Namita Gokhale

&Lsquo;Namita Gokhale&Rsquo;S Exciting New Retelling Of The Great Indian Epic Is A Treat For Young Readers. Older Readers Will Enjoy It, Too. She Shows Why The Mahabharata Is Timeless And Always Relevant&Rsquo; &Mdash;Ruskin Bond &Lsquo;Without Sacrificing The Complexities Of Either The Narrative Or The Characters, Gokhale'S Lucid Language And Gentle Prodding Places The Mahabharata Well Within The Reach Of Younger Readers And Listeners. She Retains The Anguish Of The Family Drama At The Centre Of The Story As Well As Captures The Epic Sweep Of The Great War And Its Bitter Aftermath. Every Child Should Know This Story&Mdash;How Wonderful That It Should Be Presented To A New Generation By Such A Skilled And Mellifluous Storyteller&Rsquo; &Mdash; Arshia Sattar &Lsquo;The Mahabharata Is Truly One Of The Greatest Stories Ever Told. Namita Gokhale'S Rendition Makes For Compelling Reading, Because It Retains The Essential Structure Of The Narrative Without Diluting Its Epic Proportions. This Book Is The Best Gift For Children Who Wish To Discover And Enjoy The Wisdom And Mythology Of Ancient India&Rsquo; &Mdash;Pavan K. Varma A Long, Long Time Ago, In The Ancient Lands Of India, Known In Those Days As Bharatvarsha, A Family Quarrel Grew Into A Bloody War. There Had Been Wars Before, And There Have Been Wars Since, But That Mighty Battle Between Warring Cousins Of The Kuru Clan Has Become A Part Of The Mythology And History Of India. Told And Retold A Million Times, The Story Of The Mahabharata Is About Defeat As Much As Victory, About Humility As Much As Courage. It Is The Greatest Story Ever Told. Like A Modern-Day Suta Or Storyteller, Namita Gokhale Brings Alive India'S Richest Literary Treasure With Disarming Ease And Simplicity. She Retells This Timeless Tale Of Mortals And Immortals And Stories Within Stories, Of Valour, Deceit, Glory And Despair, For Today'S Young Reader In A Clear, Contemporary Style. A Brilliant Series Of Evocative And Thoughtful Illustrations By Painter And Animator Suddhasattwa Basu Brings The Epic To Life In A Vibrant Visual Feast. Matchless In Its Content And Presentation, The Puffin Mahabharata Is A Book That Will Be Cherished By Readers Of All Ages.

The Puffin Mahabharata

Ruskin Bond

Intimate, exhilarating writings on adventure, meditation, and life in the captivating wildness of the Himalayan Mountains—with contributions from Amitav Ghosh, Mark Twain, Rabindranath Tagore, Peter Matthiessen, and more. For some, the Himalaya is a frontier against which people test themselves. Others find refuge and tranquility in the mountains, a place where they can seek their true selves, perhaps even God. Over millennia, the mountains have cradled civilization itself and nurtured teeming, irrepressible life. With over thirty essays, this exhilarating anthology offers a dazzling range of voices that reveal accounts of great ascents and descents—from reflecting on a deadly avalanche to searching for a snow leopard and enjoying the simple pleasure of riding a handcar down a railway track. These diverse writings bring to life the spirit of the Himalaya in an unparalleled panorama. Contributors include: Amitav Ghosh Mark Twain Rabindranath Tagore Peter Matthiessen Edmund Hillary Aleister Crowley Andrew Harvey Vicki Mackenzie Sarat Chandra Das H. A. Giles (Trans.) Jahangir Sven Hedin Frank S. Smythe Anil Yadav Jinasena Arundhathi Subramaniam Dharamvir Bharati Swami Vivekananda Rahul Sankrityayan Francis Younghusband Ruskin Bond Jemima Diki Sherpa Kirin Narayan Jawaharlal Nehru Abdul Wahid Radhu Jim Corbett Bill Aitken Hridayesh Joshi Dom Moraes Manjushree Thapa

A Literary Homage to Adventure, Meditation, and Life on the Roof of the World

Himalaya

Travelling In, Travelling Out 

An evocative recollection of life in the Kumaon hills, in the early years of the 20th century, through the eyes of four telented and highly individualistic women.

