1. Gandhi: The End of Non-Violence
Manash Firaq BhattacharjeePenguin Random House
The father of a nation and an advocate of nonviolence is the Mahatma. But what if we told you that his last days were filled with disappointment and the same violence he had spent his entire life trying to stop? That his philosophy was reduced to a whisper after being put to the test in the Partition fires? In this book, Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee dissects the sanitized mythology to expose the unvarnished, intricate, and profoundly disturbing reality of Gandhi’s final battle.
2. The Echoes Of Eternity
Pavan K Varma
Westland Books
Pp 734, Rs 999
This compilation of Indian thinking includes passages from the key books that have influenced our society and country throughout the ages, ranging from the Rigveda to the Kama Sutra, from the Sufis to the founding fathers, from the Jain writings to Osho. This is a one-edition book by writer-diplomat Pavan K. Varma, who was an MP in the Rajya Sabha until recently. It includes an introduction that contextualizes the selection of works and includes brief remarks on each author and text.
3. The Book Of Disappearance
Ibtisam Azem & Sinan Antoon
Simon & Schuster
Pp 240, Rs 499
The memories of his grandmother’s displacement from Jaffa and subsequent refugee status in her own country following the Nakba haunt Alaa. Alaa’s friend and neighbor, Ariel, is a liberal Zionist who supports Israel’s mission while opposing the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Ariel starts looking for hints as to the reason behind the collective disappearance of Palestinians after waking up one morning to discover that they had all abruptly disappeared.
4. Fortune Seekers
Raman Mahadevan
Penguin Random House
Pp 256, Rs 599
This book encapsulates the spirit of entrepreneurship that drove many Nattukotai Chettiars, the most well-known business community in the Tamil region, to pursue their fortunes abroad. Fortune Seekers offers insightful lessons on the value of diversifying into attractive investment opportunities and assessing the economic winds of change for history, business, and contemporary entrepreneurs.
5. The Great Shutdown
Jyoti Mukul
HarperCollins
Pp 372, Rs 499
Diamond Princess, a wealth of maritime knowledge, became a prison during the Covid-19 outbreak for Siliguri chef de partie Binay Kumar Sarkar. A Mullahji from Araria accompanied 15-year-old Jyoti Kumari and her father, Mohan Paswan, on a roughly 1,100-kilometer ride on a leased bicycle. These individual tales and the government’s response are chronicled in the book. It discusses the struggles that the average person faces and the ensuing fallout.
