Biographies & Autobiographies

Specification

Description

The story of my life has become intertwined with the story of this country. And somewhere along the way, as I met a million children across this land, I too learnt from a million minds. This book was not written to only tell my story. I want every young reader to think that this book is his or her story too.’

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been one of the most iconic figures of Independent India. A scientist, leader, thinker, teacher and writer, he achieved remarkable success in various fields. Yet, what endeared him to so many was his
dedication to the idea of a developed India, his simple and direct way of interacting with people and his deep love for his fellowmen.

In My Life Dr Kalam writes his life story starting from his days growing up at Rameswaram; about working on India’s space and missile programmes; his years as the eleventh President of India; and about his life thereafter. Full
of anecdotes that demonstrate the importance of hard work, commitment, courage and innovative thinking, this autobiography is a wonderful introduction to a remarkable life. Beautifully illustrated and simply written, My Life will inspire readers of all ages.
AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Born on 15 October 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr Kalam was one of the most distinguished scientists of India and was awarded the Padma Bhushan (1981), the Padma Vibhushan (1990) and India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna (1997).

Dr Kalam became the eleventh President of India on 25 July 2002. His focus and greatest ambition was finding ways to transform India into a developed nation.

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Description

How a variety of notable and thoughtful people in many countries viewed the achievements of one of the world`s greatest men, and grieved at his loss, forms the substance of this book.
About Author :
K Natwar Singh was born in 1931. He was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, Scindia School, Gwalior, St Stephen`s College, Delhi, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1953, he joined the Indian Foreign Service. For the next 31 years he served in Prking, New York, Warsaw, London, Lusaka and Islamabad. He was Ambassador to Pakistan from 1980 tp 1982, Secreatry General of the 7th NAM Summit-1983.
Contents :
Editor`s Note
Foreword
Earl Attlee
Pearl S Buck
Ellsworth Bunker
Norman Cousins
Ilya Ehrenburg
James T Farrell
Martin Luther King, Jr
K Natwar Singh
Linus Pauling
Raja Rao
Bertrand Russell
Adlai E Stevenson
U Thant
Norman Thomas
Arnold Toynbee

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

K. Natwar Singh was born in 1931. He was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, Scindia School, Gwalior, St. Stephen's College, Delhi and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1953 and resigned from it in 1984, thereafter he joined the Congress Party. At present, he is a member of the Congress Working Committee

Specification

Description

From his schooldays to this day, when he is over eight decades old, Dr Kalam has been a lover of the written word. In The Guiding Light, he chooses the finest examples of writings from the numerous books, religious texts, philosophical tracts and poetry that he has read over the years. These words have impacted and shaped his thinking, helped him in times of need and made him the person he is. He has quoted from these works in his writings and lectures that have inspired millions of people he has met all over the world.
Included here are extracts from the works of writers as diverse as Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jiddu Krishnamurti, William Shakespeare, John Milton and Mahatma Gandhi; as well as lines from the Holy Koran, Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, the Thirukural and a myriad other works.
Eclectic, erudite and thought-provoking, The Guiding Light is a treasure house of wisdom and deep reflection. Beautiful and immortal, the pieces here will inspire generations of readers as they have inspired Dr Kalam.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Born on 15 October 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam specialized in aeronautical engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India and has received honorary doctorates from forty-five universities and institutions in India and abroad. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan (1981), the Padma Vibhushan (1990) and India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna (1997). He has also received the King Charles II medal (2007), the Woodrow Wilson Award (2008), the Hoover Award (2008) and the International Von Karman Wings Award (2009) among other international accolades. Dr Kalam became the eleventh President of India on 25 July 2002. His focus and greatest ambition remains fnding ways to transform India into a developed nation.

