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Halfway There! Be Inspired With These June Books

Posted on June 2, 2022 by kgoba

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

The Life And Times of George Fernandes by Rahul Ramagundam

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Thousand Kisses Deep by Novoneel Chakraborty

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

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

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

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

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

Operation Sudarshan Chakra by Prabhakar Aloka

The much-awaited sequel to Operation Haygreeva is here!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vishnu Purana by Bibek Debroy (tr.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

architect of new bjp — The Architect of the New BJP||Ajay Singh

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

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

Unsung: Poems by Arunoday Singh

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

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

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

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

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

The Many Lives of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna by Veejay Sai

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An Oxford Summer And Bipolarity

Posted on May 30, 2022 by kgoba

With a strong faith in the anecdotal as well as the scientific, Aparna Piramal Raje’s Chemical Khichdi is a unique entry to the Indian self-help canon. Mental health awareness still has a long way to go, but a greater scholarly understanding of bipolarity creates a stable foundation of destigmatization and support.

Below is an excerpt from the memoir.

Summer 1997, Brasenose College, University of Oxford

‘Who would like to volunteer?’ asks the knife-thrower.

It is the annual end-of-year college ball, a night-long party that is as much part of university tradition as its historic libraries. This year the ball is circus-themed and Brasenose students are ready to celebrate. I have just finished a three-year undergraduate course in politics, philosophy and economics, and am looking forward to the ball. After all, the strenuous final examinations are over.

Now, in the middle of the night, I am taking a break from dancing and am seated in the college dining hall with friends when a professional knife-thrower asks for a volunteer to face his daggers. The daggers would put a set of kitchen knives to shame.

One of my friends raises my arm. ‘Aparna would like to do it!’

I turn to him and say, ‘Are you crazy?’

He says, ‘Go on, I know you can.’

The knife-thrower is a professional. All I need to do is stay still, I think to myself as I walk up to the target and position myself in the allotted spot. I am wearing a lime-green kurta, last worn at my cousin’s wedding six months ago. I wrap it tightly around me, making sure that none of the fabric is sticking out. I thank God for the UK’s National Health Service, hold my breath and wait. The spacious, wood-panelled dining hall, normally lined with dozens of chattering students, is equally silent.

A few seconds later, there is loud applause. The daggers were accurate and I was unflinching. My friends are very proud of me.

Crazy? Impulsive? Risky? I think this incident illustrates something more nuanced—my ability to stay calm and collected when needed, while pursuing ‘safe thrills’.

Oxford is known for its weekly ‘essay crises’, where students often stay up all night trying to complete their assignments. Final examinations at Oxford are known for their rigour. Despite these stressors, I was able to maintain my composure during the three-year undergraduate programme. A close circle of friends, a serious college relationship, lack of interpersonal conflict and a genuine interest in my chosen subjects were cornerstones of my emotional and mental equilibrium. The college relationship in particular was transformational on all counts; a wonderful way to grow and flourish as a young adult.

When it ended, a year after we left college, I could not sleep properly for days and I could not stop talking. It was obvious that I was not fully myself, with many racing and conflicting thoughts and emotions running through my head. Break-ups are significant life events for any young person. So perhaps it made sense to view my reaction, while out of character, as part of growing up and not a mental health issue. In other words, there was little to suggest then of the highs and lows to come—until the summer of 2000, before going to the Harvard Business School (HBS).

I was twenty-four then and had been working in sales and marketing with VIP luggage for three years. Midway through the year, I was accepted into HBS. The programme started in September. In the interim, I planned to take time off from the business to pursue a different sort of adventure: to intern with Randeep Sudan, a senior bureaucrat in the Andhra Pradesh government at the time. Mr Sudan worked closely with N. Chandrababu Naidu, then the chief minister of one of India’s most technologically progressive states. The internship was facilitated by a family friend and I was keen on learning about state-level governance, a completely unfamiliar subject.

Come July 2000, I found myself in Hyderabad, then the capital of Andhra Pradesh, staying as a paying guest in the home of Lakshmi Devi Raj. Over the next four weeks, I acquired two role models—my innovative and approachable boss, Mr Sudan, and my host, the sixty-eight-year-old joyful and independent Lakshmi Aunty. During the day, Mr Sudan ensured I worked on stimulating projects, such as how the state could attract more external investment.

At night, Lakshmi Aunty took me on a cultural and gastronomic tour of Hyderabad’s unique attraction: its larger-than-life parties. Musical evenings went on all night—I could not keep up with Lakshmi Aunty and her friends.

So it was a successful internship on all counts. My work was appreciated, so much so that Mr Sudan arranged for me to make a presentation to the chief minister and a large team at the end of my four-week internship. And two decades later, Lakshmi Aunty continues to remain a sprightly role model and a friend.

Yet inside, there was turmoil. I was consumed with anxiety and insecurity about my parents’ deteriorating marriage. By then it was clear there was a major estrangement, something that I had trouble accepting. I was also deeply unhappy about another relationship break-up; someone I had been seeing for nearly two years. And I was riveted by excitement about the success of my internship.

These emotions triggered the perfect storm.

My mounting excitement—the internship, Harvard—and my raw insecurities made me impetuous, restless and hypomanic. With all the idealism of a twenty-four-year-old, I was convinced I could change the world. Blurry as the past can be, I can still remember some of the half-baked thoughts and ideas that overtook my mind in the weeks before I was due to leave for Boston. I knew I could catalyse an omnipotent coalition of Indian companies and the government to rule global markets in the prevailing dot-com era, and started drawing up grandiose plans, scribbling away on bits of paper. Sleep disappeared as I felt invincible, restless and impetuous, going to bed late and rising early.

Kay Redfield Jamison, a renowned psychotherapist, bipolar patient and author of the classic An Unquiet Mind, says it best in her memoir. ‘My mind was beginning to have to scramble a bit to keep up with itself, as ideas were coming so fast that they intersected one another at every inconceivable angle. There was a neuronal pileup on the highways of my brain, and the more I tried to slow down my thinking the more I became aware that I couldn’t.’

My family was shocked at my behavioural change. ‘I know you so well. I’ve grown up with you. We shared a room for years. So to watch your face change, your eyes change, your mind change, in front of my eyes, was a terrifying experience. You behaved your whole life one way and then suddenly you started behaving another way, and you maintained that the new way is the real you, but Mom and I were saying, “No, something’s wrong, something’s different”. But you were holding on to your mood as the authentic truth. It created a friction like no other. Because we were saying something’s wrong. And you were saying nothing is wrong. That was the biggest clash. We didn’t know what it was, we were totally in the dark,’ recalls my sister Radhika.

