Book picks similar to
Swaraj by Arvind Kejriwal
non-fiction
india
politics
swaraj
Cracking India
Bapsi Sidhwa - 1988
Young Lenny Sethi is kept out of school because she suffers from polio. She spends her days with Ayah, her beautiful nanny, visiting with the large group of admirers that Ayah draws. It is in the company of these working class characters that Lenny learns about religious differences, religious intolerance, and the blossoming genocidal strife on the eve of Partition. As she matures, Lenny begins to identify the differences between the Hindus, Moslems, and Sikhs engaging in political arguments all around her. Lenny enjoys a happy, privileged life in Lahore, but the kidnapping of her beloved Ayah signals a dramatic change. Soon Lenny’s world erupts in religious, ethnic, and racial violence. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, the domestic drama serves as a microcosm for a profound political upheaval.
Nothing Lasts Forever: No Secret can Stay Buried..
Vish Dhamija - 2010
But Raaj's wife Serena is out of the country and the suspected other woman Kim has more alibi than he can count.A close friend of Raaj dies, in mysterious circumstances, soon after. But it's only when the Bombay Stock Exchange nosedives the police start digging old graves.Love, deception, murder, suspense. No secret can stay buried! Nothing Lasts Forever."If it was a movie it would keep you, biting your nails, at the edge of your seat."
Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag
Rohinton Mistry - 1987
Its ceilings need plastering and some of the toilets leak appallingly, but its residents are far from desperate, though sometimes contentious and unforgiving. In these witty, poignant stories, Mistry charts the intersecting lives of Firozsha Baag, yielding a delightful collective portrait of a middle-class Indian community poised between the old ways and the new.
Non Stop India
Mark Tully - 2011
Veteran journalist and bestselling author of No FullStops in India, Mark Tully travels across India to turn thespotlight on the everyday concerns of the common man in areas suchas governance and business, spirituality and ecology. In revealinginterviews with captains of industry and subsistence farmers,politicians and Dalits, spiritual leaders and bandits, he capturesthe voices of the nation even as he celebrates its vibrant historyand incredible potential. About Author: Mark Tully Sir Mark Tully was born in Calcutta, India, in 1935. He was theChief of Bureau, BBC, New Delhi, for twenty-two years, was knightedin the New Years Honours list in 2002 and was awarded the PadmaBhushan in 2005. Today, his distinguished broadcasting careerincludes being the regular presenter of the contemplative BBC Radio4 programme Something Understood. His books include No Full stopsin India, The Heart of India, India in Slow Motion (written withhis partner and colleague Gillian Wright) and Indias UnendingJourney. He lives in New Delhi. Reviews Tully report s on the various Indias behind the headlines- Hindustan Times Through Tullys probing eyes, one discovers the complex workingsof the Indian democracy- Telegraph
The Bankster
Ravi Subramanian - 2012
Who is to blame? Who is driving these intriguing and bone chilling murders? What is the motive behind these gruesome killings? No one has a clue. And when Karan Panjabi, a press reporter and an ex-banker digs deeper, he realizes that he has stumbled on a global conspiracy with far reaching ramifications - a secret that could destroy not only the bank but cast a shadow on the entire nation. With only thirty-six hours at his disposal, he is running out of time and must trust no one if he wants to stay alive and uncover the truth. In the racy build up to unraveling the mystery, stranger than fiction characters emerge, faith get shattered and ivory towers come crashing down. Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thought - till the day the truth within GB2 gets revealed. Is the banker at GB2 fast turning into a Bankster? Or was he always one? Spinning an intricate web of lies, deceit and treachery, bestselling author Ravi Subramanian is back. A master storyteller of financial crime, this is his most chilling thriller yet
No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes
Anand Gopal - 2014
missteps: a Taliban commander, a U.S.-backed warlord, and a housewife trapped in the middle of the fighting. With its intimate accounts of life in small Afghan villages, and harrowing tales of crimes committed by Taliban leaders and American-supported provincial officials alike, No Good Men Among the Living lays bare the workings of America’s longest war and the truth behind its prolonged agony. A thoroughly original exposé of the conflict that is still being fought, it shows just how the American intervention went so desperately wrong.
The Post-American World
Fareed Zakaria - 2008
Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.
Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji
Manu S. Pillai - 2018
Pillai narrates the story of the Deccan from the close of the thirteenth century to the dawn of the eighteenth. We witness the dramatic rise and fall of the Vijayanagar empire, even as we negotiate intrigues at the courts of the Bahmani kings and the Rebel Sultans who overthrew them.
Love and Longing in Bombay
Vikram Chandra - 1997
Critics around the world have embraced the book as a major work by this exciting young writer.
Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay - 2013
Despite polarizingGujarat and India in more ways than one, Modibrilliantly does what it takes to survive in ademocracy: win elections.Written by veteran journalist and writer, NilanjanMukhopadhyay, after several indepth interviews,meticulous research and extensive travel throughGujarat, this book reveals hitherto unknownaspects of Narendra Modis psyche: as a sixyearold boy selling tea to help out his fatherand distributing badges and raising slogans atthe behest of a local political leader; abandoninghis family and wife in search of his definition oftruth; initiation into the RSS as a fledgling who ranerrands for his seniors; his idea of Gujarati prideand Indianness; and finally, his meteoric risewhich gave him a distinct identity post the 2002Godhra riots.Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times is a definitivebiography of a man who may have challenged thebasic principles of a sovereign secular nation butemerged as an undisputed and largerthanlifeleader. About The Author: Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is the author of TheDemolition: India at the Crossroads, andhas written for several newspapers and magazinesincluding The Economic Times, Hindustan Times,Outlook and The Statesman. He currently also presents a weekly show Page From History on LokSabha TV which showcases historical debates.