Patanjali Ayurved has turned out to be the most disruptive force in the Indian FMCG market…it witnessed a whopping annual growth of 146% in fiscal year 2016, grossing a turnover of $769 million.’—Assocham–TechSci research report

When in 1965, at Saidalipur, a nondescript village in Haryana, a baby boy was born to a marginal farmer, there was hardly any celebration. They were happy to receive what they believed was ‘the most precious gift from God’ but there was no time to pause, reflect or celebrate. People needed to get on with their lives. Little did they realize that the newborn would take this philosophy of detachment to a different level altogether. And if this detachment was induced in their life by poverty and hardship, three decades later their child was to show the world how to practise the same philosophy and even, while doing so, gather unimaginable wealth—an approximate net sum of `10,000 crore. He was to become Baba Ramdev, the celebrated yoga guru, and one of the founders of Patanjali Ayurved Limited and Patanjali Yogpeeth.

The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon offers a detailed account of Ramdev’s journey from attaining moksha in the Himalayas to ruling the market, especially the FMCG sector, with his Patanjali products. It captures the rise and rise of Patanjali and the various factors that worked for it, most importantly, the vision of Ramdev and the able assistance of his associate Acharya Balkrishna.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Kaushik Deka is a Senior Associate Editor with India Today. He hails from Tihu, a sleepy town in lower Assam. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, Deka has earlier co-authored the book The Secret Killings of Assam.

A great warrior and skilled administrator, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, better known as Shivaji, was the founder of the great Maratha Empire, and one who instilled a sense of Maratha identity in his people. At a time, when the Mughal Empire was at its zenith, Shivaji was the only one who dared to challenge the might of Emperor Aurangzeb. He steadily grew his army from a humble contingent of 2,000 soldiers to a force of 100,000. Assisted by a disciplined military system, a well-structured administrative organization and a deeply traditional society, soon the Maratha force became the only military power of consequence against the Mughals in India. Including accounts of legendary encounters like those with the Adil-Shahi Sultanate and the menacing Aurangzeb, The Grand Rebel is an epic saga of an Indian warrior king whose tales of victory and valour have been inspiring the nation for centuries.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Dennis Kincaid (1905–1937), a civil servant in British India, arrived in Bombay in 1928 to work with the courts. He was the elder son of Charles Augustus Kincaid, a distinguished civil servant, and a well-known novelist and historical writer. Also a novelist, Dennis authored British Social Life in India, 1608-1937, a classic account of the British in colonial India. His Cactus Land was an unusual story, breaking with the conventions of Indian novels of that period. Dennis died on 10 June 1937 while swimming in a rough sea.

"Rani Padmini: The Heroine of Chittor is an insightful account of the life and times of a queen about whom not much is known. Over the centuries, Padmini has emerged as an icon of national honour. The book offers fascinating vignettes of her life and the times she lived in. The politics of her times and the danger and humiliation that the queens were exposed to is mirrored in the book.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

B.K. Karkra has had the privilege of putting on four different uniforms in his career – the olive green of the Indian Army, the khaki of the Indian police, the grey of the National Security Guards (better known as the Black Cat Commondos), and the black of an advocate. Besides this, he is also a freelance journalist and has contributed hundreds of articles on wide-ranging subjects to several national and regional dailies."

She is the daughter of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the widow of the Maharaja of Jaipur. She was raised in a sumptuous palace staffed with 500 servants and she shot her first panther when she was twelve. She has appeared on the lists of the world’s most beautiful women. Gayatri Devi describes her carefree tomboy childhood; her secret six-year courtship with the dashing, internationally renowned polo player, Jai the Maharaja of Jaipur; and her marriage and entrance into the City Palace of the ‘pink city’ where she had to adjust to unfamiliar customs and life with his two wives. Jai’s liberating influence, combined with Gayatri Devi’s own strong character, took her well beyond the traditionally limited activities of a Maharani. This is an intimate look at the extraordinary life of one of the world’s most fascinating women and an informal history of the princely states of India, from the height of the princes’ power to their present state of de-recognition.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Maharani Gayatri Devi was the last Queen of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Gayatri Devi was listed in Vogue as one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Description

It was a grisly sight. The zeal and fervour with which the karsevaks were taking part in the demolition job sent a chill down our spines. Those who had no tools to use were scratching away like madmen with their fingernails on the domes. A few young men tied a noose around the domes and were trying to pull them down.

