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'I became a liberal because I believed in the virtues of openness, mutual respect, and aconcern for others. Liberalism offered me an ethically responsible order of human progresswithout necessarily involving the state.'Gurcharan Das has been a lifelong and passionate champion of both economicand political freedom. 'For over two centuries, ' he writes, 'liberal democraciesand free markets spread around the world to become the only sensible wayto organize public life.' After years of the stifling 'license raj', he watched andcelebrated India's long-delayed move towards a liberal order in the 1990s, asmarket reform and a maturing democratic process began to yield remarkableresults, bringing prosperity and dignity to the many millions who had beendenied both for decades. He recorded this progress in his classic study, IndiaUnbound. But after three decades, that light seems to be fading. As in the rest ofthe world, liberalism is in retreat in India as well. Society is hopelessly polarizedand populists are on the march. The debate appears to be about economicfreedom versus political freedom-as if it is a given that the two cannot coexist.The liberal today is on a lonely road.In order to elucidate the dilemma of the Indian liberal, Gurcharan Das recountshis own professional and intellectual journey: how and why he became a liberal.While telling his story, he also narrates the story of a nation struggling-still-to become a successful liberal democracy-the late promise and its seemingbetrayal, but also the possibility of course correction.Written with conviction, insight and scholarship-and with immense clarity-this is an urgent and illuminating book. It is a book that every Indian invested inthe future of the country should read.

Using the legendary love story of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and his Turkishslave-cum-lover Ayaz as the backdrop, Mahmud and Ayaz, set in contemporaryMumbai, tells the story of a young, casually radicalized Muslim man, MahmudFakhar, who has failed to qualify for the IAS-where he had hoped to makea lot of money, but also to weaken the system from within-and has barelymanaged a temporary teaching job in a second-rate college. At a loose endafter his entire family dies in the 2015 Hajj stampede, he runs into a homelessHindu lad, the illegitimate son of a tamasha dancer, hires him as his domesticservant, converts him to Islam, re-names him Ayaz, and begins an affair withhim.It is the start of an unusual life together, and a series of journeys. Their travelstake them to Somnath in the great Sultan's footsteps, and then to Kashmir,as they are drawn into a life of petty and not-so-petty crime and, almost, ofmilitancy. After some odd adventures, the wheel comes full circle when theirwayward life ends again in Mumbai, in the neighborhood of Mahmud's birth,even as AIDS afflicts one of them.Narrated with irreverent, deadpan humour, R. Raj Rao's new novel is funny,subversive, provocative and wonderfully rude. It is unlike any love story-gayor straight-that Indian readers would expect.

In a sleepy village in Goa, a child grows up in a house whose windows arenever opened. The door is often locked as well, and no visitors ever comeby to meet the family. Vipin Parob has a strange and solitary childhood,dominated by his overbearing and cruel father. In this home, Vipin grows upfriendless, till he begins to read voraciously. Now Vipin knows more about theworld-its mysteries and cruelties, its wonder and beauty. What he doesn'tget to know, is love.Vipin steps into high school and becomes a reluctant friend to two girls-Chitra and Fatima. Chitra sees the laughter hidden deep within him. Fatimabrings chaos and joy with her, and into Vipin's life. And slowly he finds hehas an identity separate from his cold and unloving family. But can he everovercome the loneliness that has seeped into him? When the time comes, willhe know how to give and receive love?From the acclaimed Jnanpith Award-winning novelist, comes a work ofunflinching honesty and startling truths. Filled with unforgettable characterswritten from a depth of understanding, this translation by Jerry Pinto throbswith life in all its bewildering glory.

Former Special Forces officer Gautam Shukla retired to a small estate in theKumaon Himalayas to lead a quiet life amongst his fruit trees, herb gardenand vegetable patch. This tranquility is, however, shattered when a drugcartel activates plans to grow opium poppy in remote mountain villages, oneof which is uncomfortably close to Gautam's estate. Things get complicatedwhen, on a short trip to Delhi, Gautam meets Ruth, a striking Israelisecurity officer, and while out jogging with her, witnesses a very professionalassassination in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi.Between tracking down the assassin, foiling the nefarious plans of the druglords, and wooing the formidable Ruth, Gautam finds himself neck-deep inadventure.

