<p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">What does it mean to be good? ‘Maryada’ is a commonly used word for ‘boundary’ in Sanskrit which also means ‘propriety of conduct’. In the context of the Ramayana, the word carries special weight because it comes to be used as the defining virtue of Rama, the ‘maryada purushottama’. But despite the fact that Rama is regarded as the epitome of dharma in his thoughts and deeds, the Ramayana does not provide us with one single template for right action. Nor does it tell us that dharma is beyond the reach of human understanding and human action. On the contrary, it holds out the promise that everyone can and should search for a dharma they can believe in, a dharma that is vulnerable but all the more precious because it has been sought and found rather than given and received. In her thought-provoking new book, renowned Ramayana scholar Arshia Sattar writes with compassion, tenderness and insight about dharma as a multiplicity of appropriate choices, showing us that when we choose one way of being and doing over another, we will be as often wrong as we are right.</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;">The world consists mainly of ordinary people leading simple lives. Their stories remain unheard as they haven’t been written about. But their lives inspire because they are a vindication of certain lasting values that survive in every society and keep us connected with the unseen forces that govern us.</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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">&nbsp;Ek Sadharan Si Zindagi</em>, the Hindi translation of&nbsp;<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">An Ordinary Life</em>, former Election Commissioner of India Ashok Lavasa tells one such warm story. He weaves the experiences of his father, Udai Singh, into the narrative of a fast-changing India to show how his Bauji’s principles served as a moral compass in his life – and can in ours too. Through a series of incidents, he explores the virtues of honest living and illustrates that it is possible to prosper in a world of rising aspirations and cut-throat competition while preserving one’s ideals.</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;">Reflective and philosophical,<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px;">&nbsp;Ek Sadharan Si Zindagi&nbsp;</em>is imbued with the grounded wisdom of an earlier Indian generation and its way of life, which is both ordinary and extraordinary, unique and universal at the same time</p>

<p>Celebrate the presidential election with this fascinating book of facts about Kamala, her family, childhood, career, hobbies and successes – perfect for 8+ and fully illustrated throughout!</p><p>Did you know?</p><p>Kamala has lived in California and Canada, as well as Washington D.C.</p><p>She has published cooking videos on YouTube.</p><p>She once used an ironing board as a campaign tool.</p><p>Pearls are her favourite jewellery.</p><p>She has hosted politicians, hip-hop stars and astronauts in the Vice President’s house.</p><p>Find over 100 extraordinary, funny and surprising facts about the inspiring US politician, lawyer and presidential candidate in this fun-packed book, perfect for readers aged 8+.</p><p>Kamala Harris is the Vice President of the USA, and is currently running to be the 47th President of the USA.</p>

<p>Unwrap a world of holiday magic with Color Me Christmas (for Kids!).</p><p>From jolly Santas and playful reindeer to twinkling Christmas trees and cozy winter scenes, each coloring page brings a new festive picture to spark creativity. These detailed illustrations will keep your child busy for hours, encourage fine motor skills, and stimulate mindfulness.</p><p>Inside you’ll find:</p><p>1. 30 festive coloring pages</p><p>2. Designs suitable for all skill levels</p><p>3. One-sided pages so your art doesn’t bleed through to the other side</p><p>Grab your art supplies and journey into a winter wonderland this holiday season with Color Me Christmas (for Kids!).</p>

<p>THE LATEST WORK OF NON-FICTION BY AMITAV GHOSH, WINNER OF THE ERASMUS PRIZE</p><p>At once a travelogue, a memoir and an excursion into history, both economic and cultural, Smoke and Ashes traces the transformative effect the opium trade has had on Britain, India and China, as well as on the world at large, over the centuries. Ghosh finds opium at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, several of America's most powerful families and prestigious institutions—and connected intrinsically to contemporary globalism, and even his own family history.</p><p>Moving deftly between horticulture, the mythologies of capitalism and the social and cultural repercussions of colonialism, Smoke and Ashes reveals the pivotal role one small plant has played in the making of the world as we know it—one teetering on the edge of catastrophe.</p><div><br></div>

<p>India’s top female wrestler tells her story In December 2023, Sakshi Malik quit professional wrestling. She was India’s best-known female wrestler – the first and only female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics – with fights both ongoing and ahead of her. It was an extraordinary gesture, a culmination of her and many other Indian wrestlers’ fight against the former President of the Wrestling Foundation of India (WFI), Brij Bhushan Singh. It is a fight that had seen her willing to risk all she had achieved, including the Olympic medal itself. No athlete ends their career when they could still be in the game. But Sakshi has always gone against the grain. In this fiery memoir, she tells her story from her childhood, her introduction to wrestling in Rohtak, her win at the Rio Olympics and her post-Olympics journey, her struggles and triumphs over injury and self-doubt and, finally, her most recent public battle with the administration of the WFI that has played out on the streets of New Delhi. Interspersed through her story are fascinating insights into the world of women’s wrestling in India – training, camp life, body image issues, dating, finances and what it takes to be an elite international wrestler. Gripping, moving and insightful, this is a book of rare candour and courage – one which will be seen as a sporting classic.<br></p>

