New Delhi–Read how after the 13th day of the Kurukshetra War, the Pandavas and Kauravas look to avenge their losses; understand the need for balancing conflicting goals as well as the importance of promoting entrepreneurship from within; flick through the love story of two dancers on many facets of love and trust; and enjoy a collection of diverse stories set in Kolkata and Delhi.
The IANS bookshelf offers a nice blend of genres this weekend.
1. Book: A Broken Sun; Author: Aditya Iyengar; Publisher: Rupa; Price: Rs 295; Pages: 199
In the bloody aftermath of the 13th day of the Kurukshetra War, the Pandavas and Kauravas look to avenge their losses.
In the Pandava army, a grief-stricken Arjuna speaks to his dead son and tries to find solace on the battlefield, even as his brother Yudhishthira tries to keep his family from falling apart.
On the other side, the Kauravas, led by Guru Drona and Radheya, try desperately to bring the war to an end.
Their lives entwine tragically on the battlefield in a tale of loss and redemption. Narrated through the voices of Radheya, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Ghatotkacha and Sushasana, “A Broken Sun” is the second part of Iyengar’s trilogy on the Kurukshetra war.
2. Book: Entresutra; Author: Soumodip Sarkar; Publisher: Bloomsbury; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 208
As entrepreneurship and innovation become the new corporate and societal mantra, this book peers through known wisdom, glancing back and looking forward to what entrepreneurship and innovation mean, unravelling key ingredients for success.
Covering a vast and complex terrain, the book uncovers six pillars that determine entrepreneurial success, providing insights strung together from different fields of knowledge, as well as the author’s own experiences, to narrate a compelling and realistic account.
While each of these pillars constitutes a story in its own right, taken together, a fabric is woven that permits the reader to appreciate the entrepreneurial journey, drawing lessons for one’s own endeavours as Aha! moments are encountered along the way.
The book is also intended for corporates to understand how innovation unravels, for understanding the need for balancing conflicting goals as well as the importance of promoting entrepreneurship from within. “EntreSutra” will whet the appetite of the curious and help demystify the essence of creation.
3. Book: Rasia; Author: Koral Dasgupta; Publisher: Rupa; Price: Rs 295; Pages: 238
Two women wait for him at two different ends of the crossroads. He knows which path is his, but he can’t walk that path till he has attended to the other.
One perfect couple. An obsessed seductress. A Bharatanatyam show in Manhattan.
Raj Shekhar Subramanian and Manasi, both Bharatanatyam dancers, are made for each other. Till an obsessed fan, Vatsala Pandit enters their lives, testing the man’s character and his wife’s patience.
But then Manasi invites Vatsala to her Bharatanatyam show, she will be performing at with her husband, the very man Vatsala wants to take from her. Why? Why did Shekhar agree to take in Vatsala as his student in the first place?
This singular love story deftly explores the many facets of love-mutual trust, obsessiveness, the arrogance of passion, the need for self-fulfilment, the yearning for the beloved and the complexity of modern relationships.
4. Book: The Love Song of Maya K and other stories; Author: Shuma Raha; Publisher: Niyogi Books; Price: Rs 395; Pages: 214
It’s about a rumour that ends in calamity, a girl who is demonised because of her evil horoscope, a man who preys upon young girls, a train journey that forces a woman to look at her marriage anew, the gorgeous inner life of a shop girl and a child overwhelmed by the wonder and terror of his world. Set in Kolkata and Delhi, the stories in this collection deal with love and betrayal, dogma and superstition, sexuality and thwarted desires.
The characters belong to the world of urban, aspirational India where snobbery and the rat race go hand-in-hand with class and religious conflicts.
Dark or funny, satirical or poignant, these stories are as much a snapshot of modern India as they are an intense crystallisation of the unpredictable chaos of life.
