Book Category: Featured Books

In this unique fusion of poetry, painting, and philosophy, mantra, yantra, and tantra, Makarand R. Paranjape attempts “bridging the human and the divine.” A compelling read.
—Abhay K., poet, translator, and India’s ambassador to Madagascar

Identity’s Last Secret offers its confluent wisdom to every reader. As we traverse varied windows of consciousness in time and circumstance, we will find our deepest impulses reflected in the layered unfolding of this book.
—Vandana Kohli, author, and filmmaker

Identity’s Last Secret is a book where well-sculpted words combine with sensuality and spirituality to create art – it is visual poetry that is simple yet elegant. It gives an anubhava that is so deep that it gets embodied in our DNA and opens the third eye – it goes beyond realms of the conscious mind and a new knowing is realised. The work needs applause for the clarity of description at each milestone and the rawness with which every emotion – be it betrayal, anger, avarice, or sexuality – has been depicted.

This book cannot be read simply as a compilation of immaculate theories which leads one to perfect conclusions. It goes beyond literary theory, known myths and metaphysics. It bridges the human and the divine and the author finds his true self by accepting all aspects of existence and exploring all that he has lived and experienced. It tells us about the uncertainty of living a life while keeping the central theme as love. It shows us that, unlike powerplay, love is the only emotion where submission does not involve humiliation.

When A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada entered the port of New York City on 17 September 1965, few Americans took notice--but he was not merely another immigrant. He was on a mission to introduce ancient teachings of Vedic India to mainstream America. Before Srila Prabhupada passed away at the age of eighty-one on 14 November 1977, his mission was successful. He had founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), colloquially known as the 'Hare Krishna Movement', and saw it grow into a worldwide confederation of more than 100 temples, ashrams and cultural centers.This is the inspirational story of Srila Prabhupada. As the founder of ISKCON, he 'emerged as a major figure of Western counterculture, initiating thousands of young Americans'.He has been described as a charismatic leader who was successful in acquiring followers in many countries, including the United States, Europe and India. Srila Prabhupada's story is bound to put you on a path of self-realization.

In 1920s Shanghai, Zhou Enlai founded the first Chinese communist spy network, operating in the shadows against nationalists, Western powers and the Japanese. The story of Chinese spies has been a global one from the start.

Unearthing previously unseen papers and interviewing countless insiders, Roger Faligot's astonishing account reveals nothing less than a century of world events shaped by Chinese spies. Working as scientists, journalists, diplomats, foreign students and businessmen, they have been everywhere, from Stalin's purges to 9/11. This murky world has swept up Ho Chi Minh, the Clintons and everyone in between, with the action moving from Cambodia to Cambridge, and from the Australian outback to the centres of Western power.

In the twenty-first century, the Chinese intelligence services, an umbrella term that includes several organisations, rival the largest in the world: the American CIA, the Israeli Mossad, the Indian R&AW, the French DGSE, Britain's MI6, and of course the other intelligence services in the region, such as the Taiwanese MJIB and the Japanese Naicho.

This fascinating narrative exposes the sprawling tentacles of the world's largest intelligence service, from the very birth of communist China to Xi Jinping's absolute rule today

The Vedic way of life is much more powerful and a lot simpler than you have ever imagined.

Born and raised in India, Prof. P.R. Mukund teaches electrical engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. Like most people, he was also full of misconceptions about the Vedic way of life.

On a trip to India in 1993, he met the renowned Vedic scholar Dr Bannanje Govindacharya and thus began his transformation. Till then, Prof. Mukund held the belief that it was the shishya (disciple) who searches for a guru (teacher); but after meeting Dr Govindacharya, he realized that the universe works the other way round—the guru finds the shishya. Just as a transformer in a mobile phone charger brings down the high voltage to a manageable level and charges a device, the guru funnels the infinite knowledge and energy present in the universe, matches it to the disciple’s level of intake and pours it into them.

From mopping floors as a janitor after moving to the US in the ’70s to becoming an engineer, Prof. Mukund is now helping cleanse people’s minds using Vedic science. In this book, he explains how the ten gunas—jnana, bhakti, vairagya, pragnya, medha shakti, dhriti, stithi, yoga, prana and bala—completely transformed his life and how they can transform yours too. He has put countless individuals on the path of fulfilment by helping them connect with the knowledge and wisdom gained from not only this but also previous lifetimes.

This book is about values reborn, knowledge regained and bliss reimagined.

