<p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">An ageing Chalukya ruler. A young, vengeful Pallava king. The war between the two is imminent. Who will win?</span></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Seventh-century India. The young Pallava king Narasimhavarman I promises his dying father that he will avenge the humiliating defeat inflicted upon their clan by the Chalukyas nearly a decade ago. Three valiant Pallava captains embark on a quest to form strategic alliances and weaken Chalukyan allies-the Pandyas, Gangas and the Lankan forces-before their fateful encounter in Vathapi. But there are obstacles aplenty in their way.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">From central Lanka to Ujjain, the determined trio faces unexpected twists, dastardly plots, cunning spies and treachery and deceit at every turn. Blazing battles are fought, shocking secrets are revealed-and love blooms even amidst the chaos. Will the Pallava warriors succeed in their mission? Will Narasimhavarman fulfil his oath?</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">With its captivating drama and rich detailing of a glorious period of India’s history,&nbsp;<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">Nandi’s Charge</em>, the first book of an enthralling trilogy, is an irresistible page-turner.</p>

<p><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Urdu: The Best Stories of Our Times</em><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">, edited and translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the current literary landscape by bringing together some of the finest contemporary writers of fiction. In these pages, we find stories about the land and its people in wide-ranging tones: compassionate, sarcastic, whimsical, witty, tragic, but always thrilling and enchanting in equal measure. The stories highlight the numerous histories, identities and themes that have been celebrated or challenged in the last few decades. Appearing in English for the first time, this landmark volume offers an exhilarating glimpse into Urdu literature today.</span><br></p>

<p><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Urdu: The Best Stories of Our Times</em><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">, edited and translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the current literary landscape by bringing together some of the finest contemporary writers of fiction. In these pages, we find stories about the land and its people in wide-ranging tones: compassionate, sarcastic, whimsical, witty, tragic, but always thrilling and enchanting in equal measure. The stories highlight the numerous histories, identities and themes that have been celebrated or challenged in the last few decades. Appearing in English for the first time, this landmark volume offers an exhilarating glimpse into Urdu literature today.</span><br></p>

<p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">THREE SISTERS. THEIR UNBREAKABLE BOND. AND A NATION ABOUT TO BE BORN.</span></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">Here is a river…</em></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">Here is a village…</em></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">Here is a grand old mansion…</em></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">Here is the country that contains them all…</em></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">India. August, 1946. Everything is about to change.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Priya, Jamini and Deepa, Dr Nabakumar Ganguly’s daughters, live in Ranipur, Bengal, safe from the rising turbulence in the country. When their father is killed on Direct Action Day, their world turns upside-down.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Priya, the youngest, intelligent and idealistic, is determined to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a doctor, no matter how difficult. She is fortunate to have the support of zamindar Somnath Chowdhury, her father’s best friend. Jamini, devout, dutiful and talented, helps her mother stitch kanthas to make ends meet. Hungering for affection even as she is resentful of her sisters, she nurses a secret desire. Beautiful Deepa, the eldest, all set to marry well, falls in love with Raza, Youth Leader at the Muslim League, and must face the consequences.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">When India is partitioned, the sisters find themselves separated from one another, afraid of what will happen to not only themselves, but also each other. It is only then that they understand what it means to be independent, and the price one has to pay for it.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s powerful new novel is a moving story of loyalty and love, nationhood and sisterhood, set against India’s independence movement, at once exhilarating and devastating.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">—</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">‘A spellbinding saga of the decolonization and partition of the Indian subcontinent, with a cast of vividly drawn, compelling characters.’ AMITAV GHOSH</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">‘A national movement unsettles a country. Only a powerful imagination can recreate how profoundly it changes three women’s lives.’ NAYANTARA SAHGAL</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">‘I have long been a fan of Chitra Divakaruni’s novels, but&nbsp;<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">Independence&nbsp;</em>is now my favorite.’ LISA SEE</p>

<p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 20px; line-height: 34px; font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Mahi started running towards the cliff… The wind whistled in his ears as he gathered speed …&nbsp;</em><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">He could even hear Gherundo and Duranto laughing. Were they screaming ‘fly, fly, fly’—or was it ‘die, die, die’?</em></p><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 20px; line-height: 34px; font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">When Mahi, a young elephant, decides to fulfil his dream of flying over the blue mountains, little does he know that he’s setting in motion a chain of events that will endanger him, his mother and the whole of Anastan. He has only one goal—to find and rescue Varana, his father, former chief of the herd, who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Trumpo, their vice president, is convinced that the wicked tigers of Pulistan have killed Varana. But can Mahi trust Trumpo? Who is his friend, and who is his foe?&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Allegorical and satirical, but also hilarious and delightful, this story will entertain both children and older readers as they join Mahi on his exciting journey and discover whether he does, one day, really soar over the blue mountains.</p>

