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Learn about India’s history with our August books

We have published amazing books in August for you and our young readers. So, spend the holidays and long weekends with your little ones reading them stories of courageous people and helping them understand India’s history.

 

The Train to Tanjore

The Train to Tanjore
The Train to Tanjore || Devika Rangachari

Tanjore, 1942

There are few excitements in Thambi’s quiet life. There is the new hotel, disapproved of by elders, which lures him with the aroma of sambar with onions. There are visits to the library to read the newspaper, and once in a while, a new movie at the Rajaram Electric Theatre. More disagreeably, there are fortnightly visits from his uncle to lay down the law.

When Gandhiji announces the Quit India movement, Tanjore is torn apart by protests. The train station-the lifeline of the town-is vandalized. Mysterious leaflets are circulated, containing news that newspapers do not publish. And inspired by the idea of a free India and his own dreams of being an engineer, Thambi must find the courage to do what he believes is right, even when it endangers all he holds dear.

The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

 

A Conspiracy in Calcutta

A Conspiracy in Calcutta
A Conspiracy in Calcutta || Lesley D. Biswas

Calcutta, 1928

As the student protests gather momentum all across Calcutta, and police atrocities grow, ten-year-old Bithi wants to join in the struggle for freedom.

But living in a society where her best friend is to be married and just the fact that she is going to school is regarded with disapproval, how can Bithi play a substantial part? How can she fight those who are dearest to her? Discouraged but not daunted, Bithi schemes and plots and lies and is drawn into unexpected danger-all for the sake of fighting injustice in all its forms.

The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

 

After Midnight

After Midnight
After Midnight || Meghaa Gupta

At the time of independence, few believed that a country made up of over 500 princely states and British provinces could survive as a nation, even for a few years. That a land stripped of its riches, wracked by disease and famine and divided along tense communal lines, could thrive in its ambition and aspirations. Yet, in 75 years since independence, India has grown beyond anyone’s expectation. Today it’s an Asian powerhouse, poised to become the third largest economy in the world. In many ways, this is one of the greatest underdog-beating-the-odds stories in world history.

How did India get this far? What were the sweeping social, cultural, scientific, political, military, environmental and economic developments it witnessed along the way? Interspersed with personal anecdotes, illustrations, infographics, informative timelines and pull quotes, After Midnight gives a powerful context to the present and revels in the diverse and remarkable ideas that have come to shape this great nation. It attempts to provide young readers with perspective, meaning, and food for thought as they try to comprehend the many facets of this fascinating country. This well-researched, accessible and definitive handbook tells the story of India like never before.

 

The Vanguards of Azad Hind

The Vanguards of Azad Hind
The Vanguards of Azad Hind || Gayathri Ponvannan

The year is 1943 in British India . . .

Kayal is a 16-year-old freedom fighter who takes part in marches, burns British goods and sabotages trains-all without the knowledge of her law-abiding family. So, it comes as quite a surprise when Kayal discovers that her aunt Uma is a soldier in the Azad Hind Fauj, the all-volunteer Indian National Army from Southeast Asia led by Subhash Chandra Bose, which aims to free India!

By what Kayal considers a huge stroke of luck, Uma agrees to take her along to a recruitment camp in Burma. Suddenly, the war, which had once seemed a distant thrill, now becomes a horrific reality.

Packed with adventures of teenagers as they join military boot camps, and set off on the most exciting journey of their lives, The Vanguards of Azad Hind is an ode to the Azad Hind Fauj and its women’s unit, the Rani of Jhansi regiment, whose soldiers proved to be trailblazers with their feisty passion to fight for India’s freedom.

 

Misfit Madhu

Misfit Madhu
Misfit Madhu || Divya Anand

Madhu is a shy middle-grade developer who spends her holidays creating her dream app, ‘School Santhe’. Soon, the app goes viral…and so does she! And why not? After all, an app where everyone at school can trade stuff is the app they’ve all been waiting for! Madhu now sets her sights on winning the GoTek young developers contest.

But when School Santhe is used to selling leaked test papers, she’s faced with the hardest decision of her life:
a) Shut down the app that made her popular?
b) Or stay silent and become part of something…criminal?