Reminiscences of Kumaoni Women

Mountain Echoes

Jaipur Journals

A rich, panoramic historical novel shows you Kumaon and the Raj as you have never seen them It is 1856, in picturesque Kumaon. History has already begun its steady march. Six native women clad in black and scarlet pichauras huddle around Naineetal Lake, attempting to cleanse it of threatening new influences. For, these are the days of Upper Mall Road (for Europeans and their horses) and Lower Mall Road (‘for dogs, servants and other Indians’). And this is the story of feisty young Tilottama Dutt, whose uncle hangs when he protests the reigning order—and her daughter, Deoki, who will confront change as Indians, and as women. Things to Leave Behind brings alive the romance of the mixed legacy of British-Indian past. Full of the fascinating backstory of Naineetal and its unwilling entry into Indian history, throwing a shining light on the elemental confusion of caste, creed and culture, illuminated with painstaking detail, here is a fascinating historical epic—and Namita Gokhale’s most ambitious novel yet.

Things to Leave Behind

The Play of Memory

Shakuntala

'I am the rakshasa Ghatotkacha, born of the Lord Bhimasena and the lady Hidimba. I rule over hill and vale, wood and stream, protecting the spirit of the forest and all who live in it.' Young Chintamani Dev Gupta, on holiday in a bird camp near Lake Sattal, is transported via a wormhole to the days of the Mahabharata. Trapped in time, he meets Ghatotkacha and his mother, the demoness Hidimba. But the gentle giant, a master of illusion and mind-boggling rakshasa technology, wields his strength just as well as he knows the age-old secrets of the forest and the elemental forces. And in his enlightening company, Chintamani finds himself in the thick of the events of the most enduring Indian epic. An intense yet tender look at a rare friendship as well as the abiding puzzles of the past, this is a fascinating read.

Ghatotkacha and the Game of Illusions

Lost in Time

Shankar (Marathi)

Parvati is young, beautiful and seemingly doomed; blooming early yet unable to find lasting love. Orphaned in adolescence and adopted by her headmaster uncle, Parvati escapes the constraints of this temporary home but, like many young women before her, finds a new prison in marriage. For, while there is passion to be found in early encounters, she is soon married to someone she can never truly be satisfied with. So when Mukul Nainwal, the local boy who has always loved her, returns to Nainital, he finds Parvati changed—she is a new challenge to his ideals, despite all his worldly success. The tale of these two exiles is a study in unrequited love, with its terrible irony and tragic urgency. Here is a master class in the vagaries of the human heart, from a fine novelist who understands its workings better than anyone else.

A Himalayan Love Story

The Habit of Love is a collection of stories about the inner lives of women. Some of these women inhabit the ancient past; some the present day but they share the whimsical humour with which they speak of themselves. Journalist Madhu Sinha strikes up a friendship with a young man the same age as her indifferent children; a messenger swan relates the story of the doomed lovers Nala and Damayanti; Vatsala Vidyarthi suspects her one night stand of stealing her money. Delicately poised between irony and grief; The Habit of Love is both elegant and acute; arch and melancholic. In these moving stories she displays both sympathy and understanding as she unveils the workings of a woman’s heart.

The Habit of Love

Jaipur Journals is about the writing life and how writers search pattern and design amidst the unstructured chaos of the lived life.