Welcome to bipolarity.

Chemical Khichdi is available at your nearest bookstore and Amazon. Get your copy here!

Have Fun with Fermentation with This Handmade Life!

Posted on May 27, 2022May 30, 2022 by mdwivedi

‘Fermentation and civilization are inseparable.’

—John Ciardi

If you’re curious about how fermentation works, or what it is, read an excerpt from This Handmade Life by Nandita Iyer!

“Where there is life, there is fermentation.

This Handmade Life Blog — This Handmade Life||Nandita Iyer

Microorganisms are intimately related to human life. Unlike the womb, the birth canal is teeming with bacteria. The journey of a baby from the womb to the outside world through the birth canal gives it the first dose of microbes. The baby’s microbiome continues to be nurtured by the mother’s milk, which was earlier thought to be sterile. Breast milk also feeds the existing gut bacteria in the baby, kickstarting the baby’s fledgling immune and digestive systems. Our first brush with bacteria continues into the rest of our life, until death and beyond. A study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on a fascinating census sorting all the life on earth by weight. The weight of bacteria on the planet is 1200 times more than the weight of all the humans on the planet. They are omnipresent, on our skin, inside our bodies and on the surface of all vegetables and fruits. When humans channelize the power of bacteria and fungi to benefit us, to add flavor to food and to modify food in a way we seek, it is called fermentation.

It is fairly simple, and you don’t need a degree in biochemistry to figure out how to ferment foods. By fermentation, we are harnessing the bacteria and yeast to do the cooking for us, pre-digesting food, creating flavors in a way we cannot do ourselves in the kitchen and providing more bioavailable nutrients.

Fermented foods are less prone to spoilage because harmful pathogens cannot survive in the acidic environment. It was used as a method to preserve food for longer when there was no access to refrigeration and other food preserving technology.

Using fermentation, we can make a variety of fermented beverages like whey sodas and ginger ales at home, reducing our dependence on artificially flavored and highly sugary drinks. These are not only low in sugar but have no artificial colors, preservatives or additives. Seasonal fruits, herbs, spices and pretty much any other natural produce can be used in these beverages. Homemade fermented beverages are also low in alcohol content, making a good replacement for alcoholic drinks for those who are keen to cut down on alcohol.

Eating fermented food regularly helps maintain a good gut microbiome. Gut bacteria play an important role in immunity, mental health, digestion, regulating blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and more. The majority of commercial ‘probiotic’ supplements don’t survive stomach acid. A thriving gut microbiome requires a regular intake of fermented foods and foods containing resistant starch (for example, raw papaya, plantain, beans and legumes, cooked and cooled rice or potatoes) that feed the good bacteria in the large intestine. Regular consumption of fermented foods also helps ease gut-related problems like acidity, bloating and poor digestion.

Homemade ferments have a microbial diversity that commercially made bottled fermented drinks lack, as they are inoculated with a set quantity of known strains. This is understandable as a fixed quantity of known microbes will give a predictable result and the standardization that commercial brands need. Fermentation makes vegetables fun. Raw carrots that are tooth-breakingly hard do very well with three days of lacto-fermentation. It is a great way to snack on carrots with hummus, or you can simply dice these and add them to salads for a beautiful flavor profile.

The brine can also be drunk diluted in water as a digestive beverage as it is full of beneficial bacteria. Fermentation is a step towards zero waste where excess produce can be preserved for longer or kitchen waste such as peels, pith and seeds of fruits like pineapple, mango, apples, etc. can be used to make sodas and vinegar.”

This Handmade Life is all about finding a passion and becoming really good at it. Divided into seven sections-baking, fermenting, self-care, kitchen gardening, soap-making, spices, and stitching-this book tells us it is all right to slow down and take up simple projects that bring us unadulterated joy. Get your copy of This Handmade Life today!

Verses to tickle your funnybone

Posted on May 23, 2022May 23, 2022 by kavyawahi

In recent times, whenever ancient Sanskrit works are discussed or translated into English, the focus is usually on the lofty, religious and dramatic works. Due to the interest created by Western audiences, the Kama Sutra and love poetry have also been in the limelight. But, even though the Hasya Rasa, or the humorous sentiment has always been an integral part of our ancient Sanskrit literature, it is little known today.

Anthology of Humorous Sanskrit Verses is a collection of about 200 verse translations drawn from various Sanskrit works or anthologies compiled more than 500 years ago. Several such anthologies are well-known although none of them focus exclusively on humor. A.N.D. Haksar’s translation of these verses is full of wit, earthy humor and cynical satire, and an excellent addition of the canon of Sanskrit literature.

Let’s read these excerpts from the book.

When his garb is simple space,

why does he need garments?

If he is covered in ashes,

what for any woman?

And if he does have a woman,

why hate Kama, God of Love?

Seeing all these contradictions

in the ways of his master Shiva,

the body of his servant Bhringi

is just a skeletal bag of bones.

1/2 v. 2399

He cannot read what others write,

his own script no one can read:

the curious thing about him is

that he himself cannot decipher

that of which he is the writer.

1/4 v. 2334

Cleverness in weighing goods

in purchase or sale

and tricks for confiscating deposits:

thus do they, these day-time robbers,

the traders steal from people.

2/14 SP v. 4035

Lakshmi sleeps on a lotus blossom,

Shiva on a hill of snow,

and Vishnu sleeps on a sea of milk.

I think this is because they are all worried

about the bed bugs where they lie.

4/1 SRB Hasya

Make love, lover, while you may,

for your youth is passing away.

When you are dead, who will give you,

with the funeral, a sweet cunt too?

4/8 v. 2366

With no meat or liquor,

nor robbery from others,

or causing them injury,

that official weeps all day.

4/10 SRB Hasya

The goddess of the state’s prosperity

sadly weeps, tears darkened by

ink drops trickling from the pen

of that clerk who plundered her.

4/14 SRB Hasya

No learning or eloquence,

not even any craftiness;

how can you then have, minister

the feeling of not being rewarded?

5/3 SM (HP v. 13)

‘What is it, mother, on top of his head?’

‘Son, it is the crescent moon.’

‘And what is that upon his forehead?’

‘That is his flaming eye.’

‘What’s in his throat?’

