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Tag: fiction

The Animal-Whisperers: Explore the Love between Humans and the Nature in ‘The Girl and the Tiger’

Posted on by Penguin India

‘The story of The Girl and the Tiger is less my own creation and more a collection of moments, truths, and legends I found over the years in the Indian jungle. It is a necklace of a book, a series of seeds and teeth, stones and bones, gathered like beads from the forest floor; I only added the string. It is the result of following elephants, searching for tigers, sitting late into the night around campfires, and becoming acquainted with the tribes of the forest, both human and animal.’, writes Paul Rosolie- a naturalist and award-winning wildlife filmmaker. 

As an author, Paul’s mission is to explore the relationship between humans and nature, wild animals, and our vanishing wild places.

Here are 6 heart-warming instances that speak volumes about the primeval bond that man has with nature-

1. The young orphan Thimma sleepily embraces  the gentle giant , his only family, in a moment where man and nature sway in rhythm with the awakening world –

‘Thimma stood in the nest bed, stretched, and slid down a vine onto the elephant’s back. Straddled on the great neck, he leaned forward to kiss the domed head and rub it roughly with his flat palm. The elephant rumbled and started down the path with the chain-clink of great strides. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the boy spoke gentle directions as they went so that Hathi knew when there was a branch or turn.’

2. Kneeling beside the defeated tigress,Isha keens in sorrow as she offers her gratitude to the animal who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her –

‘She knelt beside the tiger. Her hand moved tenderly on the orange-and-black fur. She stroked the tiger’s ear, her eyes moving in awe and sorrow over the impossibly large body, paws the size of dinner plates, the great sleeping eyes. With her forehead against the warm fur of the tiger’s cheek, she whispered, “Thank you”.’

3. A vein of emotion throbs in man and beast alike when the transformative power of maternal love makes a young girl reach out to comfort a helpless cub-

‘Girl and tiger scrutinized each other. Isha continued to speak to it gently as she extended a hand. The little tiger leaned forward to sniff and tilt its head at the sound of her voice. Isha’s hair still bore the scent of the tigress from the night before, and as the little cub breathed the smell of its mother for the last time, it shivered and drew in close. Ever so slowly, Isha put her hand on the tiger’s head. The tiger trembled as Isha stroked its oversized ears, and then pulled it into her arms. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I won’t leave you. I won’t leave you”.’

4. Kala’s playfulness and Isha’s motherly devotion forms a bond between man and predator that defies all reason and challenges accepted notions of love-

‘By now though, Isha was developing a routine. Once the milk bottle was full, she wrapped her arms in the blanket and fit the makeshift nipple into the tiger’s mouth. Kala wrapped her large paws around Isha’s slender arms and sucked on the repurposed cola bottle and cloth nipple.’

5. Embracing the creatures of the land as her own, Sudha- Matriarch of the Budakattu tribe, sits feeding the young in her care. In her own way, she gives back to nature a little of what she receives-

‘Her eyes moved to Sudha, who sat in the flickering shadow against the cracked wall of her house, her own child nursing at one breast, a young wolf nursing on the other. Isha grinned in the firelight, and Sudha could no longer restrain from grinning back.’

6. In a world where animals were another dimension of the human family, the genial coexistence of man and beast reflected a balance in nature-

‘Thimma’s mother told him that Hathi loved him very much and was the source of all the good things their family had, that the elephant was excited for his sibling. In the final month they held a pooja—an auspicious ceremony of choice where flowers and stones were placed on either side of the pregnant woman, and the elephant predicted, based on his choice of item, the sex of the child. Hathi confirmed the child would be a daughter.’

In his challenging mission to protect wildlife habitat in critical areas of The Amazon and India, Paul Rosolie has observed man and nature at close quarters. In The Girl and the Tiger he gives us poignant moments of raw emotion born out of the beauty and brutality of the natural world.

To feel the pulsating beat of the wild, read The Girl and the Tiger!

An Excerpt from the Newest Jack Reacher Novel ‘Blue Moon’

Posted on by Penguin India

Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is back in Blue Moon!

Reacher is trained to notice things. He’s on a greyhound bus, watching an elderly man sleeping in his seat, with a fat envelope of cash hanging out of his pocket. Another passenger is watching too… Obviously hoping to get rich quick. As the mugger makes his move, Reacher steps in. The old man is grateful, yet he turns down Reacher’s offer to help him home. He’s vulnerable, scared, and clearly in big, big trouble. Will Reacher sit back and let things happen?

