In this pathbreaking work, Shrayana Bhattacharya maps the economic and personal trajectories--the jobs, desires, prayers, love affairs and rivalries--of a diverse group of women. Divided by class but united in fandom, they remain steadfast in their search for intimacy, independence and fun. Embracing Hindi film idol Shah Rukh Khan allows them a small respite from an oppressive culture, a fillip to their fantasies of a friendlier masculinity in Indian men. Most struggle to find the freedom-or income-to follow their favourite actor. Bobbing along in this stream of multiple lives for more than a decade-from Manju's boredom in 'rurban' Rampur and Gold's anger at having to compete with Western women for male attention in Delhi's nightclubs, to Zahira's break from domestic abuse in Ahmedabad-Bhattacharya gleans the details on what Indian women think about men, money, movies, beauty, helplessness, agency and love. A most unusual and compelling book on the female gaze, this is the story of how women have experienced post-liberalization India.

Here is the astonishing true story of Bollywood, a sweeping portrait about a country finding its identity, a movie industry that changed the face of India, and one man's struggle to become a star. Shah Rukh Khan's larger than life tale takes us through the colorful and idiosyncratic Bollywood movie industry, where fantastic dreams and outrageous obsessions share the spotlight with extortion, murder, and corruption. Shah Rukh Khan broke into this $1.5 billion business despite the fact that it has always been controlled by a handful of legendary film families and sometimes funded by black market money. As a Muslim in a Hindu majority nation, exulting in classic Indian cultural values, Shah Rukh Khan has come to embody the aspirations and contradictions of a complicated culture tumbling headlong into American style capitalism. His story is the mirror to view the greater Indian story and the underbelly of the culture of Bollywood. "A bounty for cinema lovers everywhere." --Mira Nair, Director, The Namesake and Monsoon Wedding "King of Bollywood is the all-singing, all-dancing back stage pass to Bollywood. Anupama Chopra chronicles the political and cultural story of India with finesse and insight, through fly-on-wall access to one of its biggest, most charming and charismatic stars." -- Gurinder Chadha, director of Bend it Like Beckham "The "Easy Rider Raging Bull" of the Bollywood industry and essential reading for any Shah Rukh Khan fan." --Emma Thompson, actress "Anu Chopra infuses the pivotal moments of Shah Rukh Khan's life with an edge-of-your-seat tension worthy of the best Bollywood blockbusters." --Kirkus

Presenting an original take on women’s safety in the cities of twenty-first century India, Why Loiter? maps the exclusions and negotiations that women from different classes and communities encounter in the nation’s urban public spaces. Basing this book on more than three years of research in Mumbai, Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade argue that though women’s access to urban public space has increased, they still do not have an equal claim to public space in the city. And they raise the question: can women’s access to public space be viewed in isolation from that of other marginal groups? Going beyond the problem of the real and implied risks associated with women’s presence in public, they draw from feminist theory to argue that only by celebrating loitering—a radical act for most Indian women—can a truly equal, global city be created.

