Asura (Hindi Edition)

The Mahabharata endures as the great epic of India. But while Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra, Ajaya is the narrative of the ‘unconquerable’ Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man. At the heart of India’s most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, is struggling to maintain the unity of his empire. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen - Gandhari.

The second book in the Ajaya series, Kali ka Uday tells the story of the vanquished in the epic war Mahabharata. The book narrates the story from the point of view of the Kauravas. The story starts with the Kaurava prince Duryodhana challenging Krishna before the apocalyptic war breaks out. The author describes a city waiting with bated breadth for the outcome of the war. While women, noblemen, priests and humble beings helplessly watch the war and its consequences unfold in front of them, the greedy traders circle the skies in anticipation of what's to come next.

It is an irony of fate that despite being an extremely important and immortal character in the saga of Mahabharata, Ashwatthama has always been neglected. There are other characters in puranic literature, including Ashwatthama, who are considered immortal. But where other characters have received immortality in the form of a boon, Ashwatthama received in the form of a curse! 

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age - the Kaliyug. In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer.

In the Republic of Vaishali - which comprises eight different states and is run by their elected representatives - lives the beautiful Ambapali. Considered to be the most beautiful woman in the whole republic, she is eventually forced to dedicate herself to the republic as a Nagarvadhu (literally, the wife of the city). She, however, demands various privileges in exchange for this and is granted all of them by the authorities, with the condition that she must fulfil her duties well.  

द्रौपदी महाभारत ही नहीं, भारतीय जीवन तथा संस्कृति का एक अत्यन्त विलक्षण और महत्वपूर्ण चिरत्र है-परन्तु साहित्य ने अब तक उसे प्रायः छुआ नहीं था।

2017, Delhi – Vidyut’s dying ancestor summons him to Banaras. The old Brahmin chieftain of the Dev-Raakshasa Matth, or the God-Demon Clan, bears a chilling secret. Their bloodline carries an ancient curse that will plague mankind - towards its own violent extinction. 1700 BCE, Harappa – Harappa is a magnificent city on the banks of the mighty Saraswati river. The darkness of treachery, taantric exorcism and bloodshed unleashes itself on the last devta, paving the way for his devastating revenge…and the horrifying truth behind the fall of the glorious civilisation.

Many modern scholars say Shiva’s linga is a phallic symbol. Most devotees disagree. Who is right? This book looks at the sexual metaphors associated with Shiva and uncovers the meaning beneath.

The story of Yayati is perhaps one of the most intriguing and fascinating episodes of Mahabharata. Yayati was a great scholar and one of the noblest rulers of olden times. He followed the shastras and was devoted to the welfare of his subjects. Even the king of gods, Indra, held him in high esteem. Married to seductively beautiful Devyani, in love with her maid Sharmishtha, and father of five sons from two women, Yayati unabashedly declared, 'My lust for pleasure is unsatisfied'. His quest for the carnal continued.

Kitne Pakistan? is a 2000 Hindi novel by Kamleshwar, a noted 20th-century Hindi writer. A pioneer of the Nayi Kahani (New Story) movement of the 1950s, and later a screenwriter for Hindi cinema, Kamleshwar’s novel, employing allegory and realism, deals with a vast expanse of human history, as it follows the rise of sectarianism, nationalism, Hindutva and communalism. Kitne Pakistan? casts doubts about the true motives of the people who make decision on behalf of and for common people, who throughout history have been bearing the brunt of their decision.

In 1707, when Emperor Aurangzeb went to his grave, the Mughal empire began to crack into a hundred fractured pieces. It was the lure of the Deccan that drained this conqueror’s energies, putting him on a course of collision with his most threatening adversaries. After all, the Deccan was a land that inspired wonder. Its treasures were legendary, and its kings magnificent. It was a horizon of rousing adventure, attracting talent from beyond oceans.

The year is 340 BC. A hunted, haunted Brahmin youth vows revenge for the gruesome murder of his beloved father. Cold, calculating, cruel and armed with a complete absence of accepted morals, he becomes the most powerful political strategist in Bharat and succeeds in uniting a ragged country against the invasion of the army of that demigod Alexander the Great. Pitting the weak edges of both forces against each other, he pulls off a wicked and astonishing victory and succeeds in installing Chandragupta on the throne of the mighty Mauryan empire.

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution - a number one international best seller - that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human”.

Shiva, ‘the destroyer’ among the Hindu trinity (of gods), is depicted in many contradictory manners. He is an ascetic who wears animal skin, his body smeared with ashes. Contradictory to his wild nature, he is also depicted as having a family, with a beautiful wife and two children. There are many more such varied representations of Shiva, the most prominent of these being the Linga and the Nataraja. The author, Devdutt Pattanaik, introduces listeners to these varied aspects and representations and then sets about interpreting them.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet , is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1602. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother. Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others".