Lt. Ummer Fayaz was brutally murdered by armed militants in Kashmir while he was back home, attending a wedding in the family. The death sent a nation into shock, and immortalised the memory of a young man with conviction beyond his years.In his brief, inspiring life, Ummer joined the army to set an example and galvanise fellow Kashmiris to move beyond the cycle of violence that unrest in the state had forced them into.Deeply researched and told with feeling, Undaunted is the extraordinary story of an extraordinary life.Ummer epitomises ‘Kashmiryat’ in its truest sense and will go down in the history as a hero who chose to serve the nation, against all odds.-General Bipin Rawat. Chief of the Army StaffBhaavna Arora's deep field research on the life and times of young Lt. Ummer Fayaz, not without its own inherent dangers, reveals just what are the aspirations of most young Kashmiris.-Lt. Gen. Ata Hasnain. Former Military Secretary of the Indian ArmyA soul-stirring book.-Lt. Gen. Satish Dua. GOC 15 Corps during the Surgical Strikes and execution of Burhan WaniBhaavna has truthfully conveyed all she witnessed, and in this lies the real value of the book.-Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda. Northern Army Commander during the Surgical StrikesUmmer is an icon for our warriors and children.Maj. Gen. G.D. Bakshi. Army HistorianIt’s a must-read for all Indians who care about Kashmir, its future and for those Kashmiris who refuse to be cowed down by terror threats when it comes to serving their country.-Neeraj Kumar. Former Commissioner of Police, Delhi. Man behind the Nirbhaya arrests and convictionThis book has the potential to make many Lt. Ummmer Fayazs.-Major D.P. Singh. India’s first blade runner and Kargil war heroThis book is a plea for hope. Without stating the obvious, it is a cry for Kashmir, a prayer for young Kashmiris to take a deep look at who their heroes should be.-Major Gaurav Arya. Defence AnalystI am particularly struck by the lengths to which Bhaavna has gone to render an authentic account of Kashmir, its life and the life of armymen posted there.-Major Surendra Poonia. President Awardee, Special Forces Veteran

    Marking the pinnacle of his public life; it reflected his popularity among ordinary people who revered him as Anna; or elder brother. This rich biography illuminates his many lives—as a charismatic leader of modern India; as a stalwart of the Dravidian movement; as the founder of the DMK; as spokesman for the South—besides documenting his abilities as an acclaimed orator and littérateur in Tamil and English; and as a stage actor.Born into a weaving caste family in Kanchipuram; Anna was exposed to the non-Brahmin politics of the Justice Party during his college years and this interest led him to become a protégé of the radical thinker Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in 1935. Anna promoted his mentor’s ideas of Self-Respect and Tamil identity but not his atheism. Like him; he attacked Brahminism and ‘Aryan’ values as the cause of Tamil political and cultural decadence and opposed the imposition of Hindi as the official language. In 1962 Anna took his independent Dravida Nadu demand to the Rajya Sabha; threatening the nation’s unity. Importantly; he used public speaking; journalism; theatre; cinema and agit-prop to broaden the base of the party; which drew renowned film actors into its fold; a bond that endures to this day.The book does not shy away from the controversies that surrounded the Dravidian movement and candidly examines Anna’s complex relationship with Periyar. It records Anna’s move to form the DMK in 1949; his split with Sampath in 1961 over the party’s strategy and course; and his disillusionment with the corruption and power politics he witnessed as chief minister.Kannan draws on Anna’s considerable body of writing; the memoirs of other leaders and authors in Tamil; including critics like the poet Kannadasan; Jayakanthan and P. Ramamurti; apart from secondary sources. Featuring luminaries like Rajagopalachari and Kamaraj; Kalaignar Karunanidhi and MGR; among many others; Anna offers a warm and rounded portrait of a man who showed the way for the democratic expression of regional aspirations within a united India.

    

    In My India, the first volume in the set, Corbett recounts his experiences in the Kumaon Hills. He discusses the villages he visited, the people he got acquainted with, and the lifestyles and customs he encountered. The second book, Jungle Lore, presents an autobiographical account of his initial days and experiences in the Himalayan region, and his frank, farsighted views on various aspects of wildlife conservation. In Tree Tops, the final title in the set, Corbett provides rich, fascinating glimpses of the stark, savage beauty of the Kenyan landscape and wildlife. An account of the 1952 royal visit of Princess Elizabeth is also included in this volume. The collection was released in 2001 by Oxford University Press. It received positive reviews for its remarkable presentation of Jim Corbett in a new light.About the AuthorJim Corbett was a British hunter-turned-conservationist, naturalist, author, and photographer, best-known for hunting several man-eaters in India. He has written several books such as The Jim Corbett Omnibus, Not While I Have Ammo, and Man-Eaters Of Kumaon. Corbett was born on July 25, 1875, in Nainital, India. He served as a Colonel in the British Indian Army for several years. Corbett played a vital role in protecting wildlife, particularly the Bengal tiger of India. He passed away on April 19, 1955, in Nyeri, Kenya. His life has been featured in various media, including a Hollywood movie, a TV movie, and a docudrama.topTable of ContentsMy IndiaIntroductionThe Queen of the VillageKunwar SinghMothiPre-Red-Tape DaysThe Law of the JunglesThe BrothersSultana: India's Robin Hood LoyaltyBudhuLalajeeChamariLife at mokameh GhatJungle LoreIntroductionChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveTree TopsIntroductionTree Tops

