to communicate. They bring to life concepts and teachings and put them in a context that we can easily understand and relate to.
* * *
Why, Plato wondered, was Socrates frittering away his final moments on these childish beast tales?
Phaedo of Elis couldn’t say but he did recall Socrates remarking that Aesop’s fables weren’t the animal fictions they seemed. In reality, they were clandestine commentaries on humanity. Aesop had only populated them with foxes, mules and lions because he knew that people would get angry if he pointed out their faults directly.
My (Ravi) entire learning of five decades, of rich and diverse experience, has been distilled through viewing situation and ideas through three questions:
• How should I be?
• How should I deal with the team?
• How should I deal with the task?
Based on my experience and implementation, and using elements of Leading from the Back, I knew I needed help to narrate my ideas and learning. As any good leader knows, you can’t do it alone. I (Ravi) needed to find my Aesop. But where? Initiative and help came from an acquaintance of thirty years: Prakash Idnani and his vast experience in advertising and communication, which has helped convert many non-authors into authors! Prakash found not one but two Aesops in the US, the holy land of leading from the front!
With an introduction from Prakash, I met Harry Paul and Ross Reck. Both of them have considerable experience writing parables. This book was conceived, mapped out and written during the pandemic. Embracing technology, the three of us wrote this book because we firmly believe in its principles, the efficacy of its teachings and felt a need to share it. Even though we have never met in person, the three of us got to know, trust and learn from each other through Zoom. This book was made possible only by coalescing each unique and varying contribution to create a powerful fable of Leading from the Back. We, the authors, sincerely feel that your thoughts will resonate with many of the principles enunciated in Leading from the Back and that you will get a little dose of dopamine which will impel you to put some, maybe even all, of them into action.
Ravi Kant, Harry Paul and Ross Reck June 2023
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Get your copy of Leading from the Back by Ravi Kant, Harry Paul and Ross Reck wherever books are sold.
Over the past decade, that ‘emerging middle’ has risen further, consisting of 800 million Indians and shaping countries like India into a Diamond.
