Meri Jeewan Gatha [My Life Story]

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.

Amritalaal naagar kee lekhanee se haasy-vyang mishrit jin vibhinn rachanaaon kaa srijan huaa ve apane aap mein vilakṣhaṇ hain. Ye samay-samay par vividh patr-patrikaaon mein prakaashit huii theen. Unke kayi sangrah nikle jinhein behad pasand kiyaa gayaa.

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.  

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.

Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most memorable books in the face of the holocaust that Nazi Germany and its collaborators unleashed on European Jews between 1941 and 1945 across German-occupied Europe. Anne Frank was a German-born Jew hiding in Amsterdam with her family in 1942 when Nazis occupied Holland. She started keeping a diary in hiding - a diary she’d received for her 13th birthday from her parents.

The memoirs of distinguished writer Swayam Prakash trace his life journey from the time he started working, in 1966, to his voluntary retirement from his job, in 2003. Reflecting on his alternate vocation as a short-story writer, he confesses that many fascinating incidents, characters and conversations have slipped away from his prolific collections of stories. These memories have brought him moments of delight and laughter in solitude or an overwhelming sense of loss. This work is an endeavour to capture the gamut of cherished vignettes from his life. 

Philosopher and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti’s life has been a source of intrigue and curiosity for those who are acquainted with his oeuvre. In this Hindi translation of Krishnamurti: His Life and Death, Mary Lutyens shares a personal and philosophical account of his life, staying aligned with his beliefs about the world, the nature of knowledge, self, life and death. The translator, Mukesh Gupta, brings alive the author’s world-view through an apt adaptation of ideas into the cultural vision of another language.    

Well into his 50s, Jagan runs a shop of sweets. A Gandhian by principle, he himself has given up both sugar and salt and announces his desire for an austere life. He spends his days attempting to enlighten those around him with his interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, faltering when his listeners pose deeper questions. His son, Mali, quietly rebels against his father’s way of life and holds him responsible for his mother’s death due to his reluctance to allow treatment through modern medicine.  

In this brilliant and original book, Malcolm Gladwell explains and analyses the 'tipping point', that magic moment when ideas, trends and social behaviour cross a threshold, tip and spread like wildfire. Taking a look behind the surface of many familiar occurrences in our everyday world, Gladwell explains the fascinating social dynamics that cause rapid change. 

रस्किन बाॅन्ड ने एक बार कहा था कि वे भूत-प्रेत में विश्वास नहीं करते लेकिन उनको हर समय, हर जगह भूत नज़र आते -जंगल में, सिनेमा के बाहर भीड़ में और बार में। 

Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh was a great seer, sage and guru. He was alive between 1873 and 1931. People used to lovingly call him lalaji. During his lifetime, various religious organizations considered him a respected and revered personality. His grasp on Sufism is unparalleled. His vision and teachings present a revolutionary path into present-day spirituality and the means to attaining it. His deep study in the field of spirituality has allowed an ancient set up of Yoga to merge and blend seamlessly with 21st-century mores. 

 Meri Duniya Mere Dost is a collection of Hindi translations of Singh’s writings that consists of personal notes, memoirs, articles, philosophical musings and some wit from this beloved author whose career has spanned multiple decades. The work consists of five sections, each dedicated to an aspect of Singh’s life, giving us a glimpse of his world, his memories, his thoughts, and his eccentricities. 

R.K. Narayan’s reputation as one of the founding figures of Indian writing in English is re-examined in this comprehensive study of his fiction, which offers detailed readings of all his novels. Arguing against views that have seen Narayan as a chronicler of “authentic” Indianness, John Thieme locates his fiction in terms of its specific South Indian contexts and cultural geography and its non-Indian intertexts.

 Malgudi Ka Mehman is the Hindi translation of Narayan’s 1986 novel Talkative Man, where Narayan tells the story of an unnamed character: the titular ‘talkative man’ (TM), who, although living comfortably on the famous Kabir Street of Malgudi, works as a freelance journalist to satiate his passion for stories and conversations - much like Narayan himself during his early days as a journalist. 

Laghu kahaniyon ka yah sangrah samaaj ke badalte drishya saamne laata hai. Parampara aur dakiyanusi ke beech chalte sangharsh mein kiska palada bhaari hoga? Aham sawal uthaate yah qisse rozmarra ki zindagi ko samajhne ke vibhinn pehlu par prakash daalte hain. Dahej pratha ke kaaran na jaane kitne parivaar barbaad ho gaye iss desh mein, kayi nayi dulhanon ko iss laalach mein jala diya gaya aur log issi wajah se ghar mein paida huyi beti ko ek bojh samjhte hain.