"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.

Priya lives in the United States and her family is from India. She feels the magic of the place her family comes from through her Babi Ba's colorful descriptions of India--from the warm smell of spices to the swish-swish sound of a rustling sari. Together, Priya and Babi Ba make their heritage live on through the traditions that they infuse into their everyday lives.

An eye-opening exploration of race in America In this deeply inspiring book, Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi recount their experiences talking to people from all walks of life about race and identity on a cross-country tour of America. Spurred by the realization that they had nearly completed high school without hearing any substantive discussion about racism in school, the two young women deferred college admission for a year to collect first-person accounts of how racism plays out in this country every day--and often in unexpected ways. In Tell Me Who You Are, Guo and Vulchi reveal the lines that separate us based on race or other perceived differences and how telling our stories--and listening deeply to the stories of others--are the first and most crucial steps we can take towards negating racial inequity in our culture. Featuring interviews with over 150 Americans accompanied by their photographs, this intimate toolkit also offers a deep examination of the seeds of racism and strategies for effecting change. This groundbreaking book will inspire readers to join Guo and Vulchi in imagining an America in which we can fully understand and appreciate who we are.

A thought-provoking meditation on food, family, identity, immigration, and, most of all, hospitality--at the table and beyond--that's part food memoir, part appeal for more authentic decency in our daily worlds, and in the world at large. Be My Guest is an utterly unique, deeply personal meditation on what it means to tend to others and to ourselves--and how the two things work hand in hand. Priya Basil explores how food--and the act of offering food to others--are used to express love and support. Weaving together stories from her own life with knowledge gleaned from her Sikh heritage; her years spent in Kenya, India, Britain, and Germany; and ideas from Derrida, Plato, Arendt, and Peter Singer, Basil focuses an unexpected and illuminating light on what it means to be both a host and a guest. Lively, wide-ranging, and impassioned, Be My Guest is a singular work, at once a deeply felt plea for a kinder, more welcoming world and a reminder that, fundamentally, we all have more in common than we imagine.

A young food writer's witty and irresistible celebration of her mom's "Indian-ish" cooking--with accessible and innovative Indian-American recipes

Awards: How to Write a Book in 8 Days is the winner of 3 International Awards. Synopsis: Imagine what it would be like if you had a fully completed manuscript of a book you have been thinking of writing for years, in about eight days, without having to quit your job, wait for retirement or to take a sabbatical. A lot of people are under the impression that it takes years to write a good book; and to go years without any income or a future prospect of remuneration, scares them and puts them off right from the start. Whether you publish that book or not, in applying the strategies that I outline here, you will be able to have in your hands a full and complete manuscript, bringing you to the status of being an author, one of the most creative professions in the world, a profession that holds the power of evolution and revolution in any area you choose to direct your interests. How to Write a Book in Eight Days demystifies and simplifies the phenomenon of writing a book and writing it in such a way that it will bring you and the reader the success you desire. About the Author Priya Kumar is an Internationally Acclaimed Motivational Speaker and Bestselling Author of 12 Inspirational Books. In her 25 years journey with Motivational Speaking, she has worked with over 2000 Multi-National Corporates across 47 countries and has touched over 3 million people through her workshops and books, and is the only Woman Speaker in India to have done so. She is the only Indian Author who has won 37 International Awards for her books.

Nine thousand miles separate Chennai, India, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, the distance Priya Kumar, 25, travels to join two of her sisters for a one year graduate program at New Mexico State University. Busy with school work and learning all she can about the United States, it’s in Professor Martin’s year-long Independent Studies course where her comparison-culture learning is put to the forefront, for she must write a 50-page paper about Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic Democracy in America and whether it still rings true nearly two centuries after its first publication. The American Story is often best told from a foreigner’s perspective, and it’s in writing this paper that Priya not only learns about her host country, but more so about herself and the choices she’s faced with. One choice stands above all the others, and it changes her life forever.