Read an excerpt from the book below:

The city looked small on a map of America.  It was just a tiny polite dot, near a red threadlike road that ran across an otherwise empty half inch of paper.  But up close and on the ground it had half a million people.  It covered more than a hundred square miles.  It had nearly a hundred and fifty thousand households.  It had more than two thousand acres of parkland.  It spent half a billion dollars a year, and raised almost as much through taxes and fees and charges.  It was big enough that the police department was twelve hundred strong.

And it was big enough that organized crime was split two separate ways.  The west of the city was run by Ukrainians.  The east was run by Albanians.  The demarcation line between them was gerrymandered as tight as a congressional district.  Nominally it followed Center Street, which ran north to south and divided the city in half, but it zigged and zagged and ducked in and out to include or exclude specific blocks and parts of specific neighborhoods, wherever it was felt historic precedents justified special circumstances.  Negotiations had been tense.  There had been minor turf wars.  There had been some unpleasantness.  But eventually an agreement had been reached.  The arrangement seemed to work.  Each side kept out of the other’s way.  For a long time there had been no significant contact between them.

Until one morning in May.  The Ukrainian boss parked in a garage on Center Street, and walked east into Albanian territory.  Alone.  He was fifty years old and built like a bronze statue of an old hero, tall, hard, and solid.  He called himself Gregory, which was as close as Americans could get to pronouncing his given name.  He was unarmed, and he was wearing tight pants and a tight T shirt to prove it.  Nothing in his pockets.  Nothing concealed.  He turned left and right, burrowing deep, heading for a backstreet block, where he knew the Albanians ran their businesses out of a suite of offices in back of a lumber yard.

He was followed all the way, from his first step across the line.  Calls were made ahead, so that when he arrived he was faced by six silent figures, all standing still in the half circle between the sidewalk and the lumber yard’s gate.  Like chess pieces in a defensive formation.  He stopped and held his arms out from his sides.  He turned around slowly, a full 360, his arms still held wide.  Tight pants, tight T shirt.  No lumps.  No bulges.  No knife.  No gun.  Unarmed, in front of six guys who undoubtedly weren’t.  But he wasn’t worried.  To attack him unprovoked was a step the Albanians wouldn’t take.  He knew that.  Courtesies had to be observed.  Manners were manners.

One of the six silent figures stepped up.  Partly a blocking maneuver, partly ready to listen.

Gregory said, “I need to speak with Dino.”

Dino was the Albanian boss.

The guy said, “Why?”

“I have information.”

“About what?”

“Something he needs to know.”

“I could give you a phone number.”

“This is a thing that needs to be said face to face.”

“Does it need to be said right now?”

“Yes, it does.”

The guy said nothing for a spell, and then he turned and ducked through a personnel door set low in a metal roll-up gate.  The other five guys formed up tighter, to replace his missing presence.  Gregory waited.  The five guys watched him, part wary, part fascinated.  It was a unique occasion.  Once in a lifetime.  Like seeing a unicorn.  The other side’s boss.  Right there.  Previous negotiations had been held on neutral ground, on a golf course way out of town, on the other side of the highway.

Gregory waited.  Five long minutes later the guy came back out through the personnel door.  He left it open.  He gestured.  Gregory walked forward and ducked and stepped inside.  He smelled fresh pine and heard the whine of a saw.

The guy said, “We need to search you for a wire.”

Gregory nodded and stripped off his T shirt.  His torso was thick and hard and matted with hair.  No wire.  The guy checked the seams in his T shirt and handed it back.  Gregory put it on and ran his fingers through his hair.

The guy said, “This way.”

Two rival criminal gangs are competing for control in Blue Moon. Will Jack Reacher be able to stop bad things from happening? Read to find out!

For the Love of Coffee: Excerpt from ‘Extreme Love of Coffee’

Posted on by Penguin India

In a lush green plantation in Coorg lurks a friendly ghost with a pocket watch, a mop of grey hair and a large, white mug of steaming hot black coffee. The apparition breathes in the deliciously deep aromas of medium roasted robusta coffee wafting from his mug as he waits, in anticipation, for a conversation with one who loves coffee as much as he did.