‘It’s a poison.’

‘And that thing below his navel?’

Hearing from her son this last,

Parvati covers his eyes

and puts her hand upon his mouth.

May she protect us always.

6/1 SMHP v. 1

Get a copy of this book of humourses verses from your nearest bookstore or online.

Think T20: ‘The Art of Management’

Posted on May 19, 2022 by kgoba

When it comes to business and management, a book written by one of India’s longest-running CEOs is as good as learning from the best. In The Art of Management, Shiv Shivakumar—formerly CEO of PepsiCo and current executive president of AdityaBirla—interviews 21 leaders from different Indian industries. By keeping an open mind and never saying no to learning, Shivakumar leans towards a more philosophical stroke of management. His sage advice on the transforming landscape borrows symbols and icons from popular culture for better comprehension.

The following excerpt talks about his view on management from the lens of the T20 model of cricket.

art of management — The Art of Management||Shiv Shivakumar

T20 has revolutionized cricket, and a number of innovations/practices from T20 cricket have now crept into Test cricket as well. Examples include the reverse sweep, slower bouncer, boundary relay catch, high fielding standards, running between the wickets, fitness of the players and, most important of all, the data and the insights from the data.

T20 is a brutal game. Yesterday’s captain is tomorrow’s twelfth man. Things are never so severe in the corporate world. You need a thick skin when you are a cricketer of the stature of Paul Stirling or Hashim Amla or Joe Root or Steve Smith or Adil Rashid, and you are not picked by any team. Even when picked, you are playing second fiddle. Life can turn out like that when you are on top of it on one day and down in the dumps the next day. Actors go through that in Bollywood and Hollywood.

The captain of a national team could be in the reserves in the Indian Premier League (IPL) team. M.S. Dhoni was dropped from the captaincy of the Pune team. No fans protested. I am sure people would have protested if Dhoni were dropped as captain of India. Captains are changed midway through the IPL. A captain has to make way and become a substitute player if the combination doesn’t work, as happened with a great like Ricky Ponting at Mumbai Indians.

This simple lesson in multiple capabilities is something we can apply in life and the corporate world. A single-skill cricketer does not have a role in the IPL team, however good he is at the international level. The best Test batsmen who cannot adapt to T20 don’t get picked, but the best bowler still has a chance. Teams tend to pick players with multiple skills—batting, bowling, fielding, wicket-keeping, captaincy. So these days, we need to have more capabilities in life and at the workplace as compared to the past.

Equally, one needs to adapt to a new world. One cannot play Test cricket and expect to succeed in a fast-changing world. This is a challenge for many managers past their prime. They are all digital immigrants and just don’t have a sense of how to work in a digital world. Rahane and Pujara in cricket are examples.

One has to constantly re-evaluate the capability set and be future-ready in life.

The Art of Management is now available at all major bookstores near you. Get your copy now!

Trying to land your dream job? Think out of the box with Get Job Ready!

Posted on May 10, 2022May 25, 2022 by mdwivedi

“A jack of all and master of none” is a quote that all of us are familiar with, but a majority of people do not know that the original quote is longer.

“A jack of all and master of none is still better than a master of one.”

Interesting isn’t it? When we pursue our academic dreams and try to land that dream job, extra-curricular activities often take a backseat. Here’s why you need to think out of the box to Get Job Ready!

Extracurricular activities help you go the extra mile

Your participation in extracurricular activities can help build your resume and land an internship or job in the future. While in college, extracurricular activities are amazing avenues to build core employability skills. Extracurricular activities are activities that fall outside of your regular academic work. In addition to helping you build necessary skills, extracurricular activities offer additional benefits. They can expand your thinking and perspective, increase your self-confidence, and build a network of friends. There is no one best extracurricular activity. What is best for you may be different from what is best for your classmate.

How to pick an extracurricular activity

Find an activity that you can enjoy and that helps you grow. A number of research studies have shown that students who participate in extracurricular activities perform better academically. Here are a few examples of extracurricular activities to help showcase and develop your employability skills:

Leadership in student government
Visual and performing arts participation
Community service volunteering or leadership
Academic clubs
Clubs representing professions and associations
Participation, awards, or outstanding achievements in hobbies and special interests
Tutoring experience
Sports-Team member, captain, or coach
Research projects
Leadership or other participation in on-campus media

Don’t hesitate to use your extracurricular activities to highlight your accomplishments and to illustrate your successes. Have you started an on-campus club, or had a significant role in one? Do your extracurriculars involve skills such as leadership as head of a club, managing events, marketing, writing, website design and development, creating policies, such as in student government, or research projects? Are you on a cricket, racquetball, badminton, or soccer team? Are you the captain of a team? Do you coach younger students? Do you have significant responsibility for taking care of a family member? All these skills can be important in a professional environment and can impress an employer.

If there’s an area that you want to be involved in or a leadership role that you want to take on, and the opportunity doesn’t exist on-campus, then create it. This will show future employers that you can take initiative, are a creative thinker, and a leader, and are not afraid to take on a challenge.

Grab your copy of Get Job Ready and get expert guidance on how to land your dream job straight out of college!

Beat the heat with these chill May summer reads!

Posted on May 4, 2022June 22, 2022 by mdwivedi

As the temperature outside rises, chill out with this curated collection of new releases, which includes a plethora of genres to satiate every bibliophile’s unique taste!

Four Chapters by Rabindranath Tagore

Char Adhyay (1934) was Rabindranath Tagore’s last novel, and perhaps the most controversial. Passion and politics intertwine in this narrative, set in the context of nationalist politics in pre-Independent India. Ela, a young working woman, comes under the spell of Indranath, a charismatic political activist who advocates the use of terror for the nationalist cause. She takes a vow never to marry, and to devote her life to the nationalist struggle. But she falls in love with Atindra, a poet and romantic from a decadent aristocratic family. Through their relationship, she becomes aware of the hollowness of Indranath’s politics. Afraid that she might expose them to the police, the political group gives Atin the task of eliminating Ela. In the dramatic final sequence of the novel, Ela offers herself to Atin, with tragic consequences.

This new translation, intended for twenty-first-century readers, will bring Tagore’s text to life in a contemporary idiom, while evoking the flavour of the story’s historical setting.

