The demonetisation of November 2016 will go down in history as one of the most intensely debated economic policy interventions of the Indian state. With the abolition of the legal tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, about 86 per cent of the currency in circulation stood withdrawn from circulation in the economy. The purpose, according to the government, was to stamp out counterfeit currency, unearth black money, and usher in a less-cash economy. This work analyses in detail the conception and implementation of demonetisation, its impact on different spheres of the economy and sections of the people, and various claims of the government vis-à-vis demonetisation. It tries to locate the two demonetisations of 1978 and 2016 within the broader questions of tax evasion and the generation and storage of black money in India over the last six decades. It has a comprehensive introduction, supported by writings from the archives of the Economic & Political Weekly.

If you are a real patriot then prove your patriotism right now. I am a daughter of this country and my engagement has been broken because of “Notebandi”. Can you reunite my broken engagement? And, if you cannot reunite my broken engagement, then take a pledge to marry me just now!

Strange Burdens is not a biography but a book of political commentary. It examines and analyses Rahul Gandhi's ideas and leadership since he officially entered politics in March 2004. It journeys all the way to the conclusion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar on 30 January 2023 and captures the dilemmas of his disqualification a couple of months later. The narrative here crawls across two decades with the intention of understanding Rahul Gandhi's politics and predicaments, confusions and contradictions, triteness and triumph, as well as his burdens and benignity. It is not the purpose of this book to understand his failures and successes in tabular columns but speculate in the best traditions of political commentary why he is where he is, both politically and as an individual. The book does not seek to answer questions about his suitability or unsuitability for a public role but is rather focused on how he has been caught in the currents of history. It is not a myth-busting or myth-making exercise, nor is it an inquisition; it is a pursuit of political insight. Since the book is about Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, it cannot not be about Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Examining one automatically illuminates the other. The book looks at the contrasts and convergence of the two personalities and the two parties they represent.

A compelling, heart-touching story of a drug addict. Aakash has so much emotional pain inside him that he can breathe only because of the escape that comes from the hits of smack. He looks for succor in his school sweetheart Aarti but she opts for the fast lane to come out of her impecunious situation in life. She manipulates the top industrialist Basant Somani into a relationship entirely on her terms. The industrialist’s wife Rajeshwari Devi is a kind-hearted woman of religious mindset who makes several attempts at cleaning up the mess from Aakash ’s life, but he fails her every time. The turn of events takes Aakash and Aarti to Haridwar where they rediscover their emotional connection but Aakash has already gone too far down the road of addiction. Can Aarti bring him back?