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It is the eighth century in South India during the rule of the Rashtrakutas.Indian philosophy is at its zenith, Ayurvedic knowledge is being compiled andthe new Prakrit languages are being developed to read and write new texts.The heroine, Sharvay, is born into this world with many disadvantages. She isan orphan, the daughter of a dasi, a mixed-caste person of low social standing,bonded to the royal princess of Kavipura as a spittoon holder. Despite allthis, she is determined to devote herself to a life of learning and becominga philosopher. Can Sharvay overcome the socially imposed limits of casteand gender to access Sanskrit and philosophy? If she does succeed, will herteachings be validated by the world?Sharvay's story is told through the experience of a contemporary womanacademic who chances upon a sculpture of an ancient female philosopherduring her research. The sculpture inspires the academic to dream of Sharvay'slife. She forms a bond with this exceptional historical character as sheencounters places and objects that were important parts of Sharvay's life.This remarkable debut novel sensitively explores what it meant to be anordinary, marginalized person in ancient India, and questions the gender, classand caste biases within the discipline of philosophy, which has been dominatedby men for centuries. Intriguing, atmospheric and richly imagined, Sharvay ishistorical fiction at its best

The period 1939-1949 was the most turbulent decade in modern Indianhistory-it saw the tumult of the SecondWorldWar, the unrest during theQuit India movement and the final phase of the freedom struggle, and thehorrors of Partition.While most studies of this time focus chiefly on thedefining contributions of the Indian nationalist leaders and the role played bythe British, it is also important to record the efforts of millions of others inmeeting the enormous challenges of the period. Shunting the Nation records thecontribution of the workers-men, women and children-who ensured thesmooth functioning of the railway-based travel and communication system in theSubcontinent, even as regimes changed, new borders were drawn and everythingseemed to be falling apart.During perhaps the most demanding time in the history of any railway workforce,these workers navigated overcrowded trains, food shortage, famine, disruption ofcoal supplies, communal riots and an administration close to collapse, in order toensure humanitarian relief, swift movement of troops and weapons, and transportof over three million refugees. Equally remarkable was the workers' successfulnegotiation of the contrary demands of their employment-by the British-andtheir nationalist, pro-independence sentiments; as was the class-based solidarityof their unions which triumphed over barbaric sectarian divisions.Drawing on memoirs, newspaper reports and government documents,AniruddhaBose's passionate narration of railway history brings to light the inspiring andvaluable role played by these unsung heroes in the modern histories of India andPakistan.

Suket, Raghu and Shams are no strangers to taking on powerful political interests.They've never shied away from speaking their minds, with words or on thestreets.And they're used to a few bones being broken every now and then for it.But something feels wrong about the state of affairs in the country now whichthey can't quite put their finger on. Increasingly hard living conditions are metwith breathless praise for the great work of development by the government.A politics of identity-of the religious kind-has all but replaced the pursuitof social justice.And people's sentiments are so easily hurt that just about anydivergent word you speak may bring a mob to your door.What has gone sowrong?Why does it feel like the entire nation has been lobotomized?There are days when the three friends think they are close to an answer. Butthey have no idea how little they know.In any case, their time's up.They're going to find out tonight.The NationalCommission for Hurt Sentiments is bringing them in for a'friendly interaction'.Purushottam Agrawal's NaCoHuS is a cautionary tale of a splintering nationat the mercy of a dangerously powerful government. In alternatingly comicaland evocative prose, it brings us face to face with a dystopia that lies not insome distant future but may already be upon us.

TeradaYoshitaka, Professor Emeritus at the National Museum of Ethnology,Osaka, Japan began his journey with South Indian music with a rather simplequery.Why had Periya Me¯l ·am (the traditional musical genre featuring thena¯gasvaram and the tavil), which is considered to be extremely important inthe religious and social life of South Indian Hindus, been neglected by bothIndian and non-Indian scholars?As he began his field research,Terada realizedthat the history of Periya Me¯l ·am is inextricably linked with the life of the masterof na¯gasvaram,T.N. Rajarattinam Pillai (1989-1956).T.N. Rajarattinam Pillai: Charisma, Caste Rivalry and the Contested Past in SouthIndian Music focuses on the influential artist's life and work, illuminatingimportant aspects of caste-based relations in South Indian music. Backedby extensive field research and scholarship, this book is also a pioneeringethnographic account of Periya Me¯l ·am, its practitioners and the significantchanges in the genre that took place in the twentieth century.

