Showing results by narrator "Sartaj Garewal" in All Categories

Can one of the most divided nations on the planet become its next superpower? James Crabtree reveals the titans of politics and industry shaping India in a period of breakneck change from controversial prime minister Narendra Modi, victor in the largest election in history, to the leading lights of the country's burgeoning billionaire class. While King of the Good Times Vijay Mallya languishes in exile in Britain, other major Bollygarchs prosper at home despite a series of scandals.

For decades now, Pico Iyer has been based for much of the year in Nara, Japan, where he and his Japanese wife, Hiroko, share a two-room apartment. But when his father-in-law dies suddenly, calling him back to Japan earlier than expected, Iyer begins to grapple with the question we all have to live with: how to hold on to the things we love, even though we know that we and they are dying.   

It’s time to take your place on the jury. The victim: A 16-year-old girl with facial deformities, neglected by an alcoholic mother, who accuses the boys of something unthinkable. The defendants: Four handsome teenage boys from hardworking immigrant families. All with corroborating stories. Whose side would you take?

From the author of the prize-winning title The White Tiger comes a compelling and entertaining coming-of-age story. Manjunath Kumar is 14. He knows he is good at cricket - if not as good as his elder brother, Radha. He knows that he fears and resents his domineering and cricket-obsessed father, admires his brilliantly talented sibling and is fascinated by the world of CSI and by curious and interesting scientific facts. But there are many things, about himself and about the world, that he doesn't know.

Hassan Haji, a boy from Mumbai, embarks, along with his boisterous family, on a picaresque journey first to London and then across Europe, before they ultimately open a restaurant opposite a famous chef, Madame Mallory, in the remote French village of Lumiere. A culinary war ensues, pitting Hassan's Mumbai-toughened father against the imperious Michelin-starred cordon bleu, until Madame Mallory realizes that Hassan is a cook with natural talents far superior to her own.

Set in IIT, in the early 90s, this book portrays the lives of protagonist Hari and his two friends Ryan and Alok. It describes the darker side of IIT, one in which students who worked for years to make it into the institution struggled to maintain their grades.

Why does anime make sense in an animist culture? How might Oscar Wilde reveal a culture too often associated with conformity? How can Japanese friends in a typical neighbourhood turn every stereotype on its head? His provocations may infuriate you - may even infuriate himself - Iyer confesses in his opening salvo, but maybe it’s only by setting its love hotels next to its baseball stadia, its wild fashions against its eighth-century values, that Japan can be made new again for both the first-time visitor and the jaded foreign resident. 

Jivan Singh, the bastard scion of the Bapuji family, returns to his childhood home after a long absence - only to witness the unexpected resignation of the ageing Devraj Bapuji from the vast corporation he founded, Company India. On the same day, Sita, Devraj's youngest daughter, absconds - refusing to submit to the marriage her father wants for her. Meanwhile, Radha and Gargi, Sita's older sisters, are left to run the Company.... And so begins a brutal, deathly struggle for power, ranging over the Palaces and slums of New Delhi, the luxury resorts and spas of Amritsar and Srinagar. 

The Taylor Turbochaser is a road-trip roller coaster...with a twist. At its heart is the unforgettable Amy Taylor. Amy loves cars, and dreams of being a driver. But there’s a major catch: her slow old wheelchair with its broken wheel. When Amy finally gets a new electric one, it’s exciting...at first. But standard engines only have so much power. And that’s where Rahul comes in - Amy’s best friend and genius inventor. Soon Rahul turns a wheelchair into...a supercar! 

Santosh Wagh quit his job as head of Private India after harrowing events in Mumbai almost got him killed. But Jack Morgan, global head of the world's finest investigation agency, needs him back. Jack is setting up a new office in Delhi, and Santosh is the only person he can trust. Still battling his demons, Santosh accepts, and it's not long before the agency takes on a case that could make or break them.

Imtiaz Raina, born in Sheffield, young father, young husband, son of loving parents, has decided to die. He has convinced himself that he believes in his cause. And before he leaves home for a final time, he wants to be sure his family understand why. So he decides to write for them, to leave his journey behind. Raw, funny, tender, furious, vulnerable, selfish, desperate, proud: this is his story.

It is the first night of Ramadan. At Sivaji Nagar in the heart of Bangalore, the market comes alive. It is also the night a killer decides to go out in public for the first time as a woman. In the bustling market she finds her victim and lures him into a narrow dark lane but she is interrupted by a young male prostitute. At first he is merely someone muscling in on her territory but when he recognizes the true face beneath the killer’s make up, his life is irrevocably changed.…

In late 2000, a young boy in Ahmedabad dreams of owning a business. To accommodate his friends' passion, he opens a cricket shop. However, nothing comes easily in a turbulent city. To realise their goals, they will have to face it all - religious politics, calamities, unacceptable love and, above all, their own mistakes. Will they make it? Can an individual's dreams overcome the nightmares of real life? Can we succeed despite mistakes?

Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married. In India, there are a few more steps: Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy. Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl. Girl's family has to love Boy's family. Boy's family has to love girl's family. Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married. Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India; they are deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don't agree.

Hasan is 11 years old. He loves cricket, pomegranates, the night sky, his clever, vibrant artistic mother and his etymologically obsessed lawyer father, and he adores his next-door neighbour Zehra. One early summer morning, while lazing happily on the roof, Hasan watches a young boy flying a yellow kite fall to his death. Soon after, Hasan's idyllic, sheltered family life is shattered when his beloved uncle Salman, a dissenting politician, is arrested and charged with treason.

The Year of the Runaways tells of the bold dreams and daily struggles of an unlikely family thrown together by circumstance. Thirteen young men live in a house in Sheffield, each in flight from India and in search of a new life. Avtar has a secret that binds him to protect the choatic Randeep. Randeep has a visa wife in a flat on the other side of town. And Tarlochan, a former rickshaw driver, will say nothing about his past in Bihar.

Mumbai, murder and a baby elephant combine in a charming, joyful mystery for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Harold Fry. On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries. The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved. And the second is a baby elephant.

A great warrior and skilled administrator, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, better known as Shivaji, was the founder of the great Maratha Empire and one who instilled a sense of Maratha identity in his people. At a time when the Mughal Empire was at its zenith, Shivaji was the only one who dared to challenge the might of Emperor Aurangzeb. He steadily grew his army from a humble contingent of 2,000 soldiers to a force of 100,000.

The autobiography of the highest scoring batsman of all time.The greatest run-scorer in the history of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013 after an astonishing 24 years at the top. The most celebrated Indian cricketer of all time, he received the Bharat Ratna Award - India's highest civilian honour - on the day of his retirement.

John Lock has come to India to meet his destiny: a destiny dressed in a white karate suit and sporting an impressive moustache. He has fled the quiet desperation of his life in England: decades wasted in a meaningless job, a marriage foundering in the wake of loss, and a terrible secret he cannot bear to share with his wife. He has come to offer his help to a man who has learned to conquer pain, a world record breaker who specializes in feats of extreme endurance and ill-advised masochism.