Spanning over a century, The Lady on the Horse tells the story of five generations ofa family in Calcutta. Starting life as a khansama in an Englishman's house in 1900,Dipendra Nath Lahiri dreams of acquiring the wealth and status of a zamindar.His wife Pritilata's skills as a seamstress-much sought after by the memsahibs-become the means, and by 1919, their tailoring business, Lahiri & Sons, has madethem fabulously rich and they've bought a grand mansion, Lahiri Bari. Theirprogeny can live a life of leisure, at par with the white sahibs Dipendra Nath andPritilata had once served.But with time, Lahiri Bari also becomes the house of many secrets and contestedlegacies: of injustice, betrayal, love and pain. What was the unmentionable 'thing'that happened between Neelratan Lahiri's wife Ishwari and the black-as-a-crowKanailal-the revolutionary who wanted to burn down the Raj? Two generationslater, what is the mysterious connection between Pixie and the maid's daughter,Ayesha, who grow up like sisters? And what was the oldest secret of them all-what turned the demure Pritilata into a rebel who rode out of her mansion on amagnificent horse one day-never to return.Set against the backdrop of the freedom struggle, the Bengal Famine andPartition, this sprawling family saga explores the insidious implications of classand caste through the lives of people thrown together by blood ties and fate lines.At the heart of the story is the idea that everything which happens in the presenthas its roots in the past-every generation will be shaped by the legacy it hasbeen bequeathed.With a rich cast of characters and lyrical prose, Ramona Sen takes us on anexhilarating roller-coaster ride through the trials and tribulations of one family-and the passionate loves and bitter enmities that shaped their fortunes.

After years of fighting nasty secret wars in remote locations, Special ForcesOfficer Colonel Gautam Shukla takes voluntary retirement, planning a quietlife on a small estate in Kumaon. Before he can transition to the mountains,however, fate intervenes. While out jogging one morning in Noida, on theoutskirts of Delhi, Gautam sees and effectively foils an attempt to kidnapNisha, a young army widow, by a group of goons. This brings him into directconflict with Bhima, a powerful politician heading a huge criminal empire,and his psychopath son, Angad. Violence erupts as Gautam works to extricateNisha from her predicament, and romance too blossoms unexpectedly.Moving rapidly between Noida, the corridors of power in Lutyens' Delhi andKumaon, this gripping thriller comes to an explosive conclusion.

Durgacharan Rakshit (1854-1938) was a scholar and a business owner. In thelate 1800s and early 1900s, he set out on an unprecedented set of travels thattook him to nearly all corners of India. Travelling by foot, boat, train, carriageand more, he traversed the length and breadth of the country-quite literally.In this detailed journal written over several years, Rakshit recounts seeingthe temples of Orissa and the small towns of Assam; he describes themountainous heights of Kashmir, the beauty of the Golden Temple in Amritsar,the magnificent Jain temples near Mount Abu, and the transcendent Taj Mahal.In the south, he travels through Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu,visiting cities, temples and towns, describing in detail what were for himunknown customs and ways of living.Everywhere, Durgacharan Rakshit turns his enquiring eye on the way menand women look, dress, and their religious and traditional beliefs. Fromthe elaborate rituals of major temples, to the price of bananas and betelnuts, nothing escapes his meticulous notice. Along the way he meets poets,administrators, wandering sadhus, businessmen, householders and more-allof which he records in his journal.Journeys Across India, first published in Bengali as Bharat Pradakshin in 1903-and still in print-is an invaluable and exhaustive portrait of India and Indiansociety rooted in history, and will be of immense interest to both scholars andthe lay reader.

Retired Colonel Gautam Shukla's quiet life in the Kumaon Himalayas is rudelydisrupted when his estate manager is attacked by a bunch of thugs under theleadership of the mysterious and sinister Pandit. Gautam too is threatenedwith dire consequences if he does not immediately sell his beautiful propertyin the mountains. Meanwhile, a foreign couple with powerful connections isabducted while trekking-coincidently, in the same region.As Gautam and friends look for the kidnappers, while also trying to thwartPandit and gang's villainous plans, gunfire and bloodshed unsettles theotherwise peaceful Kumaon. With summer forest fires to add to the troubles,the action moves at a sizzling pace in this third installment of the GautamShukla thrillers, and will keep you hooked till the end.

Kamala, a beautiful, self-possessed and fiercely independent widow, comes toa village, where she has been given a job on compassionate grounds, with hertwo daughters. She meets the narrator for the first time at a phone booth, andalmost immediately, becomes the object of his lonely, consuming passion. He'sa drifter, educated but jobless, low on self-esteem, and his love will become aderangement. He will seek debasement, he will rage and inflict violence, andeventually set in motion a desperate plan that might destroy both Kamala andhim.Translated with brilliant skill from the Tamil original-En Kathe-this is acompelling and unsettling study of obsession. It is an unforgettable work byone of India's finest and most powerful writers.

