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Ramayana Versus Mahabharata
t is a popular belief that the Ramayana is idealistic, while the Mahabharata is realistic. Yet these two epics have identical building blocks, identical themes, and identical history. In this ground-breaking book, Devdutt Pattanaik, India’s most popular mythologist, explores the similarities and dissimilarities between the two epics in a ‘playful analysis’ accompanied by his signature illustrations. Whether it is the family structure, forest exile, or war, the comparison between the two epics proves a startling point—the Mahabharata is in fact a reaction to the events in the Ramayana. Ideas in this book are distributed over 56 chapters. In temple ritual, Vishnu is offered 8 different meals daily, different on all seven days of the week—56 dishes in all. May each chapter serve as a mouth-watering offering to the Vishnu within you.
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DareDreamers A Start-up of Superheroes
India’s first start-up of superheroes with a mission of saving lives is here to kick ass. Rasiq is riding the highs of life thanks to his successes as an investment banker. But his arrogance soon gets the better of him and he ends up losing everything he holds dear. Managing to salvage only his grit from the wreckage, Rasiq reboots his life and teams up with five uniquely talented superheroes to start a rescue venture—DareDreamers. These superheroes—Nick: a crazy inventor; Halka: an inhumanly strong man; Arjun: a champion shooter; Natasha: a Bollywood stunt-double; Dr Vyom, a medical Sherlock Holmes; and, of course, Rasiq: the mastermind—combine their unique talents to deliver spectacular rescue operations. Their skyrocketing success, however, comes at a price—an enemy hell bent on tearing down their fame and reputation. Will DareDreamers defeat its wily adversary? Or will it become yet another failed start-up? Treachery, action and adventure come alive to make DareDreamers a page-turner.
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Newsman:Tracking India in the Modi Era
The rise of Narendra Modi has heralded one of the most exciting and contentious periods in Indian politics. From the day he was sworn in as prime minister in May 2014, Mr. Modi has dominated the news cycle, attracting admirers and critics in equal measure. Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition too have slowly begun to find their voice even as the country is conflicted between a billion aspirations and rising mutinies. Who will win the big battle for 2019 as the Indian Political League enters the final stretch? What defines the Modi persona? How will the deep divisions in society be bridged? What are the challenges ahead of a ‘new’ India? And what of the lingering credibility crisis confronting the Indian media? As one of the country’s leading journalists with a ringside view to Indian politics, Rajdeep Sardesai’s incisive analysis of contemporary events decodes the key questions of our times.
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Rasia The Dance Of Desire
Two women wait for him at two different ends of the crossroads. He knows which path is his, but he can’t walk that path till he has attended to the other. One perfect couple. An obsessed seductress. A Bharatanatyam show in Manhattan, New York. One hell of a love story. Raj Shekhar Subramanian and Manasi, both Bharatanatyam dancers, are made for each other. Till an obsessed fan, Vatsala Pandit, enters their lives, testing the man’s character and his wife’s patience. But then why does Manasi invite Vatsala to her Bharatanatyam show, for a dance of passion with her husband—the very man vatsala wants to take from her? Why did Shekhar agree to take in Vatsala as his student in the first place? This singular love story deftly explores the many facets of love—mutual trust, obsessiveness, the arrogance of passion, the need for self-fulfilment, the yearning for the beloved and the complexity of modern relationships.
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The Chakrata Cat
As the light came on, I saw the cat standing at the foot of the bed, tail erect and hair on end. It was very angry. And then…its appearance changed and its head was that of a human—a woman, black-browed with flaring nostrils and large crooked ears, her lips full and drenched with blood—my blood!This is a collection of some of Ruskin Bond’s most pithy short stories ranging from eerie suspense to touching empathy. There’s a bloodthirsty cat in a colonial rest house; an uncle who carries a vial of deadly arsenic with him; a mysterious woman whose seven husbands have disappeared one after another; and the touching tales of animals in the wilderness and their lonely struggle for survival against humans.Captivating and addictive, The Chakrata Cat will keep you enthralled till the end.
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Hit for a Six
Thirteen-year-old Laila is mad about cricket, but ever since her favourite player admitted to match-fixing, she wonders if she could love the game again. All this is complicated further when she discovers that her school is going to be home to the town’s first ever girls’ cricket club. Can her hero’s betrayal and her love for the game coexist? Meanwhile, working on a school project about their town’s historical spots, Laila and her friends stumble upon a series of apparently unrelated questions that point to a mystery just begging to be solved. What is the secret behind the new owners of Laila's erstwhile secret hideout, old mister Marshall's house? Who are the anonymous benefactors who have sponsored the renovation of Laila's school? What is the secret behind the new girl jasmine’s grumpiness and why is she so good at cricket? Laced with a niggling mystery, some nail-biting cricket and a few precarious friendships, this book is sure to leave you asking for more.