As her dreams begin to crumble – with the entire school now blaming her for the mess her app has caused – Madhu realizes that sometimes, it’s far easier to debug an app than it is to debug your life!

 

 

Get your copies of these books from your nearest bookstore or via Amazon.

Mull over August with these new releases

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

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The Bellboy by Anees Salim

The Bellboy
The Bellboy||Anees Salim

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

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

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

The Last White Man
The Last White Man||Mohsin Hamid

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

Challenges To A Liberal Polity by M Hamid Ansari

Challenges to A Liberal Polity
Challenges To A Liberal Polity||M Hamid Ansari

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

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

Chorashastra by V.J. James

Chorashastra
Chorashastra trans. Morley J. Nair ||V.J. James

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

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

When I Am With You by Durjoy Datta

When I Am with You
When I Am With You||Durjoy Datta

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

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

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

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

The Hidden Hindu Book 2 by Akshat Gupta

The Hidden Hindu 2||Akshat Gupta

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

Reading Sri Aurobindo by Gautam Chikermane & Devdip Ganguli

Reading Sri Aurobindo
Reading Sri Aurobindo||Gautam Chikermane & Devdip Ganguli

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

Stories and Sutras by Virat Chirania

Stories and Sutras
Stories & Sutras||Virat Chirania

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

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

Heavens And Earth by Garima Garg

Heavens and Earth
Heavens and Earth||Garima Garg

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

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

Temple Lamp by Mirza Ghalib

Temple Lamp
Temple Lamp trans. Maaz Bin Bilal||Mirza Ghalib

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

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

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

The Many Lives of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna
The Many Lives of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna||Veejay Sai

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

Essential Reader: Sarojini Naidu

Essential Reader: Sarojini Naidu
Essential Reader: Sarojini Naidu

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

How To Raise A Plant Baby by Vinayak Garg

How to Raise a Plant Baby
How to Raise a Plant Baby||Vinayak Garg

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

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

Sojourn by Amit Chaudhuri

Sojourn
Sojourn||Amit Chaudhuri

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

The Dolphin And The Shark by Namita Thapar

The Dolphin and the Shark
The Dolphin and the Shark||Namita Thapar

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

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

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

Leaders in the Making
Leaders In The Making||Arvind Agrawal & T.V. Rao

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

The DREAM Founder by Dhruv Nath

The DREAM Founder
The DREAM Founder||Dhruv Nath

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

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

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

A Quiet Revolution
The IT Story Of India||S. ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu & Krishnan Narayanan

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

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

The Cave
The Cave||Alok Kejriwal

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

Your Complete Guide To Wellness Box Set

Your Complete Guide to Wellness Boxset

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

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

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

Wealth Creation Made Easy Boxset by Saurabh Mukherjea

Wealth Creation Made Easy Boxset||Saurabh Mukherjea

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

Build a growth mindset and become unstopppable!

Do you know what a growth mindset is?

What if we tell you that it’s one of the keys to help you achieve any goal you set your mind to?

Manthan Shah’s Unstoppable, a book full of interviews and analysis of young achievers of India, explores the growth mindset and also tells us how we can help build one too! Here is an excerpt from the book showcasing some of the incredible information on the same:

A growth mindset is basically about believing that your abilities can be developed.
It is not simply about being open-minded and flexible in accepting your mistakes. It is about being dedicated to growing your talents. It is not just about efforts but also about trying new strategies (and discarding the ones that are not working).

You can build a growth mindset by following these self-directed exercises as adapted from the interview with Stefanie Faye, an award-winning neuroscience specialist and educator.
This exercise entails four steps – goal setting, learning about neuroplasticity, celebrating mistakes, and exposing yourself to micro experiences, while highlighting micro progress. This will lower your fear of failure and increase your willingness to go out of your comfort zone and grow as a person.

1. Have an other-ish goal. In his landmark book Give and Take, Adam Grant uses the term otherish as a person who is a giver, you will also see this in our Giving Back chapter.


In terms of goals, these are the opposite of selfish goals, and a bit different than the selfless goals, other-ish goals are the ones where you have your own interests in mind, while having a high concern for others too. As defined in the chapter on grit, you must have a higher-order goal. This goal should be motivated by your personal benefits and by a desire to help the world around you.

