Picture the Book - Roli Books Audio Visual Rights Catalogue 2021

PICTURE THE BOOK R O L I BOOKS AUDIO VISUAL RIGHTS C ATA L O G U E

2021

INTRODUCTION Since its inception more than four decades ago, Roli Books has been guided by its passion for the art of storytelling. It brings us great joy when compelling stories told by our erudite authors reach the audiences they deserve through various forms and media – from being translated in regional and foreign languages to being adapted on film and television. We believe that the diverse voices of our authors deserve to be magnified and brought to life – in many languages, across several screens, and to ultimately reach the greatest number of people. In keeping with this, we have attempted to present in these pages a collection of titles that would make for cinematic marvels.

At Roli Books, we believe that stories are vital, that they ought to be disseminated widely and across all conceivable mediums. We have delighted in the discernible shift in perception that the cinematic experience would bring to life and enrich our books with reinvigorated understanding, an infusion of life. There is now more than ever a place for complicated, layered, intricate adaptations of books to screen, giving our storytellers a larger canvas, expanding their reach. It is an exciting time for weavers of tales, for spinners of literary yarn – a good adaptation has the potential to become an act of communion, an ambassador for a genre as a whole, a resurrection for stories read and loved.

There are so many stories waiting to take the journey to visual media and it is our endeavour to showcase them as best as we can. In this catalogue, we have attempted to curate those that would be best suited to the task, from unputdownable thrillers to little-known slice of life tales; from enriching biographies to gripping war stories – they are all stories worth telling, but also worth watching as they come alive in technicolour.

We hope that they find their rightful place on screens across the globe someday.

This catalogue is only a part of the larger whole that finds a home here at Roli Books – there are many more treasures waiting to be discovered that we would be happy to help you with. For queries, please write to us at: Isha Maniar, Associate Editor and Rights Manager, E-mail: isha@rolibooks.com

M-75, Greater Kailash II Market, New Delhi 110 048 Website: www.rolibooks.com

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CONTENTS SELECT DEALS (C OM I NG SOON) 5 UP RIS ING | WA RS | RE VOLT S 9 BIOPIC S 1 9 FIC TION | DRAM A 5 3 DOCUMENTARI E S 6 9 DOC UMENTARIE S | T RAVE L 8 5 DOC UMENTARI E S | ART 9 1 DOCUMENTA RIE S | F OOD 9 9

HIGHLIGHTS | 3

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SE LECT D EA LS COMING SOON

HIGHLIGHTS | 5

BOOTS, BELTS, BERETS

BY TANUSHREE PODDER Produced by Viacom 18 through Tipping Point

PARAM VIR CHAKRA BANA SINGH

BY MAJ GEN IAN CARDOZO Produced by Ali Abbas Zafar Films LLP

BLACK WARRANT

BY SUNIL GUPTA AND SUNETRA CHOUDHURY Produced by Confluence Media

JODHPUR LANCERS

BY MICHAEL CREESE Produced by Almighty Motion Pictures

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I TOO HAD A DREAM

BY DR. VERGHESE KURIEN Produced by Balaji Telefilms

MEN WHO KILLED GANDHI

BY MANOHAR MALGONKAR Produced by Cinetek Telefilms Pvt. Ltd.

THE SHEENA BORA CASE

BY MANISH PACHOULY Produced by Uraaz Bahl

SELECT DEALS (COMING SOON) | 7

UP RIS ING WA R S RE VOLT S

1946 NAVAL UPRISING That Shook the Empire

BY PRAMOD KAPOOR

Inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose and disturbing reports from the INA trails at Delhi’s Red Fort, the might of the British navy was challenged by a group of callow but idealistic young men. Just before dawn on 18 February 1946, ratings posted on HMIS Talwar, a naval shore establishment in Bombay, struck work, refused to eat and shouted slogans of ‘Quit India’ and relayed signals to all within radio range informing them of the strike. The ratings were all young men, barely 17 to 24 years old. This was a courageous and audacious revolt by patriotic young men that spread like wildfire to 78 ships, 20 shore establishments and involved nearly 20,000 ratings. Though it lasted for less than a week and was largely unsuccessful, it was enough to rattle the British Empire.

The Royal India Navy 1946: The Other Mutiny is the story of this spontaneous uprising that was a collective act of supreme courage and sacrifice.

PRAMOD KAPOOR, the founder of Roli Books is a connoisseur of images. A sepia aficionado, he has over the course of his illustrious career conceived and produced award-winning books.

In 2016, he was conferred with the prestigious Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), the highest civil and military award in France. His first book as an author, Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography, was published in seven languages.

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THE RTI STORY Power to the People

BY ARUNA ROY WITH THE MKSS COLLECTIVE

‘To know is to understand. To understand is to be at peace or – embattled.’

The RTI Story: Power to the People is the story of a campaign that evolved into a genuine and vibrant people’s movement.

Culled from the voices of people, often such stories only feed into the research of scholars, largely unacknowledged and forgotten.

The dominant narrative is always from the perspective of the ruler and single individuals.

One had hoped that democracy would set it right. But the people who are the primary contributors to the discourse always remain on the fringes.

Written by Aruna Roy with the MKSS collective, this book is for everyone who asks questions, seeks answers to fight corruption and injustice, and challenges arbitrary power. It is a celebration of commitment laced with humour, the struggle, the songs, the theatres of protest, long spells on the street and drafting a peoples’ law.

ARUNA ROY resigned from the IAS in 1975 to work with peasants and workers in rural Rajasthan. In 1990 she helped co-found the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) with

Nikhil Dey and Shankar. The MKSS struggles in the mid 90s for wages and other rights gave birth to the now celebrated Right to Information movement. Aruna continues to be a part of many democratic struggles and campaigns.

This book is a collective history that tells the story of how ordinary people can come together and prevail against great odds, to make democracy more meaningful.

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SURAT: FALL OF A PORT, RISE OF A PRINCE Defeat of the East India Company in the House of commons

BY MOIN MIR The ships of the English East India Company first docked at India’s shores in Surat in the early 17th century. In time, the Company through astute politics and superior naval power would become masters of this great port, with the single minded goal of destroying its trading prowess. And they did this by overcoming the local princes and fostering corrupt practices. By 1800 the port had been completely annexed and a Treaty signed with the Nawab that would guarantee his family’s security from generation to generation.

But the Company violated the treaty by stopping the family’s income, usurping the palaces, estates, jewellery and all that was part of the private estates of the Nawab, leaving the infant granddaughters of the last Nawab on the brink of destitution.

In a riveting counterattack Meer Jafar Ali Khan, father of two infant girls stood to defy an Empire and expose the corrupt practices of the Company in Victorian England. Spearheading a legal offensive that would shatter the Company’s reputation, Meer Jafar Ali Khan’s campaign for justice generated great heat and debate in British Parliament. Fighting against all odds this prince won it all back for his daughters and found true love in Victorian England.

Born and raised in India, MOIN MIR has worked extensively in the fields of advertising and brand consulting across Europe and Asia. Driven by

his passion for History, Sufism and cultural revivalism, and restoration, Mir began by working on the translation of Mirza Ghalib’s (India’s foremost Urdu poet) letters into English – a project that inspired him to pursue his interests in History even further.

Mir is a descendant of Hazrat Modud Chishti, one of the stalwart founders of the Chishti Sufi order. He is also a scion of the Nawab family of Surat and next in line to succeed his father as the Darbar of Kamandiyah, Gujarat India.

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OCTOBER COUP A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad

BY MOHAMMED HYDER

It is 1948. A newly-independent India is trying to persuade Hyderabad to join the Indian Union.

Negotiations are difficult for both sides. The State Congress, now operating from Indian territory, has launched a campaign of violent raids, designed to cripple civil administration in the border areas, and provoke an annexation.

The leading Islamic party inside Hyderabad, in an equally rash move, has created a paramilitary body, the Razakars, to counter the threat to Hyderabad’s borders.

For Mohammed Hyder of the Hyderabad Civil Service, the newly-appointed Collector of Osmanabad District (situated on the HyderabadBombay border), both, the wayward State Congress and the ramshackle Razakar outfit are a threat to law and order. This first-person account conveys a vivid picture of Hyderabad under pressure, through the eyes of a senior district administrator.

In 1948, when the princely state of Hyderabad was going through difficult times, MOHAMMED HYDER was Collector of Osmanabad, one of the most politically sensitive districts of the state.

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A SOLDIER’S DIARY: KARGIL The Inside Story

BY HARINDER BAWEJA

Kargil, 1999. Two entire brigades of Pakistani army regulars infiltrated Indian territory and fortified themselves before the Indian army even realized they were there. The top army brass ignored warnings, downplayed the threat and the number of infiltrators till it was almost too late.

They were also poorly prepared, operationally and in every other respect. Infantry soldiers were pushed up with inadequate maps, clothing and weapons, and no information of either the enemy’s numbers or their weapon strength.

With a foreword by GL Batra, father of Capt Vikram Batra, the Kargil war hero and recipient of the highest gallantry award, Param Vir Chakra, this is the true story of Kargil. Written in the form of a diary, it offers the first really detailed and exclusive account of the events that led to the invasion and the subsequent battle to retake the peaks occupied by the intruders. Even after almost two decades, the book is still the most accurate account of the many Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

HARINDER BAWEJA, an Editor with Hindustan Times has earned a reputation as a fearless, committed reporter through her prolonged coverage of conflict zones. Her experience of

covering the Kashmir crisis gave her access to a wide range of sources, particularly among the army units that were sent to Kargil. She covered the sharp, short war for India Today magazine, using her enviable range of sources to compile a definite account of the Kargil war.

She has also edited and authored chapters for 26/11 Mumbai Attacked.

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AN ODYSSEY IN WAR AND PEACE An Autobiography

BY LT GEN. J.F.R. JACOB

Jews who have made India their home have flourished without adverse discrimination. Of this, the Baghdadi Sephardic community is very small in number but has produced one of India’s greatest contemporary soldiers, Lt Gen. Jack Jacob. This is his fascinating story.

As a small boy, Jacob, who was from a business family, was sent to a residential public school in Darjeeling along with his two brothers.

When the Second World War broke out, Jacob without informing his family joined the army in 1941 to fight against the Nazis!

The pinnacle of his career came in 1971, when he planned and oversaw operations leading to the fall of Dacca and obtained an unconditional public surrender, the only one in history, of Gen. Niazi and his army of 93,000.

Written lucidly, this autobiography comes to life as a historical document recapitulating some of the most important events of the 1960s to the 90s from the defeat of the Naxalites in West Bengal, to the problems of Nagaland and Sikkim and the politics of Goa and Punjab.

LT GEN. JACK JACOB was born in Calcutta and commissioned into the Indian Artillery in June 1942.

During his 37 years in the army he commanded infantry and artillery brigades, the Artillery School, an infantry division, corps, and

finally the Eastern Army. He was chief of staff, Eastern Army during the critical period prior to and during the operations for the liberation of Bangladesh. He retired from the army on 31 July 1978.

General Jacob joined public life and became governor of Goa and subsequently Punjab. He retired from public life thereafter.

‘Jake’, as General Jacob was popularly known among friends, was the author of Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation, published in 1997.

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PARAM VIR Our Heroes In Battle

BY MAJ. GEN. IAN CARDOZO

This is the story of men under fire, of the courageous Indian soldier inspired by his officers. While war is an extension of the politics of a nation, it ultimately falls to the lot of the soldier to face combat on the ground. Schooled in the culture of ‘Service before Self’, soldiers of the Indian Army take their challenges head-on, turning adversity into opportunity, overcoming impossible situations with a smile. While some of their deeds of valour are rewarded, many more need to be remembered.

The highest military honour, Paramvir Chakra is awarded for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the face of the enemy.

Awarded 21 times, this book talks about our real heroes in battle.

What makes these men the way they are?

This book helps us understand better the Indian soldier and his degree of commitment to the Indian Army, and to the nation that he serves.

MAJOR GENERAL IAN CARDOZO was born in Mumbai and studied at St Xavier’s School and College. In July 1954, he joined the Joint Services Wing which later became the National Defence Academy. Here he was the first cadet to win the gold medal for being the best allround cadet, and the silver medal for being first in order of merit. He was commissioned at the Indian Military Academy into the 1st Battalion the Fifth Gorkha Rifles (FF) in 1958, and was the first officer of the Army to be awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry on a patrol in NEFA in 1960.

Wounded in the battle of Sylhet in Bangladesh in 1971, he overcame the handicap of losing a leg

and became the first war-disabled officer to be approved for command of an Infantry Battalion.

He retired in 1993 from his appointment as Chief of Staff of a Corps in the East.

Author of The Sinking of INS-Khukri: Survivor’s Stories, he has worked with the Spastics Society of Northern India and was chairman of the Rehabilitation Council of India for nine years. At present he is the President of the War Wounded Foundation.

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More titles in the series out soon.

Series sold together and individually.

Param Vir Chakra Graphic Series TEXT MA J. GEN. IAN CARDOZO ILLUSTRATIONS RISHI KUMAR latest in the series

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BIOPICS

GANDHI An Illustrated Biography

BY PRAMOD KAPOOR

His life and ideals remain an inspiration across the world but in reality, it was the complexity of his character that made Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi such a fascinating subject. Yet, much of the finer details of his life and intellectual growth have been obscured by the greatness of his achievements. To bring them all together in this illustrated biography is to bring alive one of the most revered figures in modern Indian history, and in a way that is a departure from earlier works. Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography is an intimate study of the evolution of a mischievous, fun-loving boy into the Mahatma. From his schooling and early marriage in Kathiawar to his first brushes with the grandeur of London; from his chance employment for a legal case in South Africa to a train ride in Pietermaritzburg that led to his first fight for equality; from a relatively unsuccessful lawyer to a globally celebrated crusader for human rights – Gandhi was that rare rebel who redefined the meaning of mass resistance for generations to come. This book is the result of intensive research and tracks Gandhi’s life through photographs sourced from across the world. The chronological text and accompanying photographs bring out his unique complexities – his failures and successes, the intimate relations he shared with his contemporaries, and the difficult one he shared with his own family.

PRAMOD KAPOOR, the founder and publisher of Roli Books (established in 1978), is a connoisseur of images. A sepia aficionado, he has over the course of his illustrious career conceived and produced award-winning books that have proven to be game changers in the world of publishing.

In 2016, he was conferred with the prestigious ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), the highest civil and military award in France, for his contribution towards producing books that have changed the landscape of Indian publishing.

His first book as author, Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography, is the result of years of painstaking research on a subject close to his heart.

