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MYSTICAL INDIA
More Books
Delhi, Then and Now
• Dilip Bobb
HISTORY •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 202 PAGES
Herein are two masterful essays that trace the story of Delhi from the days when it was known by other namesIndraprastha, Firozabad, Dinpanahto its reincarnation as New Delhi. Historian Narayani Gupta takes us through the city of Sultans, Mughal emperors and viceroys, while journalist Dilip Bobb shows us the face of New Delhi as it is now. A rich portfolio of archival photographs and illustrations, together with vibrant new pictures, capture Delhi in all its glorypast and present.
(IDA408, $39.95) |
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A Fine Balance
• Rohinton Mistry
LITERATURE •
1997 •
PAPER
• 624 PAGES
• FAVORITE
The secret to life, according to a recurring character in this sprawling tale, is "to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair." Set in 1975 in an unnamed Indian "city by the sea," which seems to bear a striking resemblance to Bombay, this tender novel follows the intermingled fortunes of a Parsi widow, a college student who is her boarder, and two Hindu tailors trying to make their way in the city. Each character is meticulously drawn, and the often harrowing background stories (including some murderous caste violence in the tailors' family) are interweaved through the main narrative, which finds the four thrown briefly, and eventually very happily, together in a tiny flat. All this is set against the background of Indira Gandhi's "emergency Raj," in which civil liberties were essentially suspended. It's all profoundly moving, a rare window into the cultural and religious maelstrom of India. One of the best things we've read on India, and a fine piece of literature. A Booker Prize finalist.
(IDA92, $17.00) |
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India Unveiled
• Robert Arnett
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2007 •
HARD COVER
• 215 PAGES
A celebration of the people, landscapes and traditional culture of India, organized regionally and featuring 268 beautifully produced color photographs. It's a revealing, insightful portrait of the country combining history, geography and travelogue.
(IDA107, $55.00) |
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Kim
• Rudyard Kipling
LITERATURE •
2011 •
PAPER
• 432 PAGES
For the sheer pleasure of its prose, insight into the British in India and its extraordinary sense of place, you can't do better than this classic novel. It's one of the great adventure stories -- the enduring tale of an orphan boy who, through happenstance, travels the Grand Trunk Road.
(IDA65, $9.00) |
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Malgudi Days
• R. K. Narayan
LITERATURE •
2006 •
PAPER
• 272 PAGES
• FAVORITE
Wonderful tales about a fictional South Indian town by a beloved Indian writer. Malgudi is a composite of Narayan's two hometowns -- Mysore and Madras -- populated by quirky characters whose unique approaches to tradition and modernity are the stuff of great short stories.
(IDA59, $15.00) |
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The Namesake
• Jhumpa Lahiri
LITERATURE •
2004 •
PAPER
• 304 PAGES
An intricate and beautifully told tale by the author of Interpreter of Maladies. Lahiri follows the Ganguli family -- Ashoke, Ashima, and their son Gogol, named after the Russian author -- as they leave Calcutta and settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now a feature film directed by Mira Nair of "Salaam Bombay!" and "Monsoon Wedding."
(IDA292, $14.95) |
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