For example, at the time of writing this book, my personal long-term goal is to become an expert in the field of  sustainable finance and help India achieve its net-zero carbon emission targets by 2070. This goal is at the intersection of my interests and qualifications in finance, and my desire to do something for my country.

 

2. Talk about neuroplasticity. Learn it, understand it and
reflect on how it plays a role in your life.

3. Celebrate mistakes.

4. Expose yourself to micro experiences and highlight micro progress.

Unstoppable by Manthan Shah
Unstoppable || Manthan Shah

 

 

To learn more about these last three steps of efficiently building a ‘growth mindset’, get your copy of Manthan Shah’s Unstoppable. Out now!

 

How adopting a pet changes your kid for the better

When we think of the picture-perfect family, it’s impossible to leave pets out of the picture. Especially, the human-dog relationship which is not new. It’s so traditional to society, that there’s archaeological evidence for it!

Taking in a pet, no matter how normal today, may seem overwhelming. Thinking about its effects can be a great way of getting started. How will having a furry friend in the family help the house? This is where ‘adopt don’t shop’ becomes more than just a call for animal rights. By adopting pets, we open the doors to life lessons unteachable in school.

Read on to find out how something as straightforward as pet adoption could be more fulfilling than imagined!

 

Teaching Boundaries

As kids, one of the first difficult things we learn is that we won’t always get what we want. Something as simple as ‘no, you cannot have ice-cream at 9 a.m.’ could be difficult to process. When a puppy is in the house, there will be times when the furry friend won’t be in the mood to play. The child might be upset by this, but over time it will understand that the puppy has its own wants and needs. This also contributes to better Emotional Intelligence, as discovered and confirmed by studies.

 

Routine and Structure

Having to teach a puppy to not go potty in the house, making sure it obeys orders shows the child examples of how routine and structure are for the better. By establishing a daily timeline for their furry friend(s), kids also land up following a similarly organized structure.

Inni & Bobo Find Each Other||Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu

Compassion and empathy

Perhaps the winning argument for adoption is that it gives a second life to a stray. By downplaying on the breed of a dog, taking a puppy from a shelter helps kids learn about empathy and compassion. The words aren’t abstract terms but real experiences that they will always refer to when thinking about kindness and helping others.

 

Self-Esteem and Independence

When kids participate in taking care of pets, they unknowingly give themselves examples of performing tasks. Kids are less likely to be underconfident about their abilities when they already know they can take care of another living being!

We hope these pointers helped you visualize a pet-friendly life with your children. Remember, adopt don’t shop!

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Inni and Bobo Find Each Other is available at your nearest bookstore as well as on Amazon.

The day the mangoes turned sweet

Sudha Murty’s latest release is a fun celebration of the national fruit, the juicy and scrumptious mango!

The following excerpt is the first chapter of How The Mango Got Its Magic. Get your copy now from bookstores or head to Amazon to order!

How the Mango Got its Magic||Sudha Murty

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Chapter One

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful mango grove on the outskirts of a village. Dinkar was the owner of the grove and Shyam was his hardworking son.

Back in those days, mangoes were ornamental fruits with beautiful colours and shapes, but they were not very tasty—they were more sour than sweet.

One day, it began to rain heavily and there was a knock on the door of Dinkar’s house.

When Dinkar opened the door, he saw an old man standing at his doorstep. The old man said, ‘Hello. I got caught in the rain. Will you let me in? I will leave once it stops raining.’

Dinkar generously welcomed him in. ‘It looks like the rain will not stop today, but it may cease tomorrow. Please come in. You can take shelter here.’

The old man entered the house. Shyam made him a hot meal and gave him some water to drink. The old man gulped the water down and devoured the food quickly, within minutes.

After a loud burp of satisfaction, he smiled at Shyam and Dinkar and said, ‘That was a wholesome meal.’

He took out a mango from his bag and gave it to Dinkar. ‘This is for both of you,’ he said. ‘Please cut it and eat it immediately.’

Dinkar looked at the mango. It looked like it was one of the very sour ones. He did not want to insult his guest, so he cut the mango and bit into it. His eyes popped in wonder and he turned to his son, ‘Shyam, all the mangoes I have eaten in my life have been sour—like the taste of lemon. Though we have a mango grove, we never eat the mangoes that grow here. But this mango is fantastic and unusually sweet. It’s absolutely delicious! Go on, try it.’