The unnamed narrator in Azeem Baig Chughtai's Vampire-written as a letter toGod-is a 16-year-old girl who has just had her nikah ceremony. She dreams ofa life of happiness with a loving, handsome husband-whose face, however, shewill only see at her rukhsati, when she finally leaves her parents' home for hermarital home.Then, tragedy befalls her. Separated from her family on the journey to hercousin's wedding in a neighbouring town, she finds herself stranded at the railwaystation. She has no other recourse but to spend the night at the station master'shouse, discovering too late that the only other occupant is his male guest. In thespace of a night, her life is changed forever; she loses her 'honour' and faces theterrifying prospect of being shunned by her family, in-laws and friends.In her letter to God, she pours out her grief and terror, her conflictingemotions of denial and acceptance of the events of that night, until she reaches aconclusion. The decision she makes when she finally comes face to face with herhusband, leaves the reader both shocked and disturbed.The brother and literary mentor of the legendary Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai,Azeem Baig was an iconoclast and a feminist who did not hesitate to breakboundaries. Nowhere is this more evident than in Vampire. Long before termslike 'rape syndrome' and 'secondary rape' were coined, Chughtai dared to writeabout the unmentionable subject of rape in Muslim society-from the femalevictim's perspective. What makes the novel unique and amazingly relevant is thatthis story, set in 1930s' India, could well be happening in the twenty-first century.Flawlessly translated by his grand-daughter, Zoovia Hamiduddin, this is the firstof Azeem Baig Chughtai's works to be translated into English.

In the vibrant world of post-Independence Bombay, a German art critic namedRudolf von Leyden played a pivotal yet overlooked role in shaping modernIndian art. Arriving as a refugee from Nazi Germany, Rudi soon became a tirelesschampion of India's emerging avant-garde painters.The Catalyst captures the critic's monumental influence on artists like Ara, Husain,Raza, and Souza-the audacious pioneers who rebelled against academic styles toforge a bold new artistic vision for a nation reborn.Through his perceptive reviews, Rudi encouraged the raw talent and electrifyingexperiments of these artists, then struggling on the fringes. The guidance heprovided along with his European compatriots, Walter Langhammer and EmanuelSchlesinger, introduced the Progressive painters to international modernism,inspiring them to break free.Beyond critical advocacy, Rudi's generosity and networking fostered patronagefor impoverished talents like K.H. Ara. His vision helped establish seminal Indianart institutions. This incisive critic recognized the genius of the Progressives longbefore the world took notice.Pieced together from extensive interviews and archival material, this bookprovides a ringside view into an efflorescent period that forever changed thecourse of Indian art. It reveals Rudi's warm relationships with the artists,especially his profound friendship with Krishen Khanna.An immersive narrative, the book paints a vivid portrait of a man whose legacycontinues to inspire.

In an unnamed town lives Nena-surely one of the world's greatest eccentrics.Water burns her skin, to the extent that she can neither drink it nor bathe in it;she survives on 'water capsules' and does her ablutions with a mix of herbs andplants. She speaks several languages and still grieves about the books that wereher childhood companions-that her heartless brother had thrown into the river.And she exults in telling stories about her late husband's affairs-with a laughterthat precludes sympathy.Then, in her seventies, she embarks on a journey to track down all her husband'slovers. The narrator, a boy of seventeen, whom she calls Tata (though that is nothis real name) accompanies her on this mission. By journey's end, he has learntthe most startling truth about her-what it is that she can't do-and what it ledher to do.Laced with humour and a raw wisdom about life, Shinie Antony's lyrical proseturns this strangely compelling story into a believable fantasy.

Abandoned soon after birth, Narayan Gangaram Surve (1926-2010) wasbrought up by mill workers, but left to fend for himself once again at the ageof twelve in the chawls of Mumbai. He grew up in the streets of the big city,taught himself to read and write-working as doffer boy in a textile mill, asweeper, a peon-and became a school teacher and a celebrated revolutionarypoet. An abiding allegiance to the workers' movement was the thread that ranthrough his extraordinary journey. His poetry was thus as much ammunition tofight the good fight as it was art. It evolved a new idiom, written in the Marathispoken on the streets, freely borrowing words from Hindi or English, unafraidto break literary conventions upheld by the cultured elite. As he puts it, thepeople were 'my holy books, my scriptures, my gurus'.Surve makes no pretence to objectivity. His verse is unostentatious, unabashedlyso. He wants to write about, and for, the masses. There's no attempt to idealizethem, however-to gloss over the ugliness of life-for he is one of them. Hissubjects let their guard down and speak their minds. Activists crack jokes whileputting up posters, a sex worker hustles her client, and a butcher remembershow he lost his leg in a riot trying to save a woman from his co-religionists.The mill worker and farmer know exactly who oppresses them; there is angerin them. For all the misery we come across, though, these are not poems ofdespair, but, instead, of a dogged optimism.Jerry Pinto renders a broad selection of Surve's poetry into colourful yeteffortless English verse, retaining both its raw energy and immediacy, and theessence of its unyielding commitment to a better future.

