Awakening Bharat Mata

Awakening Bharat Mata
Author: Swapan Dasgupta
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2019-05-25
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 935305530X

The rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was much more than an ordinary electoral phenomenon: it brought to the fore two contrasting views of nationhood: between those who saw modern India in terms of secular republicanism and on the other hand were those who sought to blend technological modernity with the country's Hindu inheritance. The Right's ascendancy and the debates that accompanied it, anticipated many of the concerns that find reflection today in the United States and Europe. The phenomenon of Hindu nationalism was also a profound intellectual challenge to the loose Left-liberal consensus that had prevailed in India since Jawaharlal Nehru became Prime Minister in 1947. The idea of Hindutva and the political character of the BJP have been closely scrutinised by scholars, and the impulse has been to view India's Right-wing politics as either a variant of fascism or merely a collection of sectarian prejudices. In fact, the inspiration for the Right in India has come from multiple and often contradictory sources, including the influence of individuals such as Sarvarkar, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo, not to mention the Arya Samaj movement. This collection is an attempt to showcase the phenomenon of Hindu nationalism in terms of how it perceives itself. Many of the concerns that drive the Indian Right are located in the country's nationalist culture. In trying to locate some of the ideas, attitudes and beliefs that define the Indian Right, Awakening Bharat Mata also seeks to identify the nature of Indian conservatism and identify its similarities and differences with political thought in the West. This book is not about Hindu nationalism in power but as a social and political movement and its aim is to encourage a more informed understanding of an idea that will remain relevant in Indian life far beyond victories and defeats in elections.

Your Best Day Is Today!

Your Best Day Is Today!
Author: Anupam Kher
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2021-01-05
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 9388302559

‘Your best day is today. Not tomorrow, nor day after.’ The Covid-19 pandemic is considered as the most crucial global health calamity of the twenty-first century. It caught humankind like a deer in the headlights. All across the globe, people were unprepared to face this disease head-on. Apart from enduring the impact of the socio-economic and political crisis, we had to deal with the consequences of staying inside our homes without knowing what the future held for us. The severity of this disease forced us all to become homebodies. This phase has reminded us that we must strive to find pleasure in life’s simplicity. It has also taught us the significance of the smallest of things we always took for granted. As humans, we have a tendency of leaving things for tomorrow, and this crisis has made us realise that the best day to do anything is today . . . Your Best Day Is Today! is a compendium of experiences, lessons, and positive takeaways that will help you deal with the dark times in your life. It is a guide to getting in touch with your inner self and finding solutions to the problems that arise with adapting to changes in life. It is also a reminder of how you are not alone and there is always a way to make the best of any situation life throws at you. This book will inspire you and fill your heart with immense love, faith, and joy.

Modi's India

Modi's India
Author: Christophe Jaffrelot
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 656
Release: 2023-04-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691247900

A riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intolerance Over the past two decades, thanks to Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has been coupled with a form of national-populism that has ensured its success at the polls, first in Gujarat and then in India at large. Modi managed to seduce a substantial number of citizens by promising them development and polarizing the electorate along ethno-religious lines. Both facets of this national-populism found expression in a highly personalized political style as Modi related directly to the voters through all kinds of channels of communication in order to saturate the public space. Drawing on original interviews conducted across India, Christophe Jaffrelot shows how Modi's government has moved India toward a new form of democracy, an ethnic democracy that equates the majoritarian community with the nation and relegates Muslims and Christians to second-class citizens who are harassed by vigilante groups. He discusses how the promotion of Hindu nationalism has resulted in attacks against secularists, intellectuals, universities, and NGOs. Jaffrelot explains how the political system of India has acquired authoritarian features for other reasons, too. Eager to govern not only in New Delhi, but also in the states, the government has centralized power at the expense of federalism and undermined institutions that were part of the checks and balances, including India's Supreme Court. Modi's India is a sobering account of how a once-vibrant democracy can go wrong when a government backed by popular consent suppresses dissent while growing increasingly intolerant of ethnic and religious minorities.