When the CPI(M)-led Left Front was swept to power in 1977, Suman was twenty years old. His upbringing in an educated middle-class family, his brief brush with politics during his student days at the Presidency College and his friendship with people, many of whom would later play important roles in politics, enabled Suman to critically watch the world around him change irrevocably. By the time the Left Front firmly dug its political heels in Bengal through its second thumping victory in the 1983 Assembly polls, Suman had taken his first step into journalism.

As a journalist, Sumans USP has always been his insistence to be at the spot where news breaks, notwithstanding his official position.

He was among the first handful of journalists to be in Kabul, just before the fall of the Soviet-propped regime, he was the first Indian journalist to arrive in Moscow (that too without a valid passport!) as the Soviet regime withered away, he was in Islamabad to cover the Rajiv GandhiBenazir Bhutto agreement, he was in the United States covering P.V. Narasimha Raos historic visit to that country, which finally set the seal marking the beginning of Indias economic reforms, he covered the demolition of the Babri mosque, he has covered every major Lok Sabha and Bidhan Sabha polls since 1983, across India. Suman had and still has close personal relations some of the leading figures of Indian politics, including, Pranab Mukherjee (who was his fathers student), JyotiBasu, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Mamata Banerjee and Anil Biswas, the architect of the CPI(M)s stranglehold over Bengal.

In his story are personal insights into all these events and personalities.

About the Author: Suman Chattopadhyay

Suman Chattopadhyay has been, by far, the most famous Bengali media journalist over the past three decades. He was the executive editor of the largest circulated Bengali daily, Anandabazar Patrika, for about nine years. He was in charge of the team that launched the most popular Bengali TV news channel, Star Ananda. For three years, he was the owner and editor of a Bengali daily, Ek Din. Currently, he is the editor of The Times Groups Bangla daily, Ei Samay.

Specification

• Product Code : BK8728
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : January 1, 2018
• Pages : 294
• Weight : 300 gm.
• Size : 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : Suman Chattopadhyay
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8129150468
  ISBN-13: 978-8129150462

Description

My China Diary 1956-88 is an account of K. Natwar Singh’s experiences as a diplomat in Beijing, and the events that transpired during Premier Chou En-lai’s ill-fated visit to India in April 1960, concluding with Rajiv Gandhi’s path-breaking journey to China. Offering new insights about the complexities of Indo-China bilateral relations between 1956 and 1988, My China Diary is illuminating, provocative and unputdownable.

About the Author: K Natwar Singh

K. Natwar Singh has been Ambassador to Pakistan and Poland, high Commissioner to Zambia and deputy high Commissioner in the UK. He also served in the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations for five years. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1984. He is Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He has been a member of both houses of Parliament and the Minister for External Affairs (2004-05).

Specification

• Product Code :  BK8727
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : January 1, 2009
• Pages : 230
• Weight : 330 gm.
• Size : 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : K. Natwar Singh
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8129117274
  ISBN-13: 978-8129117274

 

Description

An Indian politician looks back at her journey and recounts how the going got tougher with her every success, perhaps because she was a woman.

Life among the Scorpions recounts the deeply fascinating and often tumultuous events that mark thirty years of Jaya Jaitly’s political journey.

From arranging relief for victims of the 1984 Sikh riots, to joining politics under firebrand leader George Fernandes, to becoming the president of Samata Party—a key ally in the erstwhile NDA Government, Jaitly’s rise in Indian mainstream politics invited both awe and envy. But the going has been far from smooth. Trouble began with George Fernandes sacking Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat in 1998. Jaitly became the target. She was soon hounded by Tehelka’s stings—first concerning her son-in-law-to-be Ajay Jadeja and then herself in an alleged bribery case.

Eventually, Fernandes had to resign as India’s Defence Minister, despite being the best, and Jaitly quit as the Samata Party President. Meanwhile, she spiritedly fought booth capturing in Bihar as well as fellow party men’s egos, intervened and ensured the installation of the Samata government in Manipur. All this, even as she continued her parallel fight for the livelihood of craftsmen on the one hand, and conceptualized and ensured establishment of the first Dilli Haat (crafts market place) in 1994 on the other.

