Lights! Camera! Action! … And back to Ghalib’s era!
We know the shayar in you would love a theatrical reading of this amazing book sliding seamlessly into different worlds—history, fantasy, and poetry. So, plug in your earphones and tune into Penguin India’s first-ever audio play ‘The Muslim Vanishes’ and unwind.
The Muslim Vanishes || Saeed Naqvi
The great poet Ghalib, part of a long tradition of eclectic liberalism, found Benaras so compelling that he wrote his longest poem on the holy city. If we take Ghalib and his myriads of followers out of the equation, will Hindustan be left with a gaping hole or become something quite new? The Muslim Vanishes, a play by Saeed Naqvi, attempts to answer that question.
A Muslim-free India, as a character speculates naively in the play, would be good for socialism, since what the 200 million Muslims leave behind would be equitably shared by the general population. Meanwhile, another character, a political leader, is traumatized by the sudden disappearance of the Muslim voter base and the prospect of a direct electoral confrontation with the numerically stronger Dalits and other backward classes. Caste, the Hindu-Muslim divide, Pakistan and Kashmir—the decibel levels on these subjects are too high for a conversation to take place, with each side fiercely defending their own narrative. What is the way out of this trap?
How to douse the social and political flames? In this razor-sharp, gentle and funny play, Saeed Naqvi draws on a mix of influences—from grandma’s bedtime stories to Aesop’s fables and Mullah Nasruddin’s satirical tales—to spring an inspired surprise on us, taking us on a journey into the realms of both history and fantasy.
You know it’s going to get too cold to step out anyway and what’s the point of making plans you’d cancel later?
Instead, grab some oranges, a cozy mat and head to your balcony in the sun. And we don’t think we need to tell you about the companion without which your day would be horribly incomplete… A nice book, of course!
Doesn’t this seem like the perfect December day? Well, you ought to make these days happen for yourself instead of watching other people enjoy them on Instagram. Feel some of that December beauty by getting one of these beautiful and brilliant books releasing this month!
December will be cold but these books will make it warmer. So, check out these new releases, curated just for you!
Dr. Cuterus || Dr. Tanaya Narendra
Dr. Cuterus
Tanaya Narendra
No matter what kind of bits you have, the ‘private’ bits between our legs often leave us with … many feelings and many questions.
Is it big enough? Is it too big? Why is it so dark? And hairy? How are babies made? Why do periods hurt? As John Mayer so beautifully sang, your body is a wonderland, but in the land of the Kama Sutra, we often forget this. Words like vagina, clitoris, penis, scrotum tend to confound and embarrass people. Maybe even you, dear reader?
Even though everyone has a body, nobody wants to talk about it. Especially those ‘private’ bits. With so much shame and stigma, we have nowhere to go to learn and understand our bodies. This is where this book comes in-a one-stop scientific, funny, and easy to understand guide to everything you’ve always wondered about what’s ‘down there’. Or even up there! Whatever your concern, Dr Cuterus has got you covered.
Doglapan || Ashneer Grover
Doglapan
Ashneer Grover
This is the unfettered story of Ashneer Grover-the favourite and misunderstood poster boy of Start-up India.
Raw, gut-wrenching in its honesty and completely from the heart, this is storytelling at its finest. 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.
As a judge on the popular TV show Shark Tank India, Ashneer becomes a household name even as his life turns upside down. Controversy, media spotlight, garrulous social media chatter descend, making it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.
Panjab || Amandeep Sandhu
Panjab
Amandeep Sandhu
In 2015, Amandeep Sandhu began an investigation that was meant to resolve the ‘hole in his heart’, his ’emptiness about matters Panjab’. For three years, he crisscrossed the state and discovered a land that was nothing like the one he had imagined and not like the stories he had heard.
Present-day Panjab prides itself on legends of its military and valorous past even as it struggles with daily horrors. The Green Revolution has wreaked ecological havoc in the state, and a decade and a half of militancy has destabilised its economy and governance. Sikhism-the state’s eclectic and syncretic religion- is in crisis, its gatekeepers brooking no dissent and giving little spiritual guidance. And Panjab has yet to recover from the loss of its other half, now in Pakistan.
This revised edition includes a chapter on the 2020-21 farmers’ struggle which proved beyond doubt that the old spirit of the land with its undercurrent of resistance to power and hegemony still beats away. The hope that Panjab’s unyielding knots can be untied continues to linger.
India in Search of Glory || Ashok
India in Search of Glory
Ashok
India and the Indians have made some progress in 75 years after Independence. The number of literates has gone up. The Indians have become healthier and their life expectancy at birth has gone up. The proportion of people below the poverty line has also halved. But the shine from the story fades when India is compared with that of the East Asian Tigers and China. It looks good but not good enough. India looks far away from the glory it seeks. This issue forms the core subject matter of this book. It tries to argue why India could not achieve more and what all it could have achieved. It paints a picture of its possible future and highlights the areas that need immediate attention.
An Island’s Eleven || Nicholas Brookes
An Island’s Eleven
Nicholas Brookes
From Sathasivam to Sangakkara, Murali to Malinga, Sri Lanka can lay claim to some of the world’s most remarkable cricketers – larger-than-life characters who thumbed convention and played the game their own way. More so than anywhere else in the world, Sri Lankan cricket has an identity. This is the land of pint-sized swashbuckling batsman, on-the-fly innovators and contorted, cryptic spinners.