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KASTURBA GANDHI A Biography

BY B.M. BHALLA

The contributions of Kasturba Gandhi to India’s struggle for Independence have not been given the critical position they deserve, argues Professor B.M. Bhalla in this seminal study, Kasturba Gandhi: A Biography. In its portrayal of Kasturba as an activist and wife, walking along with the Mahatma, first in South Africa and then in India, her story should be read in terms of the struggle of Indian women for identity, equality and self-empowerment.

This biography delineates how she became an ardent follower of her husband’s great mission and how she struggled to retain her individuality in difficult situations in public and private life.

Her capacity to adapt to changed conditions and circumstances, her courage to face adversity, loss and dangers matched her husband’s. By Gandhi’s own confession, his ‘better half’, this study is a vital re-assessment of Kasturba Gandhi’s position within the Indian freedom movement.

Born in Dinga district of Gujrat in what is now Pakistan, Prof. B.M. BHALLA has had a long and distinguished teaching career in Delhi University. His works have been published in various national and international journals and his translation of the Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s celebrated verse epic Luna won him the prestigious Delhi State Sahitya Academy Award in 2003.

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THE HOUSE OF SCINDIAS A Saga of Power, Politics and Intrigue

BY RASHEED KIDWAI

Weeks before India announced a total lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the drama and governance coup in Madhya Pradesh’s political theatre was already peaking. Jyotiraditya Scindia dumped the Congress overnight for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bringing down the former from power in the state. Many saw the return of the prodigal grandson as the reunion of the political dynasty of Scindias under BJP’s catch-all umbrella.

Jostling to spill over, along with priceless jewels in the treasury of Jai Vilas Palace — the Scindias’ royal abode in Gwalior — are many carefully buried secrets. Some are best hidden away, such as the Gwalior monarchs’ controversial role during the Revolt of 1857.

Others need to be kept out of sight for diplomatic causes, such as the Rajmata’s excessive dependency on her ‘Rasputin’ and the resultant mistrust of her only son, Madhavrao.

One of the bigger questions is the palace’s alleged and under-probed role in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. It is perhaps because of these unsolved mysteries that curiosity about the Scindias — a family that has given India many a statespersons across party lines — continues to dominate India’s public imagination. With political intrigue, palace conspiracies, cutthroat rivalry and an ugly public feud, betrayals and property wars fought in courts, and

siblings that do not see eye to eye, the Scindias make tantalizing headlines. With a wealth of information about the Gwalior royals, The House of Scindias is their most definitive and revealing biography.

RASHEED KIDWAI is a journalist, author, columnist and political analyst. He is Visiting Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, Delhi. Formerly Associate Editor at The Telegraph, Kidwai is a keen observer of government, politics, community affairs and Hindi cinema.

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RAJMATA GAYATRI DEVI ENDURING GRACE

BY DHARMENDAR KANWAR

Rajmata Gayatri Devi traces the life and times of one of the most admired icons of modern India. Educated in England, Switzerland and Shantiniketan, Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar, ‘the princess from the east’, became the third wife of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur.

In a tradition-bound set-up, she participated in religious ceremonies, played tennis with male partners, went swimming and horse riding, and did not miss a single season of polo. She also took it upon herself to bring the women of Rajasthan out of the purdah. Vogue voted her as one of the Ten Most Beautiful Women in the World, and with time, the world also witnessed her political courage and her dignified acceptance of life’s vicissitudes—the loss of her only child Jagat, a five-month ordeal in Tihar Jail under Mrs Indira Gandhi’s regime…

Rajmata Gayatri Devi is about the continuation of a charmed life despite all odds, about the grace with which a queen of the erstwhile Jaipur State donned the mantle of the Rajmata or Queen Mother of Jaipur.

DHARMENDAR KANWAR studied at the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls Public School and went to university in Jaipur. She started her writing career immediately after finishing school and did campus reporting for youth magazines like Hi, Young People’s Newspaper, Junior Statesman and Youth.

Over the last twenty-five-odd years she has done scripts for television documentaries, been involved in heritage conservation, and contributed stories to almost all the major magazines and newspapers in the country.

In the late ’80s, she took to travel writing and did a coffee-table book Rajasthan and several booklets/brochures on Rajasthan that won national awards.

Dharmendar Kanwar has edited, designed and published Gourmet’s Gateway by Rajmata Gayatri Devi, co-authored Delhi-Agra-Jaipur and written Fifty Years of Rajasthan Police. She was awarded the Best Travel Writer (English) for 1993-94 by the Government of Rajasthan.

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BEHIND BARS Prison Tales of India’s Most Famous

BY SUNETRA CHOUDHURY

‘If you steal 1,000 rupees, the hawaldar will beat the shit out of you and lock you up in a dungeon with no bulb or ventilation. If you steal 55,000 crores then you get to stay in a 40-foot cell which has four split units, internet, fax, mobile phones and a staff of 10 to clean your shoes and cook your food (in case it is not being delivered from Hyatt that particular day).’

They say that prison can be a great leveler – but does this apply if you are a VIP inmate in an Indian prison? Maybe not.

Based on extensive first-hand interviews with some of India’s most well-known inmates, award-winning journalist Sunetra Choudhury gives you a peek into the VIP prison life. It includes some interesting anecdotes about the lives of the rich and powerful prisoners: What does Peter Mukherjea do all day in his 4 x 4 cell in Arthur Road Jail? How does a 70-year-old Doon school alumnus who has spent more than 7 years in jail find a will to continue petitioning the state and fight his cases? Who came to visit Amar Singh during those 4 fateful days determining his future friends and allies?

For the first time, India’s most famous prisoners share their own stories – from terror tales of ‘bladebaaz’ to torture chambers, from air conditioners in cells to food from five-star hotels, from cushy beds to private parties – and how they negotiate life in prison or the so-called ‘jail-ashram’.

With unbelievable details of the life inside prison and the sorry state of hundreds

of undertrials languishing in jails, this book questions the primary purpose of imprisonment – is it actually reform, punishment or just misusing the system we are a part of?

SUNETRA CHOUDHURY started her career at The Indian Express in 1999, as a metro reporter.

She became Indian Express’ youngest Deputy Chief Reporter at 24, and also brought out Newsline, the pull-out city section. In 2002, Sunetra joined the launch team of Star News, a 24-hour Hindi news channel. Within a year, she moved to NDTV. After the success of one of her assignments at NDTV, covering the 2009 election campaign, she authored Braking News.

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FRACTURED FREEDOM: A PRISON MEMOIR A Story of Passion, Commitment and a Search for Justice and Freedom

BY KOBAD GHANDY Born in the cradle of upper-middle-class privilege in a Mumbai Parsi household and educated at one of India’s finest schools, KOBAD GHANDY’S life and career could have scaled heights in the bustling world of corporate finance. Only it did not. Shocked by the racism he witnessed in the UK as a student and learning of the horrors of colonial rule in India, he became determined to serve those struck the harshest by the cruel inequalities of his country.

Fractured Freedom takes you through the journey of an honest man and his partner, Anuradha, to a difficult destiny. Part memoir, part prison diary, Ghandy bares it all looking back at their lives, love, loss and politics, so intrinsically tied together. Having languished in Indian prisons for over a decade, he tells of his long incarceration, of his fellow prisoners, and of the Kafkaesque experiences with the Indian legal system. A story of life in extremes – the height of privilege and the depth of despair, a story of our times, of a path many would shy away from.

KOBAD GHANDY studied at St. Mary’s School, Mumbai and at the Doon School, Dehra Dun. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Mumbai in 1968 he went to London to qualify as a chartered accountant. However, the racism he experienced in the UK led him to get involved in left activism (mostly communist/ Maoist groups) to assert the self-respect of Indians within British society. During a particular protest, he was arrested and beaten by police

amidst racist abuse. The subsequent sentence and three months in jail in London changed the course of his life. He abandoned his plans of becoming a chartered accountant and returned to India in 1972 to dedicate his life to working with the downtrodden of the country.

Soon after returning to Mumbai, Ghandy joined the Progressive Youth Movement (PROYOM) group and it was here that he first met Anuradha, his future wife. They both actively participated in Dalit, working-class and youth activities. After the Emergency was lifted in 1977, they helped form and worked in the civil liberties movement before moving to Nagpur in 1982 where they lived for almost two decades.

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HIS HOLINESS THE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA DALAI LAMA: An Illustrated Biography

BY TENZIN GEYCHE TETHONG This beautifully illustrated chronicle presents an in-depth, firsthand narrative of the Dalai Lama’s life story and the Tibetan saga. From remembrances of those close to him, and a treasure trove of over 400 images of Tibet’s priceless visual heritage, it preserves a record of what it was like to create a nation from nothing, in exile, and how His Holiness rallied endlessly for his people. A rich blend of biography, history, and legacy, it captures a detailed account of the tumultuous events through which the Dalai Lama was forced to chart a path, leading to his emergence as an international figure. It illuminates as well his initiatives in the wider world to relieve suffering, overcome global challenges, and foster human flourishing through compassionate universal ethics, working handin-hand with science and ingenuity.

Tendzin Choegyal was thirteen years old when he accompanied his elder brother, the Dalai Lama – twenty-three at the time – on his dangerous 1959 escape to India. Decades later, he began encouraging his lifelong personal friend, Tenzin Geyche Tethong – for forty years His Holiness’ personal aide – to record their people’s journey. As ‘elders’ in the Tibetan community, they have collaborated with photo archivist Jane Moore and a creative team to produce a memorable, comprehensive, and close-up portrait. It offers, in these uncertain times, an uplifting retrospective of an iconic leader, a heritage, a cause, and a creative vision that have won the hearts of people around the world.

TENZIN GEYCHE TETHONG has been a trusted companion and aide to His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, for over four decades, and is part of a legacy of service Tethong first joined the Tibetan administrative service in 1961 before being deputed to the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama three years later. He served in the Private Office until retiring in 2007 as Secretary (English Section). As part of his role, he worked as the Dalai Lama’s personal assistant, accompanying him on several official international visits, including his meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973, his historic first trip to America in 1979, and the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo in 1989.

JANE MOORE, photo researcher and editor, specialises in collecting visual materials on Tibet.

Her photo library Tibet Images, founded in 1988, became the world’s foremost commercial archive dedicated to His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people.

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AN UNHEARD MELODY ANNAPURNA DEVI An Authorised Biography

BY SWAPAN KUMAR BONDYOPADHYAY ‘Perhaps the comparisons... were inevitable. It was reportedly said that in her (Annapurna’s) music there was eighty per cent Baba Allauddin Khan, while Ali Akbar Khan had seventy per cent and Ravi Shankar had about forty per cent.’

‘Ravi Shankar wondered, “Why people do not accept that it is possible to love more than one woman at a time. He can do it. He has learnt from his own life that love is of different kinds – love for one’s wife, love for a friend and love for the other woman. Each love is complementary to another. It is a search for fulfilment. It is a pity that Annapurna fails to appreciate this. She is an artist with a large heart, so why is she so guarded in matters of love.”’

Baba Allauddin Khan’s daughter, Pandit Ravi Shankar’s first wife, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s sister, representative of Maihar-Senia Gharana – Annapurna Devi has an illustrious lineage.

And she is a star in her own right – she is the only female surbahar player in the country. Yet Annapurna’s life is shrouded in mystery. This first authorised biography offers a glimpse into her life, not to reveal or to shock but to set the record straight – her turbulent years with Ravi Shankar, the death of her only son, her singleminded pursuit of music and a life in seclusion.

Drawing on interviews with Annapurna Devi and her family members, admirers, critics and students, Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhyay offers an absorbing portrait of a brilliant individual, who shuns public performances devoting her

time instead to her music, her students and to keeping her father’s legacy alive.

SWAPAN KUMAR BONDYOPADHYAY was born in Burdwan, West Bengal, in 1948. A Rezina Guha Gold medallist, from Calcutta University (1968), he has taught English at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal. At present, he heads the department of English at the Vivekananda Mahavidyalaya in Burdwan. He has learnt sitar under Pandit Indranil Bhattacharjee of the Maihar-Senia Gharana. He was also tutored by Annapurna Devi. He has two books on music, in Bengali, to his credit. He has written for national dailies like The Telegraph and is a regular contributor to the literary magazine Desh. He has also made a documentary on Maihar.

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A LIFE IN SHADOW The Secret Story of A.C.N. Nambiar A Forgotten Anti-Colonial Warrior

BY VAPPALA BALACHANDRAN

Deputy of Subhas Chandra Bose. An aide to Jawaharlal Nehru. A friend to Indira Gandhi.

A left-wing contributor to the Hindu. The first Indian ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. And if recent reports are to be believed – a soviet spy! A.C.N Nambiar, Nanu to friends and colleagues, was a man who led many lives, each more intriguing than the other.

And yet, not many know his story and unfortunately, the average history book finds little mention of his extraordinary life.

Thoroughly researched and written by Vappala Balachandran who stood by Nanu in his twilight years, the book recounts the life and times of this extraordinary man. With inputs and insights from Nambiar’s diaries and many interviews, the book is set to be the definitive guide not only to his life, but also to the lives of the Indians living in Europe between the two world wars – and how they contributed to the Indian freedom struggle VAPPALA BALACHANDRAN is a columnist and author who was Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. In 1987 the Indian Government deputed him as the leader of a two-man team to help reorganizing the security of an important Indian Ocean country,

which feared a second coup attempt. In 1993 and 1994 he led our interagency groups for annual dialogue with US agencies on terrorism.

In 2008-09 he was appointed by Government of Maharashtra as member of their ‘High Level Committee’ to inquire into the police response during Mumbai 26 November 2008 terror attacks. Balachandran has also published National Security & Intelligence Management: A New Paradigm (2014).

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THE MEMOIRS OF DR. HAIMABATI SEN From Child Widow to Doctor

BY TAPAN RAYCHAUDHURI & GERALDINE FORBES This intimate autobiography, rich in details of a society in transition, was written by one of India’s earliest women doctors. Though a child widow, driven from pillar to post, Haimabati nourished an ambition for higher education, eventually trained as a medical practitioner, and became the ‘Lady Doctor’ in charge of Hughli Dufferin Hospital for Women. Haimabati’s memoir illustrates the predicament of a woman determined to earn an honourable living in a man’s world. This extraordinary account, the longest and most detailed memoir yet discovered by an Indian woman born in the nineteenth century, was originally written in lined school notebooks in Haimabati’s native language, Bengali.

TAPAN RAYCHAUDHURI, one of the best-known historians of modern India, achieved the rare distinctions of an Oxford D. Litt. and an ad hominem chair at Oxford and was an Emeritus Fellow of St. Antony’s College. He also held the Chair in Economic History at the Delhi School of Economics, taught as a visiting professor at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, Australian National University and El Colegio de Mexico. His publications span many areas of social and economic history.