In his younger days, Alfred Hughes had been quite the Nineties revolutionary athis university in England, clad in faded army fatigues and smoking Cuban cigars.They called him Ché Freddo. His comrades-in-arms were Nido-Nitin-sonof divorced Indian immigrants, and Eugenia-ardent admirer of Sylvia Plath,who believed that one had to sacrifice everything for a cause, be fearless indeath. Into this mix came Anju Kale, of British-Asian heritage, the only child of adisheartened Indian Marxist father and a submissive, but wealthy, English mother,and her entry into this tightly-knit group caused all equations to shift and change.As time goes by, Freddo gives up revolution for the security of a collegeprofessorship, Nido for a job at Goldman Sachs. Anju marries Freddo and triesto come to terms with his serial philandering, in a marriage precariously heldtogether by middle-class sensibilities. And the devastating secret about whathappened to Eugenia.Until Anju too finds herself caught in an extra-marital relationship. Trappedbetween the need for fulfilment and a love of stability, Anju must redefine what itmeans to be a family.In prose that is lyrical and beguiling, Selma Carvalho weaves a story about amarriage that is tender, startling and wise in turn.This masterful work from the author of the remarkable fiction debut, Sisterhood ofSwans, confirms Carvalho's place in the literary firmament.

'You cannot catch a city in words. You cannot catch a city at all,' write the editorsof this anthology. So how do you get the spirit of India's great metropolis, theMaya Nagari, the city of dreams, between the covers of a book? Shanta Gokhaleand Jerry Pinto decide to bring together their favourite short stories about thecity they call home, and hope that a narrative will emerge. And it does-a rich,varied, vibrant portrait of the republic that goes by many names-Bombay,Mumbai, Momoi, Bambai and many others.In the twenty-one stories of this collection, there is the city that labours in themills and streets, and the city that sips and nibbles in five-star lounges; the cityof Ganapati and Haji Malang and the Virgin Mary; the city that is a sea of peopleand speaks at least a dozen languages. There are stories translated from Marathi,Urdu, Gujarati, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and stories written originallyin English. Among the writers are legends and new voices-Baburao Bagul,Ismat Chughtai, Pu La Deshpande, Urmila Pawar, Mohan Rakesh,Saadat Hasan Manto, Ambai, Jayant Kaikini, Bhupen Khakhar, CyrusMistry, Vilas Sarang, Tejaswini Apte-Rahm and Anuradha Kumar.Maya Nagari is a majestic book on a majestic city. It will be read and cherished foryears.

In 1893, Swami Vivekananda travelled to Chicago to attend the Parliament ofWorld Religions. There, amidst representatives of the various religions of theworld, Vivekananda-who grew up in an affluent Bengali household in Calcutta,studied to be a lawyer, only to give it up to become a wandering monk-spokeof Universal Religion-'a religion which will have no place for persecutionor intolerance in its polity, which will recognize the divinity in every man andwoman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be created in aidinghumanity to realize its own true divine nature'. Although a devout Hindu, he hadalways been someone who felt a deep sense of belonging to the plural heritage ofthe Indian sub-continent. Through his learnings and travels he sought to galvanizesociety on the basis of love.Comprising three insightful essays, Vivekananda and Our Times situates theSwami in today's world. Rajni Bakshi's endeavour-which began a centuryafter the Chicago address, when the country was reeling from the shockof the Ramjanmabhoomi campaign and the consequent demolition of theBabri Masjid-attempts to seek a space for reflection and shows us, throughVivekananda's ideologies, the need to reconcile with the 'other' in a 'shared questfor freedom from fear'.