An Island’s Eleven tells this story for the first time, focusing on the characters and moments that have shaped the game forever.
The Book of Dals || Pratibha Karan
The Book of Dals
Pratibha Karan
Dals have been an essential part of the human diet for centuries and they are an integral part of Indian cuisine. There are many enticing varieties of dals to choose from. Pratibha Karan, in The Book of Dals, takes you on an incredible journey to different regions of the country and shows how locally available spices and herbs, vegetables and fruit impact the food of that region. The variety of dals and dal-based dishes that you can make with these are phenomenal and mind-boggling.
This book is not limited by borders. It includes exotic dal recipes from the neighbouring countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka, and some delicious and wholesome dal-based soups too.
Grasping Greatness
Grasping Greatness
Making India a Leading Power
Since its independence in 1947, India’s leaders have sought to grasp the greatness that the country seemed destined for. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, articulated these aspirations early on but, overwhelmed by development challenges, his successors focused largely on domestic concerns rather than on global leadership. The post-1991 era saw India positioned for the first time in many decades as an economic success, suggesting that it was on the cusp of breaking out as a global player. The twenty-odd years following the 1991 reforms were heady for India. Based on the expectation that India was now poised to ascend as a major power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-less than a year after he first took office in May 2014-expressed his desire that India assume a leading role: completing the transformation from being merely an influential entity into one whose weight and preferences are defining for international politics.
Grasping Greatness explores the various tasks pertaining to this push for eminence in world affairs. Edited by Ashley J. Tellis, Bibek Debroy and C. Raja Mohan, Grasping Greatness is an important contribution to the intellectual debates as India enters into a new era on the world stage.
4G Code to Good Health || Ishi Khosla
4G Code to Good Health
Ishi Khosla
Do you know that if you just eat the right foods, you can control your appetite and weight, remove cravings, control moods, manage sleep and much more?
Each of us today wants to be healthy and lead a balanced life. The pandemic has also taught us how important it is to have strong immunity. Yet we struggle with what to eat and what not to. Noted dietician and nutritionist Ishi Khosla says that our gut is the control panel of our health. Our forefathers knew it. That is why it is said, ‘Jaise ann vaisa mann‘ or you are what you eat. Ishi takes it a step further when she says, ‘We are not only what we eat, but what we digest-and what we DON’T eat!’ In this book, she distils decades of experience and knowledge and combines it with the wisdom of the past to provide an insight into the science of the 4 Gs-Gut, Girth, Gluten and Glucose-and their connection with each other, so we can modify our eating habits and lifestyle in a permanent manner. Remember, our bodies are forgiving and capable of healing. It’s NEVER too late!
And How Do You Feel About That? || Aruna Gopakumar, Yashodhara Lal
And How Do You Feel About That?
Aruna Gopakumar, Yashodhara Lal
Ever wondered what REALLY happens in the therapy room?
For too long, therapy has been seen as taboo in our society and is shrouded in myth–it’s only for the weak or ‘crazies’, it’s just blaming your parents, a therapist ‘only listens’ and so on. In this book, Aruna Gopakumar and Yashodhara Lal bust those myths and show you how therapy actually works.
With decades of combined experience in the field, these two therapists share fascinating stories based on their practice. You’ll meet the woman who sends secret messages to her husband during arguments; the towering tattooed man who realizes he can’t save his sister; the teenager whose life is revealed in the tale of a lonely bear; the divorced man angry with his ex-wife for starting to date again; the fiery gay young man impatient to change the world; the lady who won’t relax until her daughter is perfect; and many more.
Written with authenticity, warmth, simplicity, and lightness, And How Do You Feel About That brings you an understanding of the world of possibilities that opens up when we embark on an inner exploration – in dialogue with another.
Heart on the Edge || Novoneel Chakraborty
Heart on the Edge
Novoneel Chakraborty
Naishee Kamaraj has a special bond with her younger brother, Shravan. One day when he suddenly goes missing, everyone tells her perhaps he left of his own volition, but Naishee knew her brother better than anyone else. She fears there has been foul play. And her fears come true when she receives a second-hand phone with a video of her brother being held captive. She needs to perform some horrific activities to save her brother. As time ticks by, Naishee knows she will come out a totally different being by the end of it all . . .
Anthill || Vinoy Thomas, Nandakumar K.
Anthill
Vinoy Thomas, Nandakumar K.
Bounded by dense Kodagu forests on the south and west, and rivers on the north and east, Perumbadi, at the border between Kerala and Karnataka, has hidden itself from the world. Its very isolation has attracted varied settlers from south Kerala over the years. The first settler on this land, Kunji Varkey, was fleeing the opprobrium of getting his own daughter pregnant. Those who followed had similar shameful secrets.
Anthill, the exquisite translation from the Malayalam of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi-winning novel Puttu, is the story of common people who tried to wriggle out of the shackles of family, religion and other restraining institutions, but eventually also struggle to civilize themselves-from their beginnings of a hillbilly existence and life as a promiscuous community.
Stop Weighting || Ramya Subramanian
Stop Weighting
Ramya Subramanian
Ramya, the confident superstar and influencer of today, was once a naive and self-conscious teenager, who suffered bullying and body shaming. Just as any other insecure adolescent would, she began a long and tortuous journey to become ‘thin’. Ludicrous crash diets, intense workouts at the gym and an all-pervading sense of inferiority afflicted her for nearly a decade.