<p>Welcome to Ambawati. A village in Rajasthan, midway between Delhi and Mumbai, where the western wind kicks up a dust. It irritates the lungs. The residents&nbsp;</p><p>are mostly Adivasis and Dalits. Tuberculosis is rampant. It is entangled with inequality. This is the price the marginalized pay for health and policy decisions made in faraway Delhi and Geneva. Andrew McDowell gets entangled in the lives of the people of Ambawati, spending time at tea stalls, clinics, bedsides, fields, forests, and with nurses, doctors, quacks, mediums and mystics. He shows us how TB is an atmospheric illness dictated by social and biological realities. With chapters on&nbsp; dust, clouds, breath, mud, and ghosts, McDowell develops a philosophy and phenomenology of breathing that attends to medical systems, patient care, and health justice. Breath—intimate and personal, shared and distributed—throws new light on public health and inequality. Breathless is both an act of meditation and a call to action.</p><div><br></div>

<p>AN ODE TO SYSTEMS ENGINEERS­­―WHOSE INVISIBLE WORK UNDERGIRDS OUR LIFE―AND AN EXPLORATION OF THE WICKED PROBLEMS THEY TACKLE</p><p>“Profound, readable, and, above all, humane—a substantively and stylishly engineered book”</p><p>TIM HARFORD, author of The Data Detective</p><p>“A wonderful and energizing book. ... It is an espresso machine for the imagination”.</p><p>RORY SUTHERLAND, author of Alchemy</p><p>“Wise, wide-ranging, and wonderful….”</p><p>DON NORMAN, author of The Design of Everyday Things</p><p>Our world is filled with pernicious problems. How, for example, did novice pilots learn to fly without taking to the air and risking their lives? How should cities process mountains of waste without polluting the environment? Challenges that tangle personal, public, and planetary aspects-often occurring in health care, infrastructure, business, and policy-are known as “wicked problems,” and they are not going away anytime soon.</p><p>In this book, Guru Madhavan illuminates how wicked problems have emerged throughout history and how best to address them in the future. He examines best-known tragedies and lesser-known tales, from the efficient design of battleships to a volcano eruption that curtailed global commerce, and how maintenance of our sanitation systems constitutes tikkun olam, or repair of our world. An homage to society's innovators and maintainers, Wicked Problems offers a refreshing vision for readers of all backgrounds to build a better future and demonstrates how engineering is a cultural choice-one that requires us to restlessly find ways to transform society, but perhaps more critically, to care for the creations that already exist.</p><p>Guru Madhavan says, ‘From the Indus Valley to Silicon Valley, we know the value of engineering. Yet we need a broad—and broad-minded—understanding of problems and failures that appear hopelessly wicked in our daily lives. We need prosocial forms of engineering that are rigorously reflective and more responsible to guide our way.”</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Seriously Happy is a highly practical self-help guide exploring 10 life-changing</p><p>lessons based on teachings of the ancient philosophers.</p><p>YA readers are encouraged to discover how Stoicism can improve your mental</p><p>resilience; the calming, meditative influence of Zen; the decision-making</p><p>prowess of Aristotle or the confidence-boosting ideas of the Cynic</p><p>philosophers.</p><p>As a young man, author Ben Aldridge struggled with debilitating anxiety and</p><p>self-doubt, until he discovered Stoicism and other philosophies which helped him</p><p>restore balance, peace and contentment in his life. In this book, Ben shares over 20</p><p>practical challenges rooted in ancient philosophy that will power up your focus</p><p>and confidence, improve your critical thinking, build mental resilience, and embrace</p><p>happiness. The text is accompanied by gorgeous illustrations by Michelle</p><p>Brackenborough.</p><p>The challenges are based on ancient philosophical ideas – such as ‘shame attacking’,</p><p>facing your fears, and appreciating the small things in life – as well as the ancient arts</p><p>of Tai-Chi, Qi-Gong and meditation. Seriously Happy shows how to harness the power</p><p>of ancient philosophies to deal with the real-world stress and anxieties of today.</p><p>1. Learn to master a growth mindset and face your fears with fun tasks and</p><p>challenges such as 'the banana walk', inspired by Cynic philosophers.</p><p>2. Get curious, question everything, and power up your critical thinking like</p><p>Socrates.</p><p>3. Learn how to make good life choices inspired by Aristotle’sGolden Mean.</p><p>4. Train your mind and embrace discomfort with cold-water therapy or digita</p><p>fasting like Buddhist teachers.</p><p>5. Increase your mental resilience by keeping a setback diary like the Stoics.</p><p>6. Power up your focus &amp; concentration with a walking meditation inspired by</p><p>Zen philosophy.</p><p>7. Protect your wellbeing by practising Tai Chi and being in nature like the</p><p>Taoists.</p><div><br></div>

<p>With an irresistible enemies-to-lovers romance, and perfect for fans of Alice Oseman</p><p>and Becky Albertalli, Lover Birds is a beautifully-written, inclusive and heart-pounding</p><p>romance.</p><p>When Isabel Williams moves to Liverpool, she criticises seemingly everything in Eloise Byrne’s life –</p><p>her city, her accent, her trademark boldness – so if, when she catches Isabel staring, Eloise feels her</p><p>pulse race, it must be because they hate each other. It surely couldn’t be for any other reason, could</p><p>it? Eloise needs to get her ADHD under control in time for A-Levels, but when she meets Isabel,</p><p>school becomes the least of her concerns. What begins as outright contempt turns into an oddly</p><p>satisfactory rivalry, but for their rivalry to shift further into romance, their relationship must withstand</p><p>Isabel's classism, Eloise’s distrust, and whatever secrets their friends are hiding from them.</p><p>With a wonderful cast of characters, an irresistible romance, and an incredibly moving and powerful</p><p>portrayal of ADHD, Lover Birds is an unmissable debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.</p>