Count among The Light of Asia's many, many admirers over 132 years: Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, Nehru and Ambedkar, Tolstoy and Kipling, Yeats and Eliot, Alfred Nobel, Dmitri Mendeleev and C V Raman. Jairam Ramesh reveals why he decided to write a book on Edwin Arnold, who wrote The Light of Asia.
'It is advisable for Indian interlocutors to follow the Chinese tactic of repeating the Indian position, both for the record and to test the Chinese negotiator's resolve and intentions.' A riveting excerpt from former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale's The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate With India.
'Children are curious by nature, so I thought of writing these books, which provide creative but convincing explanations and also teach values like sharing is caring,' Sudha Murty tells Chintan Girish Modi.
Rajiv Malhotra's plagiarism may not be as horrifying as impersonating an exam candidate in Indore -- but they're both forms of cheating.
In life, you always need that someone who directs you to the right path, who shows you the way. In my case, I was very fortunate it was Aditya Chopra.
'Here is a love story that every girl desires, but few get to live.'
An excerpt from Sara Naveed's book The World Between Us.
'Despite our being a part of a welfare state, benefits are not trickling down to the intended beneficiaries at the desired levels. People's aspirations about leading a dignified life are often met with challenges. One of them, primarily, being poverty'
'Name?' 'Amitabh.' 'Can't be only Amitabh. Amitabh what?' 'Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan.' Alarm bells. 'Are you related to Dr Bachchan?' 'Yes,' he hesitated, 'he is my father.' 'Then this contract cannot be signed today. He is my old friend. I cannot give you this contract without his permission.' A fascinating excerpt from K A Abbas's Sone Chandi Ke Buth.
Penguin Books India will publish the World Rapid champion's autobiography and a book on how to play chess.
Planning to throw a house party? Let Chef Shilarna Vaze inspire you with 3 easy recipes.
The British home secretary has granted permission for jeweller Nirav Modi's extradition to India. During their arguments in a London court, his lawyers claimed Modi suffers from mental illness and is a suicide risk if he was sent to Mumbai's Arthur Road jail. A fascinating excerpt from Danish Khan and Ruhi Khan's Escaped: True Stories Of Indian Fugitives In London.
How did a superstar provoke the break-up? 50 years later, the truth can finally be told. A revealing excerpt from Hanif Zaveri and Sumant Batra's An Actor's Actor: An Authorized Biography of Sanjeev Kumar.
'He destroyed many of our tanks, and finally, it was just the two of us left facing each other with our tanks just 200 m apart.' A tale of valour excerpted from Rachna Bisht Rawat's 1971: Charge Of The Gorkhas And Other Stories.
'Constitutional narratives are forged both inside and outside courtrooms,' says Rohit De.
'Amitabh practised Rang Barse well; the singing, movements, everything. And he got the inflections perfectly.'
'His contributions in setting up transparent precedents of governance are still basically intact despite the cynicism of several of his successors,' notes Jamini Bhagwati.
The attendee had to call into the conference call and say a few initial pleasantries to establish his/her presence, but could then leave the app to handle the rest once the Senior Company Bore began his monologue... A rib-tickling excerpt from Sanjeev Sanyal's Life Over Two Beers.
'Sridevi was known as this elusive movie star, but there was a ticking brain there that I don't think she got enough credit for.'
For a PM who hasn't completed even one term yet, the ability to spark a publishing trend single-handed is a remarkable achievement, writes Kanika Datta.
Another book on Hinduism by American indologist Wendy Doniger has come under attack from the same Delhi-based group which had compelled the publishers of an earlier work by her to withdraw the title.
'We can make all the noise we want to about being a tolerant society, but the reality is in front of us.'
Faced with a situation where the spouse's transferable job keeps taking the family to different locations, thus jeopardising their own careers, many women simply fall off their career track and resign themselves to relocation every time their husband gets transferred, says Sudha Menon.
'Absolute non-violence is not only sinful, but immoral.' 'This doctrine of non-violence benumbed the revolutionary fervor, softened the limbs and hearts of the Hindus, and stiffened the bones of enemies.' A revealing excerpt from Vikram Sampath's Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966.
Yamini has superpowers that help her intercept souls headed to heaven or the afterworld or for reincarnation and spirits them away, on another course, to those in need.
Generations of Indians don't quite grasp that there would barely be an India had it not been for the Sardar whose steadfastness and guile stitched together that which had been united only in philosophy and spirituality and sometimes not even then -- for thousands of years. A fascinating excerpt from Hindol Sengupta's The Man Who Saved India, Sardar Patel and His Idea of India.
It will never be possible to recreate an exact account of this epic battle to remember and honour other brave jawans, but one thing that the nation will always do is to bow down their heads in respect and reverence at the war memorial at Chushul called 'The Rezang La War Memorial -- Ahir Dham'.
'Will it lead to a full-scale war? I doubt it.' 'But I do think there will be some kind of limited conflict.'
'If you want to live a happy life, you have to help the downtrodden. You have to understand that you have been given a position which is a confluence of your own capability and the grace of God. You must use that position to exemplify to others what has to be followed.'
'The book was NOT banned. There were NO book burnings. There were NO riots. The author was NOT sent death-threats. On the contrary, the plaintiffs pursued due process. The case is a textbook example of how to proceed with civilised, democratic dissent,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Through the use of technology, the GSTN will tip the balance in favour of compliance rather than tax evasion, lowering the barriers for entry into the tax payment system while making it much harder to cheat on payments,' says Nandan Nilekani.
In any controversy, the participants cannot decide who is right or wrong. A democracy has a process in place to settle these disputes: the judiciary. Dinanath Batra in true democratic fashion availed of that opportunity citizen and Penguin's decision was the outcome of a legitimate legal battle, says Vivek Gumaste.
This property has all the hallmarks of being owned and occupied by Vijay Mallya. A fleet of supercars making their way down the drive, hordes of people descending to party all night long and a constant delivery of goods and services.
Colouring books for adults are helping people loosen up and rediscover their childhood.
Seeing Durgamasura ready for a war, the goddess appeared in her warrior form. Let's celebrate the beginning of Navratri with this lovely excerpt from Nava Durga.
I kept insisting that Rs 100 notes were in short supply and there was an urgent need to augment the supply of 100 rupee notes while also rapidly bringing into circulation the proposed new Rs 500 notes. But this was easier said than done because all the note printing machines of the RBI were programmed for printing Rs 2,000 notes and required at least three weeks before the machines could print the new Rs 500 currency notes. The availability of currency paper posed another major bottleneck, and it had to be imported. It was decided to immediately start printing the Rs 500 notes. It was only when the supply of the new Rs 500 notes started improving and the process of change of cassettes at the ATMs gathered momentum that the situation began limping back to normal. A fascinating excerpt from former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar's The Custodian of Trust: A Banker's Memoir, five years after demonetisation, November 8.
Sir Mark Tully on the magic of Indian elections. A fascinating excerpt from The Great March of Democracy: Seven Decades of India's Elections.
As a parent, there can be nothing worse than hearing your child diagnosed with cancer. When Emraan Hashmi's four-year-old bundle of joy, Ayaan, was diagnosed with cancer in early 2014, it shattered his universe and that of his wife, Parveen.
Indian politics, held captive in one way or the other by Ayodhya, may now well seek its emancipation from this issue, and the pursuit of welfare, asserts Congress leader Salman Khurshid in this excerpt from his latest book, Sunrise over Ayodhya.
