Doing what is right: THE CRISIL STORY


Hemanth Gorur - 2012
    Founded in the regulated and stagnant Indian economy of the late 1980s, offering a credit rating service that had no takers, and without any real assets or capital, CRISIL seemed destined to fail. Instead, it became one of India’s most respected companies, redefining its vision from being India-focused to playing a quiet but critical role in global markets. This is a story of razor-sharp analytics, unshakeable values and sheer grit. It is also a story of leaders with very different styles, who brought it all together over a quarter of a century. A narrative that, above all, shows that doing well can go hand in hand with doing what is right.

Summer Requiem


Vikram Seth - 2015
    Luminous, resonant and profound, these poems trace the dying days of summer, ‘the hour of rust’, when memory is haunted by loss and decay. But in the silence that follows, as the soul is cast adrift, there is also reconciliation with the transience of all things; the knowledge that there is a place, ‘changeable, that will not betray’.

Bead One, Pray Too: A Guide to Making and Using Prayer Beads


Kimberly Winston - 2008
    Every major world religion has a tradition of praying with beads and all are explored here, including the history and use of beads and specific prayers.Describes in detail and with diagrams how to make sets of prayer beads for personal use.

Annihilation of Caste


B.R. Ambedkar - 1936
    Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste is one of the most important, yet neglected, works of political writing from India. Written in 1936, it is an audacious denunciation of Hinduism and its caste system. Ambedkar – a figure like W.E.B. Du Bois – offers a scholarly critique of Hindu scriptures, scriptures that sanction a rigidly hierarchical and iniquitous social system. The world’s best-known Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, responded publicly to the provocation. The hatchet was never buried.

Hair Like a Fox: A Bioenergetic View of Pattern Hair Loss


Danny Roddy - 2013
    But in the scalp of a balding man, they do not get everything they need and as a result, the hair-producing cells gradually die off. Here we have an example of a mild ‘disease’ which is caused by cellular malnutrition.” —Dr. Roger J. Williams “A living cell requires energy not only for all of its functions, but also for maintenance of its structure.” —Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Györgyi "What could be more important to understand than biological energy? Thought, growth, movement, every philosophical and practical issue involves the nature of biological energy.” —Raymond Peat, PhD ======== The Current View of Pattern Hair Loss is Unproductive (and Dangerous) While it is often stated with great confidence that pattern pattern hair loss is the result of defective genes and "male" androgenic hormones (e.g., dihydrotestosterone or DHT), the theory is physiologically unsound. After 60 years of research the "genetic-androgen" hypoheses has produced a single FDA-approved "therapy" that works less than 50% the time and can result in permanent chemical castration (Minoxidil is a nonstarter for many men and women). In contrast, castrates and pseudohermaphrodites--who serve as the foundation for all baldness research--are protected from pattern hair loss 100% of the time. Steps Towards a 'Bioenergetic' View of Pattern Hair Loss Standing on the shoulders of giants (e.g., Otto Warburg, Albert Szent-Györgyi, Gilbert Ling, Ray Peat and others), HAIR LIKE A FOX sets up an alternative 'bioenergetic model' of pattern hair loss with a focus on the smallest unit of life, the cell. This same context elucidates simple yet effective therapies for halting and perhaps reversing pattern hair loss in a way that harmonizes with our unique physiology.

Creative Haven Mehndi Designs Coloring Book: Traditional Henna Body Art


Marty Noble - 2013
    Derived from the ancient art of henna body painting, 31 striking patterns are based on authentic Indian, African, and Middle Eastern sources. Pages are perforated and printed on one side only for easy removal and display. Specially designed for experienced colorists, Mehndi Designs and other Creative Haven® adult coloring books offer an escape to a world of inspiration and artistic fulfillment. Each title is also an effective and fun-filled way to relax and reduce stress.

Rick Steves Paris 2017


Rick Steves - 2016
    Learn how to save money and avoid the lines at the Louvre and Orsay Museums. Enjoy the ambience of Parisian neighborhoods, and take a day trip to the glittering palace of Versailles, or to the Champagne-soaked city of Reims. Then grab a café crème at a sidewalk café and listen to the hum of the city. You'll see why Paris remains at the heart of global culture.Rick's candid, humorous advice will guide you to good-value hotels and restaurants in delightful neighborhoods. You'll learn how to navigate the Paris Métro, and which sights are worth your time and money. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket.

Orientalism


Edward W. Said - 1978
    This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding. Essential, and still eye-opening, Orientalism remains one of the most important books written about our divided world.

Descent into Chaos: The United States & the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Central Asia


Ahmed Rashid - 2007
    His unique knowledge of this complex, war-torn region gives him a panoramic vision and grasp of nuance that no Western writer can emulate.