Read on for a whiff of the magic that transports Rahul and Neha to a world of dark brews and darker grudges!

The coffee was softly sweet and refreshing. And then, slowly, they sensed the nutty aroma—of walnuts, mild but deliciously bitter. Rahul knew from his readings about coffee that such a delicate sweetness could only come from a fully ripened coffee berry that had been carefully picked and pulped on the ground under bright, clean summer sunshine. Because then the richness of the raw soil would mingle with the golden heat of the sand and soak in the sun to create this rare, luxurious and nutty taste.

The myriad tastes of coffee continued to amaze him, each one so different from the previous and each teasing the senses so delicately. He decided to use this opportunity to educate Neha, who sat nice and close by his side.

‘How do you like the old lady’s coffee, Neha? Isn’t it so beautiful? Can you taste the walnuts?’

There was no response. So, he asked her again. He turned to find Neha sprawled across the cane sofa in deep slumber. She was awake a few minutes ago. When had she fallen asleep, that too so deeply? He shook her, but she was like a log, muscles locked and eyes shut.

Then, without any warning, he felt sleep overcome him too. From far away, it penetrated his body through his eyes, swimming in like a gentle cloud. It narrowed his eyes when it came in and brought a general sense of growing calm that wasn’t there seconds ago. There was a tender but overpowering silence that it cast on him, which was impossible to counter with words, hands or legs, because they were going dead too. In this twilight zone before deep sleep, the mind has no thoughts because it goes pleasantly numb in anticipation of the rest ahead. We love sleep, don’t we?

Rahul could feel himself levitating. He saw the coffee cup on the cane table going farther and farther away, initially a sharp image, but hazy after a few seconds. It then looked like the cup was being taken away by Pooviah or by someone else with a red and white turban; it did not really matter because within a few seconds he too was deep in sleep.

He woke up almost immediately, not in Cottabetta Bungalow or his familiar room in Mumbai, but in some place that looked like a very small café. There were people around him who looked like they were Japanese, seated on low wooden tables, speaking in Japanese and drinking coffee. The entire place smelt of coffee. Neha was there too, sitting by his side, her left hand resting softly on his lap. On the wall was a beautiful painting of a monkey on a horse, with Mount Fuji in the background. A lady in a red and golden kimono came around with white coffee mugs on a lovely looking oval wooden tray.

As the bright red of her dress approached them, she spoke in highly accented English. ‘Welcome back, Rahul-san and Neha-san. Will you have your usual coffee today?’ She then bowed before them. Are we in Japan? Rahul thought.

 

‘This story has its roots in my long-time love for coffee and a somewhat recent fascination for storytelling and magic realism.’ writes Harish Bhat, author of the bestselling book Tatalog and chairman of Tata Coffee Ltd.

Will Rahul and Neha’s intense love for the aromatic brew help them find their way on their bewildering quest? Read An Extreme Love of Coffee to find out!

Chilling Lines from your New Favourite Thriller ‘The Whisper Man’

Posted on by Penguin India

Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start. But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five boys. Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as ‘The Whisper Man’.

Here are a few quotes from The Whisper Man that will make your hair stand on end:

“The man’s heart, beating more quickly now, ached at the thought of that. He stepped silently out from the bushes behind the boy, and then whispered his name.”

~

“He couldn’t know for sure – not through reason. But his instinct was telling him that Neil Spencer wasn’t going to be found here. That maybe he wasn’t going to be found at all.”

~

“There was nobody there, of course, but he seemed so intent on the empty space that it was easy to imagine a presence in the air.”

~

“There was also a more general sensation – a tickling at the back of the skull. At first glance, the house had unnerved me.”

~

“The name alone conjured up such horror for him that it always felt like it should never be spoken out loud – as though it was some kind of curse that would summon a monster behind you.”

~

“A noise from above me, the sound of a single footstep. I looked up. It was Jake’s room directly overhead, but I’d left him in the front room playing…”

~

“And beside him, he’d drawn another person in his bedroom. A little girl, her black hair splayed almost angrily out to one side. Her dress was coloured in with patches of blue, leaving the rest white. Little scrapes of red on one of her knees. A corkscrew smile on her face.”

The chilling must-read thriller of summer 2019, Whisper Man is now available!

Meet Zoya and Kabeer, the Starry Couple from ‘Love Knows No LoC’!

