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The Vendor Of Sweets
At sixty Jagan is a prosperous widower, a sweet-vendor who contrives to combine handsome profits with highminded Gandhian...
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The Painter Of Signs
The Painter of Signs tells us the story Raman, a young painter of signboards, a bachelor who glories in his old-fashioned independence, whose work takes him all over Malgudi, and requires him to do business with some of the city's most important, as well as its most absurd, tradesmen. Raman is polite and businesslike with everyone - but underneath the small talk he conducts a quizzical dialogue with himself about his fellow humans and the meaning of their lives. Enter Daisy - an unlikely name for the ruthless but very attractive young woman who commissions Raman, on behalf of the population clinic she runs, to paint signs advocating two-child families. Together they travel around the neighboring country villages where Daisy preaches birth control. Raman is appalled by the hard-edged zeal she brings to her work, just as he is enthralled by her beauty and mysterious independence of spirit. They are obviously made for each other. Or are they? In this sardonic bittersweet tale of love in modern India, R. K. Narayan has created two of fiction's most endearing and unique young lovers, and an unsetting story about India at its best and worst....
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Sultry Days
On a sultry, rainy Bombay day Nisha, an impressionable teenager, meets God in the college canteen and falls in love with his ragged, bearded looks and crude, streetwise manners. God patronizingly accepts her into his 'group' and it is in this way that their long and passionate romance begins…. God's driving ambition leads him into the unreal world of pseudo poetry, art for hire and compromised journalism while Nisha lands a job in advertising. Sycophants, court jesters, whores, dirty old men, fixers, pretty boys and party girls drift in and out of their lives (and interrupt their romance!) as their careers take off with dizzying speed… And then, abruptly and harrowingly, everything about their lives goes wrong... 'Ms De shocks India, and much of its literary set like no other writer today' — New York Times...
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Nights In Rodanthe
At forty-five, Adrienne Willis must rethink her entire life when her husband abandons her for a younger woman. Reeling with heartache and in search of a respite, she flees to the small coastal town of Rodanthe, North Carolina, to tend to a friend's inn for the weekend. But when a major storm starts moving in, it appears that Adrienne's perfect getaway will be ruined -- until a guest named Paul Flanner arrives. Paul has just sold his medical practice and comes to Rodanthe to escape his own shattered past. Now, with the storm closing in, two wounded people will turn to each other for comfort - and, in one weekend, set in motion feelings which will affect the rest of their lives....
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The Japanese Lover
Parvathi leaves her native Ceylon for Malaya and an arranged marriage to a wealthy businessman. But her father has cheated, supplying a different girl’s photograph, and Kasu Marimuthu, furious, threatens to send her home in disgrace. Gradually husband and wife reach an agreement, and the naïve young girl learns to assume the air of sophisticated mistress of a luxurious estate. She even adopts his love child and treats Rubini as her own daughter – a generous act which is rewarded by a long-wished-for son. But it is a life without passion, and Parvathi dreams of loving – and being loved – with complete abandon. When the Japanese invade Malaya, in WW2, they requisition the estate. Marimuthu dies and Parvathi is forced to accept the protection of the Japanese general who has robbed her of her home. For the first time, she experiences passion. And gradually, her sworn enemy becomes the lover she has always yearned for. About the Author Rani Manicka’s first novel, The Rice Mother, won the South East Asia and South Pacific Region Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, has been translated into 22 languages, and received international acclaim....
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Tick Tock
Tick – a killer’s countdown begins... A rash of horrifying crimes tears through New York City, throwing it into complete chaos. Tick – can Michael Bennett catch him before... The city calls on Detective Michael Bennett, pulling him away from a seaside retreat with his ten adopted children, his grandfather, and their beloved nanny, Mary Catherine. Bennett enlists the help of a former colleague, FBI Agent Emily Parker. But as his affection for Emily grows into something stronger, his relationship with Mary Catherine takes an unexpected turn. Tock – your time is up? All too soon, another appalling crime leads Bennett to a shocking discovery that exposes the killer's pattern and the earth-shattering enormity of his plan. About the Author JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past decade – the Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club and Detective Michael Bennett novels – and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son. Random House. A Random House Group Company James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books specifically for young readers. James has formed a partnership with the National Literacy Trust, an independent, UK-based charity that changes lives through literacy. In 2010, he was voted Author of the Year at the Children’s Choice Book Awards in New York....
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The Next Always
The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. Beckett is the architect of the family, and his social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen. After losing her husband and returning to her hometown, Clare Brewster soon settles into her life as the mother of three young sons while running the town's bookstore. Busy, with little time for romance, Clare is drawn across the street by Beckett's transformation of the old inn, wanting to take a closer look at the building and the man behind it. With the grand opening inching closer, Beckett's happy to give Clare a private tour - one room at a time. It's no first date, but these stolen moments are the beginning of something new - and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next....
