Golden Afternoon


M.M. Kaye - 1997
    M. Kaye returns, after spending several years at a British boarding school, to India, the cherished country of her childhood. It is 1927, and nineteen-year-old Mollie makes her debut on the Delhi social scene. Feeling awkward and plain, party etiquette and society's intricate rules fluster her, but she finds comfort in her family, her Indian friends, her watercolors, and the country itself.The same humor, wisdom, and enchantment that inspired M.M. Kaye's bestselling novels fill the pages of Golden Afternoon. Kaye recreates with perfection the nuances of a lifestyle long past and brings the people and glorious terrain of India to vivid life.

Khaki Files: Inside Stories of Police Missions


Neeraj Kumar Neeraj Kumar - 2019
    In Khaki Files, Neeraj Kumar, a former Delhi Police Commissioner revisits many such high profile police cases of his career -from investigation of one of the biggest lottery frauds in the country to foiled ISI attempt to kill Tarun Tejpal and Anirudh Behal of Tehalka-bringing to light numerous achievements of the country's police force, otherwise largely reviled and ridiculed.

Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan


H.G. Keene - 1876
    Neither of those works, however, undertakes to give a detailed account of the great Anarchy that marked the conclusion of the eighteenth century, the dark time that came before the dawn of British power in the land of the Moghul.

Westward Ha!


S.J. Perelman - 1948
    Perelman's companion is cartoonist Al Hirschfield, whose drawings capture the very essence of Perelmania.

India's Bismarck-Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel


Balraj Krishna
    This book examines the extraordinary contribution of Sardar Patel,from his unflinching support to Gandhi's satyagrahas and the Indian freedom struggle,to his farsighted and courageous approach in a strong,integrated India

Thanjavur


Prabha Nair - 2012
    The mighty Cholas made it their capital in the 9th century CE, following which they increased, through conquests, the size and strength of their empire. Finally, after realizing all his military ambitions, the Chola monarch Raja Raja Chola I decided to build a great temple in Thanjavur dedicated to Lord Shiva. Thus Thanjavur became home to the majestic Brihadeeswara temple and many other shrines. Amar Chitra Katha tells the stories surrounding this ancient town and its monuments.

Anticipating India : The best of National Interest


Shekhar Gupta - 2014
    A riveting first draft of modern Indian history, Anticipating India interprets everything from the successes and failings of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh to the ascent of Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, from the forces that have deepened Indian federalism and constitutionalism to the public mood that keeps a check on excesses in the use of political power.Each chapter in Anticipating India, in its questioning of power, its use and abuse, carries within it ideas of India that challenge conventional wisdom, shatter stereotypes and, in the end, question our long-held assumptions of who we are as a nation and a people.

The Indian Constitution


Madhav Khosla - 2012
    Combining authoritative analysis, new ideas, and diverse perspectives, they discuss subjects which are topical yet enduring, as also emerging areas of study and debate. Giving identity to over a billion people, the Indian Constitution is one of the world's great political texts. Drafted over six decades ago, its endurance and operation have fascinated and surprised many. In this short introduction, Madhav Khosla brings to light its many features, aspirations, and controversies. How does the Constitution separate power between different political actors? What form of citizenship does it embrace? And how can it change? In answering questions such as these, Khosla unravels the document's remarkable and challenging journey, inviting readers to reflect upon the theory and practice of constitutionalism in the world's largest democracy.

The Mother-in-Law: The Other Woman in Your Marriage


Veena Venugopal - 2014
    In this witty, acute and often painfully funny book Veena Venugopal follows eleven women through their marriages and explores why the mother-in-law is the dreaded figure she is.Meet Deepa, whose bikini-wearing mother-in-law wont let her even wear jeans, Carla whose mother-in-law insists that her son keep all his stuff in his family home although he can spend the night at his wifes, Rachna who fell in love with her mother-in-law even before she met her fiancee only to find both her romances sour and Lalitha who finds that despite having had a hard-nut mother-in-law herself, she is turning out to be an equally unlikeable Mummyji.Full of incisive observations and deliciously wicked storytelling, The Mother-in-Law is a book that will make you laugh and cry and understand better the most important relationship in a married womans life.

The Everest Politics Show: Sorrow and Strife on the World's Highest Mountain


Mark Horrell - 2016
    He wanted to discover for himself whether it had become the circus that everybody described.But when a devastating avalanche swept across the Khumbu Icefall, he got more than he bargained for. Suddenly he found himself witnessing the greatest natural disaster Everest had ever seen.And that was just the start. Everest Sherpas came out in protest, issuing a list of demands to the Government of Nepal. What happened next left his team shocked, bewildered and fearing for their safety.