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The Evolution of Ghalib
One of the most oft-quoted poets of the nineteenth century, Ghalib was an intellectual colossus, whose poetry is imbued with timelessness and universality. Born and brought up in North India, he wrote both in his mother tongue, Urdu and in Persian, the established and privileged language of literature and officialdom. He wrote exquisite prose, but is better known for his poetry, particularly his Urdu ghazals. In The Evolution of Ghalib, the author, Hasan Abdullah, provides a detailed introduction that describes Ghalib’s life history and brings out his persona and situates his work in time and space. He briefly discusses the Urdu language and ghazal as a literary form and familiarizes the reader with the words, symbols and concepts crucial for understanding Ghalib’s poetry. Based on a chronological reading of Ghalib’s Urdu ghazals, the author identifies the different stages and phases of the poet’s development and from each of these phases, selects and interprets verses, including those that differ from the dominant trend, in order to reveal Ghalib’s intellectual evolution. The book aims to make reading and understanding of Ghalib’s Urdu ghazals a pleasurable and enlightening experience.
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CHALLENGE YOUR MIND
Derek O’Brien has been synonymous with quizzing for three decades now. Starting as a quizmaster who worked on weekends conducting quizzes, he went from strength to strength and started his own quiz and knowledge company—Derek O’Brien & Associates. Over the years, Derek and his colleagues have conducted tens of thousands of quiz shows. In this book, he has chosen some of the best, most challenging and most informative questions that were asked in his path-breaking and entertaining Bournvita Quiz Contest series, as well as other quizzes conducted in schools. With this book, get ready to learn interesting facts across a range of subjects and to challenge your mind with the incomparable Derek O’Brien.
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UP YOUR SALES IN A DOWN MARKET
All you need to know to increase your sales! Can you sell more even when the market is down? The answer from Ron Volper is a big "Yes." As a successful entrepreneur and sales executive with three decades in business, Ron has written an easy-to-follow, hands-on guide that will help sales rookies, struggling reps, and even top-performing salespeople boost their company’s revenues faster than they think is possible. Based on extensive field research with the best-of-the-best sales pros, Up Your Sales in a Down Market offers 20 clearly defined selling strategies, plus hundreds of examples and sample dialogues that teach salespeople and sales managers exactly how to: • Win over cautious customers even in a down market • Overcome customer fears and objections so they are ready to buy • Avoid and bounce back from a sales slump • Prepare and present business presentations that close more and bigger sales • Lead and train sales teams based on the winning habits of top-performing salespeople
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Best Stories from Around the World
Best Stories from Around the World is a collection of timeless pieces from the world’s greatest storytellers—Oscar Wilde, O’ Henry, Saki, H.G. Wells, Conan Doyle, Washington Irving and many more. Hailing from different countries such as America, Ireland, the United Kingdom and India, this book is an entertaining consolidation of diverse stories which cover a broad range of topics
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JOURNEY DOWN THE YEARS
s a novelist and storyteller, I have always drawn upon my memories of places that I have known and lived in over the years. More than most writers, perhaps, I find myself drawing inspiration from the past—my childhood, adolescence, youth, early manhood... The stories and the poems float in through my window, float in from the magic mountains, and the words appear on the page
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RELATIVITY The Special and the General Theory
Along with quantum mechanics in the 1920s, Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (1905) and General Theory of Relativity (1916) stand as the supreme achievements of twentieth-century physics. In simplest terms, the theory of Relativity is an approach to the measurement and study of space and time. The theory assumes that findings are based upon the relation of the frame of
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THE ONLY LEADERSHIP BOOK YOU’LL EVER NEED
In this fascinating book, you will learn about the 10 key attributes that differentiate best-of-the-best organizations (those in the top quartile) from the other three-quarters of the companies that comprise the rest of the pack. You will read about the 11 stupid things managers do to undermine workplace excellence and what can be done to recover from those mistakes and move into a positive leadership role. If you are a leader who is focused on the future and understands that you can’t reach your full leadership potential without the commitment and loyalty of engaged employees, read on!
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Perfect Communication
Terry O’Brien’s Perfect series is the ultimate enabler for professional and personal success. Easy-to-read, concise and full of easily actionable advice, this new series will aid readers in mastering the little things and becoming ‘perfect’. A best-selling author and motivational trainer, Terry O’Brien shares with his readers his own hands-on learning experience and illustrates how small changes can make a big difference in achieving goals.
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Perfect CV
Terry O’Brien’s Perfect series is the ultimate enabler for professional and personal success. Easy-to-read, concise and full of easily actionable advice, this new series will aid readers in mastering the little things and becoming ‘perfect’. A best-selling author and motivational trainer, Terry O’Brien shares with his readers his own hands-on learning experience and illustrates how small changes can make a big difference in achieving goals.
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Perfect Leader
Terry O’Brien’s Perfect series is the ultimate enabler for professional and personal success. Easy-to-read, concise and full of easily actionable advice, this new series will aid readers in mastering the little things and becoming ‘perfect’. A best-selling author and motivational trainer, Terry O’Brien shares with his readers his own hands-on learning experience and illustrates how small changes can make a big difference in achieving goals.