Head Held High Vishwas Nangre Patil

Head Held High Book Cover — Head Held High||Vishwas Nangre Patil

Whenever decorated officer Vishwas Nangre Patil recalls the memories of Diwali from his childhood days, the sounds of firecrackers often transform into the deafening grenade blasts from the night of 26/11. It was his grit, cultivated over the years from the neck-breaking labour of studying for the UPSC exams, that had enabled him to power on and gun down the terrorists inside the Taj Mahal Palace hotel during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Head Held High, translated from the Marathi book Mann Mein Hai Vishwas, is an account of IPS officer Vishwas Nangre Patil’s life-from his humble background, through school, college, long hours of studying for the UPSC examinations to the final selection to the IPS cadre and, eventually, his role in the counterterrorism operations during the Mumbai attacks. This moving and authentic account of the most formative and challenging years of his life is sure to strike a chord with those who aspire to join the Indian civil services.

Salt of the Earth by Kalindi Charan Panigrahi

Kalindi Charan Panigrahi was a notable poet and writer in Odia. He is credited for the short but influential movement in Odia literature called the Sabuja Yug which was the age of Romanticism, inspired by Tagore’s writings. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1971. Matira Manisha is his most well-known work. It has been translated into English twice before. Mrinal Sen made a film on this book and it received the National Film Award for Best Odia film in 1967.

The novel is, quite simply, the tale of two brothers, who have very different attitudes towards the land they inherit from their father. It talks about the breaking apart of the joint family and celebrates a Marxist and Gandhian approach to living.

Generation XL by Sanjay Borude

Generation XL Book Cover — Generation XL|| Dr. Sanjay Borude

India has a paradox of malnourishment as well as morbid obesity. While children have fewer weight-related health and medical problems than adults, overweight children are at high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults, placing them at risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes later in life. They are also more prone to develop stress, sadness, and low self-esteem.

The contributing factors could be many, besides genetic makeup and medical factors like hypothyroidism and Cushing’s Syndrome. Children today spend far more time on screens than playing games outdoors, more so in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Energy-dense foods and drinks are more readily available now than before. Psychological factors like stress also lead to overeating and increase the risk for obesity in childhood.

The book is a comprehensive roadmap for prevention and management of childhood obesity by one of India’s top bariatric surgeons. With real life case studies and examples, the book helps parents and children chart a roadmap to recovery and a fitter, healthier life. Without corrective action, there could be serious implications for future generations.

Anthology of Humorous Sanskrit Verses by A.N.D. Haksar

In recent times, whenever ancient Sanskrit works are discussed or translated into English, the focus is usually on the lofty, religious and dramatic works. Due to the interest created by Western audiences, the Kama Sutra and love poetry has also been in the limelight. But, even though the Hasya Rasa or the humorous sentiment has always been an integral part of our ancient Sanskrit literature, it is little known today.

MoveMint Medicine by Dr. Rajat Chauhan and Dr Darren Player

MoveMint Medicine book cover — MoveMint Medicine||Dr. Rajat Chauhan, Dr Darren Player

Dr Rajat Chauhan and Dr Darren Player have seen it all. They know what it is like to break real and imaginary obstacles when it comes to exercising, whether it’s for peak performance or getting back from a disease or achieving optimal health. Drawing from a range of experiences, MoveMint Medicine empowers readers to become CEOs of their own bodies and mind-not by pushing one to the limit but by building on small victories.

Dr Chauhan and Dr Player focus on a widely ignored element of exercising: the mind. This book goes against the grain by drawing readers attention to mental health and its importance for one’s physical self. Never preachy and always funny,

MoveMint Medicine is the only book one needs to read to become a better version of oneself.

Good Innings by Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan

Good Innings Book Cover — Good Innings|| Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan

Lily Tharoor was born in a small village in Kerala in the mid-1930s. From this humble beginning, she would live around the world, raise three global citizens, and inspire multiple generations with her drive to learn and achieve. Fiercely independent and ambitious, she pushed her children, including her son Shashi, to always think outside the box. The only ground firm enough to stand on, she told them, is the one written into existence by your own hand.

In Good Innings, Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan tells her mother Lily’s ‘extraordinary, ordinary’ story through a combination of personal reflections, life lessons, and philosophical insights. The result is a collection of teachable vignettes aimed to galvanize a new generation into growth and action. Every chapter starts with an anecdote which will encourage conversations and transformations in the reader’s life. Good Innings is an intimate account of the life of a beloved matriarch with a modest background and an iron will-a woman who learned from the school of life and now has lessons to share of her own.

Unstoppable by Manthan Shah

Unstoppable Book Cover — Unstoppable||Manthan Shah

Unstoppable will take you on a journey with the best and the brightest of young Indians who overcame obstacles to achieve extraordinary success and shaped the community around them.

This new-age story of success is made interesting due to the author’s narrative, stories of young overachievers in business, sports, music, academia and entertainment, research by renowned experts in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, genealogy, social sciences and leadership, and action plans that will help you define and achieve your full potential.

If you have the drive to achieve something, this book will help you become unstoppable.

Superpowers on the Shore by Sejal Mehta

Book Cover — Superpowers on the Shore||Sejal Mehta

Our coasts are large, vast wildernesses that witness the mystical pageantry of life. They have given us monsters and myths, they are fathoms deep and full of whispers, home to unknown creatures and sprawling ecosystems. They are chasms of beauty and frontiers of possibility. From the space between land and sea, revealed only at low tide, comes a coruscating kaleidoscope of colours and brilliance: the intertidal zone. And the marine lifeforms of these zones are capable of superpowers. Yes, superpowers! Of the kind that comic book characters can only dream of.

The Indian coastline hosts some magnificent intertidal species: solar-powered slugs, escape artist octopuses, venomous jellies, harpooning conus sea snails, to name just a few. It is as biodiverse as a forest wildlife safari, and twice as secretive. From bioluminescence and advanced sonic capabilities to camouflage and shapeshifting, these cloaked assassins are capable of otherworldly skill. Superpowers on the Shore by Sejal Mehta is a dazzling, assured look at some of the creatures with whom we share our world, our water, our monsoons, our beaches and the sandcastles therein.

Come witness the magic of our intertidal superheroes, their fragile beauty and their iridescent drama. Put on your waterproof shoes, pack a bottle of whimsy, bring your sense of wonder. And prepare to be mesmerized.

This Handmade Life by Nandita Iyer

This Handmade Life is all about finding a passion and becoming really good at it. Divided into seven sections-baking, fermenting, self-care, kitchen gardening, soap-making, spices and stitching-this book tells us it is all right to slow down and take up simple projects that bring us unadulterated joy.