GERALDINE FORBES is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History and Director of Women’s Studies at the State University of New York, Oswego. Her publications include Women in Modern India and Positivism in Bengal. She is Series Editor of FOREMOTHER LEGACIES: Autobiographies and Memoirs of Women from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

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FEROZE: THE FORGOTTEN GANDHI

BY BERTIL FALK

Feroze Gandhi is often remembered as Indira Gandhi’s husband and Jawaharlal Nehru’s son-in-law. But who was Feroze Gandhi? A Congress worker, a young freedom fighter, a parliamentarian, or just another Gandhi?

Diving into the history of the Nehru–Gandhi family, the Swedish journalist Bertil Falk brings together his research of forty years in this biography of Feroze Gandhi. Including firsthand interviews of people close to Feroze and personal experiences of the author with some rare photographs, this volume brings to light his significant, yet unrecognized, role as a parliamentarian, in cases such as the Mundhra case, Life Insurance Corporation scandal and the Freedom of Press Bill. It also busts some myths about Feroze’s controversial birth, his personal life, his importance as a politician, and his relationship with the Nehrus.

With interesting details about Feroze as a young boy in Allahabad, to his years as a freedom fighter, journalist, Congressman and a politician, this volume examines the chronology of events that shaped the extraordinary and complex life of Feroze.

BERTIL FALK (b. 1933) is a highly respected Swedish newspaper and TV journalist, who spent more than ten years of his life in India, England and the United States. He has worked

for different newspapers, primarily Kvällsposten (The Evening Post) and from the years 1987– 1989 he was in the newsroom of the Swedish TV3 in London.

After retirement he has written about 35 books (fiction and non-fiction) and besides translating many mystery writers into Swedish he also translated and edited into English two anthologies of short stories by Swedish mystery writers.

He also filmed and produced video documentaries in Africa.

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THE RED SARI A Dramatized Biography of SONIA GANDHI

BY JAVIER MORO

‘In the year 1965, Sonia Maino, a 19-yearold Italian student met a young Indian boy, Rajiv Gandhi, while they were both studying in Cambridge.

She was born into a modest family in suburban Turin, where her father was a strict man who kept a close eye on his three daughters.

Much to his chagrin, his painfully-shy middle daughter, of whom he was especially protective, fell in love with a man belonging to the most powerful family in India. This marked the beginning of a story unlike any other – of a carefree Italian girl who was compelled to take on the murky world of rajneeti.

With information sourced from close friends and colleagues, this book examines how Sonia’s courage, honesty, and dedication have made her a leader in the eyes of one-sixth of humanity.

From her idyllic childhood to her passionate love affair, and from her days as a docile daughter-inlaw to her current status of being the only Indian politician to have refused prime ministership – The Red Sari tells the story of an extraordinary woman whose dreams of home, hearth, and anonymous living were struck down by the hands of fate. This book examines the lives of the famous Nehru-Gandhi family set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War, the Emergency, Operation Blue Star, and other events that have shaped modern Indian history.

Author Javier Moro, a tireless investigator, writes the true story of a naïve young woman, confronted by the complicated and dangerous world of Indian politics and surrounded by the intrigues of a family that is both reviled and admired.

JAVIER MORO is a Spanish author known for his best-selling books like Pasión India, which has been translated into seventeen languages. He has co-produced and written the screenplay for various films and has been awarded the Premio Planeta Award for his novel El imperio eres tu (The Empire, It’s You).

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THE FRONTIER GANDHI My Life and Struggle: The Autobiography of Abdul Ghaffar Khan TRANSLATED BY IMTIAZ AHMAD SAHIBZADA Affectionately known as ‘Bacha’ Khan or ‘Badshah’ Khan amongst his people, Khan Abdul Ghaffar’s life was dedicated to the social reform of the Pukhtuns, who traditionally adhere to a strict code of life called ‘Pukhtunwali’, which is governed by rather rigid tribal norms. Bacha Khan is an acknowledged leader in the hearts of the Pukhtuns across the world due to his life long struggle to modernize Pukhtun society and his teachings of non-violence, adopted by his Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God) party, during the struggle for independence against the British. A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, his success in mobilizing the Pukhtuns of the North-West Frontier Province and the Tribal Areas through a non-violent struggle, had significant bearing on this movement, in which the Khudai Khidmatgar allied with the Indian National Congress. Few are aware that, during the struggle for independence, the Khudai Khidmatgar lost the most number of workers, compared to any other party that was part of this movement.

An increasing consciousness amongst the Pukhtuns against oppression and war, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, has led to a resurgence of the teachings of Bacha Khan.

The Pushto edition of Bacha Khan’s autobiography was first published in 1983 in Afghanistan, when he was 93 years old. Nearly four decades later the book has been translated and published for the first time in English. (An earlier account of his life, also titled My Life and Struggle was published in 1963 but this was

based on interviews conducted with him and not his written autobiography.)

The book is a result of the participation of several members of his family and those who have spent their lives studying Bacha Khan’s philosophy.

Born in 1936, IMTIAZ AHMAD SAHIBZADA, joined the erstwhile Civil Service of Pakistan in 1959.

He retired from public service in 2008 and is the author of the Pilgrim of Beauty and A Breath of Fresh Air. The former contains translations into English of selected poems of the famous Pukhtun poet, Ghani Khan, who was Ghaffar Khan’s son. The latter is a compilation of the speeches and interventions of Ghani Khan in the Central Legislative Assembly of India, 1946.

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SHEIKH MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH Tragic Hero of Kashmir

BY AJIT BHATTACHARJEA

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah: Tragic Hero of Kashmir is the first comprehensive, well-documented account of the life of the charismatic leader, the Lion of Kashmir, who contributed crucially to the making of modern India in terms of territory and more importantly to its founding ideology of secularism.

Kashmir was the scene of a distinctive political transformation in the late 1930s. In contrast to the rise of the Muslim League in much of the subcontinent – which was to lead to Partition – the most popular party in the Valley turned away from communal politics and embraced secularism. On 11 June 1939, Sheikh Abdullah was successful in changing the name of the party he was leading from Kashmir Muslim Conference to National Conference.

The author traces the historic developments that followed this unique commitment to secularism inspired by Sheikh Abdullah. It also paved the way for Jammu & Kashmir to accede to India and resist aggression from Pakistan.

Backed by Nehru’s friendship, Abdullah rose to become the first popular prime minister of the state, but also the target of conservative and communal forces in India. His demand that the pledge of special status for the state in the accession documents be honoured was described as anti-national, even pro-Pakistani.

The intrigue that led to Abdullah’s downfall and arrest on 8 August 1953, is well-documented as is the role of the Home Ministry’s Intelligence Bureau. The elaborate conspiracy case it built up was belatedly rejected by Nehru himself.

Drawing upon a wide range of sources, the author takes us through Abdullah’s long, tragic periods of detention until he was persuaded to return to Jammu & Kashmir as chief minister.

He demonstrated his continuing popularity by winning an election before his death in 1982.

A veteran journalist and former editor of the Hindustan Times and the Indian Express, AJIT BHATTACHARJEA has covered Kashmir since 1947. He has authored several books including Dateline Bangladesh; Kashmir: The Wounded Valley; Countdown to Partition; and, Unfinished Revolution: A Political Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan.

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SUSHMA SWARAJ A Biography

BY RADHIKA RAMASESHAN

As one of the pioneering women in Indian politics, Swaraj left quite a mark in its tumultuous landscape. The book dives into her early influences, commenting on all the major landmarks and milestones in her political career, successes, failures, alongside political friendships, mentors, allies and adversaries.

Sushma Swaraj’s career and role is integral to an understanding of the BJP and the vicissitudes it was subject to. It chronicles her life and times in a political context with plenty of anecdotes.

Of interest to those interested in politicians of great consequence and in present-day politics in general, and in women leaders who had to fight for a place under the sun. This is the definitive biography of a woman leader’s struggles who carved her own place in India’s political field as a woman.

RADHIKA RAMASESHAN has been in journalism for over 30 years. Her core area of reportage is politics which she has covered from Mumbai,

Guwahati, Bhopal, Lucknow and Delhi. Among the major events she covered were the Bombay communal riots of 1984, insurgency in the NorthEast, the events leading to the demolition of the Babri mosque, every general election since 1984 and several assembly elections the country over. In addition to working for mainstream newspapers and magazines including The Independent, The Pioneer and The Telegraph, she has contributed to the Economic and Political Weekly and Seminar. She is presently a Consulting Editor with the Business Standard and a columnist for TOI Plus and The Tribune.

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RAM VILAS PASWAN A Biography

BY SOBHANA K. NAIR

An independent biography of Ram Vilas Paswan, this book will offer a credible perspective on his journey from Khagaria District in Bihar to Lutyens Delhi. As a Dalit-Bahujan political figure who served in 6 Union governments, Paswan’s Biography makes for a great story of our times.

Many in political circles would celebrate Paswan as India’s political weatherman who told the direction power and politics would take. This is the story of the rise of a Dalit leader from regional politics to the national front.

SOBHANA K. NAIR is senior assistant Editor at The Hindu and has previously been with Mumbai Mirror; Hindustan Times; The Telegraph; Indian Express and The Statesman.

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A WOVEN LIFE

BY JENNY HOUSEGO WITH MAYA MIRCHANDANI

Richly layered and remarkably candid, A Woven Life is anything but an ordinary memoir. Lifewriting at its truthful and unapologetic best, this is the story of a textile historian, entrepreneur, and collector with an eventful and adventurous life-story. As a child in countryside England, Jenny Housego had thought she would grow up to be a spy, but life had other plans. Brought to the world of Asian textiles, art and Museums, she has over the last five decades travelled across Asia with a passion to document traditional, local, and nomadic weaves and handcrafted textiles. In collaboration with Maya Mirchandani, Housego lays bare her idyllic childhood in the aftermath of the second World War; her aspirations of being in the arts and then as a researcher at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the struggles of falling in and out of love and a broken marriage; of parenting; and her passion for Indian textiles co-founded the luxury brands Shades of India and Kashmir Loom.

JENNY HOUSEGO is a textile historian, designer and co-founder of Kashmir Loom and Shades of India. Her work in Indian textiles added to India’s place on the world’s luxury map. Also active in numerous social projects in India, Jenny has not only revived ancient weaving techniques that had all-but disappeared but also ensured the livelihoods of families from Haryana to Kashmir and West Bengal. She is the author of Tribal Rugs: An Introduction to the Weaving of the Tribes of Iran, and of Bridal Durries of India.

MAYA MIRCHANDANI is an award-winning Indian journalist with interests in Indian Foreign Policy, South Asia, and identity conflicts. She teaches Media Studies at Ashoka University and is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. As a journalist, Maya survived a suicide bomb attack at President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s election rally in 1999; reported on 9/11 as the planes hit the World Trade Center in New York; survived pro-government mobs attacking the media during the Anti-Mubarak protests in Cairo, Egypt.

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BEGAM SAMRU Fading Portrait in a Gilded Frame

BY JOHN LALL

A fascinating re-creation of the life and times of the dazzling nautch girl who became the celebrated Begam Samru after her marriage to a foreign military adventurer, General Reinhardt.

She shared his dangers and tortuous intrigues in the turbulent ‘time of troubles’ in the eighteenth century. When he died she took over his jagir, converted to Christianity and steered a perilous course with uncanny skill through the Moghul empire’s last days and the evergrowing power of the British. The life story of this extraordinary Christian princess has no parallel in the transition from chaos to order in Hindustan two hundred years ago. Her memory lives on in the splendid cathedral she built at Sardhana near Meerut which continues to draw thousands of visitors from far and near.

JOHN LALL took his MA in history from Panjab University and then went to Balliol College, Oxford, before joining the Indian Civil Service. He was the first Dewan of Sikkim and in the 1950s was commissioner in Agra, where he resumed his interest in history and wrote on the grand pageant of Moghul Agra. He has also written extensively on administration and a variety of other subjects.

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A LIFE FULL OF ADVENTURE Leader of India’s Epic Ascent of Everest in 1965

BY CAPTAIN M.S. KOHLI

Best known as the leader of India’s first successful Everest expedition in 1965, Captain M.S. Kohli’s autobiography is a tour de force that traces his journey as a young boy amongst the quiet peaks of Haripur, in North-West Frontier Province, to his near-death experience during the Partition, to his rise up the ranks of the Indian Navy and the Indian Mountaineering Federation.

A life and experiences defined by honesty, simplicity and team spirit, his skill as a mountaineer was put to test when, working as an intelligence operator, he was involved in the clandestine mission in 1965 to place plutonium powered monitoring devices on Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot. In 1989, in consultation with Sir Edmund Hillary, Captain Kohli founded the Himalayan Environment Trust with members such as, Reinhold Messner, Maurice Herzog, Chris Bonington, and Junko Tabei with whom he strives to save the Himalayas for future generations.

From heading secret missions to leading various successful expeditions to the Himalayas, his story of utmost courage and adventure is fascinating and highlights what he has always believed in – safety of his men and honour of the country.

In India, among other things, he introduced white-water rafting, aero sports, international congresses, luxury sea cruises, and tourist charters to Goa, Lakshadweep and the Andaman islands. Captain Kohli is a recipient of several national and international honours including the Padma Bhushan, the Arjuna Award, and the Tenzing Norgay Lifetime National Adventure Award.

CAPTAIN M.S. KOHLI carved out a spectacular career of 42 years spanning the Indian Navy, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Air India. During his stint with Air India he travelled to over 50 countries.

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RAMAKANT ACHREKAR Master Blaster’s Master

BY KUNAL PURANDARE

One of the greatest cricket coaches in the world, Ramakant Achrekar dedicated his entire life training champions. This book narrates his inspiring life story along with rare tales that highlight his immense contribution to the game.

This biography of the legend includes interviews/inputs by various players Achrekar has trained through the years.

KUNAL PURANDARE is Senior Assistant Editor with the Forbes India magazine in Mumbai. His first book, Vinod Kambli: The Lost Hero, was published in January 2011. A journalist for over a decade, Purandare has also worked with the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) newspaper in Mumbai and MiD-DAY, the city’s best-selling tabloid.

Purandare studied at the St Xavier’s High School in Fort, Mumbai, and did his graduation in commerce from KC College. He also holds a master’s degree in economics from the Mumbai University. Apart from this, he has successfully completed his diploma in journalism and mass communication from the Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC) in Mumbai.

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AMJAD ALI KHAN ABBA God’s Greatest Gift to Us

BY AMAAN ALI BANGASH, AYAAN ALI BANGASH

Abba-God’s Greatest Gift to Us is a reflection of the Bangash family in tradition and in transition.

Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash- the two sons of the sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, and promising players themselves, look at their father’s life with deference, humility and great love.

In a world where traditional culture is often considered passe, it is refreshing to come across a family which upholds traditional values, amalgamated though they may be with modern thinking and an urbane sophistication. Making no bones about the constant balance they strive to achieve in separating the father from the guru, the Bangash brothers talk of their father’s struggles, his emotional conflicts, the betrayals he faced, his secular approach to life.