Shyam took his first bite and nodded his head vigorously in agreement. This mango was indeed sweet and tasty. Shyam had never even heard of sweet mangoes!

‘Plant this mango seed. The tree will grow quickly and produce more mangoes like the one you ate just now,’ the old man smiled and said.

The next morning it stopped raining. The old man thanked Dinkar and Shyam for their timely hospitality and left.

#Tatastories: Air India, Tea and J.R.D.

On the 118th birth anniversary of the Father of Aviation in India, J.R.D Tata, read this excerpt from Harish Bhat’s #Tatastories about how the man who championed the art of giving taught lessons to the world to strive for excellence.

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#Tatastories
#Tatastories || Harish Bhat

J.R.D. Tata was the founder of Tata Airlines, which went on to become Air India. Way back in the 1940s and 1950s, this airline was the first Indian global entity, proudly taking the Indian flag to international skies. In 1948, Air India inaugurated its first international service, from Mumbai to London, a proud moment for the country.

J.R.D. was determined to make Air India the best airline in the world, notwithstanding the fierce competition from a host of other global airlines. For him, this was essential, because Air India was not just an airline, but a proud carrier of India’s image across the world. During the inaugural international flight, on which he also flew, he watched carefully for the reactions of passengers, and was greatly relieved when everything went very well, including landing in London right on time. He said, ‘It was for me a great and stirring event . . . seeing the Indian flag displayed on both sides of the Malabar Princess [the name of that particular aircraft] as she stood proudly on the apron at the airports of Cairo, Geneva and London filled me with joy and emotion.’

Thereafter, he was obsessed with making the airline special, and he knew that this required the highest standards of customer service and excellence. He told the airline’s employees, ‘I want that the passengers who travel with us do not have occasion to complain. I want to establish that there is no airline which is better liked by passengers, that is safer and more punctual, where the food and service is better, and which sets a better image than Air India.’

As early as 1949, with constant attention to every small detail, these aspirations were coming true. In fact, the prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote to J.R.D. Tata on 7 May 1949, specifically complimenting him on the high quality offered by the airline. Nehru wrote: ‘This is just a brief letter to express my great appreciation of the quality of the Air India International Service. I have now travelled on four occasions between India and England in it, and the more experience I have had of it, the better I like it. I think that Air India International has played not an unimportant part in raising the prestige of India abroad . . . So, congratulations.’

Air India soon became legendary for its punctuality. Legend has it that people in Geneva, in those years, could set their watches to the time at which the Air India flight flew over their city. In those initial days, J.R.D. would fly one of the aircraft himself once every fifteen days. During these flights, he would insist on such high standards of accuracy that other pilots tried to dodge flying with him. The historian R.M. Lala tells us that on one such flight, J.R.D. asked his co-pilot, Capt. Visvanath, for the ground speed. ‘145 miles per hour,’ replied Visvanath. J.R.D. was not satisfied. He took out his slide rule, worked out his own calculations, and responded, ‘It’s 145.5.’ Those were the standards of accuracy he expected if the airline was to keep perfect time.

J.R.D. Tata’s blue notes were extraordinary in their attention to detail and relentless push for excellence in all matters big and small. After every Air India flight that he took, he would send these ‘blue notes’ to the management, summarizing his observations, including encouraging comments and scathing criticism. Here are some extracts from his notes in the year 1951, after he had flown Air India to Europe and back home: ‘Chairs: I found on VT-DAR that some of the seats recline much more than the others. As a result, those seats are more comfortable. I suggest that all our seats be adjusted for a maximum reclining angle, except, of course, the rearmost seats which are limited by bulkheads.’

And even more interesting is this note: ‘The tea served on board from Geneva is, without exaggeration, indistinguishable in colour from coffee . . . I do not know whether the black colour of the tea is due to the quality (of tea leaves) used or due to excessive brewing. I suggest that the Station Manager at Geneva be asked to look into the matter.’

Because of such meticulous attention to detail and excellence, Air India topped the list of airlines in the world in 1968 as per a survey done by the Daily Mail, London. In fact, in that same year, 75 per cent of Air India’s passengers were foreigners who came from countries with their own airlines. I have also heard that when Singapore wanted to launch an airline (now it is famous as Singapore Airlines), Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew advised his team to study the high standards that had been set by Air India.