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The SME Whitebook 2011-2012
Businessworld’s 3rd edition of the SME Whitebook 2011-2012, reinforces the vital role it plays in the growth of Indian economy. The SME’s contribute 45% of industrial output, 40% of exports, employ 60 million people. They also create 1.3 million jobs every year and produce more than 8000 quality products for the Indian and international markets. Their contribution towards GDP in 2009 was 17% which is expected to increase to 22% by 2012. There are 26.1 million MSME Units in India and 12 million persons are expected to join the workforce in the next 3 years. The third edition of this book will cover new sectors like plastics, chemicals and handicrafts. It will also carry perspectives from SME industry experts on the growth and future of the industry. This year’s edition also contains a listing of over 50 SME’s in India.
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The Philosophy Of Sardar Jokes
Ik vaari ik sardar si... Koi vaddi gal nahin... Hun assaan saare Bante haan... The sardar joke has an unmatched originality, verve and versatility, not to mention a wild balle-balle undercurrent. Capturing all the affection and abandon that accompanies its best renditions, funny but not tawdry, an ode not a slur, this eclectic collection introduces readers to a hitherto unexplored dimension of sardar humour. Through the rustic foibles of Banta and his friends, we are gently reminded that the joke really is on us and all our pretensions. And if the American baseball star Yogi Berra can be hailed as a philosopher and his sayings celebrated as Yogi-isms, should our own Banta Singh’s glories be kept from their due? Hence Bantaism. Oye just enjway! About The Author Niranjan Ramakrishnan grew up in Delhi and lives in the USA. His articles on politics and current affairs have appeared in print and online publications in India and America. In other lives, he has worked for a bank and run two software companies.
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No Second Chance
'When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter...' A brilliant thriller from 'one of the most sheerly entertaining and accomplished writers in the genre [DAILY EXPRESS].
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One False Move
It should be a straightforward missing persons case... until the Mob are involved. An outstanding Myron Bolitar novel from the SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author of CAUGHT.
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The Woods
Paul Copeland's sister went missing twenty years ago. Now raising a daughter alone, after the death of his wife, Paul - known as Cope - balances family life with a career as a prosecutor. But when a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the past are threatening everything. Is this body one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer so long ago: his first love, Lucy, his mother who abandoned the family, and the secrets that his parents might have been hiding even from their own children. Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light. And can he find absolution?
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Darkest Fear
Edgar Award-winner Harlan Coben brings us his most astonishing—and deeply personal—novel yet. And it all begins when Myron Bolitar's ex tells him he's a father ... of a dying thirteen-year-old boy. Myron never saw it coming. A surprise visit from an ex-girlfriend is unsettling enough. But Emily Downing's news brings him to his knees. Her son Jeremy is dying and needs a bone-marrow transplant—from a donor who has vanished without a trace. Then comes the real shocker: The boy is Myron's son, conceived the night before her wedding to another man. Staggered by the news, Myron plunges into a search for the missing donor. But finding him means cracking open a dark mystery that involves a broken family, a brutal kidnapping spree, and the FBI. Somewhere in the sordid mess is the donor who disappeared. And as doubts emerge about Jeremy's true paternity, a child vanishes, igniting a chain reaction of heartbreaking truth and chilling revelation. About the Author Harlan Coben is the winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony awards. His critically acclaimed novels have been published in thirty-three languages around the world and have been number one bestsellers in more than half a dozen countries. In addition to the Myron Bolitar series (Deal Breaker, Drop Shot, Fade Away, Back Spin, One False Move, The Final Detail, Darkest Fear, and the upcoming Promise Me), he is also the author of Tell No One, Gone for Good, The Innocent, The Woods, and Hold Tight.
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The Average Indian Male
A riotous account of Indian men from India’s favourite funny man! Name: Average Indian Male; Latin name: manush, purush, aam aadmi, Bunty. Cyrus is back. And this time as agony aunt and master critic as he sets out to deconstruct a subject we’re all familiar with—the average Indian male. The mama’s boy, the groin scratcher, the man who holds hands with another man, Cyrus tackles these and many other quirks and shortcomings of Indian men in his inimitable style and unfailing logic. Join India’s best known funny man as he takes you on this laugh riot like never before. About The Author Cyrus Broacha is the most famous MTV VJ in India. He is also a stand-up comedian and prankster. Best known for his show Bakra on MTV, he has interviewed almost everyone in the Hindi film industry, from Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan. Cyrus presently anchors a news satire show, The Week That Wasn’t on CNN-IBN, co-written and directed by friend Kunal Vijayakar. He was a participant in Khatron ke Khiladi and also a judge for MTV Roadies.