AMAAN ALI KHAN is the elder son and disciple of the Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan and grandson of the Haafiz Ali Khan. Initiated into the fine art of sarod playing at a very tender age, Amaan began his public performances as early as eight.Accompanying his father to various music festivals in India and abroad, he has today, carved out a niche for himself. His performances have evoked creditable applause.

AYAAN ALI KHAN represents the seventh generation of a musical lineage known as the Senia Bangash School. The younger son and disciple of the Sarod titan Maestro Amjad Ali Khan, Ayaan stepped into the world of music and the sarod with confidence, clarity, consistency and technical mastery that he learnt at his father’s knee.

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RAVI SHANKAR BAPI...

The Love of My Life

BY ANOUSHKA SHANKAR

Bapi - The Love of My Life is a story told straight from the heart. Anoushka Shankar, inheritor of her father’s musical legacy, unfolds the pages of the maestro’s eventful life with an ebullient spontaneity, so characteristic of her. Intimate and seldom seen photographs from family albums, snatches from personal letters that tug at the heartstrings, anecdotal captions that arouse laughter here, pathos there . . . Anoushka’s honest revelation of the man who ‘doesn’t take himself too seriously’ is devoid of honeyed phrases and ceremonial salutations.

Uninhibited, forceful and forthright, Anoushka portrays the Child, Dancer, Student, Musician, Rock Star, Creator, Achiever, Guru, Man, Joker - the many faces that make for the larger-than-life persona of Pandit Ravi Shankar.

She tells it like it is, interspersed with vulnerable undertones, making the book a must-read for all those interested in human relationships.

At the young age of twenty, ANOUSHKA SHANKAR has already shown herself to be a unique artist with tremendous talent and understanding of the great musical tradition of India. Performing with her father, the legendary virtuoso sitarist Ravi

Shankar, since the age of thirteen and embarked on a successful solo career at eighteen. Her selftitled debut was released in 1998 to tremendous critical acclaim, and was soon followed by two more solo albums, Anourag and Live at Carnegie Hall. Anoushka also conducted her father’s memorable Chants of India at the age of fifteen, and assisted him on his Grammy-winning album Full Circle, Carnegie Hall 2000.

Anoushka grew up in London, New Delhi and California, where she graduated from high school with honours and also honed her talents as a classical pianist.

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KUNJAMMA… Ode to a Nightingale

BY LAKSHMI VISHWANATHAN

In Kunjamma—Ode to a Nightingale, Lakshmi Vishwanathan explains why she believes knowing M.S. Subbulakshmi has been the greatest blessing of her life. The author, whom M.S. has referred to as a ‘daughter’, retraces the life of a legend—its divine and human angularities—with love, sympathy and insight.

As a child, ‘Kunjamma’—Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi—learnt to play the veena from her mother and sang in the temples of Madurai. This biography traces her journey from there to Madras, the cultural hub of South India, and the impregnable male bastion of classical music, where M.S., as she came to be popularly known, would reign as the Queen of Music for decades.

Equally memorable is her foray into films.

Cast as Meera, Krishna’s self-willed mortal consort, M.S. became the incarnation of the people’s vision of this saint-poet—an identity she would willingly embrace at the behest of her husband.

Kunjamma—Ode to a Nightingale deals with every aspect of M.S.’s glorious career— be it her mastery of the classical tradition or her unforgettable screen performances. Most importantly, it speaks of her immortal bhajans, sung in virtually every Indian language with singular devotion.

Guru LAKSHMI VISHWANATHAN belongs to a family of artists and musicians. An exponent of Bharatanatyam she has taken her dance to over fifteen countries around the world. She is a formally-trained classical vocalist. Among the many awards she has received is the State Kalaimamani, and the national Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

As a cultural ambassador of India, she has performed and conducted master classes in prestigious institutions like the Jacob’s Pillow international dance festival, the Mark Morris dance center New York, and Dance India AsiaPacific Singapore.

She is an author of three other books: Women of Pride—the Devadasi Heritage, Kapaliswara Temple, and Bharatanatyam the Tamil Heritage.

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ETERNAL ROMANTIC My Father, Gemini Ganesa

BY NARAYANI GANESH

Eternal Romantic offers an intimate glimpse into the life and times of legendary Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan. The handsome, suave actor earned himself the sobriquet Kadhal Mannan (King of Romance) for wooing women successfully, both on and off the screen. Written with touching honesty by his daughter, Narayani Ganesh, the book provides a ringside view of his kaleidoscopic personality and life.

Eternal Romantic is a tender tribute, not as much to a filmstar as to a father who was unusual, enigmatic, and unfailingly affectionate despite the many demands on his time. Parallel families and eight children added their own pressures to those of superstardom. Yet his daughter remembers him as a man with a big heart, who enveloped all those who passed through his life, and were a part of it, with love.

His legacy of love is evident today in the healthy relationships his children share with one another, defying the stereotypes usually associated with step-siblings.

A moving foreword by Kamal Haasan, who began his film career as a child artist with him, as well as rare images of Gemini Ganesan and anecdotes unheard outside the family, make this book a delightful read.

NARAYANI GANESH is the daughter of Gemini Ganesan and T.R. Alamelu (Bobji).

She has an M.A. in Economics from the University of Madras. Her special interests include the environment, philosophy and heritage.

Narayani is a senior editor and leader writer at The Times of India, Delhi, and is also editor, The Speaking Tree newspaper, published by the Times Group.

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THE PRITHVIWALLAHS

BY SHASHI KAPOOR

On 15 January 1944, Prithviraj Kapoor, already a film star, realized a long-cherished dream, and Prithvi Theatres was born. Over the next 16 years, Prithviraj Kapoor’s repertory toured the country, giving one remarkable performance after another: Shakuntala (1945), Pathan (1947) and Paisa (1953) among them—a total of 2662 performances over 5982 days in 112 places!

This was theatre history in the making, as stars were born and legends created. Uzra Mumtaz, her sister, Zohra Segal, Prithviraj’s cousins, Premnath, Rajindernath, Sajjan and Mohan Saigal, L.V. Prasad, and the young Kapoors—Raj, Shammi and Shashi, made sterling appearances on the Prithvi stage.

It remained for Shashi, his wife Jennifer and their children, Kunal and Sanjna, to fulfil Prithviraj’s last dream and give Prithvi Theatres a home of its own. On 5 November 1978, the curtain rose on G.P. Deshpande’s Uddhwasta Dharmashala, directed by Om Puri, and Prithvi Theatres, the travelling theatre company, was reborn as Prithvi Theatre, the building that has become a landmark in Mumbai. The passion that drove Prithviraj continues to inspire one hallmark performance after another from actors and directors like Naseeruddin Shah, Nadira Zaheer Babbar, Feroz Khan, Dinesh Thakur, Makarand Deshpande and a host of others who form the galaxy of stars in the world of theatre.

This book is the story of a theatre that has become a living legend, and the men and women who made it happen.

SHASHI KAPOOR gave his first performance on stage in 1945, in Prithvi Theatres’ first production, Shakuntala.

In 1960, Shashi Kapoor started his film career with Char Diwari, and has appeared in more than 250 films since then, including such memorable ones as The Householder (1962), The Shakespearewallahs (1965), Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Siddhartha (1972) and Heat and Dust (1982). In 1978 he turned producer with Junoon, followed by Kalyug. He has twice won the President’s Award for Best Actor, in 1962 for Dharam Putra, and in 1986 for New Delhi Times.

He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at Cairo International Film Festival in 2002.

DEEPA GAHLOT is a freelance journalist, columnist, and film and theatre critic in Mumbai, writing for publications such as The Times of India, The Indian Express, Midday, and Bombay Times. She also edits three cinema journals. Her work has appeared in anthologies of cinema writing. In 1998, she won the National Award for film criticism.

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MR AND MRS DUTT Memories of our Parents

BY NAMRATA DUTT KUMAR AND PRIYA DUTT

Nargis and Sunil Dutt were married in 1958. Their marriage gave them much happiness and three children: Sanjay, Namrata and Priya. In 1981, Nargis Dutt died of cancer and in 2005, twentyfour years later, Sunil Dutt suffered a fatal heart attack. This is a deeply touching and thoughtful look at the life and times of stars Nargis and Sunil Dutt, from childhood, through the many ups and downs they faced, to the moment they passed on and became memories forever embedded in the hearts of their children.

Unlike many celebrity biographies, which by necessity often rely on second-hand views and opinions, this book gives us the detailing only a first-hand narrative can offer.

Lavishly illustrated, Mr and Mrs Dutt is an honest and full of feeling account, told by their children who, at a young age, witnessed the many happy and tragic events, the big and small moments of life that shape a family history.

NAMRATA DUTT KUMAR graduated from Sophia Polytechnic in 1982 with a five-year diploma in Commercial Art. She is a trustee of the Nargis Dutt Charitable Trust.

PRIYA DUTT graduated from Sophia College in 1988 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and studied television production in New York.

She was elected as Member of Parliament in November 2005, representing the North West district, Mumbai. She is a trustee of both the Spastics Society of India and the Nargis Dutt Charitable Trust.

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A TIDE IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN A Public Servant Remembers

BY PRATEEP K. LAHIRI

A Tide in the Affairs of Men are reminiscences of a senior administrative officer from his working in the secretariat in the central government and in the state of Madhya Pradesh to his varied experiences during other relevant postings.

From handling students’ agitation in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh in 1964 to his special posting in Bagladesh after the liberation of East Pakistan in 1971; and from his years in Manila as executive director in the ADB to working closely with Dr Manmohan Singh as revenue secretary, the narrative is a public servant’s journey that relooks at some of the important milestones with passion and candour.

PRATEEP K. LAHIRI has had a distinguished career in the civil service as an IAS officer spanning thirty-six years and has held the positions of secretary in the Government of India successively in two ministries: the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Finance. Early in his career, as district magistrate in several districts, he had first-hand experience in dealing with communal conflicts and riots.

For about four years, he was India’s executive director on the Resident Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB),

Manila, with the personal rank of Ambassador.

After retiring from the civil service, Lahiri was also associated with the media in the capacity of secretary general of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), an apex chamber of the newspaper industry in India. He was also the chairman of the General Council and Executive Board of the ISM University, Dhanbad, a leading institute for technical education in the country. Author of Decoding Intolerance, this is his second book.

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AMBANI & SONS

BY HAMISH MCDONALD

Ambani & Sons is the riveting story of one of the wealthiest families in the world. Dhirubhai Ambani was a rags-to-riches tycoon whose company, Reliance, is now one of India’s major corporations. His sons, Mukesh and Anil, took over after his death in 2002 and their respective arms of the company are bigger than the parent ever was. However, a family feud of colossal proportions, that has had political reverberations, ensued. The Ambani tale contains a bigger story about modern India, not only as an economic powerhouse, but about the complicated links between government and big business.

HAMISH MCDONALD is Asia-Pacific Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. He has been a foreign correspondent in Jakarta, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and New Delhi, where he was bureau chief of the Far Eastern Economic Review. He has twice won Walkley awards, and has had a report on Burma read into the record of the US Congress. He is the author of books on Indonesia and India, and was made an inaugural Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2008.

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THE RAJA OF BOURBON The fascinating & adventurous journey of a French Prince to the Mughal Court

BY MICHEL DE GRÉCE An intriguing tale of grit, courage and adventure, The Raja of Bourbon is a well-researched historical account that traces the ‘swashbuckling narrative’ of Jean de Bourbon, a nephew of Henry IV, the first Bourbon French king. In the mid-sixteenth century Jean embarks on his first journey from France to survive attempts to assassinate him. Alone in the wide world, he is kidnapped by pirates and sold at an Egyptian slave market. From Egypt to Ethiopia, his journey is full of adventures, each more incredible than the other. In 1560, Jean finally arrives at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar, ushering in a long trail of Bourbons in India. Balthazar de Bourbon, Jean’s sole descendant in India, still stays in Bhopal, proud of his legendary ancestor and family history.

MICHEL DE GRÉCE is a member of the royal family of Greece and descendant of the Romanovs.

He has to his credit many books in French and English, primarily historical novels that are heavily inspired by his family. Michel de Gréce now lives in Paris and New York.

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THE RAJA OF HARSIL The Legend of Frederick ‘Pahari’ Wilson

BY ROBERT HUTCHISON

A young British officer deserted during the First Afghan War (1839-42) and went to ground in the wilds of Tehri-Garhwal. Frederick ‘Pahari’ Wilson changed the face of the region forever and became a Himalayan legend. He played a daring role in the Great Game, was witness to the Anglo-Sikh War of 1845 – when the British nearly lost India – and became a pioneering force in the great Indian Railways adventure. An avid hunter, ornithologist and botanist, he settled at Harsil, near the source of the Ganges, and shared the lives and destinies of the Garhwali people. Capturing the humour of the petty world of officers’ clubs in Meerut, Mussoorie and Shimla, the chill of stiff winds on the high passes into Tibet, and the hardships of life in the remote valleys of Garhwal, The Raja of Harsil: The Legend of Frederick ‘Pahari’ Wilson is a fascinating tale of love, power and adventure spanning four decades when India was a hotbed of controversy, intrigue, and rising nationalism, of military daring and rampant development. A time when ‘Pahari’ Wilson became known as ‘the man who led a life that would have been the envy of kings’.

From 1961 to 1976, Hutchison was a correspondent for the Sunday and Daily Telegraph of London. He has also contributed articles to the Sunday Times (London) and the Smithsonian (Washington). His photos have appeared in leading publications around the world. He is the author of the following works: Vesco, Off The Books, Juggernaut, In the Tracks of the Yeti and Their Kingdom Come.

ROBERT HUTCHISON studied at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and interrupted his studies to travel and begin a career in journalism. A native of Quebec, he has lived in Switzerland for many years. He is fluent in English and French.

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RUSKIN, OUR ENDURING BOND

BY GANESH SAILI

Ruskin, Our Enduring Bond is the story of a charmed childhood spent in ‘old towering palaces! Full of mystery and romance.’ At the age of ten, Ruskin Bond lost his father, but by then Ruskin’s father had already passed on to his little son his love for old friends, old times, old manners, old books and old music. Ruskin was only seventeen when he first started writing to be published in 1951. Even as his first novel The Room on the Roof was being published in England, he returned ‘home’ to India in 1955.

After a few years of wandering in the plains, he scampered up the foothills north of Dehra, and has spent the last forty years in Landour and Mussoorie, living close to nature, amongst good friends and those he loves. And this is where Ruskin – the icon of the mountains and its unsung tales – has written many of his finest stories, essays, poems, novels and verse.

