Best of
Indian-Literature

2010

Dozakhnama


Rabisankar Bal - 2010
    Exhumed from dust, Manto’s unpublished novel surfaces in Lucknow. Is it real or is it a fake? In this dastan, Manto and Ghalib converse, entwining their lives in shared dreams. The result is an intellectual journey that takes us into the people and events that shape us as a culture. As one writer describes it, ‘I discovered Rabisankar Bal like a torch in the darkness of the history of this subcontinent. This is the real story of two centuries of our own country.’ Rabisankar Bal’s audacious novel, told by reflections in a mirror and forged in the fires of hell, is both an oral tale and a shield against oblivion. An echo of distant screams. Inscribed by the devil’s quill, Dozakhnama is an outstanding performance of subterranean memory.

Classic Ruskin Bond: Complete And Unabridged


Ruskin Bond - 2010
    Evoking nostalgia for a time gone by, these poignant chronicles of life in India's hills and small towns describe the hopes and passions that capture young minds and hearts, highlighting the uneasy reconciliation of dreams and destiny. The six novels included in the collection are: 'The Room on the Roof', 'Vagrants in the Valley', 'Delhi Is Not Far', 'A Flight of Pigeons', 'The Sensualist', and 'A Handful of Nuts'.

Mr. Oliver's Diary


Ruskin Bond - 2010
    A homicidal barber. A hungry leopard and about a hundred frogs on the loose. Boys with a talent for pranks and jokes. Ruskin Bond???s fresh new school stories are a non-stop laugh riot. Mr Oliver, a history teacher, arrives in Simla with a train-load of hungry boys to start a new term at the Prep School. As he records the antics of the amazing characters there, and all that they get up to, we quickly realize that there is never a dull moment. A fire, a missing Headmaster, runaway students make sure not a day goes by when Mr Oliver has nothing to report in his diary. He writes about the eccentric teachers, the girls??? school next door and the lovely Anjali Ramola, whom he secretly admires. Laugh-out-loud funny, with a core of old-world charm that is trademark Bond, Mr Oliver???s Diary has stories and characters that have never appeared anywhere before. With his runaway wig, pet shrew and endearing dry wit, Mr Oliver is sure to become as well-loved as those other vintage Ruskin Bond characters, Uncle Ken and Rusty About The Author: Ruskin Bond???s first novel, The Room on the Roof, written when he was seventeen, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas (including Vagrants in the Valley, A Flight of Pigeons and Delhi Is Not Far), essays, poems and children???s books, many of which have been published by Penguin India. He has also written over 500 short stories and articles that have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993 and the Padma Shri in 1999

This Is Not That Dawn


यशपाल - 2010
    Reviving life in Lahore as it was before 1947, the book opens on a nostalgic note, with vivid descriptions of the people that lived in the city’s streets and lanes like Bhola Pandhe Ki Gali: Tara, who wanted an education above marriage; Puri, whose ideology and principles often came in the way of his impoverished circumstances; Asad, who was ready to sacrifice his love for the sake of communal harmony. Their lives—and those of other memorable characters—are forever altered as the carnage that ensues on the eve of Independence shatters the beauty and peace of the land, killing millions of Hindus and Muslims, and forcing others to leave their homes forever.

The Apu Trilogy: Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic


Andrew Robinson - 2010
    Satyajit Ray's three films about the boyhood, adolescence and manhood of Apu, Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959) - collectively known as The Apu Trilogy - are established classics of world cinema. The Trilogy was the chief reason for Satyajit Ray's receiving a Hollywood Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1992, just before his death. This book by Ray's biographer and world authority Andrew Robinson is the first full study of the Trilogy. Robinson -- who came to know the director well during the last decade of his career -- covers the literary and cultural background to the films, their production, their music composed by Ravi Shankar, their aesthetic value, and their complex critical reception in the East and the West, from 1955 up to the present day. Extensively and beautifully illustrated and a pleasure to read, The Apu Trilogy will appeal to anyone captivated by the unique world created by Satyajit Ray.

Living This Life Fully: Stories and Teachings of Munindra


Mirka Knaster - 2010
    Then it becomes meditation. It is not thinking, but experiencing from moment to moment, living from moment to moment, without clinging, without condemning, without judging."--MunindraAnagarika Munindra (1915-2003) was a Bengali Buddhist master and scholar who became one of the most important Vipassana meditation teachers of the twentieth century. Unassuming, genuine, and always encouraging, Munindra embodied the Buddhist teachings, exemplifying mindfulness in everything he did.Living This Life Fully is the first book about Munindra, and it features never-before-published excerpts of his teachings, stories and remembrances from Western students, a biography, and rare photographs.

Cradle Tales of Hinduism


Sister Nivedita - 2010
    This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

The Secret Garland: Antal's Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli


Archana Venkatesan - 2010
    Two of the most significant compositions by a female mystic, the Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli give expression to her powerful experiences through the useof a vibrant and bold sensuality, in which Visnu is her awesome, mesmerizing, and sometimes cruel lover. Kotai's poetry is characterized by a richness of language in which words are imbued with polyvalence and even the most mundane experiences are infused with the spirit of the divine. HerTiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli are garlands of words, redolent with meanings waiting to be discovered. Today Kotai is revered as a goddess, and as a testament to the enduring relevance of her poetry, her Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli continue to be celebrated in South Indian ritual, music, dance, and the visual arts.This book aims to capture the lyricism, beauty, and power of Kotai's original works. In addition, detailed notes based on traditional commentaries, and discussions of the ritual and performative lives of the Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli highlight the importance of this ninth-century poet and hertwo poems over the past one thousand years.

Children of a Better God


Susmita Bagchi - 2010
    

Land Of Cards: Stories, Poems And Plays For Children


Rabindranath Tagore - 2010
    This collection brings together some of his best works—poems, short stories and plays in one volume. Be it the wit, magic and lyricism of his poetry or the vividly etched social milieu of his stories, or the sheer power and vibrancy of his plays, Tagore's versatility and unceasing creativity come alive in these writings. The title play 'The Land of Cards' is a satire against the bondage of orthodox rules, while in 'The Post Office', a child suffocated by his confined existence dreams of freedom in the world outside. From a son's cherished desire to protect his mother in the poem 'Hero' to a fruit-seller longing for his daughter faraway in the story 'Kabuliwala', Tagore's works convey his humanism and his deep understanding of human relationships.