In the midst of this, Ramya was catapulted into fame at an early age when she got her first break as a television anchor. But with the media attention came all the toxic side-effects of being a celebrity. Until she decided to take back control over her life. Today, Ramya is healthier and happier than she has ever been. In Stop Weighting we find out how she achieved this.
Digging into stories, mistakes and life lessons, the book draws from the highs and lows of Ramya’s personal fitness journey with the hope that it will help others to lay the groundwork for their own. She busts the myths around fitness and helps readers establish safe and sustainable methods to become healthier without false promises or crazy diets.
The Sthory of Two Wimmin Named Kalyani and Dakshayani || R. Rajasree, Devika J.
The Sthory of Two Wimmin Named Kalyani and Dakshayani
R. Rajasree, Devika J.
The Sthory of Two Wimmin Kalyani and Dakshayani traces luminous paths of female friendship in the rural worlds of north Malabar, through the lives of two rural women, Kalyani and Dakshayani. Rebelling against the patriarchy in school at the age of six (‘Rot in ‘ell, yuh sonofabitch’, yells Dakshayani at the school master who lifted her skirt to pinch her thigh, and walks out of school, with Kalyani following
in solidarity), the two friends take on life and love. Women have no native place, they learn-but they have each other. Rajashree’s cleverly
crafted narrator pauses and plays the scenes of their struggles, pains and laughter, drawing strength from them for her own battle against
the mind-police. The bittersweet longing for one’s place of birth, the dialects of Malayalam, animals, spirits-all come alive in Rajashree’s
beautifully crafted tale, enabled by Devika’s magnificent and careful translation.
The Ultimate Sales Accelerator || Amit Agarwal
The Ultimate Sales Accelerator
Amit Agarwal
There are 7.7 billion sales owners in the world. Everyone is selling either a product, a service or an idea. The fact that everyone is selling brings its own unique challenges and possibilities.
How can high-growth companies and start-ups win clients amid unprecedented competition?
How can one close large deals virtually?
What is the higher purpose of sales?
Sharing forty-two practical business, consumer and real-life experiences, this book reveals one simple and powerful sales strategy that is the perfect answer to all the above questions. In an engaging manner, Amit provides you with a clear and easy-to-implement blueprint for this strategy.
Slow is Beautiful || Ahlawat Gunjan
Slow is Beautiful
The Ultimate Art Journal for Mindful Living Through Nature
Ahlawat Gunjan
Slow is Beautiful is an invitation to embark on a journey through mindfulness and cut through the clutter and noise of the world around you. Under the guidance of artist and visual designer Ahlawat Gunjan, you’ll learn to see, observe, reflect, and practise using artistic techniques developed through years of training to re-kindle a lost instinct. This beautiful collector’s edition prepares you to welcome a new artistic vision into your lives by building a relationship with form, colour, and composition in a uniquely accessible way. Each of the sixty easy-to-use prompts in this book is an essential step highlighted by vibrant ink and watercolour paintings inspired from nature, created and curated by the artist himself to motivate reader to draw, erase, paint, experiment, create and, most importantly, embrace their mistakes.
Such a beautiful bounty of books, which one are you adding to your TBR?
When it comes to wisdom, and no it’s not the stuff learned from books for exams, we’ve learned the best things from stories. Taking on that mantle of the storyteller with a wise lesson to pass on, Kamlesh ‘Daaji’ Patel’s The Wisdom Bridge is replete with such educational fables. Guiding parents and other family members to more holistic childcare, the book uses the Nine Principles learned by Daaji from his own experiences. Available at bookstores and Amazon, the following excerpt address the epigenetic effects of stress through the story of the caveman and the tiger. So, scroll down to understand how you can cope with stress.
The Wisdom Bridge||Kamlesh Daaji Patel
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The villain in maternal epigenetics is stress. It’s a leading factor affecting pregnant women’s health. The form of stress that causes the biggest problems is chronic stress, which is the body’s response to emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period.
In today’s world, the sabretooth tigers are all around us. Stress at work, stress at school, the stress of finances, the stress of relationships, and stress because of stress itself. We are always on the lookout for the sabretooth tiger lurking somewhere.
Imagine your caveman ancestor strolling in the jungle and a sabretooth tiger attacks. There are three options: fight, flight, or freeze. If you freeze, well, that’s the end of the story. If you fight the tiger or outrun the tiger, there are chances of survival. It’s a high-stress encounter where the body creates stress hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol. Blood is redirected from the digestive tract and other vital organs and moved toward the muscles and limbs to give the energy needed for fight or flight. If your caveman ancestor was lucky and survived the attack, then the stress levels in his body would have come down, and the body resumes its regular business. This, in short, is how the stress response mechanism evolved.
In today’s world, sabretooth tigers are all around: stress at work, stress at school, the stress of finances, the stress of relationships, and stress because of stress itself. We are constantly stressed about the lurking sabretooth tiger. This type of stress where one is always on guard is called chronic stress. Chronic stress is known to cause issues related to high blood pressure, suppression of immunity, damage to muscle tissue, and poor mental health.
Research shows the epigenetic effects created by a combination of finance, relationships, lack of community, and racism induce chronic stress in pregnant mothers, resulting in premature deliveries.Cortisol, a stress hormone, crosses the placenta barrier and passes on to the fetus affecting its development. The effects of chronic stress on the fetus also include lower weight at birth and longer-term effects, including personality disorders, cardiovascular issues, and diabetes.