In Most of What You Know About Addiction is Wrong, distinguished psychiatrist AnirudhKala debunks common myths on the largely misunderstood topic of addiction.The book introduces readers to the ways in which humankind has been engagingwith addictive substances over time and our complicated ongoing relationshipwith them.Beginning with the early humans and the formation of their bonds with mindaltering substances, it goes on to share a comprehensive account of the use ofvarious substances in India with a special focus on Punjab. In the late 80s, drugaddiction peaked in Punjab and it continues to be a major public health concerntoday. The book closely examines the links between addiction and the social andeconomic changes plaguing the state, urging policy makers and law enforcementto stop viewing addiction through a moralistic prism and to adopt a more holisticand scientific approach to manage it.Both the history and the science of addiction are explained in an easy-to-read,accessible style. The nature-versus-nurture debate about the origins of addictionalso feature prominently in the book. The benefits of decriminalization andlegalization of addictive substances, which countries like Portugal have achievedthrough pragmatic initiatives are substantiated with ample data. Statistics aboutthe number of people using drugs or affected by addictions are not just quoted;readers are shown how to derive meaning from this data.Most of What You Know About Addiction is Wrong sends out a set of well-researched,informed and timely messages about how mature societies should be handlingaddictive drugs. This makes the book essential reading for policy makers,politicians, health professionals as well as general readers everywhere.

The 1980s. In Hindi cinema, it was the decade of the dark and powerful policedrama Ardh Satya. It was the decade of the kitschy excess of the action comedyHimmatwala. It was a decade of opposites.It was a time when the best of NewWave 2.0 won acclaim and awards across theglobe, and B-grade'sex films' drew crowds into rundown small-town theatres;when ridiculous lyrics set to'disco music' created massive chartbusters, and thepoetry of Kabir,Tulsidas and Faiz also found space in film songs.It was a time when Amitabh Bachchan's injury had all of India praying for amiracle; when Peter Pan Jeetendra was spending more time shooting in Madrasthan in Bombay; when Rekha still ruled but Sridevi was rising to superstardom;when Naseer, Shabana, Om and Smita were the Fab Four of arthouse cinema;when the flamboyant dancing stars Mithun and Govinda brought a whole newaesthetic to Bollywood; when North and South met and mated like never before.It was a time of furious change beyond the silver screen, too: video cassettesbrought cinema to drawing rooms and bedrooms; television and one-day cricketemerged as fierce competition to films; piracy put movie theatres in crisis; filmstars were elected to the Indian Parliament in surprising numbers.In this thoroughly researched and entertaining book,Avijit Ghosh, author of theacclaimed bestsellers Cinema Bhojpuri and 40 Retakes, narrates the fascinating story ofperhaps the most eventful, disruptive and transformative decade of Hindi cinema.

Many Indians see Pakistan and Pakistanis as irredeemably hostile. Of the rest,while some argue that, despite Partition, we're still the same people, othersdon't really know any better to have an opinion. Veteran journalist KesavaMenon offers a unique and personal perspective that pulls the third categoryof Indians out of their indifference, and pokes holes in the black-and-whiteoutlook of the first and the glib optimism of the second.Menon has been a long-time commentator on Pakistani politics, ever sincehis stint as The Hindu's correspondent in Pakistan in the early 1990s, a crucialperiod in that country's recent history. The Islamic hardliner and dictator Ziaul-Haq had died in an air crash, and the future of the nation's new experimentwith democracy was at best uncertain-with Nawaz Sharif coming to officeafter Benazir Bhutto's brief first run as prime minister. People were freeenough to breathe easy, but yet too feeble to speak up to power. So while thearmy was now led by a non-fanatical professional, religious fundamentalistswith little electoral clout could still openly hurl obscenities about Benazirat a PPP rally; the three-starred pioneer of anti-India jihad could personallyexpress genuine hope for Indo-Pak friendship to the author; and a primeministerial gala could alter its menu to accommodate a South Indian Hindujournalist who they assumed must be vegetarian.While we see both the authoritarian and the democratic tendencies at workin Pakistan's politics-in the 1990s, as in the decades before and since-thisbook contains more than just political commentary. It is also an attempt tounderstand the 'idea' of Pakistan, its sense of itself-both as a people and anation-state-and how India ought to deal with its intractable neighbour.Calm and lucid yet simultaneously playful and trenchant, this analysis of theculture and politics of Pakistan vis-à-vis India combines deep insight andengaging anecdotes to deliver a thoroughly entertaining take on the complexand often tumultuous relationship between the two countries.

