Book name: Charaiveti
Author: Pranab Bardhan
Publication: HarperCollins India
Price: Rs 699; Pp 376
The memoir provides a sharp-eyed look at where we have been and where we may be headed, as seen through the lens of a remarkable life. The author provides a fascinating account of his richly varied and widely travelled life, interwoven with thoughtful comments on politics and society both in India and abroad. These accounts are enlivened by a profusion of stories, anecdotes and incidents, and draw copiously from his interests in literature and films.
Book name: Urdu: The Best Stories of Our Times
Author: Rakhshanda Jalil
Publication: HarperCollins India
Price: Rs 399; Pp 200
The book presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the Urdu literary landscape by bringing together some of the finest contemporary fiction writers. In these stories, we encounter the land and its people in wide-ranging tones: compassionate, questioning, philosophical, whimsical, tragic; yet always enchanting. The stories highlight the numerous histories, identities and themes that have been celebrated or challenged in the past few decades.
Book name: Party of One
Author: Chun Han Wong
Publication: Hachette India
Price: Rs 899; Pp 416
This book explains how Xi has shaken up China with hard-edged authoritarianism, and set this rising superpower on a collision course with Western liberal democracies. Wong draws on his reporting experience across China — spanning conversations with Party insiders and those who’ve studied and interacted closely with the Party bureaucracy to piece together an account of how Xi inspired fear and fervor in his Party, his nation and beyond.
Book name: Taxi
Author: Manjula Padmanabhan
Publication: Hachette India
Price: Rs 699; Pp 344
Madam ‘Maddy’ Sen returns from the US, hoping to jumpstart her life with the launch of an exclusive women’s-only taxi service in chaotic New Delhi. Then a brutal eviction turns her life inside out. A stranger makes a tantalising offer – a new home, new friends and an excellent salary. The catch? She must pretend to be a male chauffeur to a powerful older man. Here a twisty romp awaits us as Maddy struggles with gender, class, race and a flash of wild romance.
Book name: Being Hindu In Bangladesh
Author: Deep Halder & Avishek Biswas
Publication: HarperCollins India
Price: Rs 399; Pp 272
In this book, journalist Deep Halder and academic Avishek Biswas through their extensive research on Bangladesh attempt to sift out the truth behind the numbers and statistics pertaining to Hindus living in the country. With this work the authors attempt to find out the lived experience of those who stayed on in the country whilst asking questions about the nature of identity, its connection with religion, and ultimately, the very idea of ‘home’.