In my office, for the past three decades, stands a quote from J.R.D. Tata, which guided his own actions, and which inspires me every single day. He said: ‘One must forever strive for excellence, or even perfection, in any task however small, and never be satisfied with the second best.’ Remember, for instance, his note on tea and coffee.

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Get a copy of #Tatastories from your nearest bookstore or online.

Scars of partition on Dr. Manmohan Singh

The India-Pakistan partition resulted in a sea of emotions in those who witnessed it. The pangs of separation of family members echo to date. Rajeev Shukla, in Scars of 1947, pens down the stories of people and families who faced the consequences of the partition firsthand. One such story is of the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who hailed from the Jhelum district (part of present-day Pakistan). Let’s read an excerpt from the book to find out how partition hit Manmohan Singh and his family.

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Scars of 1947
Scars of 1947 || Rajeev Shukla

The year 1947 was Manmohan’s final year in school. The matriculation exam took place in the month of March. The communal tension during this time was getting worse every day because of the impending partition of the country. He sat for his exams in an environment filled with harrowing sights of violence; the results were never announced for the exams as Peshawar went on to become a part of Pakistan.

In 1947, the Hindu–Muslim clashes had begun, and they became more and more violent with each passing day. At [Manmohan Singh’s] village, Muslims outnumbered all others and as a result, the village had two masjids and one gurudwara. One day, when the tension between the communities was at its peak, it was decided by the elders of the village that they would sit with each other and try to diffuse the tension with discussions. The elders of the village, who were Hindu, Sikhs and Muslims, were called. However, the youngsters of the dominant Muslim community planned a massacre and killed all the Hindu and Sikh elders, among whom was Manmohan Singh’s grandfather who had brought up young Manmohan and of whom Manmohan was very fond. When his grandfather was killed, Manmohan was living with his father in Peshawar. One of his uncles who lived in Chakwal sent an unfortunate four-word telegram to his brother (Manmohan’s father) in Peshawar that read, ‘Mother Safe, Father Killed’. Manmohan was about fifteen years old at the time and says that he still remembers that dreadful telegram message. He says that on the one hand, this group of young Muslim men tricked and killed his grandfather and on the other hand, in that very neighbourhood, there was a Muslim family who hid his grandmother and protected her from the bloodthirsty mob.

These incidents from his childhood were so deeply etched in his memory that while working for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in the United States of America, when he was invited by his friend to Pakistan, he could not resist visiting. His friend Mahbub-ul-Haq had studied with him at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He later served as the finance minister of Pakistan. Mahbub used to stay in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in those days. It was in 1968 that Manmohan Singh visited Pakistan. After the Indo-Pak War of 1965, the relations between the two countries were at its lowest, but Manmohan could not say no to the invitation extended by his very dear friend and visited Rawalpindi, a place he used to visit often in his schooldays. There, he used to visit a particular bookshop and during this trip, it was in the same shop that he found himself gripped by all the nostalgia from his childhood.

After that, he visited Gurudwara Panja Sahib situated in Hassan Abdal (Attock in Punjab, Pakistan) where his naming ceremony had taken place. When he was asked why he did not visit his birthplace, Gah village, which was nearby, his answer expressed the sadness that he had been carrying in his heart for years. He said that he did not visit his village because he did not want to inflict on himself the same emotional trauma by going to the place where his grandfather had been massacred brutally.

During the peak of the violence that had erupted there a the time of Partition, all the houses were burned to the ground; so Manmohan was unsure if there even was anything left to see. His uncle who used to live in Chakwal till 1947 had visited Gah village with a police contingent and had taken the remaining Sikh and Hindu women safely to Chakwal, where they were accommodated in a refugee camp. Manmohan said that not all the women could be saved from the horrendous riots, his own aunt and her mother chose self-immolation to save themselves from being violated by the mobs.

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To read in-depth about the incidents that followed, get a copy of Scars of 1947 from your nearest bookstore or order online.

A question with no answer?