'A major voice in Indian English literature, and literature from North EastIndia...[Her] poems are like a race of butterflies bargaining with the night.'-Keki Daruwalla'Dai's poetic world is one of river, forest and mountain, a limpid and lyricalreflection of the terrain of her home state. Nature here is mysterious,verdant with myth, dense with sacred memory. There is magic to be foundeverywhere...But as you read closer, you [also] sense a more sinister undertow:this paradisiacal landscape is also one of "guns and gulls", punctuated by "thefootfall of soldiers". You also realize that the simplicity of Dai's verse is notwithout guile. It possesses a gentle persuasive riverine tug that can lead you tomoments of heart-stopping surprise.'For all its simplicity, Dai's poetry does not arrive at easy conclusions. There isno dishonest sense of anchor here, no blissful pastoral idyll. The poet describesher people as "foragers for a destiny" and her work is pervaded by a deepunease about erased histories and an uncertain future. And yet, implicit in herpoetics is the refusal to divorce protest from love. This seems to translate into acommitment to a poetry of quiet surges and eddies rather than gritty texturesand edges...[and] a tone that is hushed, wondering, thoughtful, reflective. Thestrength of this poetry is its unforced beauty and clarity, its ability to steer clearof easy flamboyance.'-Arundhathi Subramaniam

Secularism emerged in 17th-century Europe as an essential element of whatbecame the modern state. The separation of church and state that it entailedpaved the way for the democratic republics we take for granted today.Tolerance, as understood in the West, was sought to be introduced as statepolicy by the British in India too. But our nationalist leaders understood theircountry better than to adopt the concept without local adjustments.Political philosopher Nalini Rajan examines the tension between religiousfreedom and state intervention in India, a tension that comes with the ideaof 'principled' state intervention in matters of religion, as mandated by theConstitution. Demands for reservations and separate electorates by minoritiesin the early twentieth century had essentially ruled out absolute state neutralityin this respect. But it is only by analysing the fascinating debates on secularismin the Constituent Assembly (1946-49) that we see how and why the specificprovisions on minority rights-Articles 25 to 30-came to be adopted. Theseprovisions implicitly envisioned a key role for the judiciary. A full section ofthis book is thus devoted to understanding the role that the courts have playedin establishing, and just as importantly, defining Indian secularism-throughsuch judgements as in the Shirur Mutt case of 1954, the Durgah Committee case of1961, the Satsangi case of 1966, the Stanislaus case of 1977, the Shah Bano caseof 1985, the so-called 'Hindutva' cases of 1996, the Vaishno Devi case of 1997,and the Puttaswamy case of 2017.This exhaustive monograph should be read by all those interested inunderstanding how a distinctive secularism shaped modern India, and how thelatter shaped our secularism.

Deep in a forest on the outskirts of Varnavat, the beautiful Hidimbiencounters Bheem, strong and strikingly handsome. The attraction is mutualand instantaneous. But their union seems doomed from the start: she is arakshasi, a demoness; he is a Pandava, son of Pandu, erstwhile ruler of thefabled kingdom of Hastinapur. It is Kunti, Bheem's mother, who senses anopportunity in this unlikely match. She and her five sons-Yudhishthir, Arjun,Bheem and the twins Nakul and Sahadev-must remain in exile in the forestfor a year before they can do battle with their Kaurava cousins, and stake theirclaim to Pandu's kingdom. What better than to spend the time under theprotection of a rakshasi? And if a son is born to her, he will have the strengthof a rakshasa-a valuable ally in the battle with the Kauravas. So a deal isstruck. Hidimbi will be Bheem's wife-but only for a year. And any son bornof their union will come to the aid of the Pandavas whenever they call him.When the battle of Kurukshetra finally takes place, it is Ghatotkach, son ofBheem and Hidimbi, who fights valiantly for his father, until he is struck downby the mighty warrior Karna, Kunti's secret son, who has aligned with theKauravas. But in killing Ghatotkach, Karna uses his most powerful weapon,leaving himself vulnerable. The Pandavas' victory is assured.The story of Bheem and Hidimbi-and their star-crossed son, Ghatotkach-is one of the most fascinating from the Mahabharata. Madhavi Mahdevan'sretelling of it is spell-binding.

While returning from New Delhi, Sita, detective Lalli's niece and trustedsidekick, runs into former classmate Anais at the Mumbai airport. They catchup and Anais, before disappearing into the Mumbai crowd, hands over a shoebox she is carrying to a waiting woman, informing the lady that it contains herson's ashes. A few days later, Anais is found dead, floating in the slimy MithiRiver, a pink nylon cord wrapped ritually around her neck.What does the box full of ashes and bones have to do with Anais's murder?What is the significance of the peculiar knots round her neck?Lalli must find answers, fast, if she is to prevent more deaths.

