Literature & Fiction Books

What secrets lurk in a family’s past—and how important are they in the here and now?Sudha Murty’s new book comprises two novellas that explore two quests by two different men—both for mothers they never knew they had.Venkatesh, a bank manager, stumbles upon his lookalike one fine day. When he probes further, he discovers his father’s hidden past, which includes an abandoned wife and child. Ventakesh is determined to make amends to his impoverished stepmother—but how can he repay his father’s debt?Mukesh, a young man, is shocked to realize after his father’s death that he was actually adopted. He sets out to find his biological mother, but the deeper he delves, the more confused he is about where his loyalties should lie: with the mother who gave birth to him, or with the mother who brought him up. The Mother I Never Knew is a poignant, dramatic book that reaches deep into the human heart to reveal what we really feel about those closest to us.

"A timeless selection of writings from India's best-loved author

I know the world's a crowded place,
And elephants do take up space,
But if it makes a difference, Lord,
I'd gladly share my room and board.
A baby elephant would do...
But, if he brings his mother too,
There's Dad's garage. He wouldn't mind.
To elephants, he's more than kind.
But I wonder what my Mum would say
If their aunts and uncles came to stay!

Ruskin Bond has regaled generations of readers for decades. This delightful collection of poetry, prose and non-fiction brings together some of his best work in a single volume. Sumptuously illustrated, Uncles, Aunts and Elephants is a book to treasure for all times."

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Penguin Books
• By : Ruzbeh N. Bharucha
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2017
• Pages : 280
• Weight : 221 gm
• Size : 5.4 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• ISBN-10 : 014342386X
• ISBN-13 : 978-0143423867

DESCRIPTION:

Sai Baba in every breath …

Rabda has attempted suicide and chances are that he is going to die. Sai Baba of Shirdi enters the hospital room and awakens the spirit body of Rabda. The two, Master and musician, begin to converse about life, death and everything in between.

Set in the present, Rabda takes the reader to the past, to when the Sai lived in His physical body. The life and philosophy of Sai Baba of Shirdi are revealed, often in His own words, and questions pertaining to Him and spirituality answered. A powerful spiritual read, Rabda is a journey you really do not want to miss.

Rusty returns to his beloved hills, never to leave again Rusty Comes Home is the fifth and final volume in Puffin's complete collection of Ruskin Bond's ever-popular Rusty stories. A lonely and sensitive boy who lost his father early, Rusty spent his childhood in boarding schools and with relatives in Dehra. While still a teenager, he ran away from his foster home and had myriad adventures before landing up in London with the ambition of becoming a writer. This book chronicles Rusty's exploits after his return from London, as he explores Delhi, Dehra and the small, dusty town of Shahganj before settling down in Mussoorie, making his living as a writer, and revelling in the hills that have always fascinated him. Rusty Comes Home contains some captivating stories about Rusty's friends and fleeting acquaintances, about human nature and the supernatural. Among his friends in Shahganj are Ketan, a victim of the Partition and prone to paralytic fits; Madhu, a child whose life is tragically cut short, but not before she leaves an indelible impression on Rusty; and Suresh, a disabled child with whom Rusty strikes up a close bond. In Dehra he meets up with his genial Uncle Bill, who makes it his habit to poison people with arsenic; the incredible Jimmy, a jinn who can extend his arms at will to infinite lengths; and Miss Pettibone, the oldest resident of Dehra, who enthralls him with riveting stories from the town's past. Then there is the unnamed basket-selling girl he meets by chance on the Deoli railway platform and can never forget; and Binya, a young and vivacious widow, who floats into his life on the strains of a song. Full of charming and idiosyncratic characters, these stories of love, loss and adventure will appeal to young readers of all ages.

"Bhagwan S Gidwani
Bhagwan S. Gidwani was India’s additional director general of tourism and director general of civil aviation till 1978. He served as India’s counsel at the International Court of Justice at the Hague and as representative of India on the council of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), United Nations from 1978 to 1981. Thereafter, he joined ICAO as director, serving as adviser to foreign governments till 1985. Gidwani is the author of the bestselling novel The Sword of Tipu Sultan which was translated into many languages and also made into a major TV series for which Gidwani wrote the script and screenplay. His previous novel Return of the Aryans, published by Penguin Books India, was also highly successful. March of the Aryans is adapted from that novel. Bhagwan S. Gidwani is based in Montreal and divides his time between international efforts to promote the safety and security of air transport and tourism, and historical writing, research and teaching."