Building immunity against stress is crucial because stress, first and foremost, affects the mother. Proper nutrition, a healthy lifestyle, and good social support help manage stress. While we know the harmful effects of chronic stress, avoiding stress altogether is not possible. We all have some level of stress in life. Studies show that moderate stress does not cause any damage to the fetus. What we need to avoid is chronic stress and burnout.
In medicine, burnout is defined as ‘a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or romantic relationships.’
In a research study on burnout, it was found that in a short period of time Heartfulness meditation lowered stress in a statistically significant way. Not only did the stress levels reduce, but the length of the telomeres increased, especially in the younger population. Telomeres are cap-shaped sections of DNA found at the end of chromosomes. The length of telomeres indicates wellbeing. So longer telomeres are a good sign.
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Get your copy to read more on how to cope with stress and live a life that inspires your younger ones.
We take sheer pride every time our books get recognition for their brilliance. The following books made it to the longlist of Mumbai’s largest international literary festival, Tata Literature Live!, and we couldn’t be happier to share them with you.
Wondering what’s special about them?
Find out for yourself!
Tata Literature Live! 2022
Book of the Year Award for Fiction
recognising noteworthy work in the Indian literary space in the fiction genre
Tell Me How to Be || 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.
Together, Renu and Akash pack up the house, retreating further into the secrets that stand between them. Renu sends an innocent Facebook message to the man she almost married, sparking an emotional affair that calls into question everything she thought she knew about herself. Akash slips back into bad habits as he confronts his darkest secrets-including what really happened between him and the first boy who broke his heart.
Business Book of the Year Award
recognising the best business writing in the Indian literary space
Harsh Realities || Harsh Mariwala, Ram Charan
Breaking away from the shackles of family-run Bombay Oils Industries Ltd, Harsh Mariwala founded Marico in 1987. Today, the homegrown Marico is a leading international FMCG giant which recorded an annual turnover of over Rs 8000 crore last year. Their products, like Parachute, Nihar Naturals, Saffola, Set Wet, Livon and Mediker, are market leaders in their categories.
This is the story of grit, gumption and growth, and of the core values of trust, transparency and innovation which have brought the company to its current stature. Co-authored by leading management thinker and guru Ram Charan, Harsh Realities is a much-awaited business book by an innovative and clear-headed leader who built a highly professional, competitive business from the ground up.
First Book Award for Fiction
recognising new talent in the Indian literary space in the fiction genre
The Muslim Vanishes || Saeed Naqvi
The great poet Ghalib, part of a long tradition of eclectic liberalism, found Benaras so compelling that he wrote his longest poem on the holy city. If we take Ghalib and his myriads of followers out of the equation, will Hindustan be left with a gaping hole or become something quite new? The Muslim Vanishes, a play by Saeed Naqvi, attempts to answer that question.
A Muslim-free India, as a character speculates naively in the play, would be good for socialism, since what the 200 million Muslims leave behind would be equitably shared by the general population. Meanwhile, another character, a political leader, is traumatized by the sudden disappearance of the Muslim voter base and the prospect of a direct electoral confrontation with the numerically stronger Dalits and other backward classes.
In this razor-sharp, gentle and funny play, Saeed Naqvi draws on a mix of influences-from grandma’s bedtime stories to Aesop’s fables and Mullah Nasruddin’s satirical tales-to spring an inspired surprise on us, taking us on a journey into the realms of both history and fantasy.
The winners of the Tata Literature Live! 2022 Awards will be announced at the festival. Stay tuned!
With the festive season coming to an end, step into a more relaxed month of November. An exciting transition between autumnal breeze and winter freeze, this is the perfect time to stock up on sweaters and some comforting reads.
In fact, we have just the right collection of books to preoccupy your mittens with! So, wait no more and scroll through our November releases.
Leapfrog
Six Practices to Thrive at Work
Mukesh Sud, Priyank Narayan
Leapfrog || Mukesh Sud, Priyank Narayan
Are maestros born or made?
By making ideas mate, can you create new ones?
How do you develop a mindset that helps you thrive?
Can you nudge yourself into being more productive at work?
Is it possible for you to debunk bullshit from the clutter all around?
Find the answers to these questions and several more in Leapfrog.
The Sacred Wordsmith
The Sacred Wordsmith || Raja Rao
The Sacred Wordsmith, a curated compilation of legendary Indian writer – Raja Rao’s astounding work, noted acceptance speeches and exclusive unpublished pieces is the perfect addition to your collection of classics. A venture into the Sahitya Akademi Award and Neustadt International Prize recipient’s remarkable trajectory as an author and academic.
The Last Heroes
The Last Heroes || P.Sainath
There are numerous books on freedom fighters and the struggle for Independece, but very little account of the flag bearers of freedom post 1947. P Sainath’s ‘The Last Heroes’ narrates the story of the footsoldiers of Indian freedom and describes how independence and freedom are mutually exclusive. Revive the patriot in you and celebrate the contributions of the less- recognized.
