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What happens when cultures collide? When poets and angels clash? Driven by voices in her head and visions of angelhood, Pari is the heroine of this extraordinary novel. Part detective story, part literary history and part romance, this is the tale of a paranoid schizophrenic child-woman who is seduced-ike many others-by a language and culture not 'ours'. Rukmini Bhaya Nair skillfully weaves together the lives of Pari, Sylvia Plath, William Blake and D.H. Lawrence to create a carefully layered story that flashes between past, present and future, held together by a thread of love, longing and the treasures of literature.

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A long-lost Sexton Blake mystery, 1920s detective fiction at its best Historian Gyan Prakash of Princeton University stumbled upon part of the unpublished manuscript of Tower of Silence by Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier (or Chaiwala, as he called himself) in the British Library. After scouring several Mumbai libraries, he found the missing pages. It is a thrilling tale that begins on a blistering April afternoon in Poona with the click of a camera shutter. An aerial photograph is taken from a small aircraft flying directly over the Tower of Silence. The Zorastrian community is thrown into turmoil and horrified grief at this heinous act. Beram, a suave wealthy man who drives around in a Rolls Royce but is a devout Parsi, decides to exact revenge. Thus begins a sensational cat-and-mouse game between Beram and Sexton Blake, England's most famous detective.

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His days as a flirtatious cowherd behind him, the new Lord of Mathura's powers are tested to the limit when a new enemy, perhaps his deadliest yet, threatens the city of his birth in the fifth of the Krishna Coriolis Series Krishna has fulfilled the prophecy and the Usurper has been slain. But barely has old King Ugrasena been restored to the throne when a new threat rears its head. Jarasandha of Magadha encircles Mathura with a great army. Even the combined might of Krishna and Balarama cannot save the citizens of Mathura. Or can it? In an instalment that ramps up the thrill and excitement, discover how the young Preserver realizes that the protection of dharma entails the heartache of collateral damage.

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When Abhishek Dutta wanders into the offices of The Express, he is just another small-town boy looking for means to survive the big city. Crime reporting in Delhi, however, was never going to be simple. The young man must negotiate a troubled city, its side alleys and six-lane highways, the supermalls and shantytowns, and the cancerous nexus of police, politicians and press. Embroiled in a sensational kidnapping, will Abhishek survive a ruthless megapolis? And what is the price he is willing to pay? Somnath Batabyal's debut novel exposes India's dark underbelly, where common lives are mere pawns in deadly games of power and revenge.

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Well-known economists and policy makers look at the Bihar model of development and discuss the challenges ahead During the 1990s, Bihar's development failed to benefit from the acceleration in India's economic growth, principally because of a steep decline in the already low standards of governance. this changed dramatically after November 2005, when The Nitish Kumar government came to power. Within a short time, major initiatives were launched in improving governance, infrastructure, education, especially primary and for girl children, health and agriculture. The last six years have shown that rapid economic development is possible in Bihar. To maintain the momentum of growth, the recent improvements in governance have to be consolidated and strengthened. Eminent economists like Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Meghnad Desai, Shankar Acharya and Arvind Virmani analyse the remarkable turnaround witnessed by Bihar. Experts Tarun Das, Deepak Parekh, Lord Billimoria, K.V. Kamath and Isher Judge Ahluwalia speak of the opportunities and challenges ahead. This is a must read for anyone interested in governance and development.

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The Monk, the Moor and Moses Ben Jalloun is a novel about a deliberately forgotten history; a history that remains hidden in the hallowed inner sanctums of Western academic institutions. Four young people - students in an American university in 2008 - set out to discover those truths on their own: not just because they need to know, but because they see how the past affects their own lives in very real ways. Parallel to their lives is the tale of Rehana - an Iranian from the eleventh century - and her many passions: her husband, her teacher, her culture and, always, her quest to learn. Using intersecting narratives, soliloquies, legends and a host of colourful characters, real and imagined, Mirza dismantles the carefully manufactured European myth about the making of the modern world. He brings to life an Islamic civilization that was the flourishing, crackling centre of the sciences and liberal arts. As much a literary installation as a fictionalized history, Mirza's novel will help us take a fresh look at the past and, hopefully, understand the great game that is being played in the present.