'He is just a boy, frightened, wounded and bleeding, in need of food andshelter. It would be inhuman to hand him over to the cops,' thinks the narratorin the story 'Dead-end'. Unless...could he be the terrorist who killed herbrother Kewal? And if so, does he not deserve the same end?'The opening story in this collection by a doyenne of Punjabi literature jolts thereader into facing uncomfortable questions-and each story that follows holds usin a similar grip. In 'Walking a Tightrope', the narrator is shocked to find she has asecond maternal uncle. Why had his existence been kept hidden for so long-andwho was more to blame-the uncle, or his tyrannical father, Bhaiyaji?After the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her uncle, Mansukhaniin 'Unsought Passion' forever thinks of men as 'devils and pigs'-but does herchildhood trauma give her the right to force her attentions on Raaj? And inthe eponymous 'Life Was Here Somewhere', the narrator finds many lessonsabout life and human nature in a pile of garbage in front of her home.In these fourteen short stories, which blur the lines between fiction andmemoir, Ajeet Cour paints rich vignettes of life in Delhi, Chandigarh and thevillages of Punjab. Effortlessly translated from the original Punjabi by the author,these are unforgettable stories-searing, moving and always deeply human.

There's no dearth of references to a sense of kinship beyond one's familyor tribe in ancient Indian texts. We know from anecdotes in the Ramayanaand Mahabharata, the Upanishads and epigraphic sources like Ashoka's 12thMajor Rock Edict, that our ancestors were no strangers to an expansiveunderstanding of fraternity. Therefore, although the earliest adoption offraternity as state motto happened in 18th-century France, the West cannotclaim to have taught fraternity to India. Even so, it took our freedom struggleand the writing of the Constitution for it to become an integral valuegoverning our lives.While the idea of fraternity was implicit in the Motilal Nehru ConstitutionalDraft of 1928 and the 1931 Karachi Resolution of the Indian NationalCongress, the National Movement's commitment to it was questioned byleaders like Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar because the Movement appeared toprioritize the anti-colonial struggle over social reform to eliminate casteinequality. Dr Ambedkar, who had suffered caste oppression, knew that therecouldn't be a democratic future if caste wasn't done away with. However, hisantagonism with Mahatma Gandhi, the pre-eminent leader of the NationalMovement, is often amplified. This monograph argues, instead, that not onlydid both hold each other in high regard, it was due to Ambedkar's steadfastopposition to caste that, through Gandhi, modern Indian society learnt to takeits first steps towards embodying fraternity, even as it fought the Raj.Rajmohan Gandhi, one of India's leading and most admired thinkers, moveseasily from ancient India to modern Europe to an intimate portrait of the epicface-off between Gandhi and Ambedkar which led to the Poona Pact of 1932.This engaging monograph should be read by everyone invested in upholdingthe constitutional norm of fraternity in our increasingly divided country.

When Mayadevi, aged 70, 75 or 80, depending on her mood, decides to goto London, she knows it will mean a year of penance to wash away the sins ofcrossing the ocean. But if her son will not come to her, Mayadevi must go toher son.In 'Fish Curry Memories', Leela spends her nights cooking curries on order,so that she can buy a ticket back from London to Delhi, and escape the life ofunpaid maidservant to her nephew and his wife.In between these two stories, are other journeys, ghosts, and a murder ortwo. Anadi crosses the river from Bishtupur to cities far away, only to find thatit takes a chance meeting with a bedraggled stranger to transport him backhome. Roopbala makes a pilgrimage to Badrinath to atone for a crime she hadcommitted years ago-or had she? Soni in 'A Murder in the Wedding Season'is faced with a dilemma-is Banno Bua victim or criminal? Just as the readermust ponder whether it is Pinky and her brother in 'Child-thief' who shouldbe punished, or the people from whom they steal.Spanning a period of 30 years, from 'Rites of Passage', written in 1992, tonew stories published here for the first time, this collection showcases thefinest stories by a writer famed and loved for her gentle humour, lightness oftouch and compassionate understanding of the human heart.