With all the backstories of major events in Indian politics between 1970–2000, including her experience of dealing with the Commission of Inquiry and courts regarding the Tehelka stings, the story of Jaya Jaitly makes for a riveting read. A powerful narrative on why being a woman in politics was for her akin to being surrounded by scorpions; this hard hitting memoir offers a perspective on the functioning of Indian politics from a woman’s point of view.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Jaya Jaitly is the former president of the Samata Party, a key ally of the NDA Government (1998–2004), and an eminent expert in the traditional arts and crafts of India. She has worked closely with craftspeople since 1965 to sustain traditional livelihoods and preserve India’s crafts heritage. Having founded the Dastkari Haat Samiti, a body of craftspeople, in 1986, she established Dilli Haat a permanent marketplace showcasing weaves and handicrafts, in 1994. Her work brings together rural artisans within India, and of India, with those of Pakistan, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt and many other countries. These programs have often been supported by the Indian Government as an instrument in diplomacy.

Jaitly was educated in the UK, Burma, Japan, India and the USA. Her published works include Craft Traditions of India (1990), Crafts of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh (1999), A Podium on the Pavement (2005), Biju Spins Some Magic (2005), Crafting Nature (2007), Crafts Atlas of India (2012), Woven Textiles of Varanasi (2014), The Artistry Of Handwork (2014), and Vishvakarma’s Children: Stories of India’s Craftspeople (2001). Jaya Jaitly is based in Delhi.

Specification

• Product Code :  BK8718
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : November 11, 2017
• Pages : 312
• Weight : 550 gm.
• Size : 5.9 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Binding : Hardcover
• Author : Jaya Jaitly
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8129149095
  ISBN-13: 978-8129149091

Description

Story of a middle-class Bengali boy whose impatience became the reason for his success.
Bikram Dasgupta has seen it all—from a boy who joined IIT Kharagpur for ‘serious fun’ to selling oxygen cylinders in his first job; from being dubbed as an ‘ideas man’ by IT doyen Shiv Nadar to co-founding India’s number one PC company of its time, and then going solo with his own entrepreneurial venture.

I Did it My Way is not a rags-to-riches story, but a fascinating insight into the life and times of someone who didn’t shy away from thinking big and, for whom, progress meant creating his own road and establishing new milestones. Bikram reveals his beliefs, ideas, influences, failures, and successes in a rollercoaster journey of over 30 years, exemplified by a single-minded, near obsessive determination to move ahead in life, despite debacles.

The book is ultimately about reiterating the belief that every person has the power to create their own destiny.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Bikram Dasgupta is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and IIT Kharagpur. A pioneer and visionary, he helped set up India’s first IT park in 1996, co-founded the biggest PC company of its times and is now at the helm of his company, Globsyn Group. He lives in Kolkata with his wife, Ranjana. His twin sons, Rahul and Romit, work for Globsyn. His interests in dramatics, music, table tennis and cricket have not dimmed his love for globetrotting.

Specification

• Product Code : BK8705
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : February 1, 2018
• Pages : 232
• Weight : 420 gm.
• Size : 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : Bikram Dasgupta
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8193669584
  ISBN-13: 978-8193669587
  

Description

Throughout his career, S.K. Misra has flown in high winds, sometimes with them and sometimes against. As principal secretary to three chief ministers of Haryana, including the formidable Bansi Lal and Chaudhary Devi Lal; principal secretary to Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar; and secretary in the Ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Agriculture, he worked closely with strong political leaders. He also developed close friendships with some of the most iconic cultural figures of the time. Among many other achievements, he directed the Festivals of India, set up the National Institute of Fashion Technology, served as chairman of INTACH and played a crucial role in creating the International National Trusts Organization (INTO). He continues to innovate with ITRHD, a new trust for rural heritage and development. In all of this, he has always maintained one thing—his integrity.