When Mihika, 56 and a widow, gets drawn into a relationship with Zuhayr, a60-year-old divorcee who was her late husbandAditya's friend, it doesn't seem toher like an event that should cause more than a raised eyebrow or two. Not in thetwenty-first century, and not when their grown-up children are happy that theirparents have found a second chance at happiness.But inTinigaon-a small town inAssam-it is just not done for a woman ofMihika's age to have a romantic relationship-that, too, with a man from theOther Religion: a Muslim.Tinigaon's Old Guard is scandalized as Mihika andZuhayr are seen together in restaurants and cinema halls,'flaunting' their affair.And a nosy neighbour, Ranjana, keeps the moral brigade busy with juicy details ofZuhayr's late-night comings and goings from Mihika's house.Mihika decides to ignore the gossipmongering and slander and remain true to herrelationship with Zuhayr, who has filled a void in her life afterAditya's death fiveyears ago.As long as her four closest friends,Tara,Triveni, Shagufta and Pallavi,stand by her, she doesn't care if others turn away. But when the gossip turnsinto something more sinister that could threaten her daughterVeda's happiness,Mihika is forced to take a call-should she give up the man she loves for herdaughter's sake, or is there an alternative that could give them both what theywant?Writing with great sensitivity and gentle humour, Mitra Phukan proves onceagain that she is an extraordinary chronicler of the human heart. Rooted, like allher fiction, in the culture and sensibilities ofAssam, What Will People Say? speaksto all of us, wherever we are, whoever we are.

The granddaughter of Seth Cursetjee Manekjee Shroff, the noted philanthropistwhose statue in Byculla Mumbaikers fondly call 'Khada Parsi', Dosebai CowasjeeJessawalla (1832-1911) was one of the first Indian girls to receive the benefits ofan English education. This decision made by her mother, Meheribai, triggered bothcriticism from the Parsi community and mockery from the popular press. However,its life-changing effects were apparent in just a few years-and endured for alifetime-as Dosebai became a part of both Indian and Western society and wasempowered in ways unimaginable for most women at the time. In her lifestyle andchoices, she proved herself to be of brave spirit and independent mind.A formidable woman with a great zest for life, Dosebai marched through the IndianParsi society without a care for its stifling patriarchal norms that bound women tohousehold drudgery. Dosebai went out into the world with rare confidence: sheattended the Delhi Durbar of 1877 that declared Queen Victoria the Empress ofIndia; became acquaintances with Governor-General Lytton and his wife; travelledwidely, from Europe-where she met the English monarchs at Windsor Castle andthe Pope in Rome-to Japan and the United States; learnt to drive a car and rode ahot air balloon.First published by her sons only months after her death in 1911, Dosebai'sremarkable autobiography describes her youth, education, marriage and globaltravels. Her experiences are not just a reflection of the challenges faced even byprivileged women in the nineteenth century, but also of attempts to indigenizeEuropean practices.A fascinating autobiography, The Story of My Life is also a valuable document about theevolution of the Parsi community through the nineteenth century, and the merging oftradition with modern sensibilities during that important time in Indian history.

