How do successful people become even more successful? Almost all effective people share a common trait – they set detailed goals, and plan the amount of effort they require to put into any project they wish to start. They leave no stone unturned in the process, and live by the DIY – do-it-yourself formula. Success in life requires more than an academic qualification; it requires strength of character and a will to be different. In this book you will read real life stories and incidents that offer valuable messages, inspired by the life of a man who believed in himself. This is not an autobiography but the clear essence of success in life.

'The smaller you are, the quicker your heart beats. But it doesn't matter what size your heart is, we all only get an average of about two billion beats over our lifetime. It's just a pump at the end of the day, right?' Seventeen-year-old Asha is a rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her - but less sure how to actually dismantle it. Her younger sister, Bettina, wide-eyed and naive, is just trying to get through the school day without having her pocket money nicked. With essays to write, homework to do, and bus journeys home, the two sisters meet every afternoon, outside the school gates, to tackle the injustice of the world. Sonali Bhattacharyya's play Two Billion Beats is an insightful, heartfelt coming-of-age story and a blazing account of inner-city, British-Asian teenage life. It was originally presented in the Inside/Outside season, livestreamed from the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, before receiving a production there in this full-length version in 2022, directed by Nimmo Ismail.

Precious Souls: A journey into the inspiring lives of special children and their families, is a first of its kind effort to understand the world of children with special needs and create awareness among people about their small requirements. There are 24 lives in the book and all are replete with grim determination -- so unlike us they are, but so courageously they live. Precious Souls calls for each reader to give nothing, but share all the love that they have whenever they see a special child. Equal share of your love, confidence and support should also go to their parents, who nurtured their special child, without losing hope. Even though they have seen surroundings with healthy children, when they look home, they have found a certain incompleteness, but they never lost courage, and fought the battle with destiny, emerging victorious. Their profoundness is worth ounces of admiration. The book explores disappointments and triumph in a narrative manner; the author telling each life as it went on during his interaction with the families. The style gets the reader involved as if he or she is seeing the child or their parents right in front of them. Late Dr A P J Abdul Kalam was so touched by the subject that he even wrote the foreword for the book. To give a glimpse of a few stories, the book narrates the life of ten-year-old Diwakar Bhaskar who is diagnosed with Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), a metabolic disorder passed down through families in which the body cannot break down certain parts of proteins. But he trounced his disorder and found his calling in painting, drawing works of art which has a rare balance of colour and sensitive strokes. An example is the logo of the Precious Souls, which the author has used to mark the immense talent in each of the special children featured in the book. Then there is thirty four-year-old S Sushmitha Danabalana, who had developmental delays compared to other children, when born. Now, she is independent and part of her salary goes to sponsoring the education of a differently-abled student. She has even won the Karnataka State Women's Achievement Award. The book tells the tale of 15-year-old Adithya Venkatesh, who suffers from from Pervasive Developmental Delay (PDD), a type of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that slows down the ability to perceive things. But with classical music he has awed everybody and his penchant for music has been removing all barriers he faces on a daily basis. With these 24 lives, the author has managed to bring out the true essence of life - nobody is perfect, and in the pursuit of perfection, we all are on the same road. It is necessary of all of us to get together and encourage children with disabilities and lend support in the form of understanding their families. Together, we can bring a change in their lives, a message crystal clear through Precious Souls. The author, Dr Anantha Krishnan M, is a seasoned aerospace and defence journalist in India. A disciple of Dr Kalam, he is currently entrusted with the task of carrying forward a digital initiative of the former President, Billion Beats. He also spearheads Inspired Indian Foundation (IIF), a movement for unsung heroes. His first book A Different Spirit, is a moving biography of wheelchair athlete Malathi K Holla. Similar to his first book, the author has pledged part proceeds from the book for the activities of IIF.

The alarm calls of birds make them difficult for predators to locate, while the howl of wolves and the croak of bullfrogs are designed to carry across long distances. From an engineer's perspective, how do such specialized adaptations among living things really work? And how does physics constrain evolution, channeling it in particular directions? Writing with wit and a richly informed sense of wonder, Denny and McFadzean offer an expert look at animals as works of engineering, each exquisitely adapted to a specific manner of survival, whether that means spinning webs or flying across continents or hunting in the dark-or writing books. This particular book, containing more than a hundred illustrations, conveys clearly, for engineers and nonengineers alike, the physical principles underlying animal structure and behavior. Pigeons, for instance-when understood as marvels of engineering-are flying remote sensors: they have wideband acoustical receivers, hi-res optics, magnetic sensing, and celestial navigation. Albatrosses expend little energy while traveling across vast southern oceans, by exploiting a technique known to glider pilots as dynamic soaring. Among insects, one species of fly can locate the source of a sound precisely, even though the fly itself is much smaller than the wavelength of the sound it hears. And that big-brained, upright Great Ape? Evolution has equipped us to figure out an important fact about the natural world: that there is more to life than engineering, but no life at all without it.

The history of the heart of the high-tech world Mike Malone is a journalist who has covered Silicon Valley for nearly twenty years. This book combines the best of his work from a variety of renowned publications to offer a true-to-life glimpse of the world's most important industrial community. These stories form a picture of a place at the center of cultural, economic, and technological advancement and the people who live there, from dot.com millionaires to everyday working people just trying to get by. Not confined to its present technological significance, the book looks at the rich history of the Valley and the future that awaits it. Meticulously researched and broad in scope, The Valley of Heart's Delight is the definitive biography of a place of massive cultural and political significance. Michael S. Malone (Palo Alta, CA) joined the San Jose Mercury News in 1980 as the nation's first daily high-tech reporter. His writings on Silicon Valley earned him two Pulitzer Prize nominations. He has also written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Dallas Morning News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. He is currently the Editor at Large for ASAP.

I don't think I'll ever meet someone who loves me as much as Ryan loves me and hates me as much as Ryan hates me A loving relationship can be anything but. In this one-woman thriller, Ruckus explores coercive control, an issue not widely recognised - yet its side effects kill up to three women every week in the UK. Each moment of the play has been inspired by real women and real stories. Acclaimed by critics and audiences, this powerful piece sends shivers down the spine and brings to light the suppression caused by coercive control. During its original run at Edinburgh Fringe in August 2022, Ruckus was the 1st Finalist for the Popcorn New Writing Award 2022, shortlisted for The Filipa Bragança Award, and winner of a Lustrum Award. This edition was published to coincide with the run at the Southwark Playhouse in London, in October 2022.

It starts – like many stories – with a man. A man leaving – heard that before? A man going off to find his fortune. A man going off to start a war. Telemachus was just a baby when his dad Odysseus left to fight in the Trojan War. Now he's almost grown he sets off on a quest to find him, even if his mum is not convinced. Luckily he has the muses - and some great tunes - to guide him on his heroic journey. Join Telemachus on an epic adventure through stormy seas and strange lands, filled with mystical creatures, dangerous monsters and enchanting sirens - plus two talking sheep - and discover what really makes a true hero. This fun, musical re-telling of Homer's classic story The Odyssey is adapted by Nina Segal, with the original production directed by Jennifer Tang. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Unicorn Theatre in London, in March 2024.