GANESH SAILI and RUSKIN BOND have been friends for more than three decades. Ganesh met Ruskin shortly after Ruskin had moved to the hills above Dehra in the 1960s. Ever since, they have stood by each other through thick and

thin. For Ruskin, Ganesh and his wife Abha’s home has always been ‘a home away from home’.

Ganesh was the ideal person to write Ruskin, Our Enduring Bond, Ruskin Bond’s biography, since few have known Ruskin as closely as Ganesh has. Over the years, the two friends, Ruskin and Ganesh, have coauthored several memorable books: Mussoorie and Landour, Days of Wine & Roses; A Passage through India; Himalayan Leaf & Flower and Mussoorie: Jewel of the Hills.

Ganesh Saili teaches English and American literature at Mussoorie’s Post-Graduate College.

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JAB WE MET Love and Romances of India’s Glamorous

BY SYEDA IMAM

Modern romance sparkles like never before.

In Jab We Met, acclaimed author Syeda Imam embarks on short and sensitive forays into the real love stories of twelve Indian couples, including Dr. Karan Singh of the Dogra dynasty and Princess Yasho of Nepal, actor Dilip Kumar and actress Saira Bano, director David Lean and Leila Matkar, Nawab scion Tiger Pataudi and superstar Sharmila Tagore. How did they meet? What were their first impressions of each other? Jab We Met is a celebration of these extraordinary couples who found each other in curious, eccentric, puzzling ways, and whose whirlwind romances quickly became immortal in popular Indian culture.

SYEDA IMAM is an award-winning writer in advertising, media and public service and has conceptualized, written and edited various books and the Epiphany series for the Subas Ghosal Foundation, and HU: The Sufi Way for the Rumi Foundation.

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FIC T IO N DRAMA

DIRTY WOMEN

BY MADHUMITA BHATTACHARYYA

When four-year-old Tara disappears from her own home in Calcutta one night in 2002, the ensuing media circus zeroes in on the private life of Drishti Sengupta, a singer of note and a single, unapologetic mother. Far less attention is paid to the investigation into the incident, which occurred in an upmarket neighbourhood, in a secure apartment complex. The police seem to have no real clue as to what happened – is it a real crime or fake? Is it a kidnapping or murder?

Told in two timelines – one in 2002, and one a contemporary ‘true crime’ book-within-thebook written by Ahana, a young journalist who is thrust into the heart of this case, Dirty Women is also the story of two tragedies: that of a missing child, and that of a city that joins hands to bring down a woman who wishes to live life on her own terms. Hope wears thin as everyone obsesses over who Tara’s father is, and the police make no effort to even try to find her, concentrating on a rotating cast of suspects – culminating with Drishti herself.

MADHUMITA BHATTACHARYYA is the author of four crime thrillers – The Reema Ray series – The Masala Murder; Dead in a Mumbai Minute; Goa Undercover; and Murder at the Temple. Prior to her fiction career, she was a journalist at The Telegraph, Kolkata. She lives in Bangalore with her husband, daughter, and their dog.

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THE WISE WOMAN AND OTHER STORIES The Best of Mannu Bhandari TRANSLATED BY VIDYA PRADHAN

Mannu Bhandari’s genius lies not in elevating women to heroines or superior beings; rather, she forces us to acknowledge that flawed, confused, and self-centered women are as worthy of agency and respect. She wrote among literary giants who were mostly men, but carved a singular space for herself with her unflinching gaze at the hypocrisy of a society that claims to venerate women yet balks at giving them the keys to their shackles. These 18 stories are representative of her wonderful insights into the inner life of women – her characters span the spectrum from rural to urban, illiterate to educated, homemakers to career professionals.

Through all the stories runs a vein of gentle mockery – the inimitable Mannu Bhandari style.

MANNU BHANDARI is a prolific writer of short stories, novels, novellas, and plays, and has been honoured with several awards for her outstanding literary achievements in Hindi. She is considered one of the pioneers of the ‘Nayi Kahani’ Movement, a Hindi literary movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Hindi movie Rajnigandha, based on her short story ‘Yehi Sach Hai’ won the Filmfare Best Film Award in 1974.

VIDYA PRADHAN is a writer based in Palo Alto, California. She has written several children’s books, features, and a memoir. This is her first translation and she looks forward to bringing more classic Indian literature in Hindi to English readers.

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THE LOST FRAGRANCE OF INFINITY

BY MOIN MIR

In 1739, Qaraar Ali, a young craftsman from Delhi witnesses the destruction of his world as he has known it. His wondrous city where he found love, spirituality, the friendship of poets and philosophers becomes a desolate, scorching hell. From the embers of his past, a journey begins; one which takes him into the depths of Sufi philosophy. Traversing spectacular landscapes of a fading Mughal Empire, a turbulent Central Asia and Persia, a culturally retreating Ottoman Empire and declining Spanish influence, Qaraar Ali finds hope in the sacred geometry of the Sufis through which he attempts at rebuilding his life and rediscovering love. A deeply passionate love story imbued with spirituality, acceptance, compassion and redemption, The Lost Fragrance of Infinity gives a much deserved voice to Sufism and its contributions to humanity, art, mathematics, mysticism and science.

MOIN MIR is a London based writer of Indian origin. He began writing under the influence of his grandfather, a scholar of Sufism, Omar Khayyam and Mirza Ghalib. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Surat: Fall of a Port, Rise of a Prince. The Lost Fragrance of Infinity is his second book. Mir speaks frequently at leading international literature festivals on topics ranging from Sufism, history and travel writing.

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MEERA, SANGA AND MEWAR The Remarkable Story of A Brave Rajput Princess and Her Legendary Devotion

BY JYOTI JAFA Meera Bai, one of India’s most well-known mystic poet is also a Rajput princess of the Rathor clan. Married to Mewar’s Crown Prince Bhoj Raj, son of Rana Sanga, the most chivalrous and powerful warrior king ruling medieval India’s largest and wealthiest Rajput kingdoms, her charmed life revolves around her love for Krishna. Passionate and devoted to her divine consort, this retelling of Meera’s story is a celebration of her life as a princess, a brave daughter-in-law of Mewar, a poet, and a seeker of divine union with her God. Steeped in Rajput traditions, customs and folklore, this novel explores the relationship between the physical and the metaphysical.

A prolific journalist, JYOTI JAFA is an aristocrat by birth, a diplomat by training and a writer by inclination. She infuses her writing with her own joie de vivre and an artist’s sensitivity to ambience. She is also the author of three of our bestsellers, Nurjahan, Really, Your Highness! and Royal Rajasthan.

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NO MARGIN FOR ERROR A Tale of Bravery and Brotherhood set in the Indian Army

BY TANUSHREE PODDER

On a balmy November evening, a group of terrorists unleash mindless carnage in the city of Mumbai. Pitted against them, in one of the city’s grandest hotels, are the commandos from the elite Special Forces. Leading them are Captain Neel Dutta and Major Sam Fernandes, two of the forces’ youngest officers: friends for life, and each other’s confidantes. But, only one of them survives to tell their tale.

It is at this explosive moment that No Margin for Error truly begins. Tanushree turns the clock backwards – whizzing past days, months, years, inviting us to enter the lives of best friends, Neel and Sam. How did they meet? How did they bond with each other in a world away from home? How did they survive brutal training, heartbreaks, internal politics, and missions of national importance during their time together as rookies in the Indian Army? And most importantly, how did they end up in Mumbai on that fatal day? Tanushree’s exciting follow-up to Boots, Belts, Berets and On the Double takes an incisive look at the patriots who risk it all to stand in the line of fire.

an international reindeer driving licence from Lapland, to one from ‘The School of Hard Knocks’ at Royal Selangor.

No Margin for Error is her ninth novel.

After leading a nomadic life for several decades, thanks to the Indian Army, she has finally grown roots at Pune.

TANUSHREE is a self-confessed word-a-holic and a traveller.

With a penchant for the unusual, she has collected dozens of interesting certificates that range from a wine-master’s assistant at Australia,

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ON THE DOUBLE Drills, Drama, and Dare-Devilry at the Indian Military Academy

BY TANUSHREE PODDER

The Indian Military Academy – a crucible of sorts where young boys are transformed into officers of merit through discipline, hard work, and a rigorous regime. A place where life is all about battalions and companies, and where the tactics of warfare are taught.

However, in Tanushree Podder’s no-holdsbarred look into Academy life – pranks and girls are as important to life as are morning drills and sand model exercises. A fitting, but entirely independent, sequel to Boots Belts Berets, her celebrated book about life at the National Defence Academy; On the Double follows the continuing adventures of Pessi, Maachh, Porky, Sandy, and Zora as they navigate the obstacle course that is the IMA. Their love of fun breathes life into their time together, and their friendship and dare-devilry guarantees sleepless nights for their Company Commander. A charming tale of friendship and coming-of-age, where young boys with lofty dreams stand at the cusp of change, ready to take on their future as sentinels of the nation.

No Margin for Error is her ninth novel.

After leading a nomadic life for several decades, thanks to the Indian Army, she has finally grown roots at Pune.

TANUSHREE is a self-confessed word-a-holic and a traveller.

With a penchant for the unusual, she has collected dozens of interesting certificates that range from a wine-master’s assistant at Australia, an international reindeer driving licence from Lapland, to one from ‘The School of Hard Knocks’ at Royal Selangor.

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URNABHIH A Mauryan Tale of Espionage, Adventure and Seduction

BY SUMEDHA V OJHA

Misrakesi comes to the newly-formed Mauryan court with a mission – to avenge the death of her sister. However, an encounter with Chanakya, the man she had planned to kill, sets her on an unexpected path... She lands the highly-coveted job of a spy, masquerading as a dancing girl.

In a kingdom fraught with intrigue, Misrakesi must always remain one step ahead. With the help of her handsome but arrogant chief Pushyamitra, she must concoct the perfect blend of sweetness and seduction to vanquish the enemies of the state. But when she is sent to subtly conquer a powerful neigbouring kingdom, she might be in for more than what she bargained for...

Will she succeed in her mission? Or more importantly, will she even survive to tell the tale?

Meticulously researched, this historical page-turner packs in romance, political intrigue, and mystery to make for a racy read.

SUMEDHA VERMA OJHA was born in modern Patna; ancient Pataliputra, which was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of the Mauryans. She graduated with honours in Economics from Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College, and has a Gold Medal in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics. After a stint as a bureaucrat in the Government of India, she now lives on the shores of Lac Léman in Switzerland with her husband and two children.

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CHANAKYA’S SCRIBE

BY SUMEDHA V. OJHA

In the second book of the Mauryan trilogy, Misrakesi, Acharya Chanakya’s scribe in the Mauryan Palace, part of the royal administration; Misrakesi, with child, carrying the future Senapati of the Mauryans; Misrakesi, the new wife, trying to fit into one of the most powerful families in the kingdom – while battling both assassins and more intimate threats to her own happiness with Pushyamitra. This is the new reality of the dancing girl from Ujjain, who had first come to this city of secrets with only revenge on her mind. Misrakesi finds herself vulnerable at the centre of a political chakravyuh. Her child, her husband, her family, and her very existence all seem to be pawns in an unseen but lethal game of power swirling around her.

A former bureaucrat, SUMEDHA V. OJHA is researching a long term project for a series of books on the kingdom s of ancient India. This is her second book on the Mauryans.

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THE SOUND OF WATER Six Lives, Two Worlds, One Hell

BY SANJAY BAHADUR

‘In this dark and remorseless world, there are no winners or losers. There are only survivors …’

The Sound of Water is a searing fictional exposé of the conditions of mining in India. The story is as much an exposition of despairing minds as it is about the high voltage drama of a mining accident. But pitted against constant fear of death, mind-numbing work, greed and the establishment’s apathy is the power of spiritual strength and conviction that enables one to survive the odds.

Loosely based on the disastrous flooding of the Bagdighi colliery (now in Jharkhand) in 2001, which trapped and killed dozens of miners, SANJAY BAHADUR recreates the eventful hours of a disaster in this fast-paced and intriguing narrative that moves between the real and the surreal. Raimoti, an old miner, trapped hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth, struggles to save himself and his fellow miners. Meanwhile, the officials from the mining company and the government, more concerned about their careers, launch a ‘rescue operation’ of their own. And Madho, Raimoti’s brother, and his wife Dolly eagerly anticipate compensation.

SANJAY BAHADUR holds master’s degrees in economics and business administration and has been an officer of the Indian civil service since 1989. He has worked as an investigator, administrator, policy maker, and regulator. His

most recent assignment was as Advisor in the Competition Commission of India. The Sound of Water, was longlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize 2007 and has been published internationally, earning critical acclaim. India Today commented, ‘This book should be made required reading for every bureaucrat, politician and schoolchild in this country.’ Kirkus Review described it as, ‘... revealing, moving and well written debut offers a dramatic, engaging lens through which to view an endlessly complex country.’

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HUL Cry Rebel!

BY SANJAY BAHADUR

When the ancient ways of a peaceful but brave tribe is threatened by the arrogance of an empire, savagery of the “civilised” and greed of the affluent, the only thing left to do is rise in rebellion. The year is 1855. The tribe: Santals.

Born a few months after the British soldiers raided their village and killed his father, Bikram grows up with a strong intolerance for injustice.

Lt. James Davies of the British Native Infantry finds himself in the maddening world of 19th century Colonial India. But he is quick to learn and develops a strange affection for this complex land and its people.

Shibani is a Bengali child-widow and an heiress, who finds her life lonely and stifling. Of the many burdens she must bear at a young age are protecting her estate and the future of her son.

Their lives collide in the backdrop of mounting unease amongst the tribals. Result of extensive historical research and brimming with memorable characters, the story moves through a whirlwind of passion, greed, betrayal, cruelty and sacrifice. As Bikram grows up, he realises it’s his identity as a Santal that has become a bane. He finds himself sucked into the vortex of Hul – the Great Santal Rebellion against the British and their lackeys – the ‘dikus’. Thousands of Santal tribesmen wage a desperate war for self-determination. Bare feet against boots; arrows against howitzers. The odds seem insurmountable. 50,000 Santals are massacred in the Hul.

This book is the first fictional account of a native rebellion in present-day Jharkhand against both the British colonial authority and corrupt caste zamindari system by the Santal people.

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NO GUNS AT MY SON’S FUNERAL

BY PARO ANAND

Aftab, a young Kashmiri boy, leads a double life.

By day, he is a normal, bubbly teenager whose prime concerns are cricket, family and friends.

The night holds the secrets of the life of a child, one who sneaks away to confabulate with Akram and his fledgling group of tearaway terrorists.

Akram, so handsome, so exciting. But what Aftab doesn’t realize, so dangerous. Aftab is in complete awe of Akram and is willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. And Akram is more than willing to send him there.