This book is the best window into Shah Rukh Khan s inner world and soul. Mushtaq, being a friend of the family, is the best artist for this family portrait portrayal. If Shah Rukh Khan has been known for his non-stop talk then writer Mushtaq Sheikh too doesn't appear far behind when it comes to translating his thoughts into words. He writes, and writes and then further writes about Shah Rukh, something that makes one feel that more than a friend and a colleague, Mushtaq looks at Shah Rukh as a hero. Someone who is not just his hero but also an entire country's - correction, entire world's hero! It is this very 'fan factor' that makes 'Shah Rukh Can' a read that seems to be coming straight from an admirer's heart. What makes this book special is that a lot of the material (words and pictures) is stuff that we haven't seen before. There are some things even Google's search algorithms cannot find. But Mushtaq Shiekh can. From a book that claims to talk about 'The Life and Times of Shah Rukh Khan', the least you expect is some trivia from the actor's life, both personal and professional, about which not much has been written about in the past. The kind which makes you wonder if something like that had really happened in the actor's life. Thankfully, Mushtaq extracts quite some trivia out of the actor's life. So you get to know how Shah Rukh was offered the role of Anil Kapoor's car driver in 1942 - A Love Story, which he rejected (of course!). Eventually Raghuvir Yadav did that role. Or how Shah Rukh completely surrendered to the director's vision and withdrew himself when he couldn't follow the trajectory of Subhash Ghai's Pardes. It's a different matter though that Shah Rukh was appreciated for his performance in the film but so was he in Karan Arjun too, which by the way he dared not watch over the years because he didn't connect with the role. There are number of such little instances that make 'Shah Rukh Can' an interesting read. But is it just about the actor and the trivia around his life? Not at all. One of the unexplored facets of Shah Rukh that is covered in the book in extensive detail is his views around acting v/s performances. This book is the best window into Shah Rukh Khan's inner world and soul. Mushtaq, being a friend of the family, is the best artist for this family portrait. It's almost like having Shah Rukh Khan over for coffee. - Karan JoharCompelling. A story you need to read if you feel the need to be inspired. - TabuThis book catches Shah Rukh Khan in his personal and professional space with versatile ease. - Subhash GhaiA book that I could not keep down. Worthy of many reads - Farah KhanIt's not a book it unfolds like a movie. - Ashutosh GowarikarIt's a beautifully crafted book. It's very difficult to catch the radiance of a man and star like Shah Rukh Khan. Mushtaq Shiekh not only manages it but also shocks you by adding further value. - Santosh SivanWhen a writer of the calibre of Mushtaq is writing a book about me, then I presume the book I am writing can wait. - Shah Rukh Khan

In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, Muslim ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, dispatched an invasion fleet to the Christian island of Rhodes. This would prove to be the opening shot in an epic struggle between rival empires and faiths for control of the Mediterranean and the center of the world. In Empires of the Sea, acclaimed historian Roger Crowley has written his most mesmerizing work to date–a thrilling account of this brutal decades-long battle between Christendom and Islam for the soul of Europe, a fast-paced tale of spiraling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, “The King of Evil,” the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St. John, the last crusading order after the passing of the Templars; the messianic Pope Pius V; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria. This struggle’s brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, seven years that witnessed a fight to the finish decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta, in which a tiny band of Christian defenders defied the might of the Ottoman army; the savage battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defense of southern Europe at Lepanto–one of the single most shocking days in world history. At the close of this cataclysmic naval encounter, the carnage was so great that the victors could barely sail away “because of the countless corpses floating in the sea.” Lepanto fixed the frontiers of the Mediterranean world that we know today. Roger Crowley conjures up a wild cast of pirates, crusaders, and religious warriors struggling for supremacy and survival in a tale of slavery and galley warfare, desperate bravery and utter brutality, technology and Inca gold. Empires of the Sea is page-turning narrative history at its best–a story of extraordinary color and incident, rich in detail, full of surprises, and backed by a wealth of eyewitness accounts. It provides a crucial context for our own clash of civilizations.

Set during the years of the British Raj, Umi Sinha's unforgettable debut novel is a compelling and finely wrought epic of love and loss, race and ethnicity, homeland - and belonging. Lila Langdon is twelve years old when she witnesses a family tragedy after her mother unveils her father's surprise birthday present - a tragedy that ends her childhood in India and precipitates a new life in Sussex with her Great-aunt Wilhelmina. From the darkest days of the British Raj through to the aftermath of the First World War, BELONGING tells the interwoven story of three generations and their struggles to understand and free themselves from a troubled history steeped in colonial violence. It is a novel of secrets that unwind through Lila's story, through her grandmother's letters home from India and the diaries kept by her father, Henry, as he puzzles over the enigma of his birth and his stormy marriage to the mysterious Rebecca.

The human face of poverty The poor in India are, too often, reduced to statistics. In the dry language of development reports and economic projections, the true misery of the 312 million who live below the poverty line, or the 26 million displaced by various projects, or the 13 million who suffer from tuberculosis gets overlooked. In this thoroughly researched study of the poorest of the poor, we get to see how they manage, what sustains them, and the efforts, often ludicrous, to do something for them. The people who figure in this book typify the lives and aspirations of a large section of Indian society, and their stories present us with the true face of development.