Shameless
Taslima Nasreen
HarperCollins, Rs 399
Shameless is an uncompromising, heartbreaking look at ordinary people’s lives in our troubled times. ‘My name is Suranjan. You don’t recognise me? You wrote a novel about me called Lajja.’ One day in Calcutta, Taslima suddenly finds herself face-to-face with Suranjan, the protagonist from Lajja. Persecuted in their native Bangladesh, he and his family have, like Taslima, moved to the city across the border. But is life for a Hindu family from an Islamic nation any better in a country where the majority happens to be Hindu? Leading poor, unmoored lives, exploited and frustrated and always carrying with them the memories of a scarred communal history, Suranjan and many others like him seem to lead incomplete lives in their so-called ‘safe haven’.
Boost your Self-Esteem in 30 Days
Marc Reklau
Rupa, Rs 195
Boost Your Self-esteem in 30 Days is a guide to self-love, in which international bestselling author Marc Reklau shows you how to boost your selfesteem with simple and practical exercises. Thirty days does make a difference. All you have to do is change your life by changing the way you feel about yourself! Having healthy self-esteem is being happy with ourselves and believing that we deserve to enjoy the good things in life. Our self-esteem impacts every area of our life: our self-confidence, our relationships with others, the partner or job we choose, our happiness, our inner peace and even our personal and professional success. This book will help you change your life by changing the way you feel about yourself!
Running Toward Mystery
Tenzin Priyadarshi and Zara Houshmand
Penguin, Rs 2031
Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi’s profound account of a lifelong journey as a seeker. It is a story of striving for enlightenment and the vital importance of mentors in that search. Tenzin Priyadarshi was only six years old when he began having visions of a mysterious mountain peak and of men with shaved heads wearing robes like the colour of sunset. At the age of 10, he ran away from boarding school and strangely enough, ended up at the Buddhist monastery that was the place in his dreams. Searching everywhere possible, his frantic parents and relatives located and brought him home after two weeks. The visions continued and he felt a strong pull to a spiritual life which he later embarked on.
Janaka and Ashtavakra
Ashraf Karayath
Rupa, Rs 295
A story of sage Ashtavakra and his disciple King Janaka is a gripping yet unknown episode from the Ramayana. A young boy Ashtavakra goes to King Janaka’s court to debate the kingdom’s most learned sages but is ridiculed for his deformed body. After the boy triumphs in the debate, the king realises he has an extraordinary intellect and becomes his disciple. While Janaka is obsessed with his quest for spiritual liberation, a treacherous plan unfolds inside the royal palace. Very soon war clouds gather on the horizon of Mithila but Janaka devotes more time to the young sage staying on the path to spiritual enlightenment. With Ashtavakra’s guidance, the king enters the realm of a new world which alters his and his kingdom’s reality.