The avengers of my vanity have broken me, humbled me with these small depredations of skin and bone and tissue, leaving me less than I was.' Scarred by her lover's suicide and an acid attack that has left her permanently disfigured, Rachita Tiwari has sought refuge in a remote house in the Himalayan foothills. In this rambling house, built by a foolhardy missionary over a hundred years ago, she lives alone"save for the company of the ancient and mysterious manservant, Lohaniju"painting and repainting her nails a bright red, careful not to look into mirrors. As she retreats into herself, battling for her sanity and fearful of a world she no longer trusts, a different dimension claims her and the tremendous history of the house is played out before her. There is the vain fool, Captain Wolcott, and his tragically sensuous mistress, Dona Rosa, -of the wandering heart'; the doomed lovers Marcus and Munro, disciples of Aleister Crowley, infamous dabbler in black magic; Father Benedictus, -seeker of knowledge', at peace with himself and his God; and the all-knowing, sage crows. With and above them all is the resident ghost of the house, solitary and sad, at times merely an observer as the fantastical destinies unfold around him, and at times unable to remain detached. After a century of silence something compels him to speak"words that the injured woman now inhabiting the house will hear; words that will give her back to herself. Part ghost story, part erotic romance, The Book of Shadows is an ambitious book that investigates the nature of reality, love and faith. It is a work of startling originality by one of India's most daring and talented writers. -Our kind is not nourished by the sun: it is the moon which gives us sustenance. We wax and wane with the moon, except when harnessed by a human energy, when the pull of the tides loses its grip. As dawn broke over the mountains, lighting up the still white presences of the snows, I fled to my refuge, my fated spot. This night of passion, my first, had initiated me into the sorrows of mankind; the unfaith, the terrible and tenuous link of love.

The Book of Shadows

‘A long, long time ago, in the ancient lands of India, known in those days as Bharatvarsha, a family quarrel grew into a bloody war. There had been wars before, and there have been wars since, but that mighty battle between warring cousins of the Kuru clan has become a part of the mythology and history of India. Told and retold a million times, the story of the Mahabharata is about defeat as much as victory, about humility as much as courage. It is the greatest story ever told.’ Like a modern-day suta or storyteller, Namita Gokhale brings alive India’s richest literary treasure with disarming ease and simplicity. She retells this timeless tale of mortals and immortals and stories within stories, of valour, deceit, glory and despair, for today’s young reader in a clear, contemporary style. A brilliant series of evocative and thoughtful illustrations by painter and animator Suddhasattwa Basu brings the epic to life in a vibrant visual feast. Matchless in its content and presentation, The Puffin Mahabharata is a book that will be cherished by readers of all ages.

Before Mother Left, In A Long-Ago Time, We Had Been Very Rich&. My Grandmother Had Been A Great Singer, A Kothewali Whose Voice Was More Liquid And Beautiful Than Lata Mangeshkar S. Eleven Nawabs And Two Englishmen Were Besotted With Love Of Her&. From These Great Heights Gudiya S World Plunges Into The Depths Of Almost Complete Penury When She Arrives In Delhi With Her Ancient Grandmother, Ammi, Fleeing Small-Town Scandal And Disgrace. Just When All Seems Lost, Ammi Works A Miracle: A Slab Of Green Marble Stolen From A Building Site, And Five Rounded Pebbles From A Sahib'S Garden, Are Transformed By The Power Of Her Singing Voice Into An Inviolable Place Of Worship. From Here On, Gudiya S Life Takes On An Extraordinary Momentum Of Its Own. Ammi Dies A Small-Time Saint, Pandit Kailash Nath Shastri Predicts A Future Of Impossible Luck, The Irrepressible Phoolwati Becomes An Unlikely Guardian, And The Inhumanly Handsome Kalki Rides In On His White Horse And Steals Her Heart. As We Follow The Twists And Turns Of Gudiya S Story, We See Unfold Before Us The Peculiar Dance Of Chance And Will That Is Human Existence.

Gods, Graves, and Grandmother

An essential traveller's companionThis is an unusual collection of travel pieces by writers ranging from M.J. Akbar and Aman Nath to Devdutt Pattanaik, Jerry Pinto, Rahul Pandita and Advaita Kala.Featured here are essays on the changing face of the popular hill resort-Nainital, living as a Pakistani in the remote city of Copenhagen, a woman traveller being strip-searched at an American airport and traversing the dark interiors of the haunted Bhangarh Fort in Rajasthan, among others. Focusing on the Indian experience, the book captures a country of shifting landscapes - physical, cultural, psychological. A departure from the traditional travel narrative, this is a unique collection for the travel-book buff.