Though set against the militancy in Kashmir, this novel could belong anywhere in today’s world where violence is just a breath away. A book for teenagers – and for adults of all ages – who live in a world where ‘cops and robbers’ is not fun any more, but a deadly game.

PARO ANAND is the author of books for children, young adults and adults including novels, short stories and plays. She headed the National Centre for Children’s Literature, The National Book Trust, India, the apex body for children’s literature in India. She won the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puruskar in 2017 for her anthology Wild Child and Other Stories (now published as Like Smoke: 20 Teens 20 Stories). No Guns at My Son’s Funeral made it to the IBBY Honor List of 2006 and has been translated into Spanish and German. In 2019, she was conferred the Kalinga Karubaki Award.

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WEED

BY PARO ANAND

‘All right, I will share my deepest, darkest secret.

I loved my father... like sons love their fathers, I loved mine too. And aren’t sons forever following in their father’s footsteps? Even if those footsteps are blighted...?’

After Umer’s father leaves to join the jihadis, the family is pushed to the brink of poverty and depression, but his mother will have nothing to do with her husband. The government and charities working in Kashmir, in their better wisdom, believe it is best not to offer sustenance to the children and widows of militants. Isolated by society and trapped in adversity: Will the mother’s determination to turn her back on violence crumble? Will Umer go his father’s way? What choices will this family make?

Weed, a follow-up of the award winning No Guns at My Son’s Funeral, where complex issues are examined through the innocence of a child caught in a web he never spun.

PARO ANAND is the author of books for children, young adults and adults including novels, short stories and plays.

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PURE SEQUENCE A Story of Growing Old Gracefully or Otherwise

BY PARO ANAND

Pure Sequence is not a beginning, middle and end kind of novel, but rather a story of women in their twilight years; aglow with their past, learning to cherish their present and not worrying too much about the future. It is about the realities that confront us all, sooner or later.

Those who leave their parents to lead their own lives; those whose own children are flying out of the nest; those who are forced into believing that their life is done behind them; to those who admire the strength and fortitude of their grandmothers.

Pure Sequence is about the quiet confidence of women growing old gracefully or otherwise, realizing that they are in yet another prime of their lives.

Author of more than nineteen books, PARO ANAND is a performance storyteller and runs a programme, Literature in Action. She has worked with children in difficult circumstances including the orphans of Kashmir and children of poachers in Madhya Pradesh. A record holder for making the world’s longest newspaper with children, she has been awarded for contribution to children’s literature by President Abdul Kalam and the Russian Centre for Science and Culture.

Paro was writer-in-residence at the Woodstock School, Mussoorie, where she wrote this first novel for adults, a book celebrating the grace and strength of older women.

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DESTINY’S FLOWERS The Story of a Spiritual Detective, A Raging Nun and a Boy on the Run

BY KAJOLI KHANNA

Destiny’s Flowers ushers us through the journeys of Urmilla, Pema and Atish, who unwittingly find their destinies intertwined. Urmilla is an art restorer whose mission to revive priceless artworks in the Fort of Joji is overturned by a brutal and puzzling midnight assault. To unravel the mystery and conquer the paralytic fear that ensues she embarks on a spiritual voyage. Under the garb and demeanour of a Buddhist nun, Pema conceals a past that forces her to question her ethics as she wrestles with the burden of her deeds. Atish is the indulged hero of a slum, who achieves the ‘unattainable’ but cannot hold on to his good fortune. He must plunge into troubled waters, face the consequences of his cowardly actions to prove himself. As the characters are thrust in each others’ paths a story full of surprises unfolds. Frailty and courage, generosity and meanness, grace and effrontery appear in the most unexpected of places.

We savour three unique perspectives, as the novel takes us from a fairytale fort in a financial mess to a class clash in a Bengali household; from the soothing environs of Buddhist monasteries to the cacophony of the overpopulated slums.

in Delhi, she began to work with the Ashraya crèches for underprivileged children in 1997, and also studied to be a counsellor at the Banjara Academy in Bengaluru. She has since continued to work extensively with a number of institutions for underprivileged children in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. She has also published another book: Afterbirth and Other Stories.

After a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the Delhi University, KAJOLI KHANNA moved to Switzerland, where she completed a degree in Fashion and Interior Design.

Having consummated varied design projects

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DOCUM ENTA R IES

TAJ MAHAL FOXTROT The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age

BY NARESH FERNANDES

In the three decades from 1935, jazz – a form of music born in faraway New Orleans – seemed to perfectly echo the spirit of Bombay. Taj Mahal Foxtrot explains why.

First published in 2012, this book is the Winner of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2012. It was also shortlisted for the EconomistCrossword Book Award in the non-fiction category and the Tata First Book Award.

NARESH FERNANDES is the editor of Scroll.in, a digital daily, and a consulting editor at National Geographic Traveller India. He was previously editor-in-chief of Time Out India, and has also worked at the Times of India and the Associated Press in Mumbai, and the Wall Street Journal in New York. His journalism has appeared in the Hindustan Times, the New York Times, India Magazine, Man’s World, Outlook Traveller, Seminar, Columbia Journalism Review, Art and Thought, Wespennest, Letras Libres, Transition, Culturefront and Citylimits, among other publications.

He is the author of City Adrift: A Short Biography of Bombay and co-author of Bombay Then and Mumbai Now, a photo-led record of the city’s historical and contemporary concerns.

In 2003, he was the co-editor, along with Jerry Pinto, of Bombay Meri Jaan, an anthology of writing about Bombay. He is currently a Poiesis Fellow at the Institute of Public Knowledge at New York University and is on the editorial policy board of the World Policy Journal.

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THE STORY OF TEA

BY E. JAIWANT PAUL

The Story of Tea traces the history, myths and rituals of growing and drinking tea from the tea gardens of China to the roadside dhabas of India.

Thomas Garraway’s first public sale of tea in England in 1657 was of historic importance. For this he published and distributed a poster …

“The leaf is of such known virtues ... that it is sold for twice its weight in silver. It maketh the body active and lusty. It helpeth the headache, giddiness and heaviness thereof. It is very good against stone and gravel, cleaning the kidneys and ureter.

It is good against crudities, strengthening the weakness of the Ventricle or Stomack, causing good appetite and Digestion and particularly for men of a corpulent body and such as are great eaters of flesh.…

It prevents and cures ague, surfeits… and fevers, by infusing a fit quantity of the leaf, thereby provoking a most gentle vomit…

It drives away all pains in the Collick proceeding from wind and purgeth safely the Gall…”

So said Thomas Garraway and, indeed, many believed him!

Cartridge. He is on the expert panel on weapons for several museums of Rajasthan. He initially worked for Hindustan Unilever and was later Director of Brooke Bond, India. Thereafter he headed the National Mineral Water Company in Muscat, Oman. A keen cricketer and tennis player, he now lives in Delhi and serves as director of a few companies.

E. JAIWANT PAUL is a man of varied interests, having authored eight other books, including Rani of Jhansi, Baji Rao, The Unforgettable Maharajas, Har Dayal: The Great Revolutionary (co-author Mrs Shubh Paul), Arms and Armour: Traditional Weapons of India, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, and The Greased

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BHOPAL CONNECTIONS Vignettes of Royal Rule

BY SHAHARYAR MUHAMMED KHAN

Founded by Dost Mohammed Khan, an AfghanPashtun soldier in the Mughal Army, Bhopal became a princely state in 1818 as a result of the Anglo-Bhopal treaty between East India Company and the Nawab of Bhopal.

Between 1819 and 1926, Bhopal had the distinction of being ruled by four begums. Bhopal Connections: Vignettes of Royal Rule takes us on a journey of dramatic events, the larger-than-life characters, scandals and social norms that are part of this princely state’s history and culture, fashioned particularly by the reign of these four successive women rulers. Some of these events were game changers, while others saw social change through family alliances.

From a peek into Bhopal’s political, cultural and familial history to contemporary anecdotes, Shaharyar Muhammed Khan, grandson of the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, recreates life and times of the rulers of Bhopal.

A former diplomat and chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, SHAHARYAR MUHAMMED KHAN is from the royal family of former princely state of Bhopal. Born in Bhopal state in British India, he is the only son of Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of the former princely state of Kurwai (in Madhya Pradesh) and Princess Abida Sultan, the eldest daughter of the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal Sir Muhammad Nawab Hamidulah Khan, who reigned over the state of Bhopal after a prolonged era of Begums’ rule.

His many books include, The Begums of Bhopal, The Shallow Graves of Rwanda, Cricket – a Bridge of Peace, the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultaan – Memoirs of a Rebel Princess, Shadows Across the Playing Field (co-authored with Shashi Tharoor), and with his son Ali Khan he wrote Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan.

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THE KONYAKS Last of the Tattooed Headhunters

BY PHEJIN KONYAK

A personal journey of a Konyak woman who retraces the steps of her grandfather and greatgrandfather by documenting the tattooing practice of the Konyaks – a once fearsome headhunting tribe of Nagaland in India, well known for their iconic facial and body tattoos.

For the first time this book compiles the most intensive research and documentation that has ever been done on tattoo art.

It explores the Konyaks’ concept of beautification of the body through tattoos, in which the body is understood as a canvas for body art, with inscriptions marked on the skin as a form of rite of passage and cycle of life.

This book captures the unique but vanishing practice of the tattooing culture together with the tattoo patterns, their meanings and oral traditions, such as folktales, songs, poems and sayings. It includes descriptions and information on the headhunting and tattooing practices; reasons behind it, techniques used, tattoo artists, different tattoo groups, types of tattoos and personal stories, visually interpreted with illustrations and photographs.

PHEJIN KONYAK is the great-granddaughter of a tattooed headhunter Ahon, who was a prominent member of the Konyak tribe, and one of the first interpreters during Diaries of Two Tours in the Naga Hills (1923), written by J.H. Hutton, the first ethnographer to venture into the Naga Hills during the time of the British Raj. Phejin lives in

Shiyong village, Mon District, Nagaland, India.

In between running her farm and writing, she travels to remote villages documenting tattoo patterns and interacting with the older tattooed people.

PETER BOS is a professional portrait photographer from Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

He travels to remote corners of the world, capturing the essence of unique cultures through strong and intense portraits. His work method is personal; he submerges into the local society, establishes good relationships and has a one-onone approach.

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PANDEMONIUM The Great Indian Banking Tragedy

BY TAMAL BANDYOPADHYAY

In Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy, bestselling author Tamal Bandyopadhyay writes a definitive insider story on the rot in India’s banking system – how many promoters easily swapped equity with debt as bank managements looked the other way to protect their balance sheets, until the RBI began waging a war against ballooning bad loans. The same troubles quickly spilled over to India’s mushrooming non-banking financial companies, which were quick to spot the post-demonetisation easy liquidity and banks’ reluctance to lend, prompting them to make the cardinal sin of borrowing short to lend long.

What really ails public sector banks, the backbone of India’s financial system? Is it the government ownership itself, or how this owner actually behaves? And just when many were rooting for privatisation as a way out, powerful bankers such as Chanda Kochhar and Rana Kapoor exposed the soft underbelly of seemingly more efficient and profitable private banks of India.

A timely and insider look at dramatic forces reshaping banking in Asia’s third-largest economy, this book is a bird’s-eye view of Indian banking and also a fly-on-wall documentary.

For the past 25 years, TAMAL BANDYOPADHYAY has been a keen student of Indian banking. He is widely recognised for ‘Banker’s Trust’, a weekly column whose unerring ability to anticipate and dissect major policy decisions in India’s banking and finance has earned him a large print and

digital audience. Banker’s Trust now appears in Business Standard, where he is a Consulting Editor.

Tamal was a founding member of Mint newspaper and Livemint.com. He is also a Senior Adviser to Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd. Between 2014 and 2018, as an adviser on strategy for Bandhan Bank Ltd, he had a ringside view of the first-ever transformation of a microfinance institution in India into a universal bank.

Author of five other books, Tamal is widely recognised as a contributor to the Oxford Handbook of the Indian Economy and Making of New India: Transformation Under Modi Government.

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THE STEEL FRAME A History of the IAS

BY DEEPAK GUPTA

The development and role of the Indian Civil Service was one of the dominant features of the period of the East India Company, and later, British rule in India. It was also the first civil service in the modern world where recruitment was on the basis of open competition and not through patronage. Though much criticized, it developed its own character and traditions.

It is really unusual that such a service – defined as the ‘steel frame’, on which depended the fortunes and the survival of a huge empire – continued essentially with the same structure and traditions, along with the administrative systems developed over a century, into Independent democratic India. Although much has changed, even today the Indian Administrative Service retains some basic characteristics from the past.

This system of governance as it evolved in India is indeed a fascinating story.

Well researched and detailed in its presentation, Deepak Gupta looks at changes from the past, its present, and also the future of the IAS. He also suggests some measures so that it could re-invent itself to play the important role envisaged by the makers of our Constitution.

of New and Renewable Energy. After retirement he consulted with the World Bank and UNIDO and writes on issues of energy and sustainable development. He was Chairman of UPSC from November 2014 to September 2016.

His published works include Documentation of Participatory Irrigation Management, Covering a Billion with DOTS, Achieving Universal Energy Access in India: Challenges and Way Forward, and Caught by the Police.

From the IAS batch of 1974, DEEPAK GUPTA has spent many years in the field in the erstwhile state of Bihar, including two districts (Saharsa 1979–80; Rohtas 1986–88) as Collector. He served in many departments in state and centre and was also posted in India Trade Cente, Brussels and spent a year as WHO Advisor on TB in Delhi. He retired in 2011 as Secretary, Ministry

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IC 814 HIJACKED The Inside Story

BY ANIL K. JAGGIA AND SAURABH SHUKLA

What was the intelligence failure that led to the hijacking of Indian Airlines’ flight IC-814 from Kathmandu on 24 December 1999? Could the aircraft have been stopped at Amritsar airport?

Was a commando raid planned on the aircraft?

How was Rupin Katyal killed? Was the plane’s destination always intended to be Kandahar?

Was it merely prophetic that the hijackers had predicted the end of all negotiations on the millennium eve?

These and other questions are answered in this blow-by-blow eyewitness account by Flt. Engineer Anil K. Jaggia, who breaks the silence around the hijacking with investigative journalist Saurabh Shukla of the Indian Express.

ANIL K. JAGGIA, operated hijacked flight IC-814 as its Flight Engineer. He was chief of Flight Engineering with Indian Airlines and had 20,000 flight hours’ experience as Flight Engineer. An instructor and examiner flight engineer on the Airbus A300 aircraft, he received his technical education at Air Technical Training Institute, Calcutta.

writer, public speaker and a prime-time TV panelist. He has reported from hot spots worldwide and has interviewed international leaders. Previously he has worked in leading media organizations like India Today Group, Hindustan Times and the Indian Express.

