Birds, Beasts, and Bandits: 14 Days with Veerappan


Krupakar - 2011
    Veerappan responded in a soft voice: 'It has been many years since I killed elephants. But no one believes me if I say so.'

No Deadline for Love


Manasi Vaidya - 2011
    She is a perplexed botch, who never thinks before she talks. Megha realises that she fancies the creative course of action involved in making ad films, rather than her current job of creating marketing strategies for products. Her ornery boss is not electrified with the idea of brand managers turning into ad conceptualizing officers, though.Megha then meets the creative head of the company, Yudhistir Joshi. Yudi seems to bring out Megha’s atrocious side. Although he’s an exceptionally good looking man, Megha and Yudi publicly fight and argue. He hates her guts and she vice-versa. Yudi apprises her to quit from the creative team every single time, however, Megha, who’s finally in a blissful atmosphere, refuses to abandon her ecstatic ship. Little does she know that their friction will give way to sparks!Concurrently, ‘Vile’ Varun, Megha’s boss, puts her down in front of his bosses at every opportunity. He claims that she is inadequate for her profile.On the other hand, there is a crowd of eligible NRI bachelors on her list of problems, as Megha’s mother decides to put her up on the marriage market.No Deadline For Love is a first person narrative by the protagonist, Megha. The book reads almost like a journal entry, and is full of icy observations. The occasional hilarious quotes lighten up the reader’s mood, and the elementary pinch in the storyline, apart from her spontaneous description of the events, are the comical nicknames given to characters.

The Last Queen of Kashmir


Rakesh K. Kaul - 2015
    A lifetime ago. Before the murder of her father. Before she became Kota Rani, the wise regent who rules over Kashmir with a firm hand.As invaders and immigrants disturb the tranquillity of her land, Kota must find a way to protect her people. But at what personal cost? Can she weather the political intrigues and power-play of the court? Will she succeed in preserving the splendour and diversity of her society? Will social hypocrisy and notions of what a woman should be keep Kota from being the sovereign she knows she is?Set in fourteenth-century Kashmir, The Last Queen of Kashmir is the sweeping saga of a civilization in peril. It is also the tale of one of the greatest queens of the land - one that will speak to the men and women of today.

R.I.P


Mukul Deva - 2012
    The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self- appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them.Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent.Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishnas bete noir.Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husbands betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent.It doesnt get bigger.

The Extra Class


Sidharth Oberoi - 2011
    Desperate to get noticed, Ananya takes some big steps.Over the weekend, Ananya is a changed person. Her skirt's shorter, her shirt's tighter and her hair falls stylishly over her shoulders. This is not what she wanted, but it wasn't about what she wanted anymore.Soon she realizes that changing just the outer appearance is not enough. The culture shock is too much for her to take. Will she survive the transition, without losing her integrity?

The Butcher of Benares


Mahendra Jakhar - 2014
    She is found to be a research scientist working with the Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. Hawa Singh, a senior inspector from Delhi crime branch on a visit to Benares, gets embroiled in the case. He finds that the murdered woman had been researching the Bhrigu-Samhita, an astrological classic dating back to pre-Vedic times, believed to be lost. The FBI sends in Ruby Malik, a Pakistani-American to investigate the murder. Soon, more bodies are found with bizarre connections to both the Bhrigu-Samhita and Christian orthodoxy. The Vatican seems to be carrying out a clandestine operation, seeking the secrets of Hindu astrology in the city most sacred to it. Secrets that the Vatican would kill to know. Hawa Singh, hardened by many gunfights and with a bullet already lodged near his brain in a previous encounter, teams up with Ruby Malik to unravel the mystery. Nothing is the same any more. The temple bells fade in the perpetual winter fog. There is blood on the streets of Benares, which becomes a battleground where faith and science collide. The worlds of astronomy and astrology come. Hawa Singh and Ruby search the opium dens and the domains of Naga sadhus, Aghoris and Doms in the cremation grounds, hunt a cannibal lurking in the maze that is Benares and clash with the figurehead king of the city, Kashi Naresh Maharaj Abhay Narayan Singh. The killer could be anyone. Only Hawa Singh and his beautiful co-runner on the chase, Ruby Malik, possess the mindset and the indomitable courage, to find the murderer at the heart of this mystery and in the process, find themselves.

The Five Dollar Smile and Other Stories


Shashi Tharoor - 1993
    In the title story—written in a lonely hotel room in Geneva soon after the author began his work with the United Nations—a young Indian orphan is on his way to visit America for the first time, and his anguish and longing in the airplane seem hardly different from those of any American child. Tharoor’s admiration for P. G. Wodehouse makes “How Bobby Chatterjee Turned to Drink” a delightful homage, while “The Temple Thief,” “The Simple Man,” and “The Political Murder” bring to mind O. Henry and Maupassant. His three college stories, “Friends,” “The Pyre,” and “The Professor’s Daughter,” are full of youthful high jinks, naïve infatuations, and ingenious wordplay. “The Solitude of the Short-Story Writer” is a smart, self-aware, Woody Allen-esque exploration of a writer’s conflicted relationship with his psychiatrist.