Misrakesi, Acharya Chanakya’s scribe in the Mauryan Palace, part of the royal administration; Misrakesi, with child, carrying the future Senapati of the Mauryans; Misrakesi, the new wife, trying to fit into one of the most powerful families in the kingdom while battling both assassins and more intimate threats to her own happiness with Pushyamitra. This is the new reality of the dancing girl from Ujjain, who had first come to this city of secrets with only revenge on her mind. In this sequel to Urnabhih, book one, Misrakesi finds herself vulnerable at the centre of a political chakravyuh. Her child, her husband, her family, and her very existence all seem to be pawns in an unseen but lethal game of power swirling around her.

With bags packed and nowhere to go, Tara's plans are crushed by the COVID pandemic. Waiting it out at home and watching tragic deaths around her makes her furious and helpless at the same time. An animated conversation with her grandfather about the impending vaccination, adds fuel to the fire!

India enabled vaccination, Nana claims. What an absurd thing to say! More than seven decades after independence there is hardly any infrastructure in place to respond to this pandemic. It is impossible that a dilapidated system like this can make such a tall claim. Tara sets out to prove Nana wrong.

What she discovers in the process boggles her mind and shatters her world view. The colonial plunder and erasure of Indic knowledge extended far beyond her imagination!

PRAISE for SHITALA:

Mitra has taken up a complex subject, peeled back all but the critical core and has set out the fundamental truths of Dharma in a simple, understandable, and enjoyable form. Shitala is a fascinating read. After all, as observed by great Mark Twain, "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't."

Foreword - Nilesh Nilkanth Oak: Bestselling author of Rama Ravana Yudh - 12209 BCE

Mitra Desai combines ineluctable historic facts cocooned inside the story of a family that could be almost any Indian family. It is woven around a delightful story in exactly the same way that our own Indian epics and narratives inform us of our past via the medium of enchanting stories. Thank you for writing this Mitra Desai. I recommend this book to all Indians. You will not regret reading it.

Dr Shiv Sastry: Surgeon and author of Aryan Invasion: Myth or Fact? Uncovering the evidence.

Want to educate the masses? Do it through storytelling like 'Shitala'! This book is an eye-opener as it narrates the Ayurvedic references of Shitala, Masurika and contemporary references of their Bharatiya treatment in a refreshing manner. The author has made an extraordinary effort to show unknown historical facts, the light of day. I congratulate her and thank her as well on behalf of the entire Ayurvediya Vaidya fraternity.

Dr Pareexit Shevde: MD (Ayu.) and author of Gharoghari Ayurved.

The wise physicians explained the mechanisms that intertwine the deepest truths of our immune system, physiology, and microbiome with the larger ecosystems around us. All we have to do is listen and connect with the evidence collected from centuries of medical experience. As Ayurveda whispers quietly, the profound teachings in the ancient chapter on janapada-uddhvansa will again come alive as it has in Nana's heart.

Dr Bhaswati Bhattacharya: MPH MD PhD, Physician, Fulbright Specialist in Public Health and author of Everyday Ayurveda.

Studies in Ancient Tamil Law and Society ‘Padma Bhushan’ Dr. R. Nagaswamy This anthology is a revised edition of the author's 1978 classic. This series of essays, containing his original research in various fields, throws light on the socio-cultural landscape of Tamil Nadu spanning several centuries. These compelling episodes will appeal to scholars and laymen alike. “When superstitious mediaevalists mislead the country about its judicial past, we have to search for truth in stone and honesty in metal, and not in man and his lips. Dr. R. Nagaswamy unearthing the law in practice has patriotic relevance.” — Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer “...this book, profiting from the linguistic, historical, and epigraphical skill of its author, broadens our horizon...and adds to that much food for reflexion on the part of those who...yearn for a genuine Indian jurisprudence.” — Prof. J. Duncan M. Derrett

In May 1999, the Kargil insurgency was still being viewed as a routine affair. No one quite understood the magnitude of the situation. However, it soon emerged that infiltrators had captured high-altitude posts vacated by Indian soldiers during the winter months and thus had a tactical upper hand, while the Indian Army struggled with intelligence.For the next month or so, Capt. Anuj Nayyar and the men of 17 Jat went on various reconnaissance missions in the boulder-strewn Drass sector where enemy troops had set up base. They fought relentlessly in a gruesome battle for two nights in July, before securing the peak that was critical to the success of Operation Vijay and India's victory in Kargil. Amid heavy artillery and mortar fire, they destroyed four enemy bunkers and neutralized tens of infiltrators in close combat. During the attack on the fourth bunker, the twenty-three-year-old captain was hit by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade, dying instantly but saving the lives of fifteen men in the process, who eventually finished the mission and hoisted the Indian flag on the peak.For motivating his command by personal example and going beyond the call of duty, Capt. Anuj Nayyar was awarded India's second-highest gallantry award, the Maha Vir Chakra, in 2000. This is his story.