Posted on by Penguin India

In Arpit Vageria’s debut book, Love Knows No LOC, passion, stardom and international borders are about to collide in a spectacular fashion!

Zoya, a twenty-five-year-old Pakistani pop star, meets emerging Indian cricketer Kabeer while he is on tour in the country to play a match to promote Indo-Pak friendship. One thing leads to another and soon Kabeer and Zoya are inseparable. As their love for each other grows stronger, Zoya leaves Pakistan to be with Kabeer, only to return a few months later following a misunderstanding. In Pakistan, Zoya is gloomy and sulking, rethinking her connection with Kabeer. In India, a confused Kabeer is still hopeful of meeting Zoya.

As their relationship is put to the test in the wake of mounting tensions between the two countries, they both stumble across a long-buried truth that will forever change the course of their lives.

Here are the characters from the book!

Kabeer

‘Considering his loathing for the country, its principles and politics, it was ironic that Kabeer’s international debut was in Pakistan’. However when this debut brings the Indian team’s newest young all-rounder face-to-face with the stunning Zoya Malik, he there ensues a love story that seems to have been written in the stars, but jeopardises their careers, their families and everything they hold dear, including their notions of what constitutes national pride. Can Kabeer overcome his temper, his explosive reactions to being needled about his love and his ideas about the divisions between nations, to come to love the best and accept the worst of his relationship?

 

“The news of his scuffle with the reporter spread like wildfire and Kabeer was suddenly daubed with the dubious distinction of being the prime target of the Indian media. A public outcry was raised against his treachery for dating a Pakistani. Some senior cricket experts even took to a newsroom debate, advising him to stay grounded and not let fame and success go to his head. Despite the prevailing chaos around him, Kabeer felt calm and at peace.”

∼

Zoya Malik

On the face of it Zoya Malik has everything going for her-she’s a golden-voiced beauty with an impressive musical pedigree, as the granddaughter of the maestro Amaan Ali Malik, and daughter of a powerful politician. However behind the façade of her perfect life, she must deal with the weight of the past and a controlling father who abused her mother, conniving uncle and the loss of the people she holds dear amidst the furore that erupts when her desire to see harmony between the neighbouring nations and her relationship with an Indian cricketers seems to brings out the worst in the media and the people around her.

 

Zoya paused for a bit, ‘It’s about amicable relations between the two nations.’ The interviewer didn’t bother to disguise his scepticism, but Zoya rallied and continued, ‘I feel that performing in India could go some way to bridge the ever-widening gulf between Pakistan and India. Music is an art that unites people, regardless of nationality, and I would like my art to be an ambassador for peaceful co-existence.’

 ∼

Arko

Kabeer’s teammate from Team India A, he plays for Mumbai Riders in the T20 tournaments. His straightforward intelligence and unforced humour is the base of a friendship between him and Kabeer and his quiet support and relaxed advice helps Kabeer through difficult times.

 

“Arko was an opener from Bengal, famous for his summary responses to fast bowlers. He revered Sourav Ganguly like a God, and one of his most well-talked-about eccentricities was his never-ending recitation of the ‘Ganguly Chalisa’. Although he had met him only once, he informed every person whom he met about it and every time with a new twist—like a director taking shots from every possible angle to get the best result.”

∼

Ghulam

A young shop assistant in Lahore, he is one of the first people that Kabeer feels a connection with, in Pakistan, and makes Kabeer feel at home in what he considers an alien land.

 

“Ghulam picked up a couple of T-shirts, one of Tendulkar and another of Afridi.  ‘Take these as a small gift from a Pakistani,’ he said. He wrapped them up and put them into a paper bag. ‘We’ll come to watch the match tomorrow and for the first time in my life, I’ll cheer for an Indian in Pakistan.”

∼

Amaan Ali Malik/Naanu

Amaan Ali Malik, the maestro loved India unconditionally even after the Partition. He is also Zoya’s beloved grandfather who brought her up after rescuing her mother from her abusive husband.

 

“Just close your eyes, Naanu, and imagine walking with me on the beach where you taught me how to take my first steps. It was such a beautiful day when you held me in your arms. But do you know what moved me the most? It was your belief in me whenever I fell and failed in certain portions of this chapter called ‘life’. You were brave and courageous.”

