Ruskin Bond's stories are predominantly set in the beautiful hill country of Garhwal where he has made his home for the last twenty-five years. Some of these stories present people who, consciously or otherwise, need each other: people in love or in need of love, the awkward adolescent and the timid lover. Some are gently satirical studies about village and small-town braggarts and petty officials. Several others mourn the gradual erosion of the beauty of the hills (and the gentle people who live in them) with the coming of the steel and dust and worries of modern civilization. All the stories are rewarding for their compassionate portrayal of love, loss, accomplishment, pain and struggle.

    Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) is also the most controversial: he was tried for obscenity no less than six times, both before and after the departure of the British from India in 1947. In a writing career spanning over two decades, Manto, one of Urdu's great stylists, produced a powerful and original body of work including short stories, a novel, radio plays, essays and film scripts.This collection brings together some of Manto's finest stories, ranging from his chilling recounting of the horrors of Partition to his portrayal of the underworld. Writing with great feeling and empathy about the fallen and the rejects of society, Manto the supreme humanist shows how the essential goodness of people does not die even in the face of unimaginable suffering. Powerful and deeply moving, these stories remain as relevant today as they were first published more than half a century ago.

    A fascinating account of the Muslims in twentieth-century India, Pakistan and Bangladesh through his biographical sketches of eight prominent Muslims- Sayyid Ahmed Khan (1817-1898), Fazlul Haq (1873-1962), Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), Muhammad Iqbal (1876-1938), Muhammad Ali (1878-1931), Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), Liaqat Ali Khan (1895-1951) and Zakir Hussain (1897-1969) Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, provides a deeply insightful and comprehensive picture of the community in the subcontinent today.

    

    Well-known psychologist and social theorist Ashis Nandy stresses the importance of considering world views held by the non-modern cultures of the Third World in formulating a more humane and less technologically preoccupied vision of progress. Institutionalized oppression is seen as a process which co-opts the physical and psychological worlds of its victims and destroys the basis of all dissenting visions of a just world. Concluding with an essay on Gandhi and his critical reaction to Western civilization, this book is an important contribution to political science, sociology, psychology, and South Asian studies.

    In proportion as they succeed, and to the degree to which they carry this evolution, the yet unrealized potentiality which they represent will become the actual possibility of the future." --Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle Sri Aurobindo stands out as one of the deepest and most profoundly relevant of contemporary Asian spiritual masters speaking to the West. His vision transcends the distinctive strengths and weaknesses of India and the West, and his discipline brings the yogas of the Gita to the task of world transformation.His collaborator, The Mother, offers a blueprint for the utopian community Auroville, giving sage advice on the ideal of a spiritually based approach to education.Robert McDermott's afterword in this revised edition recounts the increased significance of Aurobindo's message in the West--especially for America--since the book was first published in 1973.Here is an invaluable resource for understanding the underlying connections and common ground between Eastern and Western teachings and traditions for modern thinkers and spiritual seekers.

    This book, the firstsubstantial biography of Azad in English, charts his many contributions to the intellectual, political, and religious heritage of modern India, revealing important continuities in his life and thought.

    In addition to their major religious significance for Hindus, these poems treat universal themes, have great popular appeal, and even todayare well known to Indians in every walk of life. The beloved authors are revered not only as poets but also as saints, and hagiographical literature about them abounds, even in the form of comic books and popular motion pictures. Songs of the Saints of India serves as an introduction to six of thebest known of these poets--Ravidas, Kabir, Nanak, Surdas, Mirabai, and Tulsidas--with a biographical and interpretive essay on each and a selection of representative verses in original translations.

    It examines India's role in European philosophical thought, as well as the reception of European philosophy in Indian thought. Halbfass also considers the tension in India between a traditional and modern understanding of itself.Halbfass covers a wide variety of epochs and cultures in this study without oversimplification and without distracting shifts of tone. The volume's methodological unity is reflected in Halbfass' reliance on the German hermeneutical tradition and his root characterization of the encounter between Indian and the West as dynamic. It is a contribution rooted in the interpretive tradition typified by the work of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Habermas.This edition is much more than a mere translation. Halbfass has not only translated, but has also revised, updated, and added much new material.

    For, in contrast to the history of the kings and nobles, which has been the main sphere of study of medievalists, the present work deals with the life of the ladies of Mughal royalty.

    

    

    

    The desire of a poor, old grasscutter in India to share what little he has with a kind and beautiful woman begins an incredible chain of events.

    From the majestic Taj Mahal to rural earthen villages, Rai's images weave an elegant dream-like portrait of the vast subcontinent. 150 color photos.