Lovers and Others Strangers: Paintings by Jack Vettriano


Jack Vettriano - 1997
    Illustrated with 100 of his paintings, the book is accompanied by an elegant biographical portrait of the artist’s life and achievements.

Stranger to History: A Son's Journey through Islamic Lands


Aatish Taseer - 2007
    Raised by his Sikh mother in Delhi, his father, a Pakistani Muslim, remained a distant figure. Stranger to History is the story of the journey he made to try to understand what it means to be Muslim in the twenty-firstcentury. Starting from Istanbul, Islam’s once greatest city, he travels to Mecca, its most holy, and then home through Iran and Pakistan. Ending in Lahore, at his estranged father’s home, on the night Benazir Bhutto was killed, it is also the story of Taseer’s divided family over the past fifty years. Recent events have added a coda to Stranger to History, as his father was murdered by a political assassin. A new introduction by the author reflects on how this event changes the impact of the book, and why its message is more relevant than ever.

The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan


Rafia Zakaria - 2015
    Benazir Bhutto, the country’s former prime minister and the first woman ever to lead a Muslim country, had been assassinated at a political rally just outside Islamabad. Back in Karachi—Bhutto’s birthplace and Pakistan’s other great metropolis—Rafia Zakaria’s family was suffering through a crisis of its own: her Uncle Sohail, the man who had brought shame upon the family, was near death. In that moment these twin catastrophes—one political and public, the other secret and intensely personal—briefly converged.    Zakaria uses that moment to begin her intimate exploration of the country of her birth. Her Muslim-Indian family immigrated to Pakistan from Bombay in 1962, escaping the precarious state in which the Muslim population in India found itself following the Partition. For them, Pakistan represented enormous promise. And for some time, Zakaria’s family prospered and the city prospered. But in the 1980s, Pakistan’s military dictators began an Islamization campaign designed to legitimate their rule—a campaign that particularly affected women’s freedom and safety. The political became personal when her aunt Amina’s husband, Sohail, did the unthinkable and took a second wife, a humiliating and painful betrayal of kin and custom that shook the foundation of Zakaria’s family but was permitted under the country’s new laws. The young Rafia grows up in the shadow of Amina’s shame and fury, while the world outside her home turns ever more chaotic and violent as the opportunities available to post-Partition immigrants are dramatically curtailed and terrorism sows its seeds in Karachi.   Telling the parallel stories of Amina’s polygamous marriage and Pakistan’s hopes and betrayals, The Upstairs Wife is an intimate exploration of the disjunction between exalted dreams and complicated realities.

How the BJP Wins: Inside India s Greatest Election Machine


Prashant Jha - 2017
    

Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star


Aseem Chhabra - 2020
    Most of us know the man only through the characters that he has played: Roohdaar in Haider, Maqbool in the eponymous film, Rana in Piku, Saajan in The Lunchbox, and of course, Ashoke in The Namesake. Today, these characters have made him a recognized name around the world.Irrfan Khan is an intimate and meticulously researched account of this refreshingly unique and unconventional Indian icon. Drawn from personal interviews and told through many voices, Aseem Chhabra traces Irrfan’s personal and artistic life in all its many shades. Rich in detail and peppered with anecdotes, it is a fascinating look at the life and work of the actor that begins in a small household in Rajasthan and culminates in his face gazing down from billboards in Hollywood. It explores some of his greatest performances that have shown India and the world what cinema can do. At the heart of this story, however, is a man, possibly the finest actor of his generation, his passion for the craft of acting and his love for unusual characters.

Operation X: The Untold Story of India's Covert Naval War in Bangladesh


M.N.R. Samant - 2019
    Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in East Pakistan has just won an electoral mandate to become the prime minister of Pakistan. Accustomed to treating the eastern wing of the country as a colony, the ruling disposition in West Pakistan is not pleased, and launches a genocide against the residents of East Pakistan, flooding India with lakhs of refugees. With the violence in East Pakistan reaching a crescendo, the Indian government is faced with a difficult option: remain a mute spectator to the savagery on its eastern borders, or take action and go to war against its western neighbour. Thus was born Naval Commando Operation (X) - comprising Indian navy officers and divers, eight deserters from a Pakistani submarine and a ragtag bunch of Bengali youth fleeing the genocide - one of India's largest clandestine operations, meant to destabilize the West Pakistani efforts to bring East Pakistan to its knees. Revealed for the very first time, here is the explosive authentic account of the guerrilla operation that went for the maritime jugular of Pakistan, and facilitated the birth of Bangladesh.