Immunity is a vast and confusing universe that we have been flung into in recenttimes by the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is one portion of this universe that is aquiet oasis, where immunity is built and nurtured by simple everyday foods producedin Indian backyards and farmlands for centuries.Like ghee, one of the first foods given to a new mother and her infant. Packed withVitamin A, Omega-3 and fatty acids, a spoon of ghee a day is recommended bytoday's diet gurus to aid digestion, give us energy and improve muscle movement.Or the 'Rama-Lakshmana' of immunity: turmeric and ginger. Turmeric, or haldi,is revered for its antiseptic powers, and 'haldi doodh' has long been the cure fora variety of ailments, from fever to insomnia. And the therapeutic prowess ofginger is no less mighty-known as the 'maha-aushada', or 'great medicine', it hasextraordinary digestive and anti-inflammatory properties.Or rice, the staple food across India. Certain varieties of rice have medicinalproperties, like Nivara, which is used to treat rheumatism, arthritis and neurologicalproblems. It is also made into 'kanji', to ward off colds and fever.Then there is jaggery, which helps prevent respiratory problems and anaemia. Amla,rich in that essential immunity booster, Vitamin C... The list is a long one. We haveeven figured out that water, when stored in and drunk from the right utensil, can playa great role in immunity building.The product of long years of study, close observation and practical experience, thisbook discusses the basic concepts of how the immune system works, what builds itand sustains it, what destroys it-and then explains how immunity is served up inall sorts of delicious, sustainable ways through easily available and familiar food andspices. This invaluable book should find a place on every family's bookshelf, to bereferred to by grandmothers and Gen Z fitness freaks alike.

Over at least two millennia, Delhi has witnessed several kingdoms andempires come and go, and has been enriched by each one of them. Theirimprint survives to this day in the modern metropolis-most visibly, in itshistoric buildings, gardens and settlements.In 14 Historic Walks of Delhi, Swapna Liddle, acclaimed historian andpassionate narrator of the city's heritage, takes us to iconic monuments andneighbourhoods-World Heritage Sites like Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomband Red Fort; the sprawling Lodi Gardens; the bustling galis of ChandniChowk and Nizamuddin; the Central Vista of New Delhi; as well as lesserknownareas like the Satpula dam and the Mehrauli and Khirki villages.In crisp and breezy prose, Liddle gives us the historical and architecturalsignificance of these sites, sprinkling her narrative with entertaininganecdotes. Some other highlights of the book are:¿ Detailed maps accompanying every route, with information about tickets,the nearest bus stop and metro station, parking availability, and adviceabout appropriate walking gear.¿ Architectural features described in ways that make appreciation ofstructural and decorative elements easy for a lay person as well.¿ Photographs taken specifically to accompany the text.First published in 2011, this bestseller-extensively revised and updated in2023-is the finest, most useful guide to one of the world's great cities forthe tourist and the local resident, the flaneur and the serious history enthusiastalike.

This third volume in Harbans Singh's important and insightful trilogy on modernJammu and Kashmir examines the period from 1975, when Sheikh Abdullahreturned to active politics, after the Indira-Sheikh Accord, to head a Congresssupportedgovernment, to the present day. The book discusses the emergence ofthe separatist movement, the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, and thedrastic decision of the BJP Central government to abrogate Article 370 of theIndian Constitution-which granted special status to the state-and bifurcate thestate into two Union Territories-Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.Since the time of its creation, Jammu and Kashmir has always been fraught withconflict. But nothing can compare to the decades of aggressive militancy that thestate has seen since the 1980s, with Pakistan playing a central role in the violenceand chaos. Separatist groups like the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, amongothers, and terrorist organizations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is backed byPakistan, have pursued a campaign of 'freeing' Jammu and Kashmir from what theydescribe as 'Indian rule'. India's security forces have maintained a heavy presence inthe state to counter these plans. These turbulent years-when thousands have diedand there have been protests across the state-have thrown Jammu and Kashmirinto a limbo. As political parties-the National Conference and the Congress, andthen the People's Democratic Party and the BJP-tried to wrest control of thestate from each other, it is the people who have suffered the terrible consequencesof the power struggle.As he concludes his monumental 3-volume study of Jammu and Kashmir-from thetime it was created as a political entity by the Dogras in the 19th century to its currentstatus-the author also looks to the future, warning of the possible consequences of theSupreme Court's verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370.

