Identity & Violence : The Illusion Of Destiny

Profound and humane, Amartya Sen's Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny examines some of the most explosive problems of our time and shows how we can move towards peace as firmly as we have spiralled towards war. In this penetrating book, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen argues that we are becoming increasingly divided along lines of religion and culture, ignoring the many other ways in which people see themselves, from class and profession to morals and politics. When we are put into narrow categories the importance of human life becomes lost. Through his lucid exploration of such subjects as multiculturalism, fundamentalism, terrorism and globalization, he brings out the need for a clear-headed understanding of human freedom and a constructive public voice in Global civil society. The hope of harmony in today's world lies in a clearer understanding of our sheer diversity. 'Identity and Violence is a moving, powerful essay about the mischief of bad ideas' The Economist 'Impassioned, eloquent and often moving, Identity and Violence is a sustained attack on the "solitarist" theory which says that human identities are formed by membership of a single social group' John Gray, Guardian 'Rich in ideas ... I would love to send it to Osama bin Laden and have his reply' Spectator 'Sen's moving and most personal book yet' The Times Literary Supplement 'Stimulating ... simple and persuasive' Financial Times 'An accessible and exceptional humanitarian' Jon Snow, New Statesman Heroes of Our Time Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at Harvard. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998. His other books published by Penguin include The Argumentative Indian and The Idea of Justice

Ideology & Social Science

"One of the pioneers of sociological studies in India, Professor Andre Beteille has, over the past four decades, contributed a series of topical and stimulating articles to various newspapers. Some of these articles were collected in the book Chronicles of Our time, published a few years ago. Ideology and Social Science is a new and riveting collection of Professor Beteille???s writings on Indian society, politics and culture. The fifty articles in this book cover a very wide range of subjects: from the practice of sociology to the prospects of political liberalism, from contemporary debates about caste ad caste quotas to old and still persisting myths about what is said to constitute the essence of Indian culture. Beteille???s ambit includes the relevant and important themes of secularism, diversity and unity in cultures, the culture of tolerance, discrimination at work, value systems in the changing Indian family, and caste practices in village communities. Steering clear of passing intellectual trends as well as partisan politics, Beteille reaches his conclusions based on a careful examination of the evidence, not on a search for facts that fit a preconceived theory. Through his writings, he makes a cogent and passionate appeal to separate sociological theory from the frameworks of social activism. For students of sociology as well as the general reader, this is a book that will stimulate thought and generate interest in social and political issues that are at the core of India???s modernity and tradition. "

Becoming Indian : The Unfinished Revolution Of Culture And Identity

What are the consequences of Empire? Do they ever fade? In this follow-up to his bestselling book Being Indian, Pavan K. Varma takes a long hard look at our cultural psyche, sixty years after India???s political liberation from Western colonial masters. Examining modern history, contemporary events and personal experience, he demonstrates, with passion, insight and impeccable logic, why India, and other formerly subject nations, can never truly be free???and certainly not in a position to assume global leadership???unless they reclaim their cultural identity.

Being Indian

Remnants Of A Separation : A History Of The Partition Through Material Memory

Intimate Speakers : Why Introverted and Socially Ostracized Citizens Use Social Media

What's on your mind What's happening Do you often find yourself answering these questions on social media? Do you often update your current status on WhatsApp? Are you more connected to the virtual world than the real world? Are you . . . an Introvert? Welcome to the Connected Space In the age of social media, where intimacy has found a new course, the introverts and ostracized citizens, including women, queer and the Dalit, have broken down the enforced social hierarchies, conventional norms and class divisions. Intimate Speakers is an account of Biju's social media encounters with these citizens, as they came forward and shared their intimate stories.

India Since Independence

A thorough and incisive introduction to contemporary India The story of the forging of India, the world's largest democracy, is a rich and inspiring one. This volume, a sequel to the best-selling India's Struggle for Independence, analyses the challenges India has faced and the successes it has achieved, in the light of its colonial legacy and century-long struggle for freedom. The book describes how the Constitution was framed, as also how the Nehruvian political and economic agenda and basics of foreign policy were evolved and developed. It dwells on the consolidation of the nation, examining contentious issues like party politics in the Centre and the states, the Punjab problem, and anti-caste politics and untouchability. This revised edition offers a scathing analysis of the growth of communalism in India and the use of state power in furthering its cause. It also documents the fall of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2004 General Elections, the United Progressive Alliance's subsequent rise to power and the Indo-US Nuclear Deal that served to unravel the political consensus at the centre. Apart from detailed analyses of Indian economic reforms since 1991 and wide-ranging land reforms and the Green Revolution, this new edition includes an overview of the Indian economy in the new millennium. These, along with objective assessments of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, constitute a remarkable overview of a nation on the move.