SAURABH SHUKLA is an award-winning investigative journalist and the Founder and Editor in Chief of NewsMobile. He is a prolific

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LAID TO REST The Controversy Over Subhas Chandra Bose’s Death

BY ASHIS RAY

Laid to Rest: The Controversy over Subhas Chandra Bose’s Death is the most comprehensive compilation of hard evidence ever presented on the still hotly-debated demise of one of the heroes of the Indian freedom movement. It pieces together a plethora of firsthand, eye-witness accounts of the plane crash at Taipei that resulted in Subhas Bose breathing his last in a Japanese military hospital, his cremation and the transfer of his ashes to Japan, where they remain till date.

In a veritable tour de force, the book presents irrefutable, overwhelming testimonies from survivors of the crash, people who were at Bose’s bedside when he passed away, attendees at the cremation and couriers of the mortal remains to Tokyo and ultimately to its current resting place at Renkoji temple. Indian, Japanese and Taiwanese nationals unite to provide an unimpeachable and unanimous verdict. The publication decimates conspiracy theories; and questions successive Indian governments for ignoring the plaintive cry of Bose’s Austrian widow and economist daughter to apply closure to a needless and never-ending controversy.

ASHIS RAY is the longest serving Indian foreign correspondent, having uninterruptedly worked in this capacity for over 40 years, mainly for BBC and CNN, but also for India’s Ananda Bazar Group and the Times of India. The book is a culmination of 30 years of extensive research in Taiwan, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Britain and the United States.

PROFESSOR ANITA BOSE PFAFF, the only child of Subhas Bose and his Austrian wife Emilie Schenkl, was born in Vienna on 29 November 1942. She was only four weeks old when Subhas last saw her, prior to embarking on a voyage from Europe to South-East Asia, never to return.

She only came to be granted recognition after her uncle Sarat Bose and his family visited Vienna in 1948 and were handed a letter by her mother left behind by her father.

In 1960, Pfaff visited India for the first time to be given a rousing reception nationwide, especially in Calcutta.

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THE PUNJAB STORY Reissued on the 20th Anniversary of Operation Bluestar

6th June, 1984: The Indian Army storms the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Called Operation Bluestar, the historic and unprecedented event ended the growing spectre of terrorism perpetrated by the extremist Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers once and for all. But it left in its wake unsolved political questions that continued to threaten Punjab’s stability for years to come. How, in a brief span of three years, did India’s dynamic frontier State become a national problem? Who was to blame: the Central Government for allowing the crisis to drift despite warnings, or the long-drawn-out Akali agitation, or the notorious gang of militants who transformed a holy shrine into a sanctuary for terrorists?

First published two months after Operation Bluestar, The Punjab Story pieces together the complex Punjab jigsaw through the eyes of some of India’s most eminent public figures and journalists. Writing with the passion and conviction of those who were involved with the drama, they present a wide-ranging perspective on the past, present and future of the Punjab tangle, the truth of many of their conclusions having been borne out by time.

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WHEN A TREE SHOOK DELHI The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath

BY MANOJ MITTA & HS PHOOLKA

It stands out even in a country inured to mass violence – 3,000 members of a minority community slaughtered over three days in 1984, right in India’s capital. Twenty-three years on, neither the organizers of the massacre nor the state players who facilitated it have been punished, despite prolonged inquiries and trials.

This massacre of Sikhs in the wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination has turned out to be a reality check on India’s much touted institutions of the rule of law.

The book seeks to uncover the truth on the basis of the evidence that came to light during the proceedings of the latest judicial inquiry conducted by the Nanavati Commission. Authors Manoj Mitta and H.S. Phoolka, perhaps the most knowledgeable voices on the subject, present an unsparing account, abounding with insights and revelations, on the 1984 carnage and its aftermath.

MANOJ MITTA is a journalist who casts a critical eye on India’s record on the rule of law, human rights and judicial accountability. A law graduate from Hyderabad, he is a senior editor with The Times of India, and has worked earlier with The Indian Express and India Today. He has written extensively on the 1984 carnage.

HARVINDER SINGH PHOOLKA has spearheaded the long-drawn-out campaign for justice to the victims of the 1984 carnage. He mobilized their testimonies and represented them before successive inquiries. A senior advocate practising in Delhi, he has been a designated counsel for the central government, Punjab government and Election Commission of India.

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THE UNTOLD STORY OF CHRISTIAN MICHEL AND AGUSTAWESTLAND

BY RAJU SANTHANAM

The AgustaWestland scandal has a distinct Bofors flavour to it. Stories, in the case of both, first broke in the foreign media. The countries that produced the Bofors gun and the AgustaWestland choppers have long forgotten the scandal. In India, though, amidst the heat and dust generated by leaks, insinuations and wild interpretations, the truth still eludes us.

The Untold Story looks at how the scandal first unfolded in Italy and later became a raging storm in India. Caught in the web of complex events orchestrated by powerful corporate kingpins with vested interests are the three main players – Guido Haschke, Giuseppe Orsi and Christian Michel.

The book also provides insights into the role of coteries in India’s power politics. Confidential UK cabinet documents from the archives give a totally new insight into the deal first struck in 1987. The Untold Story is a ringside view on the scandal and its ramifications.

A veteran journalist, RAJU SANTHANAM has spent over forty years in journalism in print and television. A former head of Zee News and editor of the Statesman, Raju’s forte has been investigative journalism. He ran the Statesman’s Insight Investigative team for a number of years, and was well known for some of the best investigative stories in the eighties and subsequent years. Currently, Raju is focussed on research-based projects that have a global impact on international audience.

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ESTABLISHMENT 22 THUBTEN SAMPHEL

This is the incredible story of a ‘secret’ force made up wholly of Tibetan refugees in India. The Special Frontier Force (SFF) popularly known as ‘2-2’ (Two-Two) has fought in India’s major external wars including the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Kargil War. It has also been involved in internal security, including Operation Blue Star and also serving as the “Personal Force” of Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi to suppress opposition parties during the Emergency. The force came into being on 14 November 1962 (Nehru’s birthday) a week before China’s unilateral ceasefire of the 1962 Sino-Indian War. Their role in the 1971 war with Pakistan that lead to the creation of Bangladesh, was not overtly acknowledged, due to the secret nature of the force. It is for this reason, that the commandos could not be decorated, although some were awarded cash rewards by the Indian government. Reputed to be tough, brave, and willing to go beyond the call of duty, the SFF remains a legendary force for Tibetans. For the first time retired members of the SFF go on the record to talk about their experiences of being a part of an elite force, of taking up arms despite their Buddhist beliefs, of their disappointments for not being recognized and much more. Tenzin Choegyal, the youngest brother of His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has also shared his story of being a part of the force for the first time.

He was the secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations from 1999-2012 and also served as the spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration. He completed his high school from Dr. Graham’s Home, Kalimpong. He studied B.A and M.A in History from St. Stephen College, Delhi University. He was among the first group of Tibetan Fulbright Scholars to study in the United States and earned a degree in Journalism from Columbia University, New York.

He was a member of the last fact-finding mission to visit in Tibet in 1985.

He has written extensively on Tibet in Indian and international newspapers and journals.

He is the author of ‘Falling Through the Roof’, a work of fiction and co-author of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet.

THUBTEN SAMPHEL is the first executive director of the Tibet Policy Institute, since its establishment in 2012. He retired in November 2018.

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INDIAN INNOVATION Not Jugaad 100 Ideas That Transformed India DINESH SHARMA

As India turns 75, Indian Innovation, Not Jugaad unpacks 100 ideas that transformed a young democratic republic into a complex and thriving nation of a billion-plus people.

With compelling urgency and the lucidity of a skilled narrator, Dinesh C. Sharma writes of an India newly independent in 1947 after the British colonial powers left it to its own destiny, of its subsequent wavering journey through the decades all the way to a raging pandemic and of the small and big innovations that paved the way for India. In doing so, he turns on their heads prevailing notions of innovation often propagated in a galaxy of books on the much used and abused narrative of jugaad that romance the idea of how the ‘poor’ innovate to get by. Very often, a bulk of the writing heavily focuses on technological, novel, IT or digital solutions and disruptions alone, most of which fizzle out as one-time wonders. Sharma does the difficult job of writing about the original disruptions that revolutionized the way things were done in a particular sector and context. Covering policies, concepts, and institutions in areas such as, but not limited to, science, healthcare, education, governance, business, grassroots movements, agriculture, fashion, law and others, this is a book one needs to read to better understand India. Propulsively put together, with effortless prose, Sharma’s writing, with his decades’ long journalistic understanding of science, technology, environment, and communities, is teeming with stories and anecdotes of innovations that went on to change the lives of Indians forever. From software parks to shampoos sachets, jan sunwais

to oxygen langars, Lijjat papad to mohalla clinics, the Chipko movement to Khabar Lahariya, this is also the story of the unknown, unsung people behind these innovations that are continuing to shape India as we know it.

DINESH C. SHARMA is a New Delhi-based awardwinning journalist and author with over thirty five years’ of professional experience. He has written extensively on science and technology, climate change, health, environment and innovation for national and international media, including The Lancet and Wired. He has been Science Editor at Mail Today, and Managing Editor at India Science Wire and is currently the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow (2020-2021). His book The Outsourcer: The Story of India’s IT Revolution was awarded the Computer History Museum Book Prize in 2016.

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SLOW LIVING VANDANA SHIVA AND SHREYA JANI

If the 2020 pandemic taught the planet anything, it is that life on earth as we have known it is now no more the same as it used to be. Just the manifesto we needed in our lives to adapt to a rapidly changing world, Slow Living is an urgent wake-up call to the reader for direct action, which gently breaks down the philosophy of slow living; slow food; slow fashion and slow leisure.

Addressed to the wise and rational, the restless in their prime, anxious millennials and idealistic gen Z, this is a book you want to read, scribble at, gift and pass on to your loved ones. Making a case for buying local and upcycling; slow and conscious travel; slow self-care and care of our ecologies and communities, Vandana Shiva and Shreya Jani urge us to make the small changes in our daily lives for a more sustainable today and tomorrow. Encouraging us to think against given and pre-received choices we make in our everyday lives, here’s a step-by-step guide to a renewed approach to life itself. Looking at conservation, restoration, among several interconnected themes, the book advocates slow living to fight climate change by giving actionable pointers and suggestions one can start following this very second.

VANDANA SHIVA is the director of Navdanya in India. A physicist, activist, philosopher, and feminist, she is the author of more than twenty books and recipient of many international awards. A leader in the International Forum on Globalisation and of the Slow Food Movement, she is a tireless crusader for farmers’, peasants’, and women’s rights.

VANDANA SHIVA

SHREYA JANI

SHREYA JANI is founder and managing trustee at STEP. She has actively been involved in the fields of peace education, teacher training, curriculum design and education policy. She has worked and continues to train on the issues of peacebuilding, youth sensitisation, gender rights, and psychosocial resilience in India, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Qatar, Thailand and Malaysia.

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DOCUM ENTA R IES TRAVEL

THEN | NOW CALCUTTA THEN KOLKATA NOW SUNANDA K DATTA RAY INDRAJIT HAZRA PICTURE EDITOR PRAMOD KAPOOR ANSHIKA VARMA

DELHI THEN DELHI NOW NARAYANI GUPTA DILIP BOBB PRAMOD KAPOOR

INDIA THEN INDIA NOW VIR SANGHVI RUDRANGSHU MUKHERJEE PRAMOD KAPOOR

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BOMBAY THEN MUMBAI NOW JIM MASSELOS NARESH FERNANDES PRAMOD KAPOOR CHIRODEEP CHAUDHARY

MADRAS THEN CHENNAI NOW NANDITHA KRISHNA TISHANI DOSHI PRAMOD KAPOOR

Whether by way of concrete, culture, or both, the Indian metropolis exists in a constant state of transformation. Bombay is Mumbai, Delhi is New Delhi; Madras is Chennai, Calcutta is Kolkata. This series captures these cities from their ‘Then’ to their ‘Now’ through a stunning collection of archival and contemporary photographs, illuminating both wellknown and well-hidden quirks of local traditions and architecture.

With India Then | India Now, this project ambitiously expands to (re)create the entire country in all its vibrancy, offering a fresh glimpse at Indian lives within ever-changing natural and built

environments. The innovative physical production of each book echoes the fluidity of these spaces: you are invited to enter through either ‘Then’ or ‘Now’, based on your preference – the remaining section is made readable by simply flipping the book over. A true collector’s item, the Then and Now series is an exquisitely-rendered celebration of the many historic and modern Indias in which we live and thrive.

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GLORIOUS HOTELS OF INDIA

BY COSMO SAMUEL BROCKWAY HARRIET COMPSTON

Glorious Hotels of India is a luxury illustrated non-fiction book featuring a hand-picked collection of the subcontinent’s most spectacular places to stay. It gives a grand yet intimate tour of 40 properties, with half being recent openings.

The majority have never been featured before in a publication of this kind. Celebrating India’s splendid heritage while showcasing exciting contemporary design, each subject is captured like a jewel in a box with panoramic detail and portrait shots. Properties include palaces, destination spas, seductive beach resorts and romantic houseboats. Meticulously researched, Glorious Hotels of India captures the zeitgeist of India and avoids the clichéd. Exclusive contributors include Judi Dench, Madhur Jaffrey, Christian Louboutin, Stephen Fry, Sonam Kapoor, and Yasmin Le Bon.

KARAM PURI has published four books and his work has appeared in National Geographic and the Guardian, as well as on the BBC, among many other media outlets.

COSMO BROCKWAY has been published in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and the Independent, amongst others. He is now content editor and South Asia specialist for luxury travel company, Ampersand Travel.

HARRIET COMPSTON is a travel journalist who has completed four editorships: Country & Town House, a Tatler supplement, Absolutely magazines, and the official magazine for VisitBritain. She writes for publications including Conde Nast Traveller and the Telegraph.

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MUSSOORIE & LANDOUR

BY RUSKIN BOND AND GANESH SAILI

“... however, the big push in the brewery business really began in 1876, when everyone suddenly acclaimed a much improved brew… The beer was re-tasted and re-tasted until the diminishing level of the barrel revealed the perfectly brewed remains of a human being...!”

This and many other such tales make up the fascinating story of Mussoorie, the most glamorous of the hill stations established during the British Raj. A chronicle of Mussoorie, past and present, this is an entertaining historical account of the town. With Ruskin Bond’s inimitable sketches are juxtaposed A Mussoorie Miscellany, a booklet published in the 1930s and made up in equal parts of gossip, conjecture and fact. Complementing the text are photographs which succeed in capturing the essence of this charming town, representing not just its scenic magic but the people who invest Mussoorie with much of its character.