The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities
Mancur Olson - 1982
Equally clearly, it sprang from the mind of no ordinary economist.”—James Lardner, Washington Post The years since World War II have seen rapid shifts in the relative positions of different countries and regions. Leading political economist Mancur Olson offers a new and compelling theory to explain these shifts in fortune and then tests his theory against evidence from many periods of history and many parts of the world. “Schumpeter and Keynes would have hailed the insights Olson gives into the sicknesses of the modern mixed economy.”—Paul A. Samuelson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology “One of the really important books in social science of the past half-century.”—Scott Gordon, Canadian Journal of Economics “The thesis of this brilliant book is that the longer a society enjoys political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special-interest lobbies that in turn make it less efficient economically.”—Charles Peters, Washington Monthly “Remarkable. The fundamental ideas are simple, yet they provide insight into a wide array of social and historical issues. . . . The Rise and Decline of Nations promises to be a subject of productive interdisciplinary argument for years to come.”—Robert O. Keohane, Journal of Economic Literature “I urgently recommend it to all economists and to a great many non-economists.”—Gordon Tullock, Public Choice “Olson’s theory is illuminating and there is no doubt that The Rise and Decline of Nations will exert much influence on ideas and politics for many decades to come.”—Pierre Lemieux, Reason Co-winner of the 1983 American Political Science Association’s Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book on U.S. national policy
Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi
Vinay Sitapati - 2020
Vinay Sitapati's Jugalbandi provides this backstory to his current dominance in Indian politics. It begins with the creation of Hindu nationalism as a response to British-induced elections in the 1920s, moves on to the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980, and ends with its first national government, from 1998 to 2004. And it follows this journey through the entangled lives of its founding jugalbandi: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani.Over their six-decade-long relationship, Vajpayee and Advani worked as a team despite differences in personality and beliefs. What kept them together was fraternal love and professional synergy, of course, but also, above all, an ideology that stressed on unity. Their partnership explains what the BJP before Modi was, and why it won.In supporting roles are a cast of characters-from the warden's wife who made room for Vajpayee in her family to the billionaire grandson of Pakistan's founder who happened to be a major early funder of the BJP. Based on private papers, party documents, newspapers and over two hundred interviews, this is a must-read for those interested in the ideology that now rules India.
Chanakya in Daily Life
Radhakrishnan Pillai - 2016
One wrong step and everything can come crashing down. In such a scenario, one often wishes for a roadmap of life, but how is that possible?Bestselling author Radhakrishnan Pillai's much-anticipated book, Chanakya in Daily Life, will help you navigate the rough seas of life and stay on course. Covering all aspects of life from the personal to the professional, it will tell you everything from how to begin your day to how to end it, how to choose the right job, stay financially secure, have a happy married life, raise your children the right way, achieve the perfect work-life balance and much more. Like always, Pillai decodes and simplifies the visionary king-maker Chanakya’s teachings from the Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti to provide solutions for any problem that might crop up in any aspect of your life.Thus, Chanakya in Daily Life is the perfect guru who expects only one thing from the shishya—a willingness to learn.
Asura: Tale Of The Vanquished
Anand Neelakantan - 2012
The enthralling story of Rama, the incarnation of God, who slew Ravana, the evil demon of darkness, is known to every Indian. And in the pages of history, as always, it is the version told by the victors that lives on. The voice of the vanquished remains lost in silence. But what if Ravana and his people had a different story to tell? The story of the Ravanayana has never been told. Asura is the epic tale of the vanquished Asura people, a story that has been cherished by the oppressed castes of India for 3000 years. Until now, no Asura has dared to tell the tale. But perhaps the time has come for the dead and the defeated to speak. “For thousands of years, I have been vilified and my death is celebrated year after year in every corner of India. Why? Was it because I challenged the Gods for the sake of my daughter? Was it because I freed a race from the yoke of caste-based Deva rule? You have heard the victor’s tale, the Ramayana. Now hear the Ravanayana, for I am Ravana, the Asura, and my story is the tale of the vanquished.” “I am a non-entity – invisible, powerless and negligible. No epics will ever be written about me. I have suffered both Ravana and Rama – the hero and the villain or the villain and the hero. When the stories of great men are told, my voice maybe too feeble to be heard. Yet, spare me a moment and hear my story, for I am Bhadra, the Asura, and my life is the tale of the loser.” The ancient Asura empire lay shattered into many warring petty kingdoms reeling under the heel of the Devas. In desperation, the Asuras look up to a young saviour – Ravana. Believing that a better world awaits them under Ravana, common men like Bhadra decide to follow the young leader. With a will of iron and a fiery ambition to succeed, Ravana leads his people from victory to victory and carves out a vast empire from the Devas. But even when Ravana succeeds spectacularly, the poor Asuras find that nothing much has changed from them. It is then that Ravana, by one action, changes the history of the world.
Untouchable
Mulk Raj Anand - 1935
This novel describes a day in the life of Bakha, sweeper and toilet-cleaner, as he searches for a meaning to the tragic existence he has been born into - and comes to an unexpected conclusion.