A unique picture book about science and the wild world, Little Jagadish and The Great Experiment encourages little ones to nurture curiosity. Based on the life and mind of real-life scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose, the following excerpt shows the educational combination of outdoor learning and books.

Little Jagadish and The Great Experiment||Anjali Joshi & Debasmita Dasgupta

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One day at school,
while watering the plants,
he hummed a tune and did a little dance.

All of a sudden,
with a small pop,
an idea appeared
and he came to a stop.

‘I wonder if, like us,
plants can hear, too.’

His teacher listened
and her bright eyes grew.

‘Well, no one knows,’
Miss Pooja said.
Jagadish was stunned.
He scratched his head.

With that,
Miss Pooja’s
excitement
grew more.
She saw that
Jagadish had
opened a door.

‘In this world,
mysteries abound.
Books are not
where all answers
are found.’

‘Start with a question,
like you’ve already done.
Then, make a guess.
This is where it gets fun!

Do some experiments
and find some clues.
Make observations, see if your guess is true.’

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Get your copy of Little Jagadish and The Great Experiment from your nearest bookstore or Amazon.

Who was Neem Karoli Baba?

Whether or not one believes in miracles, some legacies are nothing short of magic on earth. One such life is that of Neem Karoli Baba and his teachings which were carried on by Sri Siddhi Ma.

The following excerpt from Sri Siddhi Ma entails the stories and anecdotes which make up the folkloric profile of Neem Karoli Baba. 

Sri Siddhi Ma||Jaya Prasada

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Dressed in a simple white dhoti, with a blanket or a cotton sheet for a wrap-around, Maharaj ji shunned any insignia which would set him apart as a saint or a sadhu. Many a time, as he reclined on his takhat, visitors would walk up to him and ask where they could meet Neem Karoli Baba. His simple reply used to be, “Main koi Baba ko nahi janta. Hanuman ji ke mandir me unse prarthna karo.” I do not know any Baba! Go to the Hanuman temple and pray to him. On other occasions, he would loudly proclaim, “Main kuch nahi janta. Main toh prasad vala Baba hoon.” I do not know anything. I am the Baba who gives prasad!

Baba Neem Karoli, also known as Baba Neeb Karauri, was perhaps the most elusive embodiment of divinity in human form. Accepted and revered as the incarnation of Sri Hanuman, the son of “Pawan” – the god of wind – Maharaj ji too had the attributes of the wind. Sometimes he could be a gentle soothing whiff; at other moments, a hurricane, a whirlwind. But always the bestower of life-giving breath. Nothing could bind him, no one could define him. As we devotees believe, he had no beginning, he has no end. “There can be no biography of him,” wrote his renowned disciple Dr Richard Alpert, later known as the devotee Ram Dass, in his book Miracle of Love. “Facts are few, stories many. He seems to have been known by different names in many parts of India, appearing and disappearing through the years.”

Named Lakshmi Narayan at birth, in the early 1900s, Maharaj ji left his native village of Akbarpur in Uttar Pradesh as a wandering sadhu, when he was only eleven years old. As he travelled to various parts of India, he came to be known by different names. For instance, he was known as Tallaia-wale Baba in Gujarat. This was because in Babania he was seen performing spiritual sadhana under the waters of a small lake, where his temple now stands. The women of the village, with brass pitchers on their heads and veils drawn over their faces, would go to the lake to draw water and would often spot a young mendicant on the shore. On seeing them, Baba would dive into the water and remain submerged for prolonged periods.

Also known as Tikonia-wale Baba and Handi-wale Baba over the years, Maharaj ji then returned home to lead a householder’s life for a few years, after which he left home again. Later, he was known as Baba Lachman Dass in the remote areas of western Uttar Pradesh. Eventually, after his stay in the village of Neem Karoli, he came to be known as Neem Karoli Baba. No one can tell which way the wind blew – but it appears that in the 1940s, from the plains of Uttar Pradesh, Maharaj ji proceeded to the mountains of Kumaon. And with his arrival, the hills began to soon be dotted with Hanuman temples.

An oft-asked question is: who was Neem Karoli Baba? Was he a mystic, an ascetic who aspired for and achieved the highest powers, the siddhis? Was he one of those miracle-sadhus so abundant in India?  Or just a grandfather-figure in the homes he visited, fondly called “Hanuman buju” by the children? These varied questions perhaps have varied answers, for Maharaj ji excelled in the art of deluding aspirants the moment they got a glimpse of even a tiny ray of his infinite spiritual depth. 