Written in Iyer’s signature lyrical and friendly style, the book is about hands-on activities that can be meditative and healing for the body, mind and soul. Taking the reader through myriad personal and transformative hobbies, Iyer has managed to serve up a book that is motivational and inspirational at a time when both are in short order.

Chemical Khichdi by Aparna Piramal Raje

Some said children were out of the question, but she is a mother of two boys.

Some said she couldn’t handle business life, but she has interviewed over a hundred CEOs, and counting.

Some said she wouldn’t be able to write a book on mental health, but here it is. Aparna Piramal Raje is happy, thriving and bipolar. And this is her story.

Part memoir and part self-help guide, Chemical Khichdi provides a pathway for anyone with a mental health condition and the family, friends, colleagues, and medical professionals that love and care for them.

Empathetic, candid and accessible, it outlines ‘seven therapies’ that have enabled Aparna to ‘hack’ her mental health and find equilibrium over the years, and shows how you or someone you know can also do the same.

The Whispering Chinar by Ali Rohila

In Charbagh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a short detour from the Grand Trunk Road that leads towards Afghanistan, stands a chinar tree in the garden of Khan Mohammad Usman Khan. Legend has it that it was planted by a saint known to the grandfather of the Khan, who had told him that the family would prosper till this tree survived. The tree has stood for generations, a silent witness to the many stories of Charbagh, its grounds held sacred until the day a bullet fired by the oldest son of the Khan hit one of its branches.

In this debut collection of interlinked stories, the banker author recounts the stories as seen by the chinar tree. In Charbagh, a village where modernity slowly creeps in, there are tales of unrequited love, of family honour and religious persecution, of patriarchy and breaking its shackles, and of what it means to belong to Charbagh in tumultuous times.

Here, Fahad Khan falls in love with Saad Bibi, but it is a dangerous affair that threatens to uproot social norms. An imam competes with another for devotees, and an air-crash survivor-turned-teacher is charged with the crime of blasphemy. In Charbagh, Nazo learns why she has been sent away from her family, and Ali finds out how far friendship and trust can go. A banker struggles to make sense of his misfortunes, while Farid Khan must acquaint himself with a woman’s rejection.

Beginning from the 1970s, when the Indus was dammed near Charbagh, these stories chronicle a time and a place of belonging, of nostalgia, and of relationships and friendships. The Whispering Chinar is an extraordinary debut collection that tells stories from an unknown part of our world.

Rohzin by Rahman Abbas

Mumbai was almost submerged on the fatal noon of 26 July 2005, when the merciless downpour and cloudburst had spread utter darkness and horror in the heart of the city. River Mithi was inundated, and the sea was furious. At this hour of torturous gloom, Rohzin begins declaring in the first line that it was the last day in the life of two lovers, Asrar and Hina.

The novel’s protagonist, Asrar, comes to Mumbai, and through his eyes the author describes the hitherto-unknown aspects of Mumbai, unseen colours and unseen secrets of the city’s underbelly.

The love story of Asar and Hina begins abruptly and ends tragically. It is love at first sight which takes place in the premises of Haji Ali Dargah.

The arc of the novel studies various aspects of human emotions, especially love, longing and sexuality as sublime expressions. The emotions are examined, so is love as well as the absence of it, through a gamut of characters and their interrelated lives: Asrar’s relationship with his teacher, Ms Jamila, a prostitute named Shanti and, later, with Hina; Hina’s classmate Vidhi’s relations with her lover and others; Hina’s father Yusuf’s love for Aymal; Vanu’s indulgence in prostitutes.

Rohzin dwells on the plane of an imagination that takes readers on a unique journey across the city of Mumbai, a highly intriguing character in its own right.

The Art of Management by Shiv Shivakumar

Careers are changing, and the capabilities required to stay relevant are changing even more rapidly. We seem to have endless choices, at least at the beginning of a career, but these start narrowing after middle management. How does one think about one’s own life and career in this changing decade?

In this book, Shiv Shivakumar points out that today, unlike in the past, all the three elements are your responsibility. With in-depth interviews with top leaders across the spectrum and an insightful foreword by Sachin Tendulkar, The Art of Management is a must-read.

Made in Future by Prashant Kumar

Over the last two decades, the disruption brought about by data and technology has created a wide chasm between marketing strategy and what really works in the marketplace.

Made in Future is a groundbreaking new book that seeks to recast marketing from a white sheet, with an incisive view of how vast changes in media, content, influences and people’s expectations have come together to write a new story of marketing.

The book challenges a lot of the accepted wisdom of the past, yet is brutal where the hype is ahead of substance. In the process, it offers an alternative journey that is conceptually whole, makes you think and helps you follow it all up with pragmatic decisions.

Nireeswaran by V.J. James

Is it possible for society to exist without religion? Nireeswaran, the most celebrated of Malayalam novelist V.J. James’ works, uses incisive humour and satire to question blind faith and give an insight into what true spirituality is.

Three atheists, Antony, Sahir, and Bhaskaran, embark on an elaborate prank to establish that God is nothing but a superstition. They instal a mutilated idol of Nireeswaran, literally anti-god, to show people how hollow their religion is. Their plan starts turning awry when miracles start being attributed to Nireeswaran-a man waking up from coma after twenty-four years, a jobless man ineligible for government employment getting a contract, a prostitute turning into a saint-leading hordes to turn up to worship the fake deity.

The trio is put in a quandary. Will they fight their own creation? Is their intractable minds an indication that atheism is a religion in itself? Belief and disbelief, it is possible, are two sides of the same coin.

Techproof Me by Siddharth Pai

Today, we depend on technology for fulfilling almost all our needs. One thing that can be easily predicted about technology is that it is dynamic and the speed of change is intense. This book is about the new roles we need to play in our technology-oriented world. Discussing themes such as AI, machine learning and the Internet

of Things, among others, the book prepares readers for massive technology-led disruption. It provides

them with information and observations on a variety of technology-related subjects so that they can pivot

on a space as small as a coin when they need to. This book is the ultimate guide that can help readers remain relevant in the fast-changing world of technology.

The Art of Focus by Gauranga Das

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world we live in, more so than all the recent events put together. The pandemic has made humans question certain assumptions, relook at priorities and adjust life according to the new normal in the twenty-first century. As we take stock of life ahead, beyond this cusp of change, focus emerges as the fulcrum to help ease this transformation.