Flying in High Winds chronicles a life well lived, revealing unknown facets of the prominent personalities with whom he interacted, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, M.F. Husain, Prince Charles, Sanjay Gandhi and Ebrahim Alkazi, and behind-the-scenes history of major events in which he played a key role. Candid, enlightening and with doses of tongue-in-cheek humour, this book showcases Indian bureaucracy in a new light.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
S.K. Misra was born in 1932. He received his MA degree from Allahabad University and joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1956. He served as principal secretary to three chief ministers in Haryana and later as director general of the Festivals of India, and secretary in the Ministries of Agriculture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. He retired from government as principal secretary to the prime minister, after which he served with the UPSC, and as chairman of INTACH. He has created and nurtured numerous institutions, including the Punjab Agricultural University, the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) and, currently, the Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development (ITRHD). In 2009 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for Distinguished Civil Service.

Specification

• Product Code : BK8694
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : 17 May 2016
• Pages : 288
• Weight : 500 gm.
• Size : 6 x 9 inches
• Binding : Hardcover
• Author : S.K. Misra
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 812913960X
  ISBN-13: 978-8129139603

 

Description

E.M. Forster was a remarkable personality whose life and works helped bridge the gap between the cultures of the East and the West. This book was published in 1964, a year that marked both Foster’s 84th birthday as well as the 40th anniversary of the publication of A Passage to India.
This volume contains the essays of six prominent writers from the Indian sub-continent who came together to pay tribute to the magic evoked by Foster’s writing. It also includes Foster’s tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and selections from Abinger Harvest, The Hill of Devi, A Passage To India, and Two Cheers for Democracy.

About the Author: K. Natwar Singh

K. Natwar Singh was a member of the Rajya Sabha and a member of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations. Contributors include Narayana Menon, author and former secretary of the Indian National Academy of Music; and the well-known writers, Raja Rao, Santha Ram Rau, Mulk Raj Anand and Ahmed Ali.

Specification

• Product Code : BK8688
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : January 1, 2002
• Pages : 169
• Weight : 190 gm.
• Size : 5.1 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : K NATWAR SINGH
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 817167772X
  ISBN-13: 978-8171677726

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Rupa Publications
• By : Shiv Shakti Nath Bakshi
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2018
• Pages : 180
• Weight : 198 gm
• Size : 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 : 8129150484
• ISBN-13 : 978-8129150486

DESCRIPTION:

The ideals and values that Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya propagated and practised, which led to the growth of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, and later to the birth of the BJP, have been well-laid out in this book. Being thoroughly in sync with the ways of the RSS, he dedicated his life to serve the nation through the Sangh. This book not only traces his journey as one of the primary leaders who instilled the sense of nationality in the country, but also as one who condemned exploitation by the State. While much has been discussed and written on Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, it is not easily accessible to all. This book is an attempt to make his contributions accessible to the general readers for their understanding of his personality and principles.

Description

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto held the reins of the country from 1971 to 1977. He was overthrown in 1977 by his Chief of Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, and executed in 1979. Zia-ul-Haq ruled over Pakistan for eleven years with an iron fist, curbing all dissent until he got blown up in an air crash in 1988. In almost three decades since, Pakistan’s leadership has changed hands fifteen times. An extremely controversial and confrontational politics is associated with the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is therefore not surprising that, considering his towering stature, not enough has been researched and written about the tumultuous years of his accession to power culminating in what today is best described as regicide. Syeda Hameed delves deep into the politics of Pakistan, meeting Bhutto’s contemporaries, mining information from archives and letters to bring to the fore a rich yet disturbing life and times of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
Syeda Saiyidain Hameed is an Indian social and women’s rights activist, educationist, writer and a former member of the Planning Commission of India. She was awarded the fourth highest civilian honour—the Padma Shri—in 2007, for her contributions to the Indian society.She lives in New Delhi.

Specification

• Product Code : BK8678
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : November 15, 2017
• Pages : 270
• Weight : 440 gm.
• Size : 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : Syeda Hameed
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8129149672
  ISBN-13: 978-8129149671

Description:

How can two people survive in a marriage when one of them sees it as an impediment to personal growth?

Well, you keep trying and eventually figure ways of making it work. An Unlikely Chemistry is the story of a couple—a scientist and a filmmaker—who battle personal issues and external challenges, and go on to build a life on their own terms.