It is now well over three decades since the Hindi-film heroine drove the vampinto extinction, and even longer since the silver screen was ignited by thetrue Bollywood version of a cabaret. Yet, Helen-nicknamed 'H-Bomb' at theheight of her career-continues to rule the popular imagination. Improbably,for an 'item girl'-who rarely appeared for more than five minutes in amovie-she has become an icon.Jerry Pinto's sparkling book is a study of the phenomenon that was Helen:Why did a refugee of French-Burmese parentage succeed as wildly as she didin mainstream Indian cinema? How could otherwise conservative familiessit through, and even enjoy, her cabarets? What made Helen 'the desirethat you need not be embarrassed about feeling'? How did she manage theunimaginable: vamp three generations of men on screen?Equally, the book is a gloriously witty and provocative examination of middleclass Indian morality; the politics of religion, gender and sexuality in popularculture; and the importance of the song, the item number and the waywardwoman in Hindi cinema.

In an imaginary time, in the mythical, scenic but deeply troubled land of Mandala, theailing old magician Jaadum expresses his dying wish: to have his son Raibhu immersehis and his wife Asi's last remains in the Sada river. But under that simple human wishlies buried the secret at the heart of the Mandala purana-the legend of the Mandalancivilization. A powerful secret that reveals itself in one intriguing layer after anotherto Raibhu and his companions: his best friend Afhash and the mysterious, strikinglybeautiful Inosa. Together they must protect this purana at all costs from the evilwarlord Umur Naash.As Raibhu, Afhash and Inosa embark on a journey through perilous terrain to fulfilJaadum's wish, they will be tested to their limits. The future of Mandala lies in thehands of Raibhu and his companions.The first book in the Mandala Purana series, The Pledge is a richly detailed fantasyadventure stretching across time and space. As much a story of evil and intoleranceas love and justice, it is an utterly compelling exploration of humanity-the depths itcan sink to and the heights it can scale.Inspired by a story by film producer Amit Bolakani, Madhulika Liddleand Kannan Iyer have created a fantasy world that will enrapture andabsorb you till the end.

A fire broke out at around 7 pm on 18 July 2012 at Maruti Suzuki India'smanufacturing plant in Manesar. It claimed the life of a manager. Within days, overtwo thousand temporary workers and 546 permanent workers were dismissedby the company, and 13 of them-including the entire leadership of the workers'union-were later charged for murder, thus ending yet another independent bodyfor collective bargaining.Unions are the last, and often only, line of defence workers have in modernindustries, especially when the management isn't averse to undermining theirrights, dignity and health in pursuit of higher profits. This was true of Maruti andtheir Japanese partner, and later, owner-Suzuki. Workers would get a seven-and-ahalf-minute break from physically demanding work-precise to the hundredth of asecond-to run to the toilet half a kilometre away and force a samosa and piping hottea down their throat. But they were denied two minutes of silence in the memory ofa deceased colleague's mother.The sabotage of their efforts at effective unionizing, generally in collusion with theHaryana state government, had therefore come as no surprise to the workers. Yetthey struggled through and managed to form successive representative bodies at boththe Gurgaon plant, and the one set up in Manesar in 2007. But not only were all ofthem crushed, some were never allowed to be officially registered.The often misrepresented events of July 2012 were thus far from an isolated incident.But few today, as then, are willing to see the matter from the workers' point of view.Anjali Deshpande and Nandita Haksar tell the story of the biggest car manufacturerin India through the voices of the workers, interviewed over a period of 3 years. Asthey tell us of their resistance to being turned into robots by an uncompromisingmanagement, it becomes abundantly clear that the Maruti revolution wasn't theunmitigated success it was touted to be.