Enhancing Life : The Art Of Inner Awakening

Early Medieval Indian Society : A Study In Feudalisation

The traditional view of feudalism, defined by scholars like Karl Marx and Marc Bloch, describes a system where a dominant social group controlled ownership of land and enjoyed the benefits of labour of servile serfs who toiled to generate produce from land. While this model was based on conditions in Europe, Marx felt that this did not apply to medieval India as most peasants were technically free land-owners.

R.S.Sharma goes beyond this traditional view of feudalism.In hisEarly Medieval Indian Society,he shows how dominant groups used techniques such as land-grants, control of common services, caste and religion to gain control over the means of production. R.S. Sharma explains how despite differences from the European model of feudalisation, similarities in economic traits like decline of towns and long-distance trade, reduction in the usage of metal coins and the establishment of a subsidiary market economy made the feudal model a useful tool to understand this period. He uses feudalism to trace the emergence of early medieval India and to also understand developments in art, religion, literature, polity and society.

The Prologue to this edition is a fitting tribute to the author by Jaya Sinha Tyagi, a historian of ancient Indian history. Analysing R.S. Sharma’s pioneering study, she charts this erudite historian’s contribution to the transformation of the study of early medieval India. She also explains why this book continues to serve as a critical resource material for tracing the economic changes in history.

R.S. Sharma’s seminal work will be invaluable for students, scholars and teachers of ancient and medieval Indian history. It will be useful to readers interested in studying transitions in socio-cultural ideologies and institutions from the early medieval times.

My God Is a Woman

An innocuous article in a magazine lands nine-year-old Safia Mehdi in the world of purdah. Her father gets her married to Abbas Jafri, son of the famous Jafri family of Lucknow. Abbas is a barrister and author of a controversial book. Safia???s father hopes that she would be able to bring back her deviated husband to ???God???s true faith???. Ironically, Abbas who dreams of a liberated India where women enjoy equal rights as men, leads Safia to break free from the stereotype of a traditional Muslim woman. Set against the tumultuous period of pre-Independence, the husband-wife duo embarks on a journey, elucidating the way to a progressive nation. However, just when everything seems alright, Abbas is issued a fatwa for confronting the Imam, preaching inequality between men and women. His Marxist Party too ostracizes him for criticizing the Shariat for the sorry state of the Muslim women in the country. Consequently, Abbas is killed by Muslim fanatics and Safia is left all alone to fend for herself and her daughter.With time, Safia gains grit and common sense. Armed with her forth righteousness and sheer belief in her 'power' of being a woman, Safia walks on, championing the cause of women empowerment. But does she manage to bring about that much-awaited change or falls a victim to the repressive dogmas of the society? Can she help the Muslim women to step forward, wrench their tightly closed fingers open and set out to build a world to suit their destiny? Can women become the God that they were always meant to be? My God is a Woman tries to seek answers to some of these questions.

No Country For Women

This book is a collection of Taslima Nasreen's essays which revolt against the status of women in this man-made world. Taslima says that there is no place which belongs to women and hence they have to fight for every inch of ground to get their rightful place. Her fans laud her acuity of observation, sharpness of presentation and boldness of articulation. They are running fan clubs and blogs in her name even when she is unaware of those. Her critics dislike anything that is Taslima. Some have even called her a misandrist. She denies, but asks, ???Who is Guilty? Men or Patriarchy? You cannot say that men are good but patriarchy is bad.??? ???Behind the powdered faces of the elite society lies the stark reality where law is violated with impunity and where a woman is not regarded as a human being... She is a thing to be exploited, molested and raped', she argues in one of her essays. She lambasts those who call themselves secular and pander to the fundamentalists. She exhorts them to rise above narrow interests and to think of the larger goal of the progress of society. In this context, she strongly argues for a uniform civil code in India. Taslima talks openly about her love life. She has lessons for those who think love to be a macho act. She defends homosexuals and challenges the way the patriarchal society looks at this aspect of non-sanctioned form of love

Lean In : Women, Work, And The Will To Lead

Many intelligent women tend to leave their professional careers and become homemakers for various reasons. One of the vital reasons is that women find it impossible to balance the growing career pressure and meeting increasing family demands. Sheryl Sandberg, in this book 'Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead' provides solution to this issue and guides women on how to find the perfect balance in life. The solutions given in this book are pragmatic and are based on practical experience and academic research. Sandberg uses various personal anecdotes and thus allows readers to peek in her highly successful career. And during this discussion, she touches various pressing issues like race, class and sexual identity. The author backs her views with strong arguments and makes the book an engaging read. She also talks about other powerful women in the world like Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo and Peggy McIntosh. The narration is flawless and the personal touch enhances the value of this book.