The scientist, Mohana, stands up to a crippled system, determined to discover an Ayurvedic drug for cancer. On the threshold of global recognition, she is compelled to abandon her research due to the biases of a system plagued by caste-based reservations.

The filmmaker, Krishnaswamy, provoked by a distorted American documentary on India, vows to make an authentic film on Indian history, heritage and culture. A vow he fulfils with the release of his four-hour film, Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi, distributed by Warner Bros.
Krishnaswamy and Mohana then join hands to weave an illustrious tapestry of over two hundred non-fiction films and a dozen television serials. However, their path is littered with politics, controversies, legal battles and societal prejudices, but their belief in righteousness and spirituality helps them overcome these hurdles.

An Unlikely Chemistry is the remarkable autobiography of a couple—their love and their journey of nearly five decades. Within these pages, there’s also the veritable magic and nostalgia of a bygone era.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
Dr S. Krishnaswamy is a well-known documentary and television filmmaker. He is a recipient of many coveted awards, including the Padma Shri by the Government of India; Life Time Achievement Award from the US International Film & Video Festival, Los Angeles; Honor Summus Award from the Watumull Foundation, Hawaii, among many other awards. He co-authored the book Indian Film with Erik Barnouw.

Specification:

• Product Code : BK8671
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : February 28, 2018
• Pages : 368
• Weight : 260 gm.
• Size : 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : Dr S. Krishnaswamy
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 812914915X
  ISBN-13: 978-8129149152

 

Description

‘Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man’s life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self.’—B.R. Ambedkar

Born in 1891 into an Untouchable family, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is the man behind the Indian Constitution and the champion of the Dalit cause. Much ahead of his times, he raised pertinent issues pertaining to the broader cause of nation-building process for India. This is a collection of extracts from some of his finest works that capture him as a modernist thinker with an outstanding intellectual sweep over the major aspects of a then newly independent nation. These writings cover a wide range of issues such as the caste system, Untouchability, Hinduism, status of women, the multiple religions in India, creation of Pakistan, the constitution, and much more.

Ambedkar: An Overview is both a handy reference guide and a preamble for those who wish to familiarize themselves with the pioneering works of Babasaheb.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Dr B.R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) was an Indian jurist, social reformer, politician, economist and writer. He was the champion of the Dalit cause and fought against the discrimination against the Untouchables. He was one of the founders of the Indian Constitution and the first Law Minister of independent India. His best known works include The Annihilation of Caste, The Buddha and His Dhamma, Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, Pakistan or the Partition of India, and many others.

Specification

• Product Code : BK8669
• Publisher : Rupa Publications India
• Edition : January 1, 2018
• Pages : 440
• Weight : 300 gm.
• Size : 5.1 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Binding : Paperback
• Author : B. R. Ambedkar
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8129149931
  ISBN-13: 978-8129149930

"Kalidasa is admired for the portrayal of human emotion on the canvas of natural loveliness. Based on an anecdote mentioned in the Mahabharata, the simple tale of Sakuntala and Dushyant has been turned into poetical painting of picturesque scenery through his wonderful imagination. No poet had a richer and fuller sense of sensuous loveliness or a more masterly command of the resources of suggestive incidents, imagery and pictorial phrasing such as would reveal that loveliness in words.

Tagore remarks there are two unions in Sakuntalam and the central motif of the play is the progress from the earlier union of the first three acts with its youthful beauty and romance through an interval of separation and intense and speechless agony to the ultimate union in the Elysian regions of eternal bliss described in the last act. The play, therefore, naturally falls into three divisions each having a distinct atmosphere of its own-the first four acts constituting the first division, the fifth and sixth the second, and the seventh act the last.

For the first four acts the scene is laid in the hermitage. The poet has already in the prelude intimated that it was the time of pleasant summer, and even within the precincts of the sacred grove every tree and plant is touched by its magic fingers so that ""the wild-wood bloom outglows the garden flowers."""

