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This research memoir attempts to capture the many facets of elephant lives in the wild. The writer gets to know elephants as individuals, and grows close to them, particularly to Tipu, the largest of them in Rajaji National Park, the area of his study. Written in a vivid, lively style, and illustrated with photographs, his book captures changes in physical and socio-cultural landscape and the escalating conflicts with humans, giving a fascinating insight into a complex co-existence of forests, animals and humans in today’s world.
This unusual book attempts to banish the common perception that philosophy is not for children, though most of us can recognize that children make wonderful philosophers. The book is divided into sections where timeless and core philosophical concerns are transformed into common themes in a child’s life – seeing, thinking, reading, writing, mathematics, art, being good and learning – that they can relate to easily. The quirky illustrations animate and support the lucid text that makes philosophy contemporary, fun, relatable yet absorbing.
After Midnight -A History of Independent India
An inspiring but realistic look at the triumphs and trials of the post-independence era, when this motley union of hundreds of little princely states became a nation, grew and developed, and reached a stature of no small significance in the world today. Due credit is given to all who contributed to this journey, and the narrative brings us right to the post-pandemic times, giving context to the present and hope for the future.
Broadening the scope of the struggle for independence that children have read in their history books, this book links the events that began in 1857 and developed and swelled into the tide that swept us to freedom in 1947. Apart from events and personalities, it also discusses the ideas, ideologies and philosophies that shaped the freedom struggle and continue to influence modern India and people and movements around the world.
In the Land Where Beetles Rule
Illustrated books of poetry for children are rare in India. The pages of this bold and pathbreaking book have sparse but unsparing text that are illustrated by stunning and disturbing illustrations of a stark future where the world as we know it has collapsed and beetles rule the land. A book for older readers, each page opens a conversation on recognizable markers of today’s world set in an unrecognizable future.
When I met the Mama Bear- A Forest Guard’s Story
This book is the story of Priya, a young woman who works as a forest guard in Melghat National Park. Priya tackles loneliness and fear, and living away from her daughter. One day, she encounters a mother bear and cubs while on her rounds leading to a fearful adventure with an unexpected ending. A special book for young readers that not only tells an exciting story but gives the context as well, which makes it a cross-genre book in many ways.
This breezy novel has in its heart a classic non-conformist teenager, Madhu. She develops a computer app that goes viral and she is soon caught in a maelstrom of conflicts with peers and adults, with hilarious consequences. This book is warm, empathetic and energetic, with Madhu possessing far more agency than teenagers portrayed in Indian fiction. A girl who loves to code and is good at it serves to highlight the serious, gendered perception of coding abilities in India.
A beautifully illustrated and designed storybook from the master storyteller Ruskin Bond. The story does not hold too many surprises or too many ghostly encounters, but there is tremendous atmosphere. As the author describes the cottage, the surrounding jungle and the greedy crow, we visualize it all and get pulled into the world where something is waiting to happen. And something is not quite dead because life was cruel…