The Rough Guide to India 6


David Abram - 1994
    The 24 page full-colour introduction includes stunning photography of the country''s many highlights. The guide has comprehensive accounts of every attraction, from fast-paced Delhi and the sacred sites of the Ganges plain to the Moghul splendour of Agra and the shell-sand beaches of the south. There is also practical advice on activities as diverse as boating through the Keralan backwaters, hiking through the high-altitude deserts of Ladakh or treatments at an ayurvedic spa. The listings sections provide hundreds of insider reviews of the best hotels, hostels, restaurants, bars, shops and museums in every city and village. The authors also give an informed insight into India''s history, politics, religion, music and cinema, providing a valuable context to the reader''s trip.

Granta 126: Do You Remember


Sigrid Rausing - 2014
    You'll be good at it. And I had said, 'Are you on crack?' And he replied, continuing to fold a blue twill jacket, ""Yes, a little.""--Lorrie Moore'Hey,' Paul yelled out. 'Why's everybody talking behind the patient's back?' 'Shut up, we're having sex,' she called back. She poured a cup for herself. 'He seems pretty chipper this morning.' 'Yeah, I don't know what to hope for,' I said. 'Quality, I guess. And then not too much quantity.' --David Gates'If everything we said had been a poem, the index of first lines would have formed a pattern: 'Do you remember', 'Tell me if I remember wrong', 'There was that time', 'Wasn't it funny when' --Anne BeattieAnd Abeer Ayyoub, Bernard Cooper, Olivia Laing, Laura Kasischke, Thomas McGuane, Colin McAdam, Katherine Faw Morris, Melinda Moustakis, Norman Rush, Edmund White and Joy Williams

Empire of the Soul: Some Journeys in India


Paul William Roberts - 1996
    From the crumbling palaces of maharajas to the slums of Calcutta; from the ashrams of holy men to a millionaire drug dealer's heavily guarded fortress on India's border with China, Roberts captures the lure of this enigmatic land?this empire of the soul. "India is a harsh mistress," he writes. "She seems to appreciate individual sacrifice so little. Yet she has never wanted for lovers..."

Swaraj


Arvind Kejriwal - 2012
    The fakir from ralegaon siddhi shook the bastions of power in Delhi to their foundations. Even the middle class and the elite, who normally confine themselves to drawing room discussions on politics, joined the movement and took to the streets. Arvind Kejriwal played a key role in this agitation. The main demand of the group was the implementation of the Lok Pal Bill. Many promises were made by the political class, but nothing much actually happened the bill has still not been passed by Parliament. This book shows us the way forward, what we the people and what the opinion makers and political establishment in India can do to achieve true Swaraj – Lok Pal is only one facet of this true devolution of power to the people. Kejriwal’s vision deserves consideration by anyone who wants power to vest with the people, not with netas.

Voyageur: Across the Rocky Mountains in a Birchbark Canoe


Robert Twigger - 2006
    Mackenzie travelled by bark canoe and had a cache of rum and a crew of Canadian voyageurs, hard-living backwoodsmen, for company. Two centuries later, in a spirit of organic authenticity, Robert Twigger follows in Mackenzie's wake. He too travels the traditional way, having painstakingly built a canoe from birch bark sewn together with pine roots, and assembled a crew made up of fellow travellers, ex-tree-planters and a former sailor from the US Navy. After the ice has melted, Twigger and his crew of wandering spirits finally nose out into the Athabasca River . . . Three Years . . . two thousand miles . . .over one thousand painfully towing the canoe against the current . . . several had tried before them but they were the first people to successfully complete Mackenzie's diabolical route over the Rockies in a birch bark canoe since 1793. Subsisting on a diet of porridge, elk and jackfish, supplemented with whisky and a bag of grass for the tree planters, and with an Indian medicine charm bestowed by the Cree People of Fox Lake, the voyageurs embark on an epic road trip by canoe . . . a journey to the remotest parts of the wilderness, through Native American reservations, over mountains, through rapids and across lakes, meeting descendants of Mackenzie and unhinged Canadian trappers, running out of food, getting lost and miraculously found again, disfigured for life (the ex-sailor loses his thumb), bears brown and black, docile and grizzly. Voyageur is a moving tale of contrasts from the bleak industrial backwaters of Canada to the desolate wonder of the Rocky Mountains.