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Praise for Jack Patel's Dubai Dreams 'P.G. Bhaskar's lines are packed with wit that ring with sincerity and spontaneity, eliciting some hearty laughs. He has an amazing ability to strike a chord despite the scene.'-The New Indian Express 'Written with the financial crisis as a background, one might expect a heavy, sad tome, but it surprises us with its dealing of some sad times with its light-hearted treatment'-New Global Indian 'Read it for the humour, for the quirkiness and to understand the wisdom of depositing Rs 5000 in a recurring account every month!'-Tabla 'An ideal way to while away a lazy afternoon'-dawn.com When a former colleague offers Jack Patel and his best friend Kitch a job with a conservative British bank in Dubai, Jack has no qualms about taking it up. Solidity and stability are just what he is looking for. But changes are afoot at the bank. Power struggles within a complex and changing hierarchy ensures a series of problems for young Jack. And who would have thought that the Football World Cup would turn things topsy-turvy for the bank. Jack escapes all of this madness as he flies from Dubai to Africa to Chennai, hopping from one hilarious situation to the next. He rescues Kitch's wife from a ghost, faces a football quiz that can make or break his career, masters the nuances of Zulu pronunciation, encounters pirates (well, almost) and is forced to choose between a client's two wives-all in all, a rollicking roller-coaster ride. Who would have thought the corporate world could be such fun?

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'An absorbing read. Exhaustively researched and gracefully written, The King in Exile tells a story of compelling human interest, filled with drama, pathos and tragedy... [It] heralds the arrival of a writer of non-fiction who is both uncommonly talented and exceptionally diligent...One of the great merits of [the book] is that it is completely free of jargon and theorizing. It is in essence a family story, centred on five women whose lives were waylaid by history' - Amitav Ghosh in his blog 'The captivity of Burma's last king and the fall of the Konbaung dynasty: a compelling new account' In 1879, as the king of Burma lay dying, one of his queens schemed for his forty-first son, Thibaw, to supersede his half brothers to the throne. For seven years, King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat ruled from the resplendent, intrigue-infused Golden Palace in Mandalay, where they were treated as demi-gods. After a war against Britain in 1885, their kingdom was lost, and the family exiled to the secluded town of Ratnagiri in British-occupied India. Here they lived, closely guarded, for over thirty-one years. The king's four daughters received almost no education, and their social interaction was restricted mainly to their staff. As the princesses grew, so did their hopes and frustrations. Two of them fell in love with 'highly inappropriate' men. In 1916, the heartbroken king died. Queen Supayalat and her daughters were permitted to return to Rangoon in 1919. In Burma, the old queen regained some of her feisty spirit as visitors came by daily to pay their respects. All the princesses, however, had to make numerous adjustments in a world they had no knowledge of. The impact of the deposition and exile echoed forever in each of their lives, as it did in the lives of their children. Written after years of meticulous research, and richly supplemented with photographs and illustrations, The King in Exile is an engrossing human-interest story of this forgotten but fascinating family.

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2002. The communal pogrom that indelibly altered the course of Gujarat. Set in the tense post-riots years, The Youngest Suspect is the story of Adil and, yes, of Gujarat. Adil and seventeen other young men are arrested in Ahmedabad, and charged with terrorism. There are written confessions on record. Enter Deepa, linguist and subtle thrill-seeker. She is enlisted by Adil's lawyer, the fiery Ramya, to discredit those confessions. Peggy Mohan brings to bear her rigorous research into 'POTA trials' - of those charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act - to tell a story that is, simultaneously, tragic and redemptive. A courtroom thriller and a love story, and a vivid portrait of family and friends ranged against the darkness that is clouding their once-ordinary lives, The Youngest Suspect lays bare the underbelly of a world where 'home' has very little meaning.

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Two world travellers meet at a party and realize, as they spend the evening in each other's company, that they are meant to be together. Enter Joshua, an irresistible cocker spaniel, and the couple's life is transformed forever.

The Book of Joshua is a joyous romp through Paris and the South of France and from the city of Bangalore to the sun-splashed beaches of Goa and the blue mountains of the Nilgiris as the irrepressible pair of humans and their pack of four-legged friends coast from crises to parties and from disasters to miracles. Now available in a brand-new jacket, this is a book to treasure for all animal lover - about a dog and a mistress you'll never forget.

