To the Lighthouse

Beautiful, popular, and fortunate, Anna Karenina is an upright wife and mother. But her passionless marriage to a senior statesman leads her into the arms of Count Alexey Vronsky. The dashing cavalry officer stokes in her something exciting and defiant. In abandoning the rules of her noble station, she's aware of the risks: a degraded reputation and the hostile recriminations of St. Petersburg society. But there are even greater stakes as Anna follows desires both romantic and carnal, emancipating and destructive.

Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of 'blush words' that aren't in the Bible. But when a tragic accident ruptures the family, her curiosity warps into a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies - unlocking a darkness that threatens to derail them all. 

Read by the critically acclaimed actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. When Esther Greenwood wins an internship at a New York fashion magazine in 1953, she is elated, believing she will finally realise her dream to become a writer. But in between the cocktail parties and piles of manuscripts, Esther's life begins to slide out of control. She finds herself spiralling into depression and eventually a suicide attempt as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take women's aspirations seriously.

This personal diary records the many small moments that constitute a life of harmony - with the self, the natural world, and friends, family and passersby. In these hours, we watch a wild plum blossom and the moon come up between two deodar trees; we hear a redstart whistle and the rain drum on a tin roof; we recognize the aftermath of loss and the consolation of old companions. A Book of Simple Living is a gift of beauty and wisdom from India's most loved and most understated writer. 

In 334 BC Alexander the Great begins his conquest of the Persian Empire. But his plans for everlasting glory do not end there, and the young king marches towards the Ends of the Earth - the lands of the Indus - on a secret quest. It will lead him to an ancient secret concealed in the myths of the Mahabharata - a secret that is powerful enough to transform him into a god. Present day. In Greece the ancient tomb of a queen is discovered, a tomb that has been an enigma for over 2,000 years.

Do you ever get the feeling that girls have it less easy than boys? Have you been told to behave 'like a girl’? That you should learn to cook and be nice and keep your legs crossed? Well, here are the stories of 56 women who broke the rules to forge new paths for themselves and others. Adventurous and ambitious, they fought battles and legal cases. They won elections and matches. They climbed mountains and mastered science. Best of all, they never stopped chasing their dreams.

Selected from the best of the world's short fiction, 50 Great Short Stories brings together writings by great masters of the genre. Carefully picked for their timeless quality, listeners are sure to be delighted by the inclusion of such favourites as 'The Gift of the Magi', 'The Lady with the Dog', 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'Rain' and 'Mrs Packletide's Tiger', to name but a few.

Danny Conroy grows up in the Dutch House, a lavish mansion. Though his father is distant and his mother is absent, Danny has his beloved sister Maeve: Maeve, with her wall of black hair, her wit, her brilliance. Life is coherent, played out under the watchful eyes of the house’s former owners in the frames of their oil paintings. Then one day their father brings Andrea home.  

By the time he was 20, Alok Kejriwal had his life preplanned for him. He would inherit the family’s socks manufacturing business and be the hardworking, money minting, quintessential Marwari businessman - forever. Except that it didn’t turn out that way. A few years after surviving the family setup, something turned up that sent Alok on a completely different career path: the INTERNET! A crazy business idea Alok had turned out to be a winner, and contests2win.com was born.

Like a couple of migratory birds, both Charlie and Edwin leave everything back in their village and settle for a new life in the big city. For Edwin, it was where he was going to chase his dreams of becoming an actor; but for Charlie, it was just another place to be with his only friend, to help him accomplish his dreams. However, life seems to have different plans, as it throws Charlie in the way of Aster, silently walking through instabilities of her own destiny.

Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing. As they grow into young men their bond blossoms into something far deeper – despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name.

He appears out of nowhere in a sleepy little neighbourhood in suburban Kerala. He calls himself Shunya, the zero. Who is he? A lunatic? A dark magician? A fraud? Or an avadhuta, an enlightened soul? Saami, as they call him, settles into a small cottage in the backyard of the local toddy shop. Here he spins parables, blesses, curses, drinks endless glasses of black tea and lives in total freedom. On rare occasions, he plays soul-stirring melodies on his old bamboo-reed flute. Then, just as mysteriously as he arrived, Shunya vanishes, setting the path for a new avadhuta, a new era.  

Heartfulness is an ideal, a spiritual way of living by and from the heart that is inclusive of all ideologies, beliefs and religions. In this heart-centered book, a student in conversation with his teacher, Kamlesh D. Patel - affectionately known as Daaji, the fourth and current spiritual guide of the century-old Heartfulness tradition - presents a unique method of meditation with the power to facilitate an immediate, tangible spiritual experience, irrespective of a person’s faith.

The Panchatantra is a collection of short stories from India, written more than 5,000 years ago! This is a collection of stories from that legendary collection. The stories inculcate moral values in children in a subtle and fun manner. Enjoy the stories, where plants and animals can converse with human beings too!

When the younger players in India's cricket team find out that advertising executive Zoya Singh Solanki was born at the very moment India won the World Cup back in 1983, they are intrigued. When having breakfast with her is followed by victories on the field, they are impressed. And when not eating with her results in defeat, they decide she's a lucky charm. The nation goes a step further. Amazed at the ragtag team's sudden spurt of victories, it declares her a goddess.