    His career in film started in John Boorman's atmospheric Excalibur and to date has included such highlights as Miller's Crossing (The Coen Brothers), Gothic (Ken Russell), In the Name of the Father (Jim Sheridan) which he also produced, The Usual Suspects (Brian Singer) and most recently Smila's Feeling for Snow and the Man in the Iron Mask. The range of roles is varied but always played with a brooding intensity.

    He says one thing and does another. He gives voice to a number of liberal ideas (such as the constitution being his holy book, and sab ka saath, sab ka vikas), while at the same time pandering to some of the most illiberal elements in Indian society, on whom he depends for political support. Another paradox is how a Prime Minister who prides himself on effective governance has, through his silence, appeared to condone the worst aspects of misgovernance—communal riots, lynchings, the violence of gau-rakshaks and so on. A third paradox is his talk of soaring ambitions for the country when his government’s performance is underwhelming.So who is the real Narendra Modi? A noble, selfless leader who acts effectively in the interests of all his countrymen or an autocratic, right-wing bigot who is interested only in power and converting plural India into a Hindu Rashtra? Or something in between?This brilliant study of Modi and the effect he has had on our country answers these and other questions about a leader who is reviled and worshipped in equal measure. The book is divided into five sections comprising fifty chapters. The first section takes a close look at Modi’s life and times. The other four sections look at key aspects of the way in which Modi’s government functions and the lasting and often deleterious impact it has had on Indian society, major institutions, the economy, foreign policy and our fundamental values.Using years of close observation, personal encounters with Modi, considerable scholarship, a deep understanding of Indian politics, and an insider’s view of the way in which government functions, Shashi Tharoor has stitched together a compelling portrait of this paradoxical figure. Never before has there been such a superbly written and devastatingly accurate account of the most controversial prime minister India has ever had.

    What resulted was Apple.When Sergey Brin and Larry Page met at Stanford, they were in their early twenties. They were soon to start Google.Today’s teenagers are our smartest generation yet. They are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, investors, managers, policy makers, watchdogs and of course, consumers. But do you know what the corporate and business world is all about? How do businesses touch everyone’s lives? What really makes an entrepreneur tick? How does the engine of a company run? Who is a social entrepreneur?And why do we need the world of business—is business good or bad for us?If you are curious, come join Subroto Bagchi and a group of smart teenagers on their exciting voyage of discovery, and in the process, get yourself a teen MBA!

    Their clockwork precision and incredibly low error rate has got the world to sit up and take note of this awesome army of 5000 men, who make sure office-goers get a hot, home-cooked meal every day, come rain or shine. It is a stupendous feat of coordination, efficiency, honesty and sheer hard work that could teach many a corporate honcho a lesson or two in running a business successfully. The humble dabbawalas of Mumbai shot into fame when Prince Charles requested a meeting with them on a visit to the city in 2003, after having seen a BBC documentary on them. It was a meeting that the heir to the British throne did not forget. In April 2005, the Dabbawalas Association received an invitation to the wedding of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker-Bowles. A few days later, Sopan Rao Rao Mare and Raghunath Medge attended the royal wedding as representatives of the Dabbawalas Association. The story is narrated alternately by the man who has made it happen – Raghunath Medge, president of the Dabbawalas Association, and the author Shobha Bondre. .

    Tenzing throws off the staid life of a bureaucrat to roar across India on an Enfield Thunderbird, travelling light with his possessions strapped on the back of his bike. On the nine-month motorcycle journey without a pre-planned route or direction, he encounters acquaintances who appear to be from his karmic past: from the roadside barber to numerous waiters and mechanics— fleeting human interactions and connections that seem pre-ordained. Life on the road is full of pot holes in more ways than one, but Tenzing acquires a wheelie’s sixth sense. He is unfazed by suspicious hotel receptionists or other unkarmic sceptics who take one look at his dishevelled, unkempt appearance and ask for an advance, or a deposit or both. Tenzing’s views on life and death, friendship and love are informed by a certain dark humour. But his conviction that everything revolves around the sacred bond that humans share with each other and with the universe is deeply felt and inspiring. Sometime singer with a Gangtok band, a dabbler in vipassana meditation and a supporter of a monk's school at Mangan, Sikkim, P.G. Tenzing is self-confessedly at a mid-life crisis point and ready for all the adventures this world has to offer.