'It is close to nine years since the Narendra Modi-led BJP swept into power. A new era beganin May 2014, or so we were told... But India is, in fact, facing a crisis. Our polity, societyand economy are all broken. The signs are all around us.'At a time when a compromised media and the ruling party's digital armywork 24/7 to overwhelm our public discourse with pro-establishment noise,Parakala Prabhakar is an unabashedly critical voice, determined to speaktruth to power. In these essays written over almost three years-from 2020to 2023-he looks closely at facts and data and analyses events and publicstatements to show why he fears for the future of our democracy, socialharmony and economy.In the Prime Minister's Independence-Day speeches from 2014 to 2022,and the speeches of the RSS chief; in the unemployment and inequalitystatistics that the government supresses; in the partisan role of investigativeagencies and the income tax department; in the new BJP's'tiraskar' or clearrejection of India's Muslims as citizens and voters; in the mishandling of theCOVID-19 pandemic-in these and many more developments, ParakalaPrabhakar finds unmistakable evidence of religious majoritarianism, a creepingauthoritarianism and serious economic mismanagement.And he shows us whysilence and complacency are no longer an option for any citizen invested inthe future of our Republic.This no-holds-barred, urgent book helps us connect the dots and see the truepicture of the'New India' being fashioned before our eyes.

DeScriPtionA towering figure in English poetry from South Asia, Keki Daruwalla has beenadmired by an entire generation of readers for the power and vigour, the sharpsense of irony and, more recently, the deep, strangely soothing poignancyof his poems. He has also been acclaimed for the historical and geographicalsweep of his themes, his uncommon responsiveness to the natural world, andthe rare immediacy of his language.All of these qualities inform his extraordinary new collection of poemswritten over almost five years, between 2018 and 2022, including the longmonths of the COVID pandemic when Daruwalla was infected himself, andproduced a magnificent long poem-'The Night Attendant'.In this major work, Daruwalla shows us again why he is a giant, and a trueoriginal, of Indian poetry.

DeScriPtionRobin S. Ngangom's poetry is the poetry of feeling, which draws thereader deep into the poet's world. The poems in My Invented Land showcaseNgangom's remarkable range-tracing his poetic arc from the deeplypersonal to the political, from chronicles of private joys, sorrows and everydayepiphanies to the poetry of witness that gazes unflinchingly at the realities thathaunt the Northeast, his native land.

DeScriPtionGuilty of the crime of sleeping on the job, the lowly yaksha Prem Chandra Guha,is banished to India on a punishment posting. During his stay here, he must writea sufficiently riveting history of the land of his exile. Prem Chandra arrives inIndia on the first dawn of her independence and fate brings him to Netarhat,an obscure town near the forests of Chhota Nagpur. It is here that he meetsManhoos, an orphaned urchin who repairs motor vehicles for a living, and hisfriend Mary, a feisty tribal girl from the nearby Santhal village.Assuming the shape of a common sparrow, Prem Chandra turns into anunobtrusive observer and follows the fortunes of Manhoos and Mary as theytravel to Calcutta, and then to Rishikesh, Bangalore, Ahmedabad... As theyplunge from one adventure to another, a series of figures play key roles in theirlives: the Naxal leader Charu Majumdar; Satyajit Ray, in his crisp dhoti andclipped accent; the ever-giggling Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; the powerful businessmagnate, Ameer Premji; and even a mysterious man with a 56-inch chest.On the broader canvas of India, other events are playing out. Indira Gandhideclares an Emergency; a new party, the Jana Sangh is formed; SiddharthaShankar Ray cleanses West Bengal of Naxalism and Jyoti Basu brings in thirtyyears of Communism; somewhere, a dam is built, and hundreds of tribals arerendered homeless, elsewhere, a masjid falls, a deadly virus rises and the groundof India shakes beneath her feet...Song of the Golden Sparrow is the story of Manhoos and Mary, and mirrored in theirtumultuous lives, is the history of free India from 1947 to 2022.

DeScriPtionDetective Arjun Arora feels his life is crumbling around him. His father haspassed away, and he cannot forgive the corrupt police officer who sent Arjuninto a coma a year back. And then, a young widow visits him and presses himto take on a new case: to investigate her husband's mysterious death. RohitVats was a pharmaceutical company executive who had recently returnedhome to Delhi from a work trip to China. Soon after, he turned up in a seedypart of Kolkata-dead.Was it a love affair gone wrong, geo-political intrigue, or corporate rivalrywhich led to Vats' death? Arjun finds that Vats might have been looking intoillegal wildlife trafficking and zoonotic diseases like SARS. Increasingly, itappears that the answer to the mystery might lie in China.