<p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">In the Valley of the Great Mountains, where all the best musicians live and play music together, a young boy named Avvaiyar dreams of also playing music. But unfortunately, he does not have an instrument to play. One day while in the woods he hears a sound and finds a broken stick with holes. This gives him an idea and he creates his own new instrument – a flute.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Excited by his new instrument, Avvaiyar goes to the village square and begins to play – only to be ridiculed and rejected by the other musicians and people of the village. He then begins a long journey to discover the most beautiful music. As he explores the magical sounds of nature and silence, Avvaiyar grows within himself and inspires the people of his village through his music.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">The story, along with the evocative illustrations, reveals a world of mystical, magical beauty, while also inspiring us to look deeper into our hearts for our own music.</p>

<p><span style="color: rgb(15, 17, 17); font-family: &quot;Amazon Ember&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It is the early 1900s in Mumbai. Educated and financially independent, Kalindi Dagge dreams of living in a casteless and equitable society as a single mother―a life far removed from the one she had in the stifling world she left behind. A world where she was the daughter of a brahmin lawyer, Appasaheb Dagge, and the casteless Shanta; and the granddaughter of another brahmin and his schoolteacher mistress who rejected the idea of marriage. A world in which she was an outcast; the daughter of a man who rejected his caste but not his caste pride. A world where she had reclaimed her grandmother’s legacy and chosen, in defiance of family and society, to live as the mistress of Shivsharanappa, a Lingayat tobacco merchant, who later abandoned her and left her on the verge of suicide. As she rebuilds her identity now in the big city, she wonders what it would be like to start a new life based on love and respect with Ramrao, a trade union leader who shares her ideologies and dreams. Shridhar Vyankatesh Ketkar’s masterpiece, originally published as Brahmankanya in 1930, has been hailed as brave and ahead of its times. This magnificent translation by celebrated author and translator Shanta Gokhale brings the classic alive for the contemporary reader, and we see how relevant it remains almost a century later.</span><br></p>

<p><span style="color: rgb(15, 17, 17); font-family: &quot;Amazon Ember&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">When well-known women’s rights activist Vasanth Kannabiran was growing up in the 1950s, grandmothers and aunts shared many real-life stories about ‘wives, widows and whores’ with her. These seemingly disconnected anecdotes haunted Kannabiran, eventually revealing the pattern of women’s lived realities in the early twentieth century and inspiring her to write Pankaja, her debut novel. In Pankaja, Kannabiran paints a vivid portrait of what it meant to be an upper-caste Hindu woman in India at the time. Pankaja’s life and the lives of her women friends and family members are all shaped by the institution of marriage; limited by the norm of wifely duty. Pankaja’s mother Rajamma faces undue criticism from society after she is widowed. Pankaja’s sister Pattamma, who is widowed at a young age is branded a bad omen and shunned at social occasions. When Kannamma, who belongs to a Brahmin family, ends her unhappy marriage and goes to live with a low-caste mridangam player, her family disowns her and the entire community condemns her. The individual stories of these women converge and diverge as they claim the right to their own lives. Pankaja places family life under the microscope, presenting us with a vision of unflinching honesty. Laced with insights about marriage, widowhood and sexuality, it peels back history to reveal the inner workings of a casteist, patriarchal society. Wise and emotionally astute, this novel is an engrossing and moving read.</span><br></p>

<p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem; color: rgb(72, 79, 86); font-family: Poppins;">Twenty-nine-year-old Dinkar Sharma is a software engineer in Noida. Or was, till he was unceremoniously dropped by his company. Lying around in his rented room with nothing to do, it occurs to him how his heart had never been in it. In fact, for the first time he realizes just how unhappy he has been. What makes it worse is that after this brief holiday of sorts, he must get back to a new life—exactly like the one he had.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem; color: rgb(72, 79, 86); font-family: Poppins;">Cheer seems to return to his life with Kirti, a girl he meets at a laughter ‘club’ when he decides to go for a walk one morning, to take his mind off his miserable life, if nothing else. Kirti’s arrival makes even his nosy landlady bearable. But the euphoria is short-lived, and he’s off to Amritsar for he can’t afford to live in Noida without a regular pay check. The change of air doesn’t last though—his mother, worried about his lack of motivation to look for new jobs, is convinced he must get married to become more responsible; his father has little say, and his friends can offer little help beyond their drink-and-drive sessions. Unemployed, with no plans for the future, and feeling trapped in the only place he can call home, Dinkar knows he must stand up for himself, but he isn’t sure he can—all his life’s important decisions have only ever been made by someone else. Will the drifter come ashore; will the adolescent grow up?</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem; color: rgb(72, 79, 86); font-family: Poppins;">Playful, endearing and often laugh-out-loud funny, this is a coming-of-age story of a not-so-young Indian boy—one among millions—trying to find a life.</p>

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