The Art of Focus, the second book in this three-part series, presents forty-five simple stories filled with revelations to enthral readers with learnings from the experiences of the protagonists and the dynamics of the situations that manifested in their lives.

The first book in the series, The Art of Resilience, presented ingredients to the readers to help them develop resilience in challenging situations that manifested at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Art of Focus builds on the first book and inspires the resilient heart to develop a focused mind. This collective presentation will better equip the readers to take charge of their lives and adapt to the new normal effectively.

Beauty Unbottled by Kavita Khosa

Can one make sunscreen from saffron? Can hemp oil help heal acne? How does madder root help cure hyperpigmentation? Beauty Unbottled is a unique DIY guide on how to use herbs and plants to turn your kitchen into a beauty lab. Learn how to treat hair loss, frizz, dandruff and premature greying with powerful Ayurvedic kitchen herbs. Create your own masks, moisturizers, serums and shampoos with superfoods like neem, tulsi, jasmine and sandalwood-herbs that are revered in Ayurveda. Explore the alchemy of Ayurveda and its long-lost, forgotten beauty

secrets with simple step-by-step skin and hair recipes (with vegan options) in this definitive guide and self-help book. This book will also guide you to read and understand labels, have a balanced diet for a healthy body and choose ingredients that are super effective yet gentle on you and mother earth.

Kavita Khosa, the founder of the award-winning skincare brand Purearth, brings to this book her years of experience in Ayurveda and expertise as an organic cosmetic science formulator. Beauty Unbottled debunks urban

beauty myths, drawing upon scientific research and time-honoured classic Ayurvedic texts. Rooted in Ayurveda, this book invites you to celebrate the skin you are in!

Dhanapatir Char by Amar Mitra

The island came out of the golden pot of Ma Kamala, which she gave to the pirate Pedru to rule. However, there are mythical and mystical elements to the story about how Dhanapati is not only the village headman but also the giant tortoise of lore that swam in from depths of the oceans and fell asleep here to be seen when the waters recede in the winter months.

Dhanapati was the last Pedru, but he was now old and blind, unable to rule his island for long. He then gifted it to his seventeen-year-old wife, Kunti. Will Dhaneshwari, the new ruler, be able to save the island and its women from the lustful eyes of the administration? Or will the government acquire the island? Or will Kunti be able to cast her spell and get the old tortoise to float away with the island on his back?

The Island of Dhanapatir combines the elements of myth, allegory and magic realism with a folklore of rare beauty.

Where the Sun Never Sets by Stuti Changle

If you find someone’s diary, would you dare open it?

Well, if you chance upon your old diary, would you dare read through your past?

Iti is forced to move back to her hometown of Mussoorie amid worldwide lockdown to work on her first movie script. Iti’s chance encounter with her first love, Nishit, reunion with her estranged best friend, Shelly, and nights spent reading her well-kept diary, make her best memories and worst nightmares come to life. She has always run away from her past, but now has no choice.

Will reading her diary prove to be an adventure worth taking for completing the script? Will life be the same? Ever?

Set in the COVID-19 lockdown, from the national bestselling author of On the Open Road and You Only Live Once, Where the Sun Never Sets is a riveting personal account of unforgettable childhood dreams, turbulent teenage years, complicated close relationships, human resilience, and the never-ending journey of growing up.

The Wait by Damodar Mauzo

A cab driver, who assumes the identity of whoever his clients want him to be, finds himself in a tricky situation with a passenger. A late-night call leads a doctor down a path of lust and desire, but with unexpected results. A writer acquaints himself with a thief who had broken into his house. A migrant worker falls in love but wonders how he can present himself as a suitor. A young man, having lost the love of his life, takes it upon himself to resolve another couple’s dilemmas.

Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo’s sometimes bizarre, sometimes tender stories, set largely in Goa, create a world far removed from the sun and sand and the holiday resorts. Here you find villagers facing moral choices, children waking up to the realities of adult lives, men who dwell on remorse, women who live a life of regret and communities whose bonds are growing tenuous in an age of religious polarization. Probing the deepest corners of the human psyche with tongue-in-cheek humour, Mauzo’s stories reveal the many threads that connect us to others and the ease with which they can be broken. Written in simple prose and yet layered in nuances, The Wait is a collection that brings to the anglophone world one of the doyens of Konkani literature.

From Stuck-up to Start-up by Neeraj Kapoor

Stuck-up to Start-up is a step-by-step guide to launching your start-up without quitting your job and exploring new opportunities in a post-covid-19 world. It is suitable for those millions of professionals who are stuck in their job traps and who have dreams of starting someday but don’t know ‘how’. The book answers the ‘how to’ questions that most people have but don’t know whom to ask.

The book has been carefully crafted to become an essential handbook for students at business schools, and for every professional worth his dreams. Neeraj brings the flavour of sharing from his life that’s vivid and real to the reader, which connects with the reader and has high retention value. This enables readers to enhance their clarity, decision-making and effectiveness at work and in life to launch their start-up and rapidly scale up with ease, grace, power and freedom.

Essential Reader: Sarojni Naidu by Sarojni Naidu

Sarojini Naidu was a prolific writer and speaker, publishing three collections of poetry during her life and delivered many rousing speeches throughout the freedom struggle and after India gained Independence. This book compiles her best-known work, as well as letters she wrote throughout her life to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore and others, to provide a glimpse into the kind of person she was and the ideas she believed in.

Through these pages, we can witness her innermost thoughts and feelings, and the important role she played in shaping the country’s freedom struggle and its ideas as a young nation, particularly through rousing speeches on the Education of Indian Women and the Battle of Freedom is Over, which were broadcast over the All India Radio on 15 August 1947.

Sing, Dance and Pray by Hindol Sengupta

When A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada entered the port of New York City on 17 September 1965, few Americans took notice–but he was not merely another immigrant. He was on a mission to introduce ancient teachings of Vedic India to mainstream America. Before Srila Prabhupada passed away at the age of eighty-one on 14 November 1977, his mission was successful. He had founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), colloquially known as the ‘Hare Krishna Movement’, and saw it grow into a worldwide confederation of more than 100 temples, ashrams and cultural centers.

This is the inspirational story of Srila Prabhupada. As the founder of ISKCON, he ’emerged as a major figure of Western counterculture, initiating thousands of young Americans’.

He has been described as a charismatic leader who was successful in acquiring followers in many countries, including the United States, Europe and India. Srila Prabhupada’s story is bound to put you on a path of self-realization.