In the east, a pirate king finds his plans foiled by a formidable force of nature.In the north, a majestic mountain range emerges from a demon's tantrum. In the west, a sea keeps a city safely hidden in its deep waters. In the south, the avatar of a god gives a forest its name. Long ago, before science came up with explanations for the events that occurred in nature, people turned to stories to make sense of the wondrous workings of the natural world. And so, a life-giving stream became the gift of a goddess, a hot spring arose from the breath of a celestial snake and a heap of broken boulders served as a testament to a divine battle. Zigzagging through myths, folklore, local history and geological theories, this extraordinary book draws fascinating connections between ancient tales and the science behind the spectacular geography of India. Join Nalini Ramachandran on a most unusual, adventure-filled expedition up, down and across the country's varied terrain!

A love story for the ages.Drawn to beauty, sweetness, and the softer things in life, the young devi Sati is about to choose her vahana, the vehicle that would be the symbol of her identity. But before she can, her world is shaken by the arrival of Rudra, the snake-wearing intoxicated Adi Yogi, who haunts cremation grounds and consorts with wild ganas.When they meet, sparks fly. He is her opposite in every way but all she feels is a strong attraction even as their personalities clash. When family pressure compels Sati to choose her husband, she has to decide whether she can accept the darker, fiercer aspects of herself that Rudra brings out.However, a cataclysmic tragedy forever alters Devaloka, tearing the lovers apart. From the ashes of the aftermath the young devi emerges once more-this time as Parvati. Given a new chance at life, at determining her fate, Parvati makes a fateful vow to win the heart of Rudra. Can she succeed once again?

Ever wondered what made Lord Krishna marry the 16,100 women held captive by a demon? Of these prisoners, one was Princess Abhaya Dhaarmaseni, and this is the story of her adventures through the Mahabharata.The princess of a little-known kingdom in western Bharatavarsha, Abhaya's idyllic life is thrown into disarray owing to the run-up to the Rajasuya announced by King Yudhishtira of Indraprastha. The only hope is her friend Krishna Vaasudeva of Dwaraka. But there is a greater danger lurking in eastern Bharatavarsha. Lord Bhauma of Kamarupa (who later is infamously known as Narakasura) plots to use religion to extend his dominion that wrecks Abhaya's kingdom and kills her father. What is Bhauma's plan? How does a lone princess stand up against this sinister zealot? Caught up in the larger hustle of the Rajasuya, can Krishna reach her on time to prevent the disaster?

She wants to kill the man whom others call God. However, love unwittingly becomes an obstacle in her sworn path. With her father's death shattering her world, Mauri is torn away from everything she had once loved. Anger has replaced every emotion within her, and she seeks only one thing-to kill her father's killer. Even if the man is none other than Krishna Vaasudeva, the man whom people worship as God.Someone is standing in the way though, reining in her bitterness when she is least prepared for it-the rakshasa prince Ghatotkacha! But by the time love sprouts within her, Mauri has gone too far in her thirst for vengeance and has endangered Kamarupa, the high seat of the Supreme Goddess.Does Ghatotkacha realise the true intentions of his lover? Can Mauri fight her own monsters and defend the temple? Can she save herself and Ghatotkacha before both their worlds are destroyed? Can Mauri fight her own monsters and defend the temple?Can Mauri save herself and Ghatotkacha before both their worlds are destroyed?

In July 1765 Robert Clive, in a letter to Sir Francis Sykes, compared Gomorrah favourably to Calcutta, then capital of British India. He wrote: 'I will pronounce Calcutta to be one of the most wicked places in the Universe.'Drawing upon the letters, memoirs and journals of traders, travellers, bureaucrats, officials, officers and the occasional bishop, Doolally Sahib and the Black Zamindar is a chronicle of racial relations between Indians and their last foreign invaders, sometimes infuriating but always compelling. A multitude of vignettes, combined with insight and analysis, reveal the deeply ingrained conviction of 'white superiority' that shaped this history. How deep this conviction was is best illustrated by the fact that the British abandoned a large community of their own children because they were born of Indian mothers. The British took pride in being outsiders, even as their exploitative revenue policy turned periodic drought and famine into horrific catastrophes, killing impoverished Indians in millions.There were also marvellous and heart-warming exceptions in this extraordinary panorama, people who transcended racial prejudice and served as a reminder of what might have been had the British made India a second home and merged with its culture instead of treating it as a fortune-hunter's turf.The power was indisputable-the British had lost just one out of 18 wars between 1757 and 1857. Defeated repeatedly on the battlefield, Indians found innovative and amusing ways of giving expression to resentment in household skirmishes, social mores and economic subversion. When Indians tried to imitate the sahibs, they turned into caricatures; when they absorbed the best that the British brought with them, the confluence was positive and productive. But for the most part, subject and ruler lived parallel lives.From the celebrated writer of the bestselling Gandhi's Hinduism, the Struggle Against Jinnah's Islam comes this extensively researched and utterly engrossing book, which is easy to pick up and difficult to put down.