RUSKIN BOND, the old man of the mountains, came to live in Mussoorie in 1963 after many frustrating years in the plains. A man of many facets, he will recognize an old tombstone with the same alacrity as he will a paradise flycatcher.

This book is the result of two decades of research and collecting in Mussoorie.

Poet, essayist, story-teller, with over forty books published all over the world, Bond’s manuscripts and papers are in turn now collected by the Special Collections Library of Boston University, U.S.A.

GANESH SAILI, who took to F-Stops as a hobby, is adept at turning ice-cubes into glaciers and tea-bushes into excelsia pines. The pictures in this book were taken over a period of time, thus making it a record of Mussoorie’s history and personalities. When not taking pictures, he teaches English and American Literature at Mussoorie’s Post Graduate College. His photographs have appeared in glossy magazines at home and abroad; travels from the famed Valley of Flowers to the coast of Coromandel gave him material for an earlier Lustre Press, A Passage Through India.

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DOCUM ENTA R IES ART

I NDIA: A STORY THROUGH 100 OBJECTS

BY VIDYA DEHEJIA

We are constantly surrounded by objects, by ‘things’ that channel and dictate our everyday life, ‘things’ that we take for granted. But these objects speak to us, and speak about us. They have a story to tell that reflects our values and aspirations, our achievements and dreams, and reveal more about us than we realize!

This richly illustrated book focuses on 100 objects to tell a story of India that unravels in a series of thematic sections that allow the objects to take center-stage. The stories that some objects tell will be new to readers; at other times, the objects themselves may be familiar but the story they tell may not be obvious. The 100 objects shed light on the varying priorities and the differing strands of achievement that arose over time to create the rich multi-cultural medley that is today’s India.

VIDYA DEHEJIA is the Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University in New York, and the recipient of a Padma Bhushan conferred on her by the President of India in 2012 for achievement in Art and Education.

Her work has ranged from Buddhist art of the centuries BCE to the esoteric temples of North India, and from the sacred bronzes of South India to art under the British Raj. This comprehensive scope is evident from her books: The Thief who Stole my Heart: The Material Life of Sacred Bronzes from Chola India, 855–1280

to Discourse in Early Buddhist Art: Visual Narratives of India; from The Unfinished: Stone Carvers at Work on the Indian Subcontinent to The Body Adorned: Dissolving Boundaries between Sacred and Profane in India’s Art; and from Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj to Devi, The Great Goddess: Female Divinity in South Asian Art. Management and curatorial experience at the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington DC, combined with her interest in teaching first-year undergraduates, provided her with a broad mandate to convey the excitement of her field to non-specialist audiences. India: A Story through 100 Objects is a result of this priority.

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INSPIRED BY INDIA From Exoticism to Style

BY PHYLLIDA JAY

Inspired by India is an exploration of more than six centuries of trade, cultural exchange, and inspiration between India and the West. Through the lens of various material categories, including textiles, fashion, jewellery, and perfume, marvellous stories unfold surrounding the histories of objects and the complex networks of cultural exchange they represent. The book explores how some of the most legendary design houses have looked to Indian culture, decorative arts and artisanal crafts for inspiration.

Indian-inspired objects from luxury houses including Hermès, Chanel, Cartier, and Dior are featured, revealing creative and fascinating stories of inspiration and creativity. The stunning Inspired by India also includes rich visual imagery from leading museum and gallery archives, as well as the archives of the world’s greatest luxury houses and renowned fashion designers, including Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen, and John Galliano.

PHYLLIDA JAY writes about contemporary Indian fashion and luxury, and has been featured in the New York Times, BBC Culture, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vestoj.

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INDIAN BOTANICAL ART An Illustrated History

BY MARTYN RIX

This book brings together striking botanical art of Indian origin spanning a period of three hundred years, focussing on the 18th and 19th centuries. Drawn mostly from original works held in the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, some of the paintings have never been published before. They showcase the richness and variety of art commissioned from talented, mostly unknown, Indian artists who made a substantial contribution to the documentation of the flora of the Indian subcontinent. A foreword written by Sita Reddy places the collections in contemporary context. The book concludes with works from a new generation of botanical artists in India, who excite interest today.

MARTYN RIX is a renowned horticulturalist, author of many books and editor of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. He is the recipient of the Veitch Memorial Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society for services to horticulture, and a Tercentary Bronze Medal from the Linnean Society.

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MADHUBANI Traditional Wall Paintings of Bihar

BY NEEL REKHA AND MINHAZZ MAJUMDAR

The bright, bold art of Madhubani painting has its roots in the Mithila region of Nepal and the surrounding villages in the Madhubani district of Bihar. Rooted in myth, it is believed to have originated in the time of the Ramayana, when King Janak of Nepal asked his artists to paint the walls for the marriage of his daughter Sita to Lord Ram. Madhubani is the result of 15 years of careful research, exploring both these legends as well as the practicalities of the craft, such as how the paintings are uniquely made with natural materials like twigs and matchsticks, and coloured with natural dyes. This book gives a thoroughly in-depth insight into Madhubani art – taking us from the awe-inspiring Thakur houses to the intimate setting of village households – and examines how it exists as a traditional and radically modern handicraft.

NEEL REKHA has spent 20 years researching the history and heritage of Mithila. Her doctoral dissertation was ‘Art and Assertion of Identity: Women and Madhubani Paintings,’ and from 2005 to 2009, was based in the UK for postdoctoral research on Madhubani art.

DEIDI VON SCHAEWEN is a Paris-based photographer and filmmaker whose work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. She has been published in magazines including Elle Decor, Vogue, and Architectural Digest.

MINHAZZ MAJUMDAR is a curator and designer deeply involved in preserving and promoting Indian folk and tribal traditions.

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ARTS OF THE INDIAN FREEDOM MOVEMENT

BY VINAY LAL

In Arts of the Indian Freedom Movement, Vinay Lal sets out to explore India’s culture of visual art during the period of its national Freedom Movement. This seminal book traces the country’s rich artistic output right from the First War of Independence in 1857 to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, reproducing key pieces of art with illuminating context and criticism. Incorporating not only paintings and lithographs, but also popular, ‘low’ art that shaped public consciousness such as cartoons and illustrations, this study is driven by a democratic view of both visual art and nationhood itself. Arts of the Indian Freedom Movement thus highlights the power of art to represent and dissent within the revolutionary moment, and presents a truly innovative look at the struggle to create a new image – in all senses of the word – of a modern, liberated India.

VINAY LAL is a Professor of History at UCLA, and an expert in South Asian historical research. He received his degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago, specializing in Indian history – particularly that of British India, popular Indian culture, and Indian diaspora. He is the author of fifteen books on these subjects and more, and is a regular contributor to the Economic and Political Weekly and the Indian Express.

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DRAMA QUEENS Women who created history on stage

BY VEEJAY SAI

The period between 1850 and 1950 was a magnificent time for the world of performing arts. Classical music, dance, drama and folklore traditions were being rewritten and reinterpreted to welcome a new age. These arts were a reflection of the times, but they had larger role to play than as mere entertainment.

Drama Queens: Women who created history on stage places itself at the crossroads of understanding modern cultural history. Through ten leading ladies of theatre, including Munni Bai, Mukhtar Begum, Jahanara Kajjan and Moti Bai, the book traces an unwritten narrative of women, performance, nationhood and modernity. The visuals knit a historical account reflecting the rich artistic lives they led. Through a project of memory, this book is a tribute to the giant contribution of these women to the making of art history.

VEEJAY SAI is an award-winning writer, editor, translator and culture critic. He has written on Indian classical music, dance, theatre and art history. He lives and works in New Delhi. Drama Queens is his first book.

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DOCUM ENTA R IES FOOD

DINING WITH THE NAWABS

BY MEERA ALI AND KARAM PURI

Mughal emperors governed their vast empire with the help of nawabs – a title they bestowed on the semi-autonomous Muslim rulers of princely India. Over a period of time, these nawabs became powerful rulers in their own right and created a distinct culture of their own, with food being one of its most everlasting legacies. Heavily influenced by Mughal staples and techniques of cookery, the nawabs refined their cuisine by adopting local flavours – from the refined palates that dominate the table at Rampur and Avadh to the incredible array of delicacies from the kitchens of Bahawalpur and Khairpur, now in Pakistan. For the first time, Dining with the Nawabs allows you a rare opportunity to visit the tables and palaces of these families, to know more about their lifestyles and their love affair with gourmet cuisine. This special edition also comes with a Kitchen Copy with some of their most beloved family recipes that you can recreate in your own homes.

KARAM PURI is a fine art, travel, and wildlife photographer. His books include Glorious Hotels of India, School: Tales from the Doon School and Gujarat: A Journey. His work has been shown by galleries in New York, Hong Kong, and New Delhi and published by National Geographic’s Ten Best of Everything.

MEERA ALI studied architecture at the Institute of Environmental Design, Gujarat. As a designer, Meera manages the couture label ‘Kotwara’ with her husband, Muzaffar Ali. Together, they have also set up Maashra, an Avadhi dining experience.

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DINING WITH THE MAHARAJAS

BY NEHA PRASADA AND ASHIMA NARAIN

The chefs of the royal Patiala household have more than 140 recipes for pulao in their repertoire. The Rampur royal family used to serve a minimum of 200 dishes at banquets given for visiting heads of state. In this book, the royals share many such anecdotes about their and their ancestors’ signature styles of cooking, entertaining, and presentation of food. Dining with the Maharajas showcases the extraordinarily rich culinary traditions of the royal families of Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Jodhpur, Mahmudabad, Mysore, Patiala, Rampur, Sailana, Tripura, and Udaipur. Much to the delight of food lovers, the original royal recipes featured in the book and the accompanying Kitchen Copy unfold the exotic traditional creations from the royal kitchens. Some of these are secret recipes that have never been published before.

NEHA PRASADA is an author and journalist based in New Delhi. She has written extensively on health, politics, governance, environment, and social issues and is a contributing editor to the Architectural Digest magazine. With a keen interest in world cuisine, she is a closet chef.

ASHIMA NARAIN is a photo editor for the National Geographic Traveller India magazine.

She has directed and shot two wildlife documentaries, ‘In the Pink’ and ‘The Last Dance,’ both of which were nominated for the Panda Award, also known as the Green Oscar. Ashima is also the recipient of the Commonwealth Photographer of the Year, 2004, and the UK Environment Film Fellowship, 2006.

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THE MUGHAL FEAST Recipes from the Kitchen of Emperor Shah Jahan

BY SALMA HUSAIN

The Mughal Feast is a delightful transcreation of the original handwritten Persian recipe book Nuskha-e-Shahjahani from the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s time. A culinary journey into the Mughal imperial kitchen, where food was cooked with just the right amount of spices to enhance the base flavours of the dishes, this book is divided into seven sections and includes a plethora of recipes, ranging from the familiar shami kabab and baqlawa to the more exotic amba pulao (tangy mango lamb rice) and indersa (sweet, deep-fried rice-flour balls). The book also provides helpful tips for cooking, including methods to clean fish and soften bones, throwing light on the creativity of the Mughal cooks.

An informative introduction offers an intriguing glimpse into the royal lifestyle of one of India’s greatest empires. This book effortlessly recaptures the nostalgia of Mughal times while remaining a practical guide for the modern reader.

and has worked as a consultant with ITC Hotels.

She has written several cookbooks, including the award-winning The Emperor’s Table: The Art of Mughal Cuisine (Roli Books), which received the National Tourism Award in 2009, and the 2009 Best in the World Gourmand Award for culinary history.

SALMA YUSUF HUSAIN is a food historian and author, whose knowledge of Persian allows her amazing access to the history of food from the Mughal era. She is a regular on Indian and international television for food-related shows

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TIFFIN 500 Authentic Recipes Celebrating India’s Regional Cuisine

BY SONAL VED

From Patiala Papad ki Sabzi to Kerala Chicken Fry, and from the sumptuous Mizo Dal to Bajre ka Soyta, Indian regional cuisine offers an incredible variety. Now, with more than 500 recipes representing all the regions, ethnic groups, cultural choices, and traditions that make up the country, Tiffin showcases food that is a flavourful blend of favourite Indian recipes along with several lesser-known dishes. Also featuring recipes by home cooks and celebrated chefs, and dishes made at festivals and special occasions, this is a celebration of the diversity of Indian regional cuisine.

SONAL VED is a food writer at Vogue India. Over the last 10 years, she has written food features for various newspapers and magazines in India.

Her last cookbook Gujju Goes Gourmet, was India’s first cookbook on a phone.

ANSHIKA VARMA is a documentary photographer.

She has exhibited through various galleries and was invited to participate at the Chennai Photo Festival 2016, Kochi Biennale 2014, New York Biennale for Contemporary Art 2013, India Art Fair 2012 & 2013, and the Florence Biennial in 2009.

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CANTEEN A Guide to India’s Iconic Eateries

BY ANURAG MALLICK AND PRIYA GANAPATHY

Hole-in-the-wall joints, military messes, line hotels, highway dhabas to iconic food haunts, Canteen is a chronicle of 500 pioneering restaurants that aren’t mere eateries but pieces of history. Divided into regions, this culinary journey across India tells the story of the people behind these heritage institutions and lesserknown food lores like how the Gadbad Ice Cream was invented or the Maddur Vada was born, the origin of the Kabiraji Cutlet and the Kakori Kebab and why the best Thalassery Biryani can be found in Paris! Culled from years of travel and intense research that’s damaged their waistlines forever, this compendium is full of interesting anecdotes, recipes and stories behind signature dishes.

Travel writing duo and food writers ANURAG MALLICK and PRIYA GANAPATHY have survived landslides, floods, coups, marriage and other natural disasters, leading a happily unsettled life of travel for two decades. With a background in advertising, journalism, radio, films and digital media, they write for leading publications and have authored guidebooks for Michelin, Rough Guides and Outlook Traveller. They have scripted films and also curated food journeys.

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CHAATS OF INDIA A Guide to India’s Iconic Eateries SONAL VED

A play on texture, colour, flavour and temperatures: there is nothing Indian street food cannot do. Almost like Coco Chanel’s little black dress, there is no time, day, company where it wouldn’t fit in. Divided into street foods of India and chaats that the author found across India, our new book pays tribute to a category of Indian cuisine that is a unanimous hit, no matter which part of the country you are in.

SONAL VED is the content director at India Food Network, Tastemade India and the food editor at Vogue India. Her second cookbook Tiffin was listed in the New York Times as one of the must-have cookbooks for Fall 2018. Apart from writing about food, she also hosts cooking shows for Tastemade. Her words have appeared in food publications such as Food52 and Thrillist.

She recently published a book on the history of Indian food called Whose Samosa Is It Anyway?

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They diminish the distance between us, cutting across time and place. Some break our hearts and others put it back – it’s only a matter of finding the right one."

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