This summer, add these refreshing reads to your TBR pile and read the heat away!

Why does losing someone hurt so much?

Posted on April 27, 2022May 9, 2022 by prhi-dev

All of us, at some point in our lives have gone through the loss of a loved one. Most of all, we never quite know how to deal with these experiences and that’s where The Millennial Yogi steps in.

Here is an excerpt from the incredible book written by Deepam Chatterjee, where he explores the idea of death and loss.

TMY cover — The Millennial Yogi||DeepamChatterjee

‘Speak to us of loss. Why does losing someone hurt so much?’ a man at the majlis asked Vini.

‘Loss isn’t such a bad thing. When we are attached to things, we don’t want them to change. But the reality is, deep in our hearts we already know that nothing will last forever, and we hope against hope that things won’t change. When someone we really love is taken from us, we are saddened. Although we know that we cannot bring back the past, we ache and hurt because we want their comforting presence in our lives forever. It is very important to grieve when we lose someone. Grieving makes us tender and brings us close to our heart. Different people grieve differently.’

‘Some people think that grieving makes them weak. They suppress their pain and become hardened,’ someone at the majlis observed.

Vini nodded in agreement. ‘Sometimes loss can make us hateful and bitter. We can either grow into beautiful people through loss, or we can become bitter and angry. It is a choice we have to make ourselves,’

Vini explained gently. ‘Ash had gone through so much loss in his life, and it changed him. But as time passed, old patterns began surfacing. Ash was at a crucial juncture of his life . . .’

There were subtle signs that only an awakened soul could read. The old man knew that time was short. Ash was at a crucial juncture of his life. He was on the verge of falling back into the vagaries of the material world. But, if pushed in the right direction, he could attain great spiritual heights.

The old man knew that the push wasn’t going to be pleasant for Ash.

The next time the man came for his beedis, Ash told him that he was ready to work for him, as he wanted to save some money and begin a business. The old man nodded slowly and told him to head back to the forest with him that evening.

‘But remember, Ashwini, you will have to do exactly what I tell you.’

‘I am sure I will manage, Babaji. Your work can’t be too tough. Let me go and collect my things,’ Ash said.

The man smiled gently and left for the gathering. When he finished, Ash was waiting with a duffle bag in his hand. He was quite proud of the fact that he had been able to fit all his worldly possessions into one bag. Mangal stood slightly behind him with folded hands. He was happy for Ash. The old man saw them and nodded. He gave his ektara to Ash to carry and began shuffling back towards the forest.

Ash slung his bag over his shoulder and followed him. They walked quietly for some time, and all Ash could hear was the sound of their feet and the old man’s laboured breathing.

‘May I know your name?’ Ash asked the man.

‘Eh?’ The man stopped and turned his head to hear better. Ash realized that he was probably a bit hard of hearing.

‘Your name. I mean, it cannot be Baba. You must have a name,’ Ash said.

‘Oh,’ the man wheezed. ‘Call me anything you want to. It hardly matters what you call me.’

‘But I am sure you have a name, Baba,’ Ash persisted.

The old man sighed and said, ‘Ajaat. Call me Ajaat. That is a good name.’ His face crinkled into a smile.

‘Ajaat. That’s an unusual name. What does it mean?’

‘It means “the Unborn”. We all are Ajaat, beta. No one’s ever born, no one ever dies,’ he said as he sat down on a rock to catch his breath.

To know more about life and death and all that plays out in between and gather the energy to deal with all of it, get your copy of The Millennial Yogi now.

Our all time favourites for World Book Day!

Posted on April 23, 2022March 2, 2023 by mdwivedi

Classics are timeless reads that bring you comfort, nostalgia, and warmth to invigorate and inspire you from time to time. This World Book Day, we’re bringing you our favourite books that will stay with you for a lifetime!

Navarasa by A.N.D. Haksar

According to Indian aesthetics, “rasa” is the sap or juice that permeates our culture, art, and helps to direct our basic human feelings. The Natya Shastra, an ancient Hindu text, first made reference to the Navarasas; our art, dance, theatre, and literature are all founded on these nine human emotions. For the first time, 99 verse translations of the nine rasas of old Hindu history are presented in Navarasa: The Nine Flavors of Sanskrit Poetry, coming soon.

The Monkey’s Wounds by Hajra Musroor

A compilation of sixteen short tales by Hajra Masroor called The Monkey’s Wound and Other Stories serves as an example of her unyielding voice, her piercing depictions of the bitter realities of life, and the wounds and traumas of women’s inner lives. The tales are taken from her renowned compilation of tales, Sab Afsanay Meray, and are translated from the original Urdu. They are tales that showcase Masroor at her finest.

The Sacred Wordsmith by Raja Rao

Raja Rao’s best works, including his autobiographical Prefaces and Introductions, are collected in The Sacred Wordsmith. The book includes a number of his well-known acceptance speeches, such as those for the Sahitya Akademi Award and Neustadt International Prize, as well as other well-known writings, including “The World is Sound,” “The Word,” “Why Do You Write?” “The West Discovers Sanskrit,” “The English Language and Us,” and “The Story Round, Around Kanthapura,” a fascinating, unpublished account of the creation of his well-known first novel.

The Postmaster by Rabindranath Tagore

Poet, novelist, painter and musician Rabindranath Tagore created the modern short story in India. Written in the 1890s, during a period of relative isolation, his best stories—included in this selection—recreate vivid images of life and landscapes. They depict the human condition in its many forms: innocence and childhood; love and loss; the city and the village; the natural and the supernatural. Tagore is India’s great Romantic. These stories reflect his profoundly modern, original vision. Translated and introduced by William Radice, this edition includes selected letters, bibliographical notes and a glossary.

Selected Stories by Saadat Hasan Manto

Manto's Selected Stories — Selected Stories|| Saadat Hasan Manto

The gentle dhobi who transforms into a killer, a prostitute who is more child than woman, the cocky, young coachman who falls in love at first sight, a father convinced that his son will die before his first birthday. Saadat Hasan Manto’s stories are vivid, dangerous and troubling and they slice into the everyday world to reveal its sombre, dark heart. These stories were written from the mid 30s on, many under the shadow of Partition. No Indian writer since has quite managed to capture the underbelly of Indian life with as much sympathy and colour. In a new translation that for the first time captures the richness of Manto’s prose and its combination of high emotion and taut narrative, this is a classic collection from the master of the Indian short story.