A masaledaar mix of fact and fiction, action and emotion, drama and passion—these strange, funny, intriguing tales from small-town Uttar Pradesh have been passed orally from one generation to the next. They are likely to make one exclaim, ‘This couldn’t have happened!’ even as the narrators swear they are nothing but pure fact. The bizarre chronicle of a lazy daughter-in-law, the court clerk who loved eating chaat, two cousins inseparable even in death, a blind teacher who fell in love with a woman with beautiful eyes and other wild tales from Bareilly, Lucknow, Hapur, Badaun, Sapnawat and Pilibhit, places big and small, in that fascinating part of India called Uttar Pradesh.

When on a spiritual quest, what if you come to know that there are archangels, angels, perfect masters, saints, sages, celestial, terrestrial and physical beings who guide all seekers on the path? Like a parent leading a child. We call these guides the oneness family, the Perfect One. // The Perfect Ones, is a collection of biographies written by spiritual guru Ruzbeh N. Bharucha about the hierarchical planes of the various spiritual guides and how they are available to all those who seek. He talks about Their lives in the physical bodies; Their teachings and Their connect with other masters; Their love, presence, protection and oneness that engulfs all.// Written with love and from personal experiences with most of the Perfect Ones, this is a journey you do not want to miss out on.

Specification:

• Publisher : Penguin India
• By : Kamala Das
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2009
• Pages : 224
• Weight : 323 gm.
• Size : 5.2 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• ISBN-10 : 0143068350
• ISBN-13 : 978-0143068358

Description:

It is The Second World War And Kamala And Her Brother Are Removed From Their Parents Home In Calcutta To The Safer Environs Of Their Village In Northern Kerala. At Once An Outsider And An Integral Part Of Her Ancestral Home, Kamala Struggles To Fathom The Intricacies Of Class, Caste And Language. But Surrounded By People Like Her Adoring Ammamma, The Servant Sankaran Who Promises To Teach Her The Crow-Language, And Valli Who Tells Her Stories Of Yakshis Whose Breasts Are As Big As Jackfruits, Kamala Soon Discovers The Joys Of Growing Up As The Centre Of Everyone S Universe. As Calcutta Fades From Her Mind Like An Old Dream, While The Thudding Of The Drums At The Para Festival, The Roar Of The Velichappadu As He Becomes Possessed And The Songs Of The Parayankaali Dancers Become Absolute Realities Of Life."

Seven Summers, first drafted when Mulk Raj Anand was a student at London University but not published till 1951, recreates teh events and feelings of the first seven years of the writer's life, or what he called his 'half unconcious and half conscious childhood'. first of the seven volumes of autobiographical fiction that Anand conceptualized but never completed, this book is full of memorable scenes and people observed through the eyes of a child. the most impressive of them all being the Coronation Durbar in Delhi to which our young hero is smuggled wrapped in a blanket so that the Sahibs might not object to the presence of 'so discordant an element into so gorgeous a ceremony'. this edition of Seven Summers is a special reissue of the classic autobiography to commemorate Anand's birth centenary.

A Life in Words, the first complete translation of Ismat Chughtais celebrated memoir Kaghazi hai Pairahan, provides a delightful account of several crucial years of her life. Alongside vivid descriptions of her childhood years are the conflicted experiences of growing up in a large Muslim family during the early decades of the twentieth century. Chughtai is searingly honest about her fight to get an education and the struggle to find her own voice as a writer. The result is a compellingly readable memoir by one of the most significant Urdu writers of all time.

In 1893, when Mohandas Gandhi set sail for South Africa, he was a briefless lawyer who had failed to establish himself in India. In this remarkable biography, Ramachandra Guha argues that the two decades that Gandhi spent in the diaspora were the making of the Mahatma. It was here that he forged the philosophy and techniques that would ultimately destroy the British Empire.
Based on archival research in four continents, this book explores Gandhi's experiments with dissident cults, his friendships and enmities, and his failures as a husband and father. Gandhi Before India tells the dramatic story of how he mobilized a cross-class and inter-religious coalition, pledged to non-violence in their battle against a racist regime.
Deeply researched and beautifully written, this book will radically alter our understanding and appreciation of modern India's greatest man.