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Neelesh Misra’s Mandali
Penguin, 2018, Rs 250, pp 214
The author, a renowned storyteller, brings together handpicked writers from across the country and shares bittersweet stories of life. Here, homesick journeymen reconnect with their hometowns, old lovers reconcile against all odds, and a war widow stands up to her family. Slice of life, this one.
Monsoon Feelings
Edited by Rajamani, Pernau and Schofield
Niyogi, 2018, Rs 1750, pp 479
The monsoon is the season of intense emotions — love, longing, hope, fear, pleasure, pain, devotion, and joyous excess. Through a series of essays that explore poetry, songs, paintings, architecture, films, gardens, festivals and music, this collection examines the history of monsoon themes in South Asia.
Cast Out and Other Stories
Sucharita Dutta-Asane
Dhauli, 2018, Rs 395, pp 155
This is a collection of short stories set against the backdrop of the night. Most of the stories are set in the everyday, in the moment, in the presence of dampness, mosquitoes, sleep and blankets. These stories are sure to engage the reader.
How to live Plastic Free
Marine Conservation Society
Hachette, 2018, Rs 399, pp 209
Plastic is destroying the marine life in our oceans. This book contains tips on going plastic-free and saving the oceans. It includes little steps which will make a huge difference in the larger picture. The oceans will thank you for it.
Karno’s Daughter
Rimli Sengupta
Context, 2018, Rs 499, pp 187
Buttermilk is a maid in Calcutta. Her extraordinary yet invisible life is captured rather creatively here. It straddles the city, villages, suburbs, and her life brims with stories of betrayal and devastation while travelling the lines of rights and justice.
Note by Note
Ankur Bharadwaj, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh
Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 499, pp 321
The story of India over the past 70 years has been of development, social and political change, which has been forgotten, pushed to the recesses of our memories. In a country that has a song for every season and emotion, nothing qualifies as much as the film song to be a metaphor for the nation.
The unsafe asylum
Anirudh Kala
Speaking Tiger, 2018, Rs 350, pp 244
After the partition, India exchanged the Muslim patients in its psychiatric facilities for their Hindu and Sikh counterparts in Pakistan. These interlinked short stories explore the impact of this decision, along with the ongoing partition. A powerful and unsettling collection.
Reminiscences of a Seeker
Kapil Kumar Bhaskar
Angel, 2018, Rs 365, pp 300
A series of events catapults Kapil into the fascinating world of Dark Arts and sucks him into the quagmire of drama, suspense, greed and betrayal. This book tells a true story of an ordinary man plunged into the extraordinary circumstances of the dark world and finding his spiritual calling.