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About the BookA COMPREHENSIVELY RESEARCHED BOOK ON THE LIFE AND PHILOSOPHY OF ADI SHANKARACHARYAWhat is Brahman? What is its relationship to Atman? What is an individual's place in the cosmos? Is a personalised god and ritualistic worship the only path to attain moksha? Does caste matter when a human is engaging with the metaphysical world? The answers to these perennial questions sparkle with clarity in this seminal account of a man and a saint, who revived Hinduism and gave to Upanishadic insights a rigorously structured and sublimely appealing philosophy.Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya (788-820 CE) was born in Kerala and died in Kedarnath, traversing the length of India in his search for the ultimate truth. In a short life of thirty-two years, Shankaracharya not only revived Hinduism, but also created the organisational structure for its perpetuation through the mathas he established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Joshimatha.Adi Shankaracharaya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker is a meticulously researched and comprehensive account of his life and philosophy. Highly readable, and including a select anthology of Shankaracharya's seminal writing, the book also examines the startling endorsement that contemporary science is giving to his ideas today. A must-read for people across the ideological spectrum, this book reminds readers about the remarkable philosophical underpinning of Hinduism, making it one of the most vibrant religions in the world.About the AuthorPavan K. Varma is a writer-diplomat and was till recently an MP in the Rajya Sabha. He was earlier Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar, with the rank of Cabinet Minister. He has been India's Ambassador in several countries, also Director of the Nehru Centre in London, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, and Press Secretary to the President of India. Author of over a dozen successful books, Pavan K. Varma was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree for his contribution to the fields of diplomacy, literature, culture and aesthetics by the University of Indianapolis in 2005. He was also conferred the Druk Thuksey, Bhutan's highest civilian award, in 2012.

Other title information from cover page: The king who saved India.

There is no single Ramayana, just as there is not just one kind of people. The epic that Valmiki first wrote has changed across space and time to reflect the cultural consciousness of a diverse cross-section of humanity. These widely different social contexts in India, in Southeast Asia and the world at large, and in different faiths and castes and tribes have produced an immense variety of Ramayanas in the oral, textual and visual mediums.Azeez Tharuvana was powerfully drawn to the oral tribal Ramayana tradition in Wayanad, Kerala. He tells us that the locals believe Wayanad to be the site of all the action that took place in the Ramayana. So, in their version, the hermitage at Ashramkolly near Pulpally is Valmiki''s ashram, and Jadayattakavu is the place where Rama held Sita by the hair to keep her from falling into the earth. Tharuvana''s research into this tradition led to a deeper immersion in the many forms and shapes that the epic poem has taken. It illustrates how human societies reshape narratives as a way of expressing and asserting their unique identities and their moral and social codes.In this light, the Ramayana is not only a religious text, but the very symbol of plurality, replete with interesting divergences. It is an ever-changing work that will never be a thing of the past. The many profound, often entertaining, versions of the epic discussed in this sharp, illuminating work bear testimony to the fact that the Ramayana must not be talked about as a mythological text of yore but as something that is alive, polyphonic and pluralistic. Through the story of Rama, Azeez Tharuvana''s Living Ramayanas shines a light on a text inclusive like no other.Read more

The Research and Analysis Wing, India?s shadowy external intelligence agency, is one of the country?s least understood institutions?at least in part by design. Perhaps fittingly for a spy agency, there is very little information about R&AW in the public domain. What is this organisation, its structure, its role and vision? Why was it set up? Who are the people that run it?Set up in 1968, as a reaction to India?s massive intelligence failure during the war with China, R&AW played a crucial role in the formation of Bangladesh. It has since carried out highly successful covert operations in Fiji, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and has countered and foiled Pakistani spy agency ISI?s machinations in the subcontinent. R&AW has operations in other parts of the globe too; it played an important role during the Iran?Iraq war, for instance.No country can increase its global reach without intelligence support. That India has made enormous strides in its stature and influence is testimony to R&AW?s success. Yet, public accounts of its work exist only in highly romanticised fictional stories. Investigative journalist Yatish Yadav follows the lives of real agents and maps their actions in real situations. His conversations with Indian spies provide insight into how covert operations actually work. RAW: A History of India?s Covert Operations is the first comprehensive account of Indian spy networks and their intelligence gathering, and their role in securing and advancing Indian interests.Read more