19वीं शताब्दी में भारत के उस मध्य भाग में आदिवासी अत्यंत बदहाली और अंधकार का जीवन जी रहे थे, जो अब झारखंड राज्य कहलाता है। औपनिवेशिक सत्ता ने स्थानीय षड्यंत्रकारियों की मदद से उनके चारों ओर अत्याचार और शोषण का जाल बुन दिया था, जो किसी जल्लाद के फंदे की तरह कसता जा रहा था। जो कुछ उनके दिल के क़रीब था, यानी उनकी भूमि, घर, इतिहास, परंपराएं, धर्म और परिवार, वो महारानी के लिए भव्य, लेकिन बेरहम साम्राज्य बनाने की व्यापक औपनिवेशिक योजना का शिकार हो गया था। लोगों को हालाँकि जब धूल में मिलाया जाता है और उनकी पहचान पूरी तरह ख़त्म होने का ख़तरा पैदा हो जाता है, तो वे गर्जना के साथ तपिश भरी, क्रोधित आग की तरह इतने भड़क उठते हैं कि यह साम्राज्य के दिल में भीतर तक गूँजने लगता है और सत्ता में बैठे लोगों में भय से सिहरन दौड़ जाती है। यह एक ऐसी आग होती है जो विद्रोह को जन्म देती है। ऐसे ही एक विद्रोह के केंद्र में थे पच्चीस साल के युवा बिरसा मुंडा। उन्होंने अपने समुदाय और उसके लोगों की ज़िंदगियों की रक्षा के लिए आदिवासियों की लड़ाई का नेतृत्व करने का फ़ैसला किया। शेर दिल योद्धा, कल्याणकर्ता, आध्यात्मिक मार्गदर्शक और एक भुला दिया गया नायक। सच्ची घटनाओं पर आधारित, साहस की यह वीर गाथा बिरसा मुंडा के जीवन को एक श्रद्धांजलि है, जिन्होंने अपने अत्यंत संक्षिप्त जीवन में आदिवासी समुदाय को संगठित किया और ज़बरन धर्मांतरण के ख़िलाफ़ विद्रोह किया। उन्होंने भेदभाव रहित और अधिक न्यायपूर्ण समाज की कल्पना की और इसके लिए लड़ते हुए अपनी जान न्योछावर कर दी। यह किताब एक आदिवासी नायक की रोमांचकारी कहानी है जिसका इतिहास की ज़्यादातर किताबें उल्लेख नहीं करतीं। स्वतंत्रता के लिए देश के संघर्ष में उनके योगदान को कभी भुलाया नहीं जा सकता।

In 19th century India, deep in the heart of what is now the state of Jharkhand, the Adivasis have been leading a life of absolute misery and darkness. The colonial state, with the help of its scheming local collaborators, has cast a net of abuse and exploitation that is tightening around these Adivasis, much like a hangman’s noose does. Everything they hold dear – their land, homes, history, traditions, religion, families – has fallen victim to the grand colonial plan of building a magnificent but merciless empire for the Queen. However, when a people are all but crushed into dust and their identities threatened with a complete erasure, they erupt like a hot, angry whiplash of fire with a roaring so loud that it reverberates in the very heart of the empire and sends a frisson of fear up the spines of those in power. A fire that stokes a rebellion. And at the heart of this rebellion is the twenty-five-year-old Birsa Munda. He decides what must be done to save his community and leads the Adivasis in fighting back to reclaim their lives. A lion-hearted warrior. Healer. Spiritual guide. A forgotten hero. Based on true events, this epic tale of courage is a tribute to the life of Birsa Munda, who in his very short life, mobilized the tribal community, rebelled against forced conversions, envisioned a fairer, more just society and died fighting for it. A thrilling account that chronicles what most history books don’t mention, The Legend of Birsa Munda is the story of a subaltern tribal hero, whose contribution to India’s struggle for independence must never be forgotten.