Flood and Fury

Flood and Fury
Author: Viju B
Publisher: Ebury Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2019-08-20
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780143447610

The floods that devastated large parts of Kerala in 2018 were not an isolated, freak phenomenon; rather, they signalled something graver-the ecological devastation of the Western Ghats. Made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, the Ghats have become increasingly vulnerable to serious ecological damage, threatening the sustenance of their people. The 2018 floods were a wake-up call for the region spanning 1600 kilometres and six states-Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat-that form an ecosystem older than the Himalayas. Travelling in this region, documenting the devastating large-scale mining, quarrying, deforestation and mismanagement of water resources, at the same time mapping its culture, history and ecology, Viju B. investigates the crisis in the Western Ghats and suggests policy measures urgently required to mitigate it.

The Religions of India

The Religions of India
Author: Roshen Dalal
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 940
Release: 2014-04-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 8184753969

A handy guide to every religion practised in India In India, the birthplace of some of the world’s major faiths and home to many more, religion is a way of life, existing as much in temples, mosques, churches and wayside shrines as it does in social laws, cultural practices and the political arena. The Religions of India contains, in a single volume, a comprehensive account of every major faith practised in the country today—Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and the Bahai faith. This meticulously researched work traverses a vast range of topics—from Somnatha Temple and Babri Masjid to Tirthankaras and the Akali Movement; from the Shariat and the Eucharist to Shabuoth and nirvana. It places each religion in its historical context, tracing its evolution from its inception to the present. • Incisive profiles of founders and key patrons, deities, saints, mystics and philosophers • Information on and insights into lesser-known and regional forms of worship, as well as important festivals, customs and rituals • Extensively cross-referenced with suggestions for further reading

The Indian Conservative

The Indian Conservative
Author: Jaithirth Rao
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-06-15
Genre: Hinduism and politics
ISBN: 9789393986849

Lively, eloquent and provocative, this is a book that will stimulate much thought, discussion and debate as it challenges the dogmas of the left and the extreme right and raises the key issues that engage India today.

From Leapfrogging to Pole-vaulting

From Leapfrogging to Pole-vaulting
Author: R A Mashelkar
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2018-12-20
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9353053897

An exhilarating manifesto for the future, this book convinces readers to make the shift from reactive leapfrogging to proactive pole-vaulting through radical transformation. The unique '3-4-7 framework' demonstrates how a paralysing mass of problems can be brought down to a formidable formula, thus making every problem solvable, no matter how big and complex. The book is dotted with inspiring case studies that can instil confidence in people from across the world to put this framework into practice for assured success. Dr Mashelkar and Mr Pandit ably show in this must-read book that-as an interplay of global issues constantly raise the bar for innovation today-there has never been a better time to use our learnings to pole-vault over those bars into a new future!

Awakening

Awakening
Author: Subrata Das Gupta
Publisher: Random House India
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2011-12-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 8184002483

In the nineteenth century, Bengal witnessed an extraordinary intellectual flowering. Bengali prose emerged, and with it the novel and modern blank verse; old arguments about religion, society, and the lives of women were overturned; great schools and colleges were created; new ideas surfaced in science. And all these changes were led by a handful of remarkable men and women. For the first time comes a gripping narrative about the Bengal Renaissance recounted through the lives of all its players from Rammohun Roy to Rabindranath Tagore. Immaculately researched, told with colour, drama, and passion, Awakening is a stunning achievement.

Veer Savarkar

Veer Savarkar
Author: Uday Mahurkar
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9789355200488

If India looks forward to its 75th year of Independence, it is also looking at 75 years of the country's partition. Perhaps the biggest human tragedy of the twentieth century, it was marked by unparalleled violence that was suppressed by interested parties for their own political and ideological reasons. In the analysis of the real factors that led to Partition lies the lesson to protect India's unity and integrity, as exemplified by the relentless but unsuccessful attempt by Veer Savarkar to prevent the birth of Pakistan. Arguably the greatest symbol of India's national integration, Savarkar's warnings on the threats to India's security have come true in the past seven decades. Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition uncovers Savarkar, the thinker and the father of India's national security who has shown the best possible pathway towards one nation that rises above religious, caste and regional feelings. It also proves the falsity of charges levelled against Savarkar from time to time and exposes the motives behind them. It reveals, for the first time, the manner in which the Narendra Modi-led government has implemented Savarkar's national security and diplomatic vision. This book presents a true account of the tragic story of India's partition and Savarkar's efforts to prevent it. Authors Uday Mahurkar and Chirayu Pandit present several new facets of Savarkar which are unknown to the country. They bring out how Savarkar presented the first-ever robust defence and diplomacy doctrine for independent India. It is based on deep research and offers rare lessons on fighting divisive forces for creating the ideal of united India.