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Did Laila really say that? Not in her wildest dreams, not till sometime ago... Laila is on the entertainment beat-a world full of vain heroines, egoistic superstars, spirited item girls, prissy celebs... To top it all, life in the newsroom is a series of deadline-driven bloopers. Adding to the mayhem is sexy Bollywood journo-turned-item girl Latika; Chiki, the reporter who is obsessed with a superstar; award-winning super hack Indumati; and their razor-sharp and hard-to-please editor Bunny. Caught between her ambition to excel, a live-in boyfriend who feels ignored, and a father who is ashamed of her career choice, Laila realizes that the life of an entertainment reporter is not the glamour ride she had expected... because, on the Garbage Beat, reporting is a harrowing, ball-crushing, back-breaking affair.

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The difficulty of finding solutions After six decades of policy-making and planning that appear perfect on paper, vast pockets of poverty persist across the country, accompanied by low human development indices. In Poor but Spirited in Karimnagar, Sumita Dawra recounts her experiences as collector in the district of Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh, and grapples with the question of why even with crores of rupees of government funding, well-meaning implementing agencies and constructive action, this wide gap between intention and results continues. The stories cover diverse populations, from child labour to cotton farmers, from coal miners to malnourished power loom weavers. They traverse the thick Naxal-infested forests, course along the Godavari, and meander through the 'multiple urban worlds' of Ramagundem and the dry upland areas of Sircilla, examining the key issues that need to be addressed. Each chapter, divided into three sections - identifying the problem, providing the context, and offering the solution, along with a useful statistical guide that provides a quick overview - looks at the key points of lacunae in service delivery in the concerned areas and provides a starting point for a more effective engagement in the tackling of the problems. Based on successful models of governance within the country and elsewhere, this book from a seasoned bureaucrat offers a fresh, contemporary perspective on administration and governance.

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India is the world's third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. For a country that had become mired in a mindset of being an almost-ran, it is quite an achievement. Alongside, however, are some startling statistics. It has, for instance, the largest number of poor people in a single country - an estimated 300 million below the poverty line. Literacy remains at an appalling low, with 273 million illiterates in 2011, making it the country with the largest illiterate population on earth. On the health front too, India is home to 40 per cent of the world's undernourished children. One-fourth of the world's childbirth deaths and one-fifth of its infant deaths take place in India. In An India for Everyone: A Guide to Inclusive Development, Amarjeet Sinha, an education expert who has played a major role in designing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the National Rural Health Mission, offers a companion dream to the economic one. An India that has truly been able to provide a decent sustenance to its billion plus people. He examines key issues of under-nutrition, health care, education and social security. Crucial to providing these is reforming the public recruitment system, decentralizing authority and increasing accountability among government servants, which will help bring about better public systems in the country. Going beyond politics and economic reforms, this book addresses the issues that truly form the bedrock of where we want to be.

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Living a life that straddles the virtual and the real, enmeshed in technology and inspired by it, Param is a young man in the city. In his world, the virtual is as real as reality itself. But when a friend asks Param what he would do if he had just seven days to live, he answers, 'I would go to the Himalayas.' Intrigued by his own response, Param sets out on a journey to the Himalayas, the land of his ancestors. En route, he makes an unscheduled stop at a village - one that would change his life. The village turns out to be a place of adventure, and home to a number of compelling characters, from the wise Suyash the Cobbler to the cheeky young boys Chilli and Polta, the kind farmer Kisanji and the endearing dog Poppy. Param discovers the joys of a simpler way of life. But can he resist the pull of his home world? Thought-provoking and heart-warming, Param is a fable about the many worlds we dwell in and the many masks we wear.

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In 1973, a film shattered box office records all over India. It introduced two young stars who became instant heart-throbs, and ushered in a new genre of Hindi films, the teeny-bopper romance. It also bailed out the legendary RK Films after the disaster that was Raj Kapoor's magnum opus, Mera Naam Joker. The film was Bobby. Even forty years later, Bobby remains the benchmark for teenage romances, widely imitated, but seldom matched in its freshness, spirit and enduring appeal. At the time of the film's release, its writer K.A. Abbas, in an act years ahead of its time, also published the novelized version of the film to great commercial success. Bobby: The Complete Story is that book. Including K.A. Abbas's original preface and a perceptive new foreword by Suresh Kohli, its re-release marks forty glorious years of the film's release, its star Rishi Kapoor's sixtieth birthday and Abbas's centenary. As engaging a read as the film was entertaining, it is also an insight into the creative process through which a story transforms into a film.