    It wouldn't. In fact, it's actually pretty insulting that this so-called 'Community' hasn't done more to acknowledge (or even begin to repay) its undoubted debt to me.Richard Ayoade is many things - film director (of Submarine and the forthcoming The Double), comedy actor (The IT Crowd), comedian and TV presenter (Gadget Man). Ayoade on Ayoade captures the director in his own words: pompous, vain, angry and very, very funny.

    KJo, as he is popularly called, has been a much-loved Bollywood film director, producer, actor, and discoverer of new talent. With his flagship Dharma Productions, he has constantly challenged the norms, written and rewritten rules, and set trends. But who is the man behind the icon that we all know? Baring all for the first time in his autobiography, An Unsuitable Boy, KJo reminisces about his childhood, the influence of his Sindhi mother and Punjabi father, obsession with Bollywood, foray into films, friendships with Aditya Chopra, SRK and Kajol, his love life, the AIB Roast, and much more. This book is both the story of the life of an exceptional filmmaker at the peak of his powers and of an equally extraordinary human being who shows you how to survive and succeed in life.

    For Coyote, the twin forces Dylan identifies as Texas Medicine and Railroad Gin – represent the competing forces of the transcendental, inclusive, and ecstatic world of love with the competitive, status-seeking world of wealth and power. The Rainman’s Third Cure is the tale of a young man caught between these apparently antipodal options and the journey that leads him from the privileged halls of power to Greenwich Village jazz bars, to jail, to the White House, lessons from a man who literally held the power of life and death over others, to government service and international success on stage and screen.Expanding his frame beyond the wild ride through the 1960’s counterculture that occupied so much of his lauded debut memoir, Sleeping Where I Fall, Coyote provides readers intimate portraits of mentors that shaped him—a violent, intimidating father, a be-bop Bass player who teaches him that life can be improvised, a Mafia consiglieri, who demonstrates to him that men can be bought and manipulated, an ex game-warden who initates him into the laws of nature, a gay dancer in Martha Graham’s company who introduces him to Mexico and marijuanas, beat poet Gary Snyder, who introduces him to Zen practice, and finally famed fashion designer Nino Cerruti who made the high-stakes world of haute monde Europe available to him.What begins as a peripatetic flirtation with Zen deepens into a life-long avocation, ordination as a priest, and finally the road to Transmission---acknowledgement from his teacher that he is ready to be an independent teacher. Through Zen, Coyote discovers a third option that offers an alternative to both the worlds of Love and Power’s correlatives of status seeking and material wealth. Zen was his portal, but what he discovers on the inside is actually available to all humans. In this energetic, reflective and intelligent memoir, The Rainman’s Third Cure is the way out of the box. The way that works.

    This person is Nathuram Vinayakrao Godse, India’s most hated criminal. Yes …. Nathuram Godse is the very man who assassinated ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi, the ‘Father of the Nation’ on 30th January 1948 as he was walking towards his prayer ground at the Birla House, New Delhi. He was arrested at the scene of the crime and sentenced to death by hanging after a trial that lasted for over a year. Almost seven decades have passed since the ‘Apostle of Peace’ was assassinated but, even today the story of his murder continues to remain one of the most closely guarded secrets in Indian history. Since independence, various political organizations in India have resorted to a total misuse of state machinery to suppress information on the life of Nathuram Godse and have made the people of India believe in fictional cooked up stories based on unfound theories that the murder of the ‘Mahatma’ was an act of religious fanaticism. Through extensive research the author of this book has succeeded in unearthing facts that lay suppressed for almost seven decades and has managed to uncover the truth that the murder of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ was not an act of religious fanaticism but an act of devout patriotism. This book covers the entire lifespan of Nathuram Godse, from his birth till his death. The motive behind writing this book is neither to denigrate the Mahatma nor to glorify his assassin but to unmask the people of India from the delusion that the ‘Mahatma’ was a victim of religious fanaticism.

    Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way—unexpectedly. An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

    Known for his selection of films, he has constantly re-invented himself, and re-defined the approach to filmmaking within the Hindi film industry over the last two decades.I’ll Do It My Way: The Incredible Journey of Aamir Khan is a filmography that presents Aamir’s evolution as an actor, focusing on 21 landmark films. It retraces Aamir’s rise to stardom as an actor with a difference, who broke new ground as a director and a producer. Aamir’s story is told through interviews and research of press coverage from the last 20 years, including perspectives from directors, co-stars and other colleagues — Mansoor Khan, Aditya Bhattacharya, Asif Noor, Indra Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt, Dharmesh Darshan, Nandita Das, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Ronnie Screwvala, AR Murugadoss, Asin, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani — who have collaborated with him over the last two decades in his landmark films. Together, they have recreated a multi-dimensional cinematic portrait of an unparalleled Indian actor.About the AuthorCHRISTINA DANIELS is a writer, photographer and communications professional. She writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She is also involved with print journalism, training, new media, e-learning, corporate communication, developmental communication and research. She holds a Master’s in New Media from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Currently, Christina works as Corporate Communications Advisor for a leading global technology company. She is also a cinema columnist for Citizen Matters in Bangalore.