∼

Yashwant

Kabeer’s grandfather, his feelings towards the country of his birth, Pakistan are rather complicated after the difficult wrench of Partition.

 “Then why doesn’t he listen to me! It’s a dangerous state and the people there are even more treacherous.’  ‘You too were born in Pakistan, Papa.’ ‘It was India back then. Pakistan is this new and strange country that sponsors terrorism, hate and deaths.”

∼

Vishal Sharma

A particularly vicious reporter who seems out to present both Kabeer and Zoya in the worst possible light.

 

“Vishal Sharma was the journalist standing in front of the crowd, waving a placard with a #shameonkabeer poster. He rapidly spoke into the camera, pillorying Kabeer and inciting the crowd. Kabeer thought he looked familiar and then he remembered. This was the same reporter who had questioned Zoya’s priorities and suggested that her avarice trumped her affection for her grandfather.”

∼

Danish

Zoya’s father, he is a prominent Pakistani politician. Having abused her mother through their unhappy marriage, his attitude towards Zoya is somewhat inscrutable.

 

“Danish sighed and raised his hands in a gesture that said, God, give me strength. ‘You know, for more than a decade now I’ve wondered what would happen if I admitted to you that I was wrong to treat your mother the way I did. But I was always there, supporting you from behind the scenes—when your visa needed to get cleared, when your Mamu jaan tried taking advantage of your situation, and whenever you needed any kind of help.”

Read Love Knows No LoC for a cross-border romance like no other!

 

Memories from the 70s that take you back to your childhood!

Posted on by Penguin India

If you grew up in the 1970s, then you’re probably used to the Gen Z assuming that you grew up  with fancy hairdos and listening to disco music. Although this assumption isn’t totally wrong, there was so much more to your childhood: The ’70s were a decade full of pre-Internet fun — like running around until sundown without anyone worrying.

The book Once Upon A Curfew talks about a turbulent period of Emergency and love amidst the difficulties. It is 1974. Indu has inherited a flat from her grandmother and wants to turn it into a library for women. Her parents think this will keep her suitably occupied till she marries her fiancé, Rajat, who’s away studying in London.  But then she meets  and falls in love with Rana, a young lawyer with sparkling wit and a heart of gold. When the Emergency is declared, Indu’s life turns upside down.

Now that you are starting to feel a little nostalgic, read on for some of good old 1970s memories! Here are some incidents from the book that will transport you back to the 70s India:

 

India Gate was an important meeting point for a stirring revolution.
 ~
The bylanes of Old Delhi would draw people, with famous haunts like Karim’s.
~
Indira Gandhi’s much-talked about campaign was in full-swing.
 ~
Hindi Sahitya was very popular back in the 70s.
 ~
When drinks were simply Campa Cola or the humble Shikanji.
 ~
Bollywood had become an intrinsic part of the pop-culture.
 ~
Kishore Kumar songs ruled the airwaves.
~
The eyeliner game was pretty strong back in the 70s.
~
The decade of 70’s gave birth to many fashion trends.
 ~
Inflation, crime and taxes kept pace with the political havoc that was being wreaked.
~
Regal was easily the most illustrious cinema hall in central Delhi and a sought after venue for ballets, plays and Bollywood talkies.
~
On June 26, 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced National Emergency on All India Radio. 

Get your copy of Srishti Chaudhary’s  Once Upon A Curfew today!

Books You Need to Read this Rainy Season!

Posted on by Penguin India

There’s no better time than right now to sit down and curl up with a few good books and a steaming cup of tea by your side. Why not take a look at these versatile new reads coming up this July?

Roots to Radiance

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.

 

Kargil

Kargil

Kargil takes you into the treacherous mountains where some of Indian Army’s bloodiest battles were fought. Interviewing war survivors and martyrs’ families, Rachna Bisht Rawat tells stories of extraordinary human courage, of not just men in uniform but also those who loved them the most. With its gritty stories of incomparable bravery, Kargil is a tribute to the 527 young braves who gave up their lives for us-and the many who were ready to do it too.

 

The Barefoot Surgeon

The Barefoot Surgeon

Sanduk Ruit was born into the lowest rungs of society in a tiny, remote Himalayan village in Nepal. After long and difficult treks to attend boarding school in Darjeeling and, later, the best of Indian medical colleges, he met the remarkable visionary and Australian ophthalmologist, Fred Hollows, whose invaluable mentorship would enable him to take on his lifelong mission to restore vision to the poorest of blind people across Nepal and the rest of Asia.