When a sudden cerebral attack left 22-year-old Payal Kapoor permanently blind,she went overnight from being a happy young girl to a physically and emotionallydisabled person. Her desire to be a chef now seemed like a pipe dream. Her practicalmother thought otherwise. After all, who needed to be able to see to string beans orgrate carrots? Soon Payal was back in the kitchen, and slowly, with the help of recipesin Braille and even Braille measuring cups and a talking weighing scale, she beganto cook again. Now, being her family's resident chef and mentor to others similarlyafflicted, gives her unparalleled satisfaction and a growing sense of being bigger thanher disability.Cooking changed the life of both Jaya Vaishya and her son Mihir, born with athetoidcerebral palsy. Thanks to the Veruschka Foundation, a space that trains children withspecial needs to become independent chefs, Mihir now cooks aloo chat, dosa andChinese fried rice-and the pride and joy he feels is a balm for both mother and son.For warzone photographer Giles Duley, the depression that engulfed him when hewitnessed the human tragedy in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017, when countless thousandswere killed, seemed like an abyss he would never escape. Until he began to cook.Today, despite having lost both legs and an arm in a landmine explosion, this 'onearmedchef' continues to find solace in cooking for, as he says, 'Food is life.'From bipolar disorder, clinical depression, an abusive marriage or childhood traumasto simply finding one's feet in a foreign land, each person in this collection ofpersonal narratives, poetry and fiction, finds comfort in the kitchen-cooking to givetheir lives a focus and stability. Heartwarming and immensely moving, their storiesare an inspiration for each one of us to get up and smell the coffee.

Arati Saha was born in 1940, and learnt to swim in the Hooghly riverin Calcutta as a child. At the age of eight, she competed in the NationalChampionship in Bombay, winning silver and bronze medals. When she waseleven years and ten months, she was selected as one of the first four womento represent independent India at the Helsinki Summer Olympics of 1952.She was the youngest Indian Olympian-a record that stands till this day.By the time she was eighteen, Arati was looking for a fresh challenge-shedecided to swim the English Channel. This marathon endurance swim hadbeen completed by others before her, but no woman from India, indeed fromAsia, had done so yet. Arati trained in the lakes and pools of Calcutta, onceswimming for sixteen hours at a stretch. Overcoming many odds, she went toEngland where, undaunted by one failed attempt, she tried again-till she wassuccessful.This is the inspiring story of how a seemingly ordinary girl set her eyes onimpossible dreams and achieved them with her incredible hard work andtalent. In the process, she swam her way into history.

Born in 1907 to a family of farmers in Punjab, Bhagat Singh, at the age ofthree, had declared that he was sowing guns so he could fight the Britishcolonizers. As he grew up, Bhagat Singh became a widely read and fiercelyintelligent man. He would dedicate his life to not only making India free butalso towards creating a more equitable society.Along with many young men and women, he planned seemingly impossibleacts of daring, rebelling against the oppression and exploitation of the British.When Lala Lajpat Rai died of injuries inflicted by the police under JamesScott, Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary friends sought to avenge the deathof the great freedom fighter. However, they ended up mistakenly killingJohn Saunders, another British officer. Bhagat Singh made a daring escapein disguise but he was not one to stay long in hiding. Along with BatukeswarDutt, he decided to storm the Central Assembly in Delhi with pamphlets andsmoke bombs, protesting unfair new laws. The two refused to escape, andwaited to be arrested.When he was twenty-four years old, Bhagat Singh was put to death. Till thevery end, he refused to bow down. His astonishing life and death are broughtto life in this lucid new biography for young readers.

Bombay, 1896. A handsome Indian Prince loses his heart to a Europeanwoman of striking beauty. She is staying at the only hotel fit for Europeans-Watson's, in the elite Kala Ghoda area of the city. The Prince gifts his ladylove a necklace of gold set with a beautiful sapphire of so deep a blue that itis known as the Kala Ghoda. But then Fate intervenes. An epidemic of theplague sweeps the city and the lady sets sail for Paris without even biddinggoodbye. Before her ship sails, she returns the Prince's gift through his groom,Madan. When the jewel case is opened, the necklace is there, but the sapphireis not. Madan is accused of the theft, and hanged. The Prince loses his ladyand, in years to come, his fortune.The sapphire appears to have fulfilled its prophecy-that it will bringmisfortune to anyone who possesses it. The groom is forever known as 'MadanChor', and the scandal follows his family for four generations.To find a jewel that has gone missing for 125 years seems an impossibletask-even for Lalli. She finds unexpected help in Jean Claude, the retiredChief of Police from Paris, who is here to investigate l'affaire du cheval noir-an investigation begun more than a century ago by Edmund Locard, thelegendary detective. It was Locard who was originally engaged to find thesapphire.It is up to Lalli and Jean Claude to finish the task Locard began. And, despitethe re-emergence of Lalli's old enemy, Rassiwala, and his evil designs-this iswhat they achieve. Not for nothing is Lalli, long retired, still the Last Resortfor the Mumbai Police.