The World According to Clarkson


Jeremy Clarkson - 2004
    He has, as they say, been around a bit. And as a result, he's got one or two things to tell us about how it all works; and being Jeremy Clarkson he's not about to voice them quietly, humbly and without great dollops of humour.In The World According to Clarkson, he reveals why it is that:Too much science is bad for our health'70s rock music is nothing to be ashamed ofHunting foxes while drunk and wearing night-sights is neither big nor cleverWe must work harder to get rid of cricketHe likes the Germans (well, sometimes)With a strong dose of common sense that is rarely, if ever, found inside the M25, Clarkson hilariously attacks the pompous, the ridiculous, the absurd and the downright idiotic, whilst also celebrating the eccentric, the clever and the sheer bloody brilliant.Less a manifesto for living and more a road map to modern life, The World According to Clarkson is the funniest book you'll read this year. Don't leave home without it.

Mohanaswamy


Vasudhendra - 2013
    His work will leave you impatient with other writers.' -Siddharth Dube, author of No One Else. Mohanaswamy has just lost his long-time partner, Karthik, to a woman. Even as he scrutinizes himself, the choices he’s made, the friends and lovers he’s gained and lost, Mohanaswamy dreams of living a simple, dignified life. A life that would allow him to leave, even forget, the humiliation and fears of adolescence, the slurs his mind still carries around – gandu sule, hennu huli – and the despair that made him crave to conform.A coming out of the closet for Vasudhendra himself, these stories of homosexual love and lives jolted Kannada readers out of their notions of the literary and the palatable. The gritty narratives of Mohanaswamy explore sexuality, urbanisation and class with a nuance and an unflinching honesty that will both unnerve and move readers in English and serve as a fine introduction to one of the strongest voices in Kannada literature.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ci...Translator Rashmi Terdal is a journalist with the Times of India, Bengaluru.

Bravely Fought The Queen


Mahesh Dattani - 2003
    The family in focus is that of two brothers, Jiten and Nitin, who run an advertising agency and are married to sisters: Dolly and Alka. Their mother, Baa, moves between the two households, attached more to her memories of the past than to any present reality. Marital friction, sibling rivalry, the traditional tension between mother-in-law and daughters-in-law, the darker moments of business and personal dealings, the play takes us through the entire gamut of emotional experience as it winds to a climactic finish. With its relentless pace, crisp idiom and unflinching insight into the urban milieu, this is a play that confirms Mahesh Dattani's reputation as India's most influential playwright.

A Better India: A Better World


N.R. Narayana Murthy - 2009
    Narayana Murthy, who shows us that a society working for the greatest welfare of the greatest number samasta jananam sukhino bhavantu must focus on two simple things: values and good leadership. Drawing on the remarkable Infosys story and the lessons learnt from the two decades of post-reform India, Narayana Murthy lays down the ground rules that must be followed if future generations are to inherit a truly progressive nation.

मानस का हंस


Amritlal Nagar - 1975
    The novel is an attempt to address the complications of religion through Tulsidas while portraying him as a person who was afflicted with all the virtues and vices known to human beings. How Tulsidas finds Shri Ram -- is a question that the author answers in a fashion that can only be termed as brilliant for lack of better word. The best thing about the work is that it doesn't attempt to glorify any God or deity, but simple tries to go into the mind of the devotee -- Tulsidas in this case.

Personally, I Blame My Fairy Godmother


Claudia Carroll - 2010
    So would you if you had a recession-proof career as a daredevil TV host, a palatial pink mansion, and the dream boyfriend.But, quicker than you can say Cinderella, her life falls to pieces and suddenly her prince isn't quite so charming, her party-loving friends disappear and even her faithful friend Visa no longer loves her?Utterly heartbroken and jobless, Jessie is forced back home, to live with her stepmum and two evil stepsisters.Is it time for her to give up on the dream - or will Jessie learn that happy endings can come in the strangest of places?Avon's hot new acquisition presents a tale of princes who turn out to be frogs, Manolo Blahnik glass slippers and not-so-happily-ever-afters?

Everything She Ever Wanted


Ann Rule - 1992
    Both came from fine Southern families, and dreamed of the Tara-like plantation where they would grow roses, raise horses, and move in the genteel circles of Atlanta society. Less than two months later, their dream exploded in terror and murder: their beautiful home mysteriously burned to the ground and Tom was convicted of the brutal slaying of his mother and father.Pat's only brother had died in a puzzling suicide, her grandparents-in-law were poisoned with arsenic, and no one—from her wealthy employers to her own children—was safe when Pat Allanson didn't get her way. It took Georgia lawmen more than two decades to stop her for good—if indeed they have.In this fascinating account, Ann Rule delivers a tour de force: a whirlwind of misguided love, denial, guilt, and passions out of control; a series of brilliantly manipulated crimes; the bizarre and horrifying tale of two families brought to ruin; and, at the center of it all, the heartless, supremely selfish sociopath whose evil hid behind soft words and gentle manners, but who destroyed—without mercy—those who loved her.

Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India


Suchitra Vijayan - 2020
    Yet most of us don't understand it, or the violent history still playing out there. In fact, India as we know it didn't exist until the map of the subcontinent was redrawn in the middle of the 20th century--the powerful repercussions of which are still being felt across South Asia.To tell the story of political borders in the subcontinent, Suchitra Vijayan spent seven years travelling India's 9,000-mile land border. Now, in this stunning work of narrative reportage, she shares what she learned on that groundbreaking journey. With profound empathy and a novelistic eye for detail, Vijayan shows us the forgotten people and places in the borderlands and brings us face-to-face with the legacy of colonialism and the stain of extreme violence and corruption. The result is the ground-level portrait of modern India we've been missing.