Despite relentless backlash from his shaken contemporaries in the global medical industry, Dr Ruit took his unmatched prowess in stitch-free cataract surgery, along with world-class medical care and equipment, to those whose lives were plunged into darkness; who were ostracized and abandoned for being blind with no access to proper treatment.

Dr Ruit is known as the ‘God of Sight’ for restoring the light to millions of people who have been prey to curable blindness and vicious poverty; this is his extraordinary story.

 

Bad Man

Bad Man

Growing up on the fringes of our capital city, Gulshan Grover moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in acting in the 1970s. At a time when most wannabe actors held out for the lead, he made a conscious choice to opt for villainous roles. He went on to portray many memorable characters, with a career-defining role in the 1989 blockbuster, Ram Lakhan, that established him firmly as the ‘Bad Man’ of Bollywood.

Many a mainstream potboiler of the era rode to success on his trademark one-liners and grotesque get-ups that have become part of Bollywood folklore. He subsequently moved on to the international arena, among the first actors from Mumbai to do so, in the process becoming one of India’s more recognizable faces in international cinema.

In this autobiography, Grover tells his story-the films, the journey, the psychological and personal toll of sustaining the ‘bad man’ image, the competition among Bollywood’s villains, the move to playing more rounded characters, and the challenge of doing international films.

 

The Rise of Goliath

The Rise of Goliath

What can best illustrate India’s journey in the last seven decades? Disruptions.

Almost every decade of India’s history since Independence has been marked by major disruptions.

India became independent through an act of disruption-Partition-that killed millions in communal violence and turned many more into refugees. The turn towards a model of state-led economic development delivered as big a shock to the economy as did the food crisis or the spike in crude oil price. If the Emergency in 1975 shook the foundations of India’s democracy, the unprecedented balance-of-payments crisis of 1990 turned India towards a path of economic reforms. Just as the reservation of jobs for backward castes changed the idiom of India’s politics, the movement for building a temple for Ram drove India closer to becoming a majoritarian state. No less disruptive have been the telecom revolution, the banking crisis, demonetization and the launch of the goods and services tax.

How did these disruptions impact India? How did they influence the rise of this Goliath?

This is the story of twelve disruptions that changed India. The book also provides a peek into the kind of disruptions India could face in the coming years.

 

The Making of Star India

The Making of Star India

When Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman, News Corporation, blew up more than $870 million buying Star TV from Richard Li in the early 1990s, analysts were dismayed. Why on earth had Murdoch invested in a pan-Asian broadcaster that was neither fish nor fowl?
More than twenty-five years later, with revenues of over $2 billion, Star India is one of the country’s three largest media firms. Murdoch’s instinct had done what a hundred investor summits could not: showcased the potential of the Indian media market to the world. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar tells the thrilling story of Indian television through its most notable protagonist: Star TV. The narrative is peppered with delicious anecdotes and a fascinating cast of characters that includes Rathikant Basu, Peter Mukerjea, Uday Shankar, Sameer Nair and the Murdochs, who loom large over every scene.

 

Unstoppable
Unstoppable

Kuldip Singh Dhingra, the patriarch of the Dhingra family and the man credited with building Berger Paints, has remained a mystery. He is low-profile, eschews media and continues to operate from a small office in Delhi. In this candid and captivating biography Kuldip reveals his story for the first time.

Kuldip lost his father to an accident early in his life. He and his brothers, Sohan and Gurbachan, started as shopkeepers in Amritsar. From an annual turnover of Rs. 10 lakh in 1970, the Dhingras have built a business with an annual turnover of over Rs. 7,500 crore today. They are among the top thirty richest families in India with a net worth of over $ 4.5 billion.

This never-before-told story of Kuldip moves from Amritsar to Europe to Delhi where he became the largest exporter to the Soviet Union in the 1980s. In 1990 the Dhingras bought Berger.

From dealing with KGB to negotiating with the flamboyant Vijay Mallya; from being pushed to sell arms to challenging big businesses-Unstoppable narrates what a man can achieve if he pursues his dreams relentlessly.