A Book of Unexpected Journeys

Travelling In, Travelling Out

Malashri Lal

Who was Radha, and why has she captured the imagination of so many writers across centuries? No other goddess combines the elements of bhakti and shringara quite as exquisitely as the divine milkmaid. She spans a vivid rainbow of imagery-from the playfulness of the Ras Lila to the soulfulness of her undying love, from the mystic allure of her depictions in poetry, art and sculpture to her enduring legacy in Vrindavan. In a way that sets her apart from other female consorts, Radha is idealized and dreamed of in a way that is almost more elemental than mythical. Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal, who brought us In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology, now present an anthology on the mysterious Radha, the epitome of love, who defies all conventional codes yet transcends social prohibitions through the power of the spiritual and the sensual, the sacred and the erotic. Finding Radha is the first of its kind: a collection of poetry, prose and translation that enter the historical as well as the artistic dimensions of the eternal romance of Radha and Krishna.

The Quest for Love

Finding Radha

First published in 1984, to both notoriety and critical acclaim, Paro remains a social comedy without parallel in contemporary Indian writing. Paro, heroic temptress, glides like an exotic bird of prey through the world of privilege and Scotch that the rich of Bombay and Delhi inhabit. She is observed closely by the acid Priya, voyeur and obsessive diarist, who lost her heart to the sewingmachine magnate BR, and then BR to Paro. But he is merely one among a string of admirers. Paro has seduced many: Lenin, the Marxist son of a cabinet minister; the fat and sinister Shambhu Nath Mishra, Congress Party éminence grise; Bucky Bhandpur, test cricketer and scion of a princely family; Loukas Leoras, a homosexual Greek film director; and, very nearly, Suresh, the lawyer on the make whom Priya has married . . .

Dreams of Passion

Paro

Before mother left, in a long-ago time, we had been very rich-. My grandmother had been a great singer, a kothewali whose voice was more liquid and beautiful than Lata Mangeshkar's. Eleven nawabs and two Englishmen were besotted with love of her-.' From these great heights Gudiya's world plunges into the depths of almost complete penury when she arrives in Delhi with her ancient grandmother, Ammi, fleeing small-town scandal and disgrace. Just when all seems lost, Ammi works a miracle: a slab of green marble stolen from a building site, and five rounded pebbles from a sahib's garden, are transformed by the power of her singing voice into an inviolable place of worship. From here on, Gudiya's life takes on an extraordinary momentum of its own. Ammi dies a small-time saint, Pandit Kailash Nath Shastri predicts a future of impossible luck, the irrepressible Phoolwati becomes an unlikely guardian, and the inhumanly handsome Kalki rides in on his white horse and steals her heart. As we follow the twists and turns of Gudiya's story, we see unfold before us the peculiar dance of chance and will that is human existence.

Gods, Graves And Grandmother

From a septuagenarian who has completed her semi-fictional novel but does not want to publish it, to an author who receives a threat in the form of an anonymous letter, from a historian who reunites with a past lover, to a burglar who is passionate about poetry, from a young woman who has no idea what this world has in store for her, to an American woman looking for the India of her hippie youth, this metafictional, wryly funny, pacey novel is an ode to literature. Told from multiple perspectives, set against the backdrop of the vibrant multilingual Jaipur Literature Festival, diverse stories of lost love and regret, self-doubt, and new beginnings come together in a narrative that is as varied as India itself. Partly a love letter to the greatest literary show on earth, partly a satire about the glittery set that throngs this literary venue year on year, and partly an ode to the millions of aspiring writers who wander the earth with unsubmitted manuscripts in their bags, Jaipur Journals is a light-footed romp that showcases in full form Gokhale's unsparing eye for the pretensions and the pathos of that loneliest tribe of them all: the writers.

Namita Gokhale

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