Hicky’s Bengal Gazette
Hicky’s Bengal Gazette || Andrew Otis
In this digital age, all sorts of information is available at a single tap. News, which was once a revelation to the common man, can now be accessed via apps and websites. Revisit your roots and immerse yourself in the historic trajectory of India’s First Newspaper with Hicky’s Bengal Gazette. A tumultuous research which has found a significant place in the history of subcontinental journalism, it is an account of James Augustus Hicky and his attempt at establishing a newspaper in 18th century- Calcutta. which subsequently posed a threat to the British Empire and their suspicious endeavours. Revel in this book and explore themes of censorship, struggle and imperialism.
Manjhi’s Mayhem
Manjhi’s Mayhem || Tanuj Solanki
Three words: Thriller, Temerity and Tabaahi, perfectly sums up this explosive, yet gripping novel, Manjhi’s Mayhem. What starts off as a simple story of Santosh, the hostess of a restaurant across the street and her encounter with Sewaram Manjhi, a security guard of a pricey Bombay Cafe turns into a whirlwind of toxicity, deceit and a bloody affair. Apart from the gore, Manjhi’s discovery of destiny and fortune in the City of Dreams, Bombay, is an important lesson for all.
An Island’s Eleven
An Island’s Eleven || Nicholas Brookes
India’s most revered sport, cricket, has found a special place in everyone’s heart. It being the game that is most judiciously watched and cheered for – the hype is prevalent all-year round. Rejuvenate the cricket fanatic in you and explore a new cultural paradigm by reading: An Island’s Eleven – which describes the triumphs and tragedies of the Gentleman’s game from Srilanka’s perspective. A country known for its stellar players, strategic tactics and emerging victorious time and again, the success story goes way back in time. After all, Cricket is Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka is cricket.
Rani Durgawati
Rani Durgawati || Nandini Sengupta
India is incomplete without the feisty, powerful females that shaped its glory as a nation today. One such forgotten, yet formidable is Rani Durgawati, a model monarch of the Garha Mandla who displayed tenacity, righteousness and profound courage to look after the welfare of her people. Nandini Sengupta’s intricate exploration of Rani’s legacy is compiled in a beautifully articulated biography which can easily occupy a prominent space in every Indian history fanatic’s heart!
Bravehearts of Bharat
Bravehearts of Bharat || Vikram Sampath
Some stories don’t make it to most of our history books growing up but are integral lessons in struggle, patriotism and sacrifice. India – a land known for its tumultuous freedom struggle, has several unsung heroes whose contributions were remarkable, yet unacknowledged. The Bravehearts of Bharat, sheds light on the fifteen neglected heroes and heroines of our past and narrates their stories of valour and determination.
It Was Always You
It Was Always You || Sudeep Nagarkar
Love in itself is a complex emotion and difficult feeling to process. Lost Love is another layer of emotional angst and conflict. What happens when Lost Love resurfaces in a happy marriage? How do the rules of monogamy change? How does one navigate these conflicting emotions? Immerse yourself in #ItWasAlwaysYou by Sudeep Nagarkar, a story about a happily married couple, Karan and Shruti and the pyramid of ethical dilemmas that they have to deal with.
Finding Your Balance
Finding Your Balance || Dr. Nozer Sheriar & Shonali Sabherwal
Women, menopause is not the end, period. A time of confusion and ambiguity regarding old age, menopause has several negative connotations and myths associated with it. This can take a toll on your physical, mental and emotional state of being. Gynaecologist Dr Nozer Sheriar and macrobiotic nutritionist Shonali Sabherwal debunk all misconceptions with regards to peri-menopause with their bite-sized, professional and informative book: Finding Your Balance. So, grab a copy and put a PAUSE to your worries about the years ahead of you!
Forks in The Road
Forks In The Road || C. Rangarajan
The architect of India’s economy, C. Rangarajan describes his life as a matter of circumstance. A prolific economist and policymaker, Forks in The Road is a memoir of Rangarajan’s days at RBI and beyond. From tracking India’s financial journey between 1982 and 2014, to his innovative reforms in the domain of banking – he highlights the nitty-gritties of the sub-continent’s economic growth weighing external political, social factors in mind. Exclusive insights from the former Governor of RBI himself, it is truly unputdownable.
My Life with Dr. Ambedkar
Babasaheb || Savita Ambedkar
We know Ambedkar as a prolific social reformer and the Father of the Indian Constitution. Savita Ambedkar, his wife, provides an intimate lens and never-before-documented portrait of Babasahed. His life beyond political and social reform, a personal insight into his likes, dislikes and disposition. Translated by Nadeem Khan, My Life with Dr. Ambedkar is a brilliant corroborated account of the astounding scholar’s personal life and should be your next read!
Gautam Adani
Gautam Adani || R.N. Bhaskar
A business tycoon who needs no introduction, Gautam Adani has emerged as one of the most powerful people, globally. R.N Bhaskar’s biography of Adani’s journey from childhood to establishing a powerful business empire is interspersed with fascinating anecdotes, tactful business strategies and how he became the strongest contender in ports and renewable energy. Truly an inspiring, detailed and meticulous compilation of his success. Onwards and upwards!
Winning Middle India: The Story of India’s New-Age Entrepreneurs:
Winning Middle India || Bala Srinivasa & T.N. Hari
Awaiting the latest season of Shark Tank? Tired of boring classroom lectures, and need something to stimulate your entrepreneurial mindset? Winning Middle India by T.N. Hari and Bala Srinivasa introduce the digital age innovators who have taken the world by storm! These young, adaptive entrepreneurs are determined to reshape India’s destiny through rapid digitization. This book is truly at your tech and call, in case you want to fuel your passion and get insta-inspired!