 

A Promised Land

A Promised Land

In the wake of the Partition, a new country is born. As millions of refugees pour into Pakistan, swept up in a welter of chaos and deprivation, Sajidah and her father find their way to the Walton refugee camp, uncertain of their future in what is to become their new home.

Sajidah longs to be reunited with her beloved Salahuddin, but her journey out of the camp takes an altogether unforeseen route. Drawn into the lives of another family-refugees like herself-she is wary of its men, particularly Nazim, the eldest son whose gaze lingers over her. But it is the women of the household whose lives and choices will transform her the most: the passionately beseeching Saleema, her domineering mother Khala Bi, the kind but forlorn Amma Bi, and the feisty young housemaid Taji.

With subtlety and insight, Khadija Mastur conjures a dynamic portrait of spirited women whose lives are wrought by tragedy and trial even as they cling defiantly to the promise of a better future.

 

Plastic Emotions

Plastic Emotions

Plastic Emotions is inspired by the life of Minnette de Silva-a forgotten feminist icon and one of the most important figures of twentieth-century architecture. In a gripping and lyrical story, Shiromi Pinto paints a complex picture of de Silva, charting her affair with the infamous Swiss modernist Le Corbusier and her efforts to build an independent Sri Lanka that slowly heads towards political and social turmoil.
Moving between London, Chandigarh, Colombo, Paris and Kandy, Plastic Emotions explores the life of a young, trailblazing South Asian woman at a time of great turbulence across the globe.

For the Love of God

For the Love of God

Between the third centuries BC and AD were written thousands of verses in Tamil that have collectively come to be known as Sangam literature. The expressions of love between a man and a woman in these love poems gave way to passionate expressions of devotional love, where the heroine became the devotee and the hero became God. Through the centuries of patriarchy, women negotiated varied levels of existence and largely went unnoticed until they found a path for self-expression through bhakti or devotion. While the dominant form of worship was to prostrate before God, women found innovative ways of personal expression, often seeing the lord as a lover, friend, husband, or even son. The individual outpourings and the unfettered voices of these women refused to be drowned in the din of patriarchy gathering momentum until this became a pan India movement.
In For the Love of God, Sandhya Mulchandani delves deep into historical accounts of these women who fell in love with God.

 

Caste Matters

Caste Matters

In this explosive book, Suraj Yengde, a first-generation Dalit scholar educated across continents, challenges deep-seated beliefs about caste and unpacks its many layers. He describes his gut-wrenching experiences of growing up in a Dalit basti, the multiple humiliations suffered by Dalits on a daily basis, and their incredible resilience enabled by love and humour. As he brings to light the immovable glass ceiling that exists for Dalits even in politics, bureaucracy and judiciary, Yengde provides an unflinchingly honest account of divisions within the Dalit community itself-from their internal caste divisions to the conduct of elite Dalits and their tokenized forms of modern-day untouchability-all operating under the inescapable influences of Brahminical doctrines.
This path-breaking book reveals how caste crushes human creativity and is disturbingly similar to other forms of oppression, such as race, class and gender. At once a reflection on inequality and a call to arms, Caste Matters argues that until Dalits lay claim to power and Brahmins join hands against Brahminism to effect real transformation, caste will continue to matter.

 

On Meditation
On Meditation

In today’s challenging and busy world, don’t you wish you knew how to quieten your mind and focus on yourself? In On Meditation, renowned spiritual leader, Sri M, answers all your questions on the practice and benefits of meditation. With his knowledge of all the various schools of practice and the ancient texts, he breaks down the complicated practice into a simple and easy method that any working man or woman, young or old, can practise in their everyday lives.

 

Manto and Chughtai: The Essential Stories

Manto and Chughtai

Ismat Chughtai and Sadat Hasan Manto were Urdu’s most courageous and controversial writers in the twentieth century. Featuring themes such as communal violence, the Partition, sex, relationships, and more, this collection features some of their most famous short stories.

 

The Body Myth

The Body Myth

Mira is a teacher living in the heart of Suryam, the only place in the world the fickle Rasagura fruit grows. Mira lives alone, and with only the French existentialists as companions, until the day she witnesses a beautiful woman having a seizure in the park. Mira runs to help her but is cautious, for she could have sworn the woman looked around to see if anyone was watching right before the seizure began.