DeScriPtionThe past decade has seen an insidious and unforgiving position take root on thepurpose of juvenile justice in India, seen as it is-especially in the aftermath ofthe Nirbhaya case in 2012-as an instrument of punishment and not of reform.The desire to make the law retributive and not compassionate stems from whatone of the authors calls 'the blindness of privilege'. This book offers a muchneeded critique of such a skewed understanding of the law, pulling us out of ourcomfort zone, and confronting us with the grim reality of India's juvenile justicesystem.The authors write from long years of experience of working with 'Children inConflict with Law', or CICL, as the Juvenile Justice Act terms offending minors.In the first part of the book, noted child rights activist Enakshi Ganguly discussesnot only the history and evolution of the law in India-from the colonial periodto the present-but also its pitfalls and the often overwhelming problems indealing with the system. The second part of the book contains two poignantfirst-person accounts of working among the CICL by Kalpana Purushothaman,a trained psychologist and a member of a Juvenile Justice Board in Karnataka,and Puneeta Roy, who translates her skills in expressive arts into offering toolsto interned children for self-empowerment and healing. The personal anecdotesand case studies they share, and the sheer resilience of their optimism, challengethe deeply biased assumptions that prevent us from seeing the child behind theoffender and which perpetuate injustice against this most vulnerable of groups.

DeScriPtion'As far as writing about sexuality is concerned, as long as [women] write like men,everything is fine. There is a protocol about writing about sex. As long as you follow thatprotocol, you're fine. In Chittacobra, the problem that people had with the supposedlyoffensive pages is that this woman treats her husband as a body and reduces him to acommodity... This was very hurtful to male egos. Women are forever reduced to bodiesand commodities but women aren't allowed to do that to men, to their husbands. Ithink this is the reason everyone got so angry.'-Mridula Garg on the charges ofobscenity brought against her when Chittacobra was first published.In 1979, Mridula Garg released her third Hindi novel, Chittacobra, the storyof an intense love affair between a young Indian woman-disconnected fromher home, social milieu, marriage and husband-and a gypsy missionaryfrom Scotland. There was an uproar-the novel was branded obscene and thepolice came to arrest her. But the controversy also took this remarkably frankand sensitive exploration of love and desire to many thousands of readers.It became, and remains to this day, one of the most celebrated works ofcontemporary Hindi literature.Mridula Garg's brilliant new translation brings this extraordinary book-asbold and distinctive in literary style as in its theme-to a new generation ofreaders.

DeScriPtionWhen Soumitra Chatterjee debuted in Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar in 1959-thefinal part of Ray's Apu trilogy-a star was born in Bengali cinema. Soumitra soontranscended the boundaries of the Bengali film industry to become an internationallycelebrated actor who was compared to the best in the business, from Max von Sydowto Marcello Mastroianni. Famously known as 'Ray's actor', in a career spanning sixdecades, Soumitra worked with practically every Bengali director worth the name-Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, Chidananda Dasgupta, Aparna Sen, Tarun Majumdar,Rituparno Ghosh and Goutam Ghose, to name but a few.Following Apur Sansar, Soumitra played the lead in another Ray film, Devi, in 1960.From then until the posthumously released Abhijan and Belashuru (2022), the morethan 300 films in which he acted rank among the best in Bengali cinema, andwon him a string of awards, including the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award(1995), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1999), the Padma Bhushan (2004), theDadasaheb Phalke Award (2012) and the Legion d'Honour awarded by the FrenchGovernment (2018). But it was not just on the silver screen that Soumitra shone. Hewas also an accomplished playwright and theatre actor, a poet, a painter, the literaryeditor of the magazine, Ekshan, and an elocutionist.Soumitra Chatterjee: His Life in Cinema and Beyond, is the first comprehensive attemptto portray the life of the actor in all its facets. It traces Soumitra's initial years ofsearching for identities to the final decades when he reached the pinnacle of hiscareer as an actor and an artist. Written from the vantage point of someone whoshared an exceptionally close relationship with the actor, film journalist Amitava Naghas drawn an intimate portrait of the star thespian and his art beyond acting, whichwill be essential reading for his legion of fans, and for all those interested in cinema.