Zikr: In the Light & Shade of Time
Zikr: In The Light and Shade of Time || Muzaffar Ali
The Jack of All Trades, Muzaffar Ali, has ventured into multiple domains over the years. Whether it’s cinema, philosophy or advertising – he has done it all! Zikr is an autobiographical peak into the mastermind’s multiple artistic endeavours and how he has been able to carve a niche for himself in so many industries. From working with icons such as; Satyajit Ray and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ali carries his erstwhile Awadhi cultureough it all!
The Book of Dals:
The Book of Dals || Pratibha Karan
Dals are not only an integral part of every Indian household but also responsible for a sumptuous, happy tummy. From Sambars to Varan Bhat, Dals, too are diverse like its native country, India. The Book of Dal by Prabhita Karan explores the permutation and combinations of lentils, spices and vegetables, meat etc. that make Dal unique, regionally. PS: there’s a section of lip-smacking recipes that will make you want to run to your Tawa and start cooking!
All The Right People
All The Right People || Priyanka R Khanna
If Koffee with Karan was your supplier of B-Town chatpata gossip, All The Right People by Priyanka Khanna is just the juicy, eccentric pick for you! It revolves around three college besties, Tara, Shaan and Aria who went through the ebbs and flows of both school and university. These sworn best-friends eventually get caught-up in a whirlwind of problems that could potentially put their friendship on a standstill. A book that navigates friendship, cohesion and decision-making amongst the most creme-de-la-creme tier of society, explores unexpected themes of control and individual agency as well.
Build, Don’t Talk
Build, Don’t Talk || Raj Shamani
Life has several lessons that cannot be shoved into rigid curriculum, like school. But what if there was a book that taught you all that school DID NOT? Build, Don’t Talk is a one-stop guide for young adults to navigate through crucial yet overlooked topics such as; mental health, personal financing and building relationships. Written by Raj Shamani, the book provides invaluable insights that one could not find in the conventional classroom setting.
Fifteen Judgments
Fifteen Judgments || Saurabh Kirpal
What happens when law meets finance? A splendid work of art, Fifteen Judgments! Saurabh Kirpal, an esteemed practitioner of law at the Supreme Court has covered a range of matters from commercial to constitutional law. His latest, Fifteen Judgement is an account of the cases that have shaped India’s financial landscape weighing jurisprudential philosophies and macroeconomic dimensions in mind.
In Ask the Monk, celebrated monk Nityanand Charan Das lucidly answers over seventy frequently asked questions—by young and old alike—on topics such as karma, religion versus spirituality, mind, God, destiny, the purpose of life, suffering, rituals, religion, wars and so on.
Have questions? Intrigued to know more?
Read this excerpt from Ask the Monk and find out the answer to a very critical question—doesn’t spirituality demand blind faith?
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Ask the Monk || Nityanand Charan Das
No. Spirituality does not ask for blind faith, but ‘reasonable faith.’
Reasonable faith means, ‘I hear something. So let me try it. If it does not work, I can always give it up’.
Blind faith means, I hear something and straightway reject it without verifying.
Blind acceptance is bad, but blind rejection is equally bad. In fact, it is worse because we might miss out on a rare diamond, considering it to be a broken piece of glass.
And this reasonable faith is not something new. If we carefully examine, we will find that we have been applying it in every aspect of life. In fact, our life starts with reasonable faith. When we are born, we do not know who our father is. We hear from our mother and we trust her. Now if we talk about blind faith, then isn’t this also blind faith because we were not there earlier? Not at all. This is called reasonable faith. Now if we want, we can do DNA testing to verify it.
When we get into a cab, we never check whether the driver has a license and knows how to drive. We have faith that he will take us to our destination.
We go to hotels and restaurants after hearing the food at a particular place is good. We go and try and then conclude based on our findings. We believe that the food is not infected, although chances are that it could be. But we have faith.
So the point is that we cannot move even an inch forward without this faith, else we will live in constant fear and go insane.
The best way to move forward is to have a certain degree of faith in everything despite it all. It’s reasonable, since we cannot keep checking everything.
The same logic applies to spiritual life as well. We can hear from the right authority and move forward thinking, ‘If someone is teaching something, let me try and apply it in my life and test the authenticity.’
Sometimes some people reject the spiritual truths as bogus or illogical, saying they are students of science. However, they are not scientific at all because science also says that before we accept or reject a theory, it must go through six steps; aim, apparatus, theory, observation, calculation and conclusion. Only when we have tested do we have the right to decide whether it’s real or not.
Thus, just like we apply reasonable faith to everything in life without immediately rejecting it, spiritual life must not be an exception. We can apply the principles mentioned in the scriptures and see if they work. If they do not, give them up. But giving up without trying is totally unscientific and illogical.
The proof of pudding is in eating.
When we experiment based on what we hear, we get realizations and those realizations increase our faith. Spiritual life requires the same logic of faith that we apply everywhere else in our life.
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Get your copy of Ask the Monk from your nearest bookstore or via Amazon.
In a world of several success stories, many starry-eyed, entrepreneur aspirationals buy books and watch numerous videos on what formula will make their own start-up stick. It takes a real expert like author Dhruv Nath, to know that the real lessons come from a comparative study of what worked and what didn’t. Compiling the journeys of the ideas that saw the light and went beyond, as well as those which ended before they even began, The Dream Founder is a must-read on what happens after the lightbulb switches on.