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Religious Orthodoxy And Modern Science In Contemporary India

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While Europe was still stuck in the Dark Ages, scientists in the Islamic world were tranlsating Aristotle, and making huge strides in astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. Two thousand years later, the idea of 'scientific progress' seems to be locked in a hopeless war with Islam. When and how did Islam lose its enthusiasm for the workings of the natural world? S. Irfan Habib, one of the country's foremost historians, traces teh trajectomy of how 'mainstream' Islam came to question modern science - beginning with the reformers of the nineteenth century and ending with present-day idealogoues. Through the lives of famous men like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, he demonstrates that the modern-day promulagtion of Islam and its followers as 'anti-modern' and 'anti-science' is a myth that leads, quite literally, to explosives consequences. Habib also channels his scholarship to both history and Islam to question the controversial idea of 'Islamic science' as a category distinct from 'modern', 'Eurocentric' science. In an engaging, easy style that belies the weightiness of the questions it seeks to answer, Jihad or Itijihad challenges both stereotypes and propaganda. This book places in perspective the relationship between Islam and science today.

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'Arun's brilliance and insight come to the fore when he takes his specific personal situation and turns it into a discussion on the larger questions that humankind has been grappling with over the ages' - N.R. Narayana Murthy 'It is for this book that Arun will be remembered the most. It moved me to tears ...' -Dr R.A. Mashelkar A child is in agony. Is it because God does not have the power to prevent suffering? Or, though He has the power, He does not know? Or that He knows and has the power but doesn't care? Why is the child suffering? 'It must be because of the child's karma,' we are told. But how do we know he did some wrong? 'Because he is suffering,' we are told as if that is anything except a mere circularity. 'No one is suffering,' say the mystics, 'Everything is maya.' Yet they eat, they teach, they pen books. If the world is all maya, why do they do all this? Or do they mean something else when they say, 'The world is unreal'? We cannot escape suffering. How may we put it to work? A profound examination of these and other questions, questions that each of us has to face in life.

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A few months after a state of Emergency has been clamped on India, Raj Iyer, a fledgling journalist living in the alley of the Vicks mango tree, goes underground, to resurface some years later in a corner of the Municipal Park as a bronze statue. No one's sure exactly why he has become so famous, though there is talk of a book being written on him, which hails him as a modern hero of Mangobaag. The Vicks Mango Tree is the story of the tiny fictional region of Mangobaag -- and India -- as she limps through twenty-one months of suspended civil liberties, half-hearted revolts and stern censorships. It is also the tale of Teacher Bhatt, Rabia Sheik and Shankar Iyer, ordinary people in pursuit of their middle-class dreams, and local legends like Maharaja Muneer Shah, Miss Myna and Dr Abid Ali, who live and die in the dying light of a glorious past. Full of odd characters and piquant situations, and alive with the politics and possibilities of a not-so-long-ago time in India's history, The Vicks Mango Tree is a compelling first novel.

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Ambedkar, And The Facts Which Have Been Erased

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Over the last couple of decades, B.R. Ambedkar has come to be idolized as no other political leader has. His statue is one of the largest in the Parliament complex. Political parties have reaped rich electoral dividends riding on his name. A decades-old cartoon of him in a textbook rocked Parliament for days recently, causing parties across the political spectrum to run for cover and call for the withdrawal of the 'offending' cartoon. In Worshipping False Gods, Arun Shourie employs his scholarly rigour to cast a critical look at the legend of Ambedkar. With his distinctive eye for detail, Shourie delves into archival records to ask pertinent questions: Did Ambedkar coordinate his opposition to the freedom struggle with the British? How does his approach to social change contrast with that of Mahatma Gandhi's? Did the Constitution spring from him or did it grow as a dynamic living organism? Passionately argued and based on a mountain of facts that it presents, Worshipping False Gods compels us to go behind the myths on which discourse is built in India today.

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The eleven stories in Wildlife on Coal Island are set on a fictional island located in present-day Malaysia. Coal Island is a place of secrets, gossip and murder. Peopled with characters that simultaneously laugh at life and are broken by it, it is a petri dish for experiments with the darkness that sometimes enters ordinary days and the surprising clarity that comes after suffering. The humans and animals here will linger in your head as you go about your daily chores: an ageing Chinese opera singer and her pet monkey; a self-proclaimed psychic who is convinced that a tsunami is coming; a murderer who finds worldly wisdom in a wandering Malayan tapir; an ex-colonial plantation overseer, battling with the literal and lateral python of his past; an obese supermarket matriarch who talks to bats.