"Life teaches us what 'love' truly is And love gives definition to 'life'
Aisha, a bit of a late bloomer, has to figure out what it means to be a woman and to be desired. Danish feels time is running out for him and he's going to end up as a nobody, as opposed to his overachieving, determined younger brother.
Life takes a strange turn when Danish, the confused idiot, is appointed as the student counsellor to Aisha. Between the two of them they have to figure out love, life, friendship-most of all, themselves. And it's not proving to be . . . easy?
Our Impossible Love presents,
Life the way it is and
Love the way it should be"

Let love be your guide…All Debashish cares about is getting laid. His relationships are mostly short lived and his break-ups messy until he falls in love with the beautiful and mysterious Avantika. When she returns his feelings, he is thrilled. However, his joy is short-lived as Avantika walks out of the relationship. A brokenhearted Debashish plunges into depression and his life takes a dizzying downward spiral. He finds himself without a job, friends, or a lover. Loneliness strikes him hard. That is when his friend Amit comes to his rescue and they start putting the pieces of his life back together. Things begin to look up, but Debashish is still pining for Avantika. Will she come back and make his life whole again, or will he continue to pay for his mistakes?

"Hate, is a four letter word.
So is love.
And sometimes, people can't tell the difference...
Dhurv and Aranya spend a good part of their lives trying to figure out why they want to destroy each other, why they hurt each other so deeply. And, why they can't stay away from each other.
The answer is just as difficult each time because all they've wanted is to do the worst, most miserable things to one another.
Yet there is something that tells them: THIS IS NOT IT.
If you want to know the answer to it all, read the book."

WILL IT BE MONEY OR LOVE? For Abhijeet, Saurav, Shruti, Garima life is about to change. They have the most sought after jobs in the country—jobs that will pay for designer clothes, shoes, watches, holidays in foreign locations . . . all the things they’ve ever wanted. But then, is life ever perfect?Things begin to get tough from day one as they begin to work under bosses who are straight out of hell, who pile them with work, push them for more and make their lives miserable.Things go from bad to worse as they fall in love and sleep around with all the wrong people. Then when recession affects the company, their bond begins to strain. Till one day, the very reason that got them together tears them apart: Money.

How do you know it’s love and not just another relationship?Joy never did. Relationships have never been his cup of tea. Even when he and Manika are attracted to each other, Joy gets into another relationship thinking she is ‘the one’. And when Joy’s girl walks out on him and he falls into a deep depression it is Manika who comes back into his life and nurses him to health. This, when she is already in a relationship.It’s time for Joy to act. Will he realize her importance in his life and get Manika back? Or is it already too late?Oh Yes, I’m Single! is a journey of heartbreaks, love, laughter and tears.

"You're asking me to hold your hand. And now you're turning away from me. You are saying something but I can't hear you. It's too windy. You're crying now. Now you're smiling. I'm done. I love you . . .'

It's been two years since Raghu left his first love, Brahmi, on the edge of the roof one fateful night. He couldn't save her; he couldn't be with her. Having lost everything, Raghu now wants to stay hidden from the world.
However, the annoyingly persistent Advaita finds his elusiveness very attractive. And the more he ignores her, the more she's drawn to him till she bulldozes her way into an unlikely friendship.
What attracts at first, begins to grate. Advaita can't help but want to know what Raghu has left behind, what he's hiding, and who broke his heart. She wants to love him back to life, but for that she needs to know what wrecked him in the first place.
After all, the antidote to heartache is love."

"A gorgeous, lucid rendering of the majestic conclusion to the Mahabharata

As an epilogue to the greatest epic of all time, the Harivamsha further elaborates on the myriad conflicts of dharma and the struggle between good and evil. Stories abound-from the cosmogony of the universe to the legends of the solar and lunar dynasties and even a foreshadowing of kali yuga in the future. At the centre of all these magnificent tales is the mercurial figure of Krishna, whose miraculous life and wondrous exploits are recounted with vivid detail. In offering a glimpse into Krishna's life-as a mischievous child, as an enchanting lover, as a discerning prince-this luminous text sheds light on many questions left unanswered in the Mahabharata.

Brimming with battles and miracles, wisdom and heroics, philosophical insight and psychological acuity, Bibek Debroy's splendid translation of the Harivamsha is absolutely essential reading for all those who love the Mahabharata."

"Set in the backdrop of the uprising against the
armed forces in Kashmir in the late 1980s, Lost in Terror
is the tale of a young, educated, career-conscious woman
who finds herself sucked into a maelstrom of death and
destruction. She also cherishes the dream of Azadi and plays
strong to face the wrath of the security forces. But when she
uncovers her husband's discreet links with gunmen who have
become obsessed with the dream of Azadi at the expense of
the family's security, she becomes fragile and begins to lose
her hold on her home, her relationships and Azadi itself.