You can get your copy now from the nearest bookstore or visit Amazon to order.
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One More Book on Start-Ups? Why?
Good question. There are several books on start-ups out there. Just get on to Amazon or Flipkart and you’ll see lots of them. So, why did I write one more?
Well, for a start, most of the books in the market talk about American start-ups—the Facebooks, the WhatsApps, the Ubers and the Airbnbs of the world. But hang on—aren’t you planning to create a start-up in India? In which case, you would want to learn from Indian start-ups, wouldn’t you? Sure, you can learn from Airbnb and Uber and all the rest of them—and you should. But isn’t it far more important to learn from companies in the Indian context? All of us are aware that the Indian environment is very different from what exists in the western world. Most western countries, such as the US, are developed. We are a developing country, which clearly means that both the opportunities and constraints will be different. Small-town and rural India—often called Bharat—offers a huge, untapped market, with no parallels in the west. Language is a major issue, with the future perhaps belonging to start-ups that cater to vernacular languages. I can go on and on, but I’m sure you get the idea. While you should learn from start-ups in the US, it’s much more critical to learn from start-ups in India. And that’s why this book is all about Indian start-ups. One of the few in this category.
Next, even if you were to look at the Indian books out there, all of them talk about huge success stories, such as Byju’s, Flipkart, Paytm and Ola Cabs. Whose founders are spoken about in hushed whispers, even at paan shops. And, of course, in bars, with alcohol warming the insides. I’m sure you would want to learn from these phenomenally successful guys. But let me ask you a frank question. Can you really identify with such start-ups? These aren’t start-ups any more. They are giants—in many cases, multinational giants. Who do you really identify with? The smaller guys, isn’t it? Those fledgeling start-ups which are just a few years old and are perhaps facing the same problems that you are. Wouldn’t you also want to listen to the founders of these young start-ups? Of course you would!
So, which ones do we discuss in this book?
Aha, that’s the best part. We discuss both. On the one hand, the book has stories about young start-ups which you can identify with. But it also has advice from the real giants in the business—the likes of Sanjeev Bikhchandani of Naukri.com, Deepinder Goyal of Zomato, Dr Annurag Batra of BW Businessworld and Meena Ganesh of Portea Medical. And then, we also have a highly successful investor—Sushanto Mitra of Lead Angels. They have all been happy to share their gyan, which I’ve promptly included in this book. So, you are in the happy position of learning from both the big guns and the smaller guys. And that makes this book truly unique.
But it gets even more unique, so do read on. You see, you can get lots of write-ups about start-ups that succeeded. Stories about their founders are plastered all over the Internet, the TV, the papers and, in fact, on virtually all kinds of media except possibly posters on public toilets (thank god!). But what about those that failed? Shouldn’t you be learning from them as well? To take an analogy from the film industry, if you want to be an actor, it is good to learn from Amitabh Bachchan. But isn’t it even more important to learn from those who came from their villages to try their luck and are still pottering around as extras in Bollywood? Or worse, those who got fed up and went back to their villages?
Agreed? So, how often have you read about failures? How often have you heard founders bragging, ‘You know, I’m really proud of the fact that my start-up was a failure, and I’d be delighted to have this come out in print’? Never happens, does it? Obviously, no one talks about failures. These things are never written about, which means you don’t learn from them.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where this book gets really exciting. As I mentioned earlier, I have spent several years with young founders, investing in their start-ups as well as mentoring many of them. There have been some really successful founders, but there has also been a fair share of failures. And I decided, in all my wisdom, to write about both the successful guys as well as the failures. Founders who were simply not able to build and grow their start-ups. And whose stories have remained under wraps and, therefore, unavailable to mankind. Of course, in some cases, liberal doses of alcohol—duly funded by me—had to be supplied to get these founders to open up.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes this book really, really unique!
Will you gift the mundane box of soan papdi or dry fruits again this festive season? These sugar treats will expire in a few days or will probably be passed on to another relative or friend.
How about giving a gift that lasts for a lifetime? A gift that could light up your loved one’s world and will never leave them alone?
Yes, books! Books are the sweetest sugar alternatives and will stay with your friends and family…even after the last page. Hence, we have a book for all–be it the Gen Z cousin or the teen-patti-obsessed chachu, your fashionista neighbour or that sweet-tooth bua–there’s a book for everyone!
This festive season, #GiftForLife #GiftAPenguin!
The coolest gifts for every Gen Z in your life
Everything Is Out of Syllabus
Varun Duggirala
Everything Is Out of Syllabus || Varun Duggirala
Banaras Talkies
Satya Vyas
Banaras Talkies || Satya Vyas
Beauty Unbottled
Kavita Khosa
Beauty Unbottled || Kavita Khosa
Yuktahaar
Munmun Ganeriwal
Yuktahaar || Munmun Ganeriwal
The Art of Bitfulness
Nandan Nilekani & Tanuj Bhojwani
The Art of Bitfulness || Nandan Nilekani Tanuj Bhojwani
Do you have a cousin for whom fantasy >>>> reality?