Advantage India : From Challenge To Opportunity

On the way from Delhi to Jaunpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh is the dusty town of Badshahpur. Even in this nondescript settlement, people receive money via mobile transfer from family members working in distant cities. There are computer training centres offering diploma courses in Bhojpuri, Hindi and English. Here is an example of India's numerous remote towns that have skipped the stage of basic learning and landed straight into digital literacy as they strive to keep up with the times. In his last book, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, writing with Srijan Pal Singh, draws upon examples ranging from entrepreneurship in places like Badshahpur to a sophisticated missile programme like Agni to show how it can be 'Advantage India' in the final lap of the journey to 2020-the landmark year by which he had envisioned the country could transform into an economic power. How can the new initiatives-such as Make in India, Swachh Bharat, smart cities and skill development for the youth-be used to unleash the country's vast potential? Advantage India offers the answer-a movement driven by every home and school to educate the new generation and give a fresh meaning to citizenship.

Seventy And to Hell With It

Shobhaa De's writing exudes an empathy that has turned several of her books into life manuals for generations of Indians. Her keen wit spears and spares none, least of all herself. Her delicious irreverence makes this book a delight to read. It is the lessons in loving and living woven into the writing-intensely personal and deeply felt-that form the wise heart of Seventy.

The Second Sex

The Second Sex has been translated into forty languages and has become a landmark in the history of feminism. Required reading for anyone who believes in the equality of the sexes, the central messages of The Second Sex are as important today as they were for the housewives of the forties.

Culture And Imperialism

Following his profoundly influential study, Orientalism, Edward Said now examines western culture. From Jane Austen to Salman Rushdie, from Yeats to media coverage of the Gulf War, Culture and Imperialism is a broad, fierce and wonderfully readable account of the roots of imperialism in European culture.

Blood On My Hands : Confessions Of Staged Encounters

This anonymous confession by an army officer splits wide open the anatomy of staged encounters in India's northeast, and explains how awards and citations are linked to a body count. Speaking to investigative journalist and conflict specialist Kishalay Bhattacharjee, the confessor tells of the toll this brutality has taken on him. An essay by Bhattacharjee and a postscript that analyses the hidden policy of extra-judicial killings and how it threatens India's democracy contextualize this searing confession. An explosive document on institutionalized human rights abuse.

The Good Indian's Guide To Queue-jumping

A wise man once said that half of life is showing up - and the other half is waiting in line. In a nation of a billion people, there's no escaping queues. We find ourselves in one every day - whether to board a flight, for a darshan at Tirupati or, if we are less fortunate, to fetch water from municipal taps. We no longer wait for years for a Fiat car or a rotary-dial phone, but there are still queues that may last days, like those for school admissions. And then there are the virtual ones at call centres in which there's no knowing when we will make contact with a human. So if you can't escape 'em, can you beat 'em? Mercifully, yes. And, if so, how can you jump queues better? Which excuse works like a charm? How should you backtrack if someone objects? Does it help to make eye contact? Are we generally accommodating of queue-jumpers and why? More importantly, what does queue-jumping say about us as a people? Does it mean we lack a sense of fairness and basic concern for others? These are questions of everyday survival that bestselling author V. Raghunathan first threw up in Games Indians Play and now takes up at length in The Good Indian's Guide to Queue-jumping.

One Tree, One King And The Open Road

There was a king who wanted to travel. He knew a tree who agreed to arrange it all - if she could go with him. Travel: it wasn't an easy thing for kings and trees to do. The mighty and magical mind-mender agreed to help - if they would take it along. Not the easiest of companions, but what choice did they have? The mind-mender allowed the tree and the king to divide their minds so they could be home and away at the same time. And so they took off in the Zug for fantastical lands and adventures. While they were away, though, their other halves found themselves besieged. Would they make it back in time to save themselves? A kooky oddball of a fable about finding oneself and one's voice, and the strength to accept and overcome doubt and uncertainty.

Pathways To Greatness

What makes a nation great? Is it simply economic prosperity and military strength or something more? What is it that we as a nation require to make that last-mile journey to what all the plans, investments and projects are meant to lead up to? It is only a matter of time before India is termed economically developed. But a nation has to learn to survive in tough times too. And for that what is most important is national character, born out of the value systems that exist in our families, what schools teach students, and the culture of the nation. In Pathways to Greatness, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam shifts focus from the economic development of India by 2020 to the development of our national character, offering key lessons that will help India withstand the forces of change. He identifies what makes a nation great and also compares the standards of living of other nations with India s. He draws on his travels and his interactions with people. He evolves unique oaths for citizens from all walks of life to ensure that a better life becomes possible for all. In the book he completed just a few months before his death in 2015, one of India s best-known icons writes about how our nation can lead the whole world on the pathways to greatness.