When her dreams for a perfect family and a thriving
career are turned upside down and her life comes to
a standstill, fate offers her a leap of faith-but will she take it?"

One of the best storytellers of contemporary India' "Tribune Momentous things happen elsewhere, in the big cities of Nehru's India. In dull and dusty Pipalnagar, each day is like another, and -there is not exactly despair, but resignation'. Even the dreams here are small: if he ever makes it to Delhi, Deep Chand, the barber, will open a more up-to-date salon where he might, perhaps, give the Prime Minister a haircut; Pitamber will trade his cycle-rickshaw for the less demanding scooter-rickshaw; Aziz will be happy with a junk-shop in Chandni Chowk. None, of course, will make that journey to Delhi. Adrift among them, the narrator, Arun, a struggling writer of detective novels in Urdu, waits for inspiration to write a blockbuster. One day he will pack his meagre belongings and take the express train out of Pipalnagar. Meanwhile, he seeks reassurance in love, and finds it in unusual places: with the young prostitute Kamla, wise beyond her years; and the orphan Suraj, homeless and an epileptic, yet surprisingly optimistic about the future. Few authors write with greater sensitivity and skill about little India than Ruskin Bond. Delhi Is Not Far is a memorable story about small lives, with all the hallmarks of classic Ruskin Bond prose: nostalgia, charm, underplayed humor and quiet wisdom.

H.H. is the spoilt, selfish, beautiful widow of the Maharaja of Mastipur. She lives with her dogs and her caretaker, Hans, in an enormous old house in Mussoorie, taking lovers and discarding them, drinking too much and fending off her reckless sons who are waiting hungrily for their inheritance. The seasons come and go, hotels burn down, cinemas shut shop and people leave the hill station never to return, but H.H. remains constant and indomitable. Observing her antics, often with disapproval, is her old friend Ruskin, who can never quite cut himself off from her. Melancholic, wry and full of charm, Maharani is a delightful novella about love, death and friendship.

Set in Lahore, This House of Clay and Water explores the lives of two women. Nida, intelligent and lonely, has married into an affluent political family and is desperately searching for some meaning in her existence; and impulsive, lovely Sasha, from the ordinary middle-class, whose longing for designer labels and upmarket places is so frantic that she willingly consorts with rich men who can provide them. Nida and Sasha meet at the famous Daata Sahib dargah and connect-their need to understand why their worlds feel so alien and empty, bringing them together. On her frequent visits to the dargah, Nida meets the gentle, flute-playing hijra Bhanggi, who sits under a bargadh tree and yearns for acceptance and affection, but is invariably shunned. A friendship-fragile, tentative and tender-develops between the two, both exiles within their own lives; but it flies in the face of all convention and cannot be allowed. Faiqa Mansab's accomplished and dazzling debut novel explores the themes of love, betrayal and loss in the complex, changing world of today's Pakistan.

One of the outstanding storytellers in contemporary Indian writing'-Forbes India Uprooted from a bustling city, the thirteen-year-old protagonist of The Small-town Sea is replanted in his father's home town where he struggles to cope with his new life. He reluctantly makes friends with Bilal, a boy who lives in the orphanage run by the local mosque. Together, they embark on clandestine adventures while his ailing father-whose last wish is to die listening to the sea he has grown up by and written books about-rediscovers people from his childhood by accident. But his father's death unsettles the boy's life again, and he finds himself grappling with altogether unexpected challenges. Lyrical and haunting, sharply funny and achingly sad, The Small-town Sea is a masterful tale of love, friendship and family from one of our most compelling storytellers.

The Sensualist is the story of a man enslaved by his libido and spiraling towards self-destruction. Gripping, erotic, even brutal, the book explores the demons that its protagonist must grapple with before he is able to come to terms with himself. In this fascinating account of the pleasures and perils that attend a young man's coming of age, Ruskin Bond displays his felicity in exploring the dark aspects of the human psyche. Bold and powerful, The Sensualist is a compelling read.