Samsara
Saksham Garg
Samsara || Saksham Garg
Where The Cobbled Paths Lead
Avinuo Kire
Where the Cobbled Path Leads || Avinuo Kire
Sinbad and the Trumpet of Israfil
Kevin Missal
Sinbad and the Trumpet of Israfil || Kevin Missal
Sinbad and the Tomb of Alexander
Kevin Missal
Sinbad and the Tomb of Alexander || Kevin Missal
Rising Like a Storm
Tanaz Bhathena
Rising Like A Storm || Tanaz Bhathena
For the health-conscious buddy
On The Pickle Trail
Monish Gujral
On The Pickle Trail || Monish Gujral
Degh To Dastarkhwan
Tarana Husain Khan
Degh To Dastarkhwan || Tarana Husain Khan
Whose Samosa Is It Anyway
Sonal Ved
Whose Samosa Is It Anyway || Sonal Ved
This Handmade Life
Nandita Iyer
This Handmade Life || Nandita Iyer
For the matchmaker in your circle
Something I’m Waiting To Tell You
Shravya Bhinder
Something I’m Waiting To Tell You || Shravya Bhinder
The book was first published in India in 2020 as Chats With The Dead
Penguin Random House India is proud to announce that critically acclaimed Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, which was first published by Penguin India as Chats With The Dead, has won this year’s Booker Prize for Fiction.This is the first Booker Prize for Shehan.This was also the first time that books originating from an Indian publisher had been nominated for the Booker Prize two years in a row. In 2021, Anuk Arudpragasam’s A Passage Northwas in the running forthe Booker Prize. Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell, and published by Penguin in India, was also the winner of the International Booker Prize 2022.
A classic whodunit with a brilliant twist, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeidasearingly exposes the plight of a country caught in the aftermath of civil war.Embroiled in red tape, memories of war, and ethical dilemmas, this unforgettable story captures readers right from the very first page up to its startling denouement, constantly upending its premise with its staggering humanity.
Manasi Subramaniam, Associate Publisher andHead of Rights at Penguin Random House India and the editor of the book, said, ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almedia by Shehan Karunatilaka is a masterful work of modern philosophy that insists on being uproariously funny through all its deft acrobatics through the living and the dead. I am delighted that this brilliant book has won the Booker Prize 2022.’
Meru Gokhale,Publisher, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House India, says, ‘I am absolutely delighted at the honour and recognition being given to Shehan Karunatilaka’s work. It’s wonderful to see writers from South Asia receive long-overdue international recognition in this extraordinary year for Penguin Press, through both the Booker International Prize for Tomb of Sand and the Booker Prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.’
The Booker Prize 2022’s jury is chaired by Neil MacGregor, cultural historian, writer and broadcaster along with a five-person panel- Critics Shahidha Bari and M. John Harrison, historian Helen Castor and novelist and poet Alain Mabanckou.
About the author:
Shehan Karunatilaka is a Sri Lankan writer whose first book Chinaman won the Commonwealth Book Prize, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and the Gratiaen Prize, and was shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.
Penguin turns 35 years in India! Over the years, Penguin Random House has fortified the future of books and reading in India and continues to strive on our mission to publish diverse voices. And today on our milestone anniversary, we celebrate our authors, readers and customers who have helped us establish our publishing legacy.
It is particularly gratifying to be celebrating this milestone when so many of our books are being recognised on a national and international scale. Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell, and first published in India by Penguin, won the International Booker Prize this year, making it the first Indian language translation to receive this honour since its launch 17 years ago. The Booker Prize for Fiction 2022 shortlisted Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, which was published originally in India by Penguin as Chats With The Dead in 2020. In 2021, Anuk Arudpragasam’s A Passage North was in the running to win the Booker Prize. This is the first time that books originating from an Indian publisher have been nominated for the Booker Prize twice in a row.
As the region’s most successful publisher, it is our mission to bring quality and affordable books to readers across India and South Asia and take local voices to global markets. We keep strong on this commitment by discovering and publishing authors from the region. We ensure our readers have access to our global catalogue of over 50,000 titles. And we make sure that our readers can choose to read some of the finest writings from the world in print books, e-books or audiobooks, any format convenient for them to integrate reading into their lives seamlessly.
Creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation have been the pillars through which we navigate the unpredictability of our publishing business. We believe in investing in our authors and fortifying our infrastructure to keep up with the growing demand for books. We have also been innovative with data to transform our sales and marketing efforts and gain distinctive competitive advantages. In these dynamic times, we have strengthened our printing and distribution capabilities too. Our growth in publishing has allowed us to give back to the community and help build a generation of readers from all strata of society. We sponsor and support reading fluency programmes that help disadvantaged young readers adopt reading into their lives. We donate books to community libraries and government schools and form partnerships in the process to further spread the message of reading books.
Looking back on our long and illustrious publishing history in India, I would like to thank all our authors for choosing to publish with us and for allowing us to present their brilliant works to the world. I acknowledge the trust our readers extend to us each time they choose a Penguin book to fire up their imaginations and to stay informed and entertained. We are fortunate to have customers and partners who work tirelessly to ensure the availability and access of our titles. And finally, I express my gratitude to my brilliant teams without which none of the above would be possible. Our biggest strength lies with the talented, dedicated, and passionate people in our company.
As we enter a new phase when the world is looking a little bit different, we know that books are going to continue to be an important part of our country’s cultural fabric and our lives. Setting our sights on the future, we are looking forward to bringing more iconic books by gifted writers to our beloved readers with the support of our talented team.
– Gaurav Shrinagesh
CEO of Penguin Random House India and South East Asia
