The early 1980s in a village called Dalmapur is seemingly perfect. But decades since the country attained its independence, vestiges of untouchability and caste-based discrimination still remain. Twelve-year-old Aryali, born in a family of cobblers, is not spared from the prejudices. As an illiterate boy belonging to a lower caste, his name is constantly distorted. He is forced to respectfully address boys of the same age as ‘babu’, the name he secretly wishes for himself. Amid poverty and struggle, with his parents and grandparents wishing him to be an expert cobbler soon, he is doing all that he should while keeping aside all that he wants. But a chance discovery of an old, tattered book, which stirs something deep in Aryali’s heart, followed by an unfortunate situation that forces his family to move to a town called Jaihind, might change the direction of his life forever. After all, isn’t that the need of the hour? Change. Jaihind Made the Cobbler a Novelist is a story that gives a voice to the lowest strata of our society and appeals to our conscience, emotions and need for betterment.

A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry’s stunning internationally acclaimed bestseller, is set in mid-1970s India. It tells the story of four unlikely people whose lives come together during a time of political turmoil soon after the government declares a “State of Internal Emergency.” Through days of bleakness and hope, their circumstances – and their fates – become inextricably linked in ways no one could have foreseen. Mistry’s prose is alive with enduring images and a cast of unforgettable characters. Written with compassion, humour, and insight, A Fine Balance is a vivid, richly textured, and powerful novel written by one of the most gifted writers of our time.

‘Who I am today? Merely a suffering soul, tormented by my own guilt. I cannot tread the same lanes, the royal corridors again that I left behind a year ago; so what if I want to rectify today, something that I destroyed yesterday.’ She stood gazing at him helplessly. Fateh Kanwar, the princess of Bikaner, stunningly beautiful and noble was not born to rule. Or so she thought. Married at the age of twelve, the tender love grew in her life after she took saptpadi with the crown prince of Jaipur. They were two young lives converging on a deadly course: one an innocent princess of Bikaner, who was living an idyllic life in royal corridors, the other , a young charming prince, who had spent all his life defying the traditions and Rajdharma, even after ascending the throne. After a series of shocking events, it was her brilliant mother-in-law, who paved the way for her elevation to be a regent queen. But yet again her world turned upside down. She perceived the political intrigues and power play of her two most trusted people as the key to her rule. Destiny defied her again. Fateh Kanwar herself becomes a victim of greed for power. Or so the people believed. Set in the last quarter of the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century India, ‘Zenani Deordhi’ is a compelling tale of a kingdom in peril. It is the tale of love and loss, pleasure and pain, and lust and greed. It is a vivid account of the lifelong struggle of a simple young woman, who walked the tightrope of being a queen and a mother and therefore became a sweeping story that is as relevant today as it was yesterday.

Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi is a magisterial account of the pains, struggles, humiliations and glories of the world’s largest and least likely democracy. A riveting chronicle of the often brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation, and of the extraordinary individuals and institutions who held it together, it established itself as a classic when it was first published in 2007. In the last decade, India has witnessed, among other things, two general elections; the fall of the Congress and the rise of Narendra Modi; a major anti-corruption movement; more violence against women, Dalits, and religious minorities; a wave of prosperity for some but the persistence of poverty for others; comparative peace in Nagaland but greater discontent in Kashmir than ever before. This tenth anniversary edition, updated and expanded, brings the narrative up to the present. Published to coincide with seventy years of the country’s independence, this definitive history of modern India is the work of one of the world’s finest scholars at the height of his powers.

India’s Westernized elite, cut off from local traditions, ‘want to write a full stop in a land where there are no full stops’. From that striking insight Mark Tully has woven a superb series of ‘stories’ which explore Calcutta, from the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad (probably the biggest religious festival in the world) to the televising of a Hindu epic. Throughout, he combines analysis of major issues with a feel for the fine texture and human realities of Indian life. The result is a revelation. 'The ten essays, written with clarity, warmth of feeling and critical balance and understanding, provide as lively a view as one can hope for of the panorama of India.’ K. Natwar-Singh in the Financial Times

Not Many People Known About Bose`S Love For Emile Schenkl, His Austrian Wife. The Volume Includes 162 Letters Written Between 1934 And 1942 An Alos 18 Letters Of His Wife That Have Survived. Illuminate The Human And Emotional Aspects Of His Life.

This collection of essays provides analyses of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia. It includes interpretations by leading scholars in anthropology, food studies, history, media studies, political science, and visual studies, who examine the political, social, economic, and cultural impact of COVID-19 in China, India, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and beyond.