Mala’s home in Delhi is empty, save for a lifetime of sketches left behind by her late husband Asad and the memories they conjure. Sifting through them on restless afternoons and sleepless nights, Mala summons ghosts from her childhood, relives the heady days of love and optimism when Asad and she robustly defied social conventions to build a life together —and struggles to understand how events far removed could so easily snatch away the certainties they had always taken for granted. As their story unfolds, others emerge: Of Sara, Mala and Asad’s daughter, who, unable to commit to a cause that will renew her faith in her parents’ ideals and her own, embarks on a search for purpose that brings her from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, the venue of recent carnage. Of Yasmin, whom Sara meets across a lately created ‘border’, a survivor of mayhem secretly dreaming of college and the miraculous return of her missing brother, Akbar, as she navigates menacing by-lanes to reach her school safely every day. Of innumerable other lives trapped in limbo—some caught in a mesh of memory, anguish and hate; others seeking release in private dreams and valiant hopes. Marked by an astonishing clarity of observation and deep compassion, Fugitive Histories exposes the legacy of prejudice that, sometimes insidiously, sometimes perceptibly, continues to affect disparate lives in present-day India. In prose that is at once elegant, playful and startlingly inventive, Githa Hariharan portrays with remarkable precision the web of human connections that binds as much as it divides.

The powerless must have a dream or two, dreams that break walls, dreams that go through walls as if they are powerless.’ A magical tour de force by a writer at the height of her powers, When Dreams Travel weaves round Scheherazade—or Shahrzad of the thousand and one nights—a vibrant, inventive story about that old game that’s never played out: the quest for love and power. The curtain opens on four figures, two men and two women. There is the sultan who wants a virgin every night; there is his brother, who makes an enemy of darkness and tries to banish it; and there are their ambitious brides, the sisters Shahrzad and Dunyazad, aspiring to be heroines—or martyrs. Travelling in and out of these lives to spellbinding effect is a range of stories, dark, poetic and witty by turns, spanning medieval to contemporary times. With its sharp and lively blend of past and present, its skillful reworking of the historical tradition, and its controlled use of evocative language, Githa Hariharan’s multi-voiced narrative assumes the significance of modern myth.

Twenty stories of contemporary Indian life that demonstrate a remarkabel originality The range of Githa Hariharan's writing, executed with a precision of style and magical imagery, is vividly revealed in this striking collection. Sometimes comic (yet tinged with sadness) as in the much-anthologized 'The remains of the Feast' where and old woman near the end of her life suddenly feels the urge to sample all the food she has been forbidden; sometimes with a twist as in 'Gajar Halwa' where Chellamma, a servant girl from the small-town family, finally understands what makes a big city work; sometime moving as in 'The Reprieve', these stories never fail to surprise and delight.

What makes a dutiful daughter, wife, and mother? What makes a good Indian woman? Devi returns to Madras with an American degree, only to be sucked in by the old order of things—a demanding mother’s love, a suitable but hollow marriage, an unsuitable lover who offers a brief escape. But the women of the hoary past come back to claim Devi through myth and story, music and memory. They show her what it is to stay and endure what it is to break free and move on. Sita has been the ideal daughter-in-law, wife and mother. But now that she has arranged a marriage for her daughter she has to come to terms with an old dream of her own. Mayamma knows how to survive as the old family retainer, bending the way the wind blows. But, through Devi, she too can see a different life. A subtle and tender tale of women's lives in India, this award-winning novel is structured with the delicacy and precision of a piece of music. Fusing myth, tale and the real voices of different women, The Thousand Faces of Night brings alive the underworld of Indian women’s lives.

A profound meditation on the human quest for faith and inner peace The early 1960s, also known as the golden age of Indian cinema. Satyan Kumar, reigning screen god, moves from Mumbai to the Madras film industry. There he meets Gopalan, a middling studio writer. An inexplicable connection forms between the two men across the chasms of class and language. But just as an enduring bond springs up, tragedy intervenes. Gopalan’s son mysteriously dies and his wife’s dementia acquires homicidal overtones. Both men flounder as they try to understand their roles in these seemingly random events that radically transform their lives. In spare unburnished prose, Ashokamitran examines the finite human capacity to deal with pain and sorrow and the need for redemption if life is to go on. And in so doing, he etches a fascinating portrait of the times, with a cast of characters that includes, among others, Pandit Nehru and Meher Baba, the silent mystic. Brilliantly translated from the Tamil original by N. Kalyan Raman, Manasarovar establishes Ashokamitran as one of the most outstanding writers of contemporary Tamil literature.

Skims the murky world of dispossessed youth while sporting a spare, swift style’—The Hindu Sathi is a young soda-seller in a run-down cinema hall in a small town. Ill-paid and always weary, he finds relief from everyday tedium in marijuana and his friends—vulnerable, desperate young men who work around the movie hall. An intense and tender friendship with one of the men sustains Sathi, until a train of events casts the meagre certainties of his days and nights into disarray. Slick, visceral and startlingly inventive, Current Show unfolds in a manner that simulates rapid cinematic cuts. Murugan’s keen eye and crackling prose plumb the dark underbelly of small-town life, bringing Sathi’s world and entanglements thrillingly to life.