Mira is quickly drawn into the lives of this mysterious woman Sara, who suffers a myriad of unexplained illnesses, and her kind, intensely supportive husband Rahil, striking up intimate, volatile and fragile friendships with each of them that quickly become something more.

The Best of Thomas Harris from his New Book, Cari Mora!

Posted on by Penguin India

From the creator of The Silence of the Lambs, comes a yet another thrilling story Cari Mora. The author, Thomas Harris, in his new novel tells a tale of evil, greed and the consequences of dark obsessions.

Cari Mora makes for a compelling read binding its reader till the end. Here we give you a few intriguing quotes from the book:

“She sat for a little while beside the water. The wind off the bay was full of ghosts tonight—young men and women and children who had lived or died in her arms as she tried to stanch their wounds, fought to breathe and lived, or shivered out straight and went limp.”

*

“It was nice to be excited. To be going on a creep. To be getting back at Pablo in his infernal sleep . . .”

*

“He might just follow his heart. It was fun to see if he could keep from following his heart. Heart HEAD, head HEART, bump.”

*

“It is here. It is here. The gold is here. Es ist hier! He knew it. If the gold had ears it could hear him if he called to it from this spot where he stood in a parlor.”

*

“Monsters know when they are recognized, just as bores do.”

*

“A moment of reverie as he made up a little couplet.

I cannot see my reflection in the black pools of your eyes / You will be hard to break but, broken, what a prize!”

*

“’You are way too wicked to die,’ Antonio said, and poured the old man a drink from the bottle on the table.”

*

“The scars are more exotic than disfiguring. Like cave paintings of wavy snakes. Experience decorates us.”

*

“For that which befalleth the sons of man befalleth beasts; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yes, they have all one breath; all are of the dust and all turn to dust again.”

 Cari Mora, Thomas Harris’ sixth novel, is the long-awaited return of an American master. Get your copy here!

Searching for a twenty-five million dollars in cartel gold, which is hidden beneath an imposing mansion on the Miami beach; many ruthless men have attempted to track it for years but in vain. Leading a group of men, Hans-Peter Schneider is on this quest. He is a man of unspeakable appetites and makes a living by catering to rich men with violent fantasies.

The caretaker of the mansion that sits on the coveted gold, Cari Mora, hails from a turbulent past wrought with violence. A native of Columbia, she is staying in Miami on a Temporary Protected Status. She catches the eye of Hans-Peter, owing to her beauty.

Living on the Street: Quotes from ‘The Bridge Home’ that will Leave you Teary-Eyed

Posted on by Penguin India

Four Moments that Show how the 70s was the Decade of Smugglers

Posted on by Penguin India

Sufi is the story of two boys who grew up in Dongri, Mumbai.

 

One of them, Iqbal Rupani, aided and abetted by a corrupt policeman, is drawn towards criminal activities in his teens. As he becomes powerful and influential as a racketeer and smuggler, he creates a puritan code of conduct for himself: no drinking, no smoking and no murders. He comes to be known as ‘Sufi’ because of his principles and philosophical manner of speaking. The other boy, Aabid Surti, grows up to become a famous author.

How did the lives of these two boys, which began on such a similar note, diverge so drastically? This book presents an astonishing real-life story, with the sweep and scale of Kane and Abel, told by one of India’s most beloved storytellers.

Here are some true-to-life examples from the book that bring to light the era of smuggling!

 

‘The boatmen lifted the crates from the steam launch and handed them over to men who passed them on to others standing in a row. The crates were loaded on to the truck, Lastly, an unconscious Iqbal was also hauled out in the same way as the crates’

 

‘The procession of three vehicles crossed the bridge to enter Panvel and turned towards Bombay – past a tea stall where a waiting customs official in mufti noted down the registration numbers of all three vehicles and, barely able to conceal his smile, headed for the nearest phone booth’

 

‘In this so-called legal trade, unlike the criminal world of smuggling, a person’s word did not carry any weight. This was a cut-throat business. Those whom he(Iqbal) had dismissed as uneducated, unsophisticated Marathas were in fact the prawn mafia.’

 

‘Those days, the government had imposed a 240 per cent customs duty on the import of stainless steel. Understandably, a rise in customs duty led to an increase in price. And when the price increases, it boosts smuggling.’

 

Read Sufi by Aabid Surti for a true-to-life story of Kane and Abel!

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