If put to me, this question would have a simple answer: Maharaj ji was divine love incarnate.

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Get your copy of Sri Siddhi Ma from the nearest bookstore or head to Amazon to order. 

Where the Sun Never Sets: About a day in the lockdown

Many things in life come unexpected, as did the COVID-19 pandemic. The highs of life suddenly turn into lows and everyday events seem to become hard to deal with. During such phases, the present time slows down and one goes back to thinking about their past. As clichéd as it may sound, one eventually finds the light at the end of the tunnel.

During a similar time, Stuti Changle’s protagonist in Where the Sun Never Sets, comes to terms with her past that she has been running away from. Read an excerpt from the book to get a glimpse of Changle’s protagonist’s thoughts penned down in her diary.

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Where the Sun Never Sets
Where the Sun Never Sets || Stuti Changle

Today felt just like every day is going to feel in my lockdown life.

Once upon a time, it rained for hours, just like it rained today, heavily, unendingly, unstoppably. Rain might wash the physical world, but with it, washed-out memories resurface. Rains deepen the colours of your surroundings as if you’ve unknowingly switched to 4K HD mode. It also deepens the colours in your mind, unlocking the deepest of desires.

Rain is powerful indeed. And what does rain remind you of? The rain reminded me of the onion fritters Mom would deep fry until they were golden and crisp. The mere thought lit up my face, filling my mouth with water. I closed my eyes for a moment, imagining the crisp fritters between my teeth, chewing them with a crunch. Nishit, my ex-boyfriend, would often give me company. He would also tell me that peacocks teach you to dance your sorrows away in the rain.

The rain also reminded me of masala chai, the kind my landlady prepares in Gurgaon, with ginger, lemongrass and basil leaves added in generous amounts. She is the kind of bitch who calls you up to catch up and when you do so, she gives you a list of things you need to get repaired at your own expense.

She keeps reminding me that I am an orphan and it’s her responsibility to bully me to make me stronger. She believes that my parents would have done the same. She also feels that my elder sister is a bitch to have abandoned me. When I am engaged in bitter conversations with her, masala tea is my guru who preaches finding goodness in everything.

I requested Shyamala Aunty to prepare masala tea and fritters in the morning. I gave her very specific instructions. These days of lockdown have to be the perfect time for me to finish the movie script.

But where to start? Why can’t you talk, my diary?

I entered my attic-style bedroom to start writing the script. I had asked Shyamala Aunty to set up my desk in front of the huge window that overlooks the beautiful Mussoorie hills. It’s going to be a long lockdown after all.

I watched some YouTube videos by Tibetan Zen masters. They say that one must prepare well before a new project. Some changes are necessary while some are not as important. But the room where you engage in creative work has to be organized.

Considering the lockdown situation, all I can say is that it is one of the most unpredictable times. Of course, things will change sooner or later. They must. That’s the hope, and we hang on to it.

But I don’t know how much peace organizing my room will bring me when the world is in chaos.

‘Relax. Focus. Concentrate. Yes. Harder,’ I told myself. ‘Write a few words at a time. Bricks build

castles. And castles stand for ages and inspire people for many years to come,’ I murmured.

I sat at my desk wondering if all the days were going to be the same here. You watch the sunrise. The sunset. Sunrise. Sunset. Yet you feel you’re stationary. ‘The sunrise. The sunset,’ I murmured as I had still not written a single word. I put my pen aside.

‘Time never really moves here. That’s the beauty of time in small towns,’ Shyamala Aunty said, breaking my reverie. I hadn’t realized she had entered the room. She sneaks in whenever she likes, and I have hated it since my teenage years.

She continued to mop the floor with a magic mop, even as its engineering was beyond her comprehension. It reminded me of my arguments with Dad, who often said, ‘It is important for everyone to understand mathematics to be able to lead a good life.’

I would always tell him, ‘It is not important to understand an airplane’s engineering to be able to travel in it. You could be a layman and still live a happy life.’

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To know what happens next, get a copy of Where the Sun Never Sets from your nearest bookstores or online.

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