Lifting the Veil by Ismat Chughati

At a time when writing by and about women was rare and tentative, Ismat Chughtai explored female sexuality with unparalleled frankness and examined the political and social mores of her time.
She wrote about the world that she knew, bringing the idiom of the middle class to Urdu prose, and totally transformed the complexion of Urdu fiction.
Lifting the Veil brings together Ismat Chughtai’s fiction and non-fiction writing. The twenty-one pieces in this selection are Chughtai at her best, marked by her brilliant turn of phrase, scintillating dialogue and wry humour, her characteristic irreverence, wit and eye for detail.

One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan

All of Kali and Ponna’s efforts to conceive a child-from prayers topenance, potions to pilgrimages-have been in vain. Despite being in aloving and sexually satisfying relationship, they are relentlessly houndedby the taunts and insinuations of the people around them.Ultimately, all their hopes and apprehensions come to converge on thechariot festival in the temple of the half-female god Ardhanareeswaraand the revelry surrounding it. Everything hinges on the one night whenrules are relaxed and consensual union between any man and woman issanctioned. This night could end the couple’s suffering and humiliation.

But it will also put their marriage to the ultimate test.Acutely observed, One Part Woman lays bare with unsparing clarity arelationship caught between the dictates of social convention and the tugof personal anxieties, vividly conjuring an intimate and unsettling portraitof marriage, love and sex.

Loom of Time by Kalidasa

Kalidasa is the greatest poet and playwright in classical Sanskrit literature and one of the greatest in world literature. Kalidasa is said to have lived and composed his work at the close of the first millennium BC though his dates have not been conclusively established. In all, seven of his works have survived: three plays, three long poems and an incomplete epic. Of these, this volume offers, in a brilliant new translation, his two most famous works, the play Sakuntala, a beautiful blend of romance and fairy tale with elements of comedy; and Meghadutam (The Cloud Messenger), the many-layered poem of longing and separation.

Also included is Rtusamharam (The Gathering of the Seasons), a much-neglected poem that celebrates the fulfillment of love and deserves to be known better. Taken together, these works provide a window to the remarkable world and work of a poet of whom it was said: Once, when poets were counted, Kalidasa occupied the little finger; the ring finger remains unnamed true to its name; for his second has not been found.

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5 new audiobooks you can spend this World Book Day listening to

Posted on April 22, 2022 by kavyawahi

Hyped up for world book day on the 23^rd of April? It’s a Saturday so we understand if you have too many chores on your to-do list to actually curl up with a book. You also may not be able to spend it at a bookstore adding another pile to your already full and chaotic shelves that need organizing this weekend. If this sounds like you, or even if your eyes are just too weary to focus on tiny letters, we’ve got you covered. You can still spend a perfectly wholesome World Book Day in the comfort of your home while ticking not just one, but five great new books off your TBR (To Be Read, but we’re sure you knew that!) before the spoilers start coming in. All you got to do is download your picks from the books below. You’ve got your work cut out for you, so you can start listening to these while you arrange those bookshelves by colour, authors’ names, or theme.

Hit play and get cracking!

The Origin Story of India’s States

The Origin Story of India’s States is a fascinating and illuminative account of the genesis of India’s states. It presents the incredible origin stories of each of India’s twenty-eight states and eight union territories, spanning from Independence until today.

The state that wasn’t even a part of India until 1975; the union territory that had a prime minister for a single day; the state that has not one or two but three capitals; and the union territory that has beaches on both coasts-this book looks into such unique aspects of Indian history and adds to our understanding of how our nation has been built.

Sita: A Tale of Ancient Love

Sita is a tale of ancient love from Indian mythology & Hindu folklore and legends.

Sita, the beloved princess of Mithila, is one of the most revered women in Indian history; so well known, yet probably the least understood. At every crossroad of her life, she chose acceptance and grace over self-pity. Her life was filled with sacrifice yet wherever she was, there was abundance. It was as if she was carved out of an intense longing for Rama, yet she had infinite patience. In every situation she reflected his light and he reflected her love. In her, we find someone who is so divine yet so human.

In this poignant narration, Bhanumathi shows us the world through the eyes of Sita. We think what Sita thinks, we feel what she feels, and for these few special moments, we become a part of her. And perhaps, through this perspective, and Sita’s immortal story, we will discover the true strength of a woman.

Secrets of Divine Love

Secrets of Divine Love draws upon the spiritual secrets of the Qu’ran, mystical poetry and stories from the world’s greatest prophets and spiritual masters to help you reignite your faith, overcome your doubts and deepen your connection with God. Practical exercises and guided meditations will help you develop the tools and awareness to overcome the inner critic that prevents you from experiencing God’s all-encompassing love.

The passages in this book serve as a compass and guiding light that return you to the source of divine peace and surrender. Through the principles and practices of Islam, you will learn how to unlock your spiritual potential and your divine purpose. Secrets of Divine Love uses a rational yet heart-based approach towards the Qu’ran that not only enlightens the mind, but also inspires the soul towards deeper intimacy with God.

Roots to Radiance

Do you wish you looked perfect, but don’t have the time or money for expensive treatments? Look no further than Roots to Radiance-your self-care bible to good skin, hair, teeth, nails, etc., and, most importantly, good health.

In Roots to Radiance, you will find 500+ tips and tricks that will help you stay in your ‘A game’. By using its easy-to-make solutions drawn from traditional Indian wisdom, you can lessen and even replace chemicals with wholesome, natural ingredients that will enrich and enhance your daily beauty routine.

From refreshing life lessons to inevitable struggles and motivational inspiration, this book will help you sail through every beauty or life concern you’ve ever had.

A Rude Life

Vir Sanghvi’s has been an interesting life – one that took him to Oxford, movie and political journalism, television and magazines – and he depicts it with the silky polish his readers expect of him. In his autobiography, A Rude Life, he turns his dispassionate observer’s gaze on himself, and in taut prose tells us about all that he’s experienced, and nothing more for he’s still a private man.

He unhurriedly recounts memories from his childhood and college years, moving on to give us an understanding of how he wrote his biggest stories, while giving us an insider’s view into the politics and glamour of that time.

This is an explosively entertaining memoir that details one of the most eventful careers in Indian journalism. Studded with a cast of unforgettable characters like Morarji Desai, Giani Zail Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Dhirubhai Ambani and a host of other prominent political and cultural figures, A Rude Life is a delicious read.

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