The boy had the blessings of a fakir who would wander around in his village, singing songs. The boy would follow him around, singing after him. One day, the fakir picked him up and said: 'Son, the world shall take your name with love and reverence, people will aspire to become like you.' The boy grew up to be Mohammad Rafi. In this vivid biography, Zia Imam tells us things we never knew about the greatest playback singer India's Hindi film industry has ever had.

This comprehensive bilingual Somali dictionary includes over 25,000 Word-to-Word dictionary entries, and is perfect for ESL/ELL students to use for standardized testing. Somali is an Afroasiatic language with approximately 15 million speakers worldwide. It is spoken primarily in Somalia, but also in Somaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya and by a significant Somali-speaking diaspora. Somali is written with the Latin alphabet. The two-way format makes it useful for both English and Amharic speakers. Somali ELL (English-Language Learner) students can look up the meaning of English words they don't recognize, and also translate their thoughts and writing in Amharic to English.

Rama, Lakshmana and Sita chance upon Valmiki's ashram in the forest. But what is the shudra Shambuka doing there? As Duryodhana lies dying on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, he reflects on all that brought the world to this pass, his guilt and that of his enemies, his loyalties and those of his friends and allies. As the story flashes back and forth on the last moments of the Great War, dharma and adharma merge and blur. In the forest, during the exile of the Pandavas, Bhima, married to Hidimba, compelled by his love for his son, Ghatotkacha, decides to stay back. Even his mother's anger and his elder brother's command will not sway him ...Mukunda Rao tells three classic stories from the epics, shedding new light on them, illuminating corners that we haven't looked at before. Shambuka Rama: Three Tales Retold is a powerful blend of spiritual search, philosophy and mythology.

The definitive book on the Andaman IslandsEver the aimless drifter, Harish finds the anchor his life needs in a chance encounter with members of the ancient - and threatened - Jarawa community: the 'original people' of the Andaman Islands and its tropical rainforests. As he observes the slow but sure destruction of everything the Jarawa need for their survival, Harish is moved by a need to understand, to do something. His unlikely friend and partner on this quest is Uncle Pame, a seventy-year-old Karen boatman whose father was brought to the islands from Burma by the British in the 1920s. The islands also bring him to Seema, a 'local born' - a descendant of the convicts who were lodged in the infamous Cellular jail of Port Blair.As many things seem to fall in place and parallel journeys converge, an unknown contender appears: the giant tsunami of December 2004. The Last Wave is a story of lost loves, but also of a culture, a community, an ecology poised on the sharp edge of time and history.

There was a king who wanted to travel. He knew a tree who agreed to arrange it all - if she could go with him. Travel: it wasn't an easy thing for kings and trees to do. The mighty and magical mind-mender agreed to help - if they would take it along. Not the easiest of companions, but what choice did they have? The mind-mender allowed the tree and the king to divide their minds so they could be home and away at the same time. And so they took off in the Zug for fantastical lands and adventures. While they were away, though, their other halves found themselves besieged. Would they make it back in time to save themselves? A kooky oddball of a fable about finding oneself and one's voice, and the strength to accept and overcome doubt and uncertainty.