Aniruddh is a non-conforming, spirited, unorthodox young man, bound by the shackles of tradition. Brought up in one of Indias poorer states he experiences first-hand, through his middle-class upbringing, the gruesome realities of governance in the country. His youthful exuberance and provocative circumstances leave him with no option but to take on the system. On entering the murky world of politics, he is forced to confront with evils, which he hadnt bargained for. The events in his life ...

Since the Indian economy was liberated from bureaucratic, socialist controls in 1991, it has developed rapidly. A country once renowned for the backwardness of its industries, its commerce and its financial market is now viewed as potentially one of the major world economies of the twenty-first century.But there are many questions which need to be asked about the sustainability of this rapid economic growth and its effect on the stability of the country. Have the changes had any im...

The thirty-year-long civil war in Sri Lanka which ended in 2009 shook the island-nation. Now there is peace, rapid development - and a new government. But questions remain. What do Tamils and Sinhalese feel about their new country? What are their dreams for the future?Sri Lanka: The New Country is insightful and unusual reportage from the dispassionate eye of a foreign correspondent who covered the bloody conflict for two decades. It is anecdotal narrative at its best: about ordinary Sri L...

India is a land of contrasts. It is the world's most populous democracy, but it still upholds the caste system. It is a burgeoning economic superpower, but one of the poorest nations on earth. It is the home of the world's biggest movie industry after Hollywood, as well as to the world's oldest religions. It is an ancient civilization celebrating fifty years as a modern nation. Now, as never before, the world wants to know what contemporary India is all about.As she has proved in t...

A few weeks before his assassination, Editor of Sri Lankas The Sunday Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge penned a chillingly prophetic editorial predicting, When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me. Published three days after his assassination, the editorial titled And Then They Came For Me, said, I hope my assassination will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration for those who survive to step up their efforts. Indeed, I hope that it will help g...

“[A] sharply observed study . . . richly detailed portraits.”—EconomistSomini Sengupta emigrated from Calcutta to California as a young child in 1975. Returning thirty years later as the bureau chief for The New York Times, she found a vastly different country: one defined as much by aspiration and possibility—at least by the illusion of possibility—as it is by the structures of sex and caste. The End of Karma is an exploration of this ne...

As 2012 came to a close, news of the gang rape of a young woman in India's capital generated headlines around the world. Her assault on a moving bus with a metal rod, and her death two weeks later from her injuries, focused attention on the dark side of the world's largest democracy: the struggle that faces many Indian women in a country where chauvinistic and misogynistic attitudes prevail.The Wall Street Journal's India bureau explored this horrendous crime and others th...

Patna is not a nice place to be. It is home to me and I cannot stop wanting to go back every once in a while, wanting to be a part of its life. I say this even so: Patna is not a nice place to be.In this masterful portrait of Patna, Sankarshan Thakur chronicles the way the city has changed-or not-under chief minister Nitish Kumar. Having grown up in Patna, the author gives an insider-outsider account of the city,and through it paints the big picture in Bihar, examining Nitish's ach...

This book is an alternative representation of my thoughts, which have been presented more comprehensively in another of my books Writings @ Ankur Mutreja. I felt the need to publish this book separately to cater to the needs of those readers who don't have much time to read books. The book is indeed a light reading.The book starts with the chapter entitled Satire, which, as the name suggests, comprises pointed attacks on the societal idiosyncrasies and hypocrisies, albeit mockingly...

THE STORY OF 2014The political game in India has fundamentally changed - and in ways that are hard to pin down. The grand old party has collapsed, the crown prince has been vanquished. A right-wing government rode to power on the back of the unprecedented cult its leader has created around himself. The challenger, temporarily winded, has not lost hope. Senior journalist - and now political activist - Ashutosh has had a rare ringside view of modern Indian political history. When he s...

In her powerful, poignant book—one of the best non-fiction works from India in recent years—Anubha Bhonsle examines the tangled and tragic history of Manipur, and of much of India’s North East. Through the story of Irom Sharmila—on a protest fast since 2000—and many others who have fallen victim to violence or despair or stood up to fight for peace and justice, she shows us an entire society ravaged by insurgency and counter-insurgency operations, corruption and ethnic rivalries. Drawing u...

‘[Ajith’s book] is the first full account I have seen between hard covers which is exclusively about a journalist’s adventures and journeys in the field... An extraordinary first “rough draft of history”, a portraitof India from the 80s to the present time.’ – Vinod Mehta‘Ajith Pillai’s account of his journalistic odyssey covers the period of India’s Great Transformation from the 1980s to the present. He does so with incisive wit and insight into a br...