New Delhi– From stories that detail the shenanigans of animals, to the BCCI’s impact on Indian cricket, to discovering the unity in diversity that is India through the workings of the 15th Finance Commission, to the saga of India’s first manufacturing park for medical devices to lessons homemaker-CEOs can teach MBAs, corporate managers and businesses, to magical foods that will change your life, to the agony and ecstasy of falling and failing in live, Rupa Publications invites you to Bond with the best this February.
Here’s what’s on offer:
All Creatures Great and Small – By Ruskin Bond
‘Samuel was a snail of some individuality. Some considered him to be the bad snail in the family, but that was because he did not listen to his elders and liked to do things on his own… Birds and butterflies recognized no man-made borders, so why should snails?’
If there is one thing that never gets old or boring or repetitive, it is stories that detail the shenanigans of animals. Often extremely entertaining, animals act in certain ways that are intriguing, wondrous and fascinating.
In ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, Ruskin Bond, known for his signature simplistic and witty writing style, brings us stories and personal essays that speak to this animal-human equation. He takes us into the world of ambitious snails, conniving eagles, monkeys that love hot baths, humans who befriend them and many other exciting tales!
On Board: Test, Trial, Triumph – My Years in BCCI – By Ratnakar Shetty
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is an institution that elicits extreme reactions. While some marvel at the remarkable work it has done to promote and develop cricket in India and elsewhere, others decry it as being myopic, arrogant and money-minded. However, nobody can deny the impact the BCCI has had not only on Indian cricket, but also international cricket and the influence it commands. Over the years, the professionalism and excellence displayed by Indian cricketers on the field has been complemented by the zeal and diligence of those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to take Indian cricket to where it is today.
‘On Board’ offers the reader an opportunity to walk through the corridors of this extraordinary institution and enter its meeting rooms, where many issues were discussed and momentous decisions taken. Penned by Prof Ratnakar Shetty, who has been an integral part of the BCCI’s evolution from being just a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to the most powerful cricket board on the planet, the book is an engaging read.
Those Were the Days: Tales From The 15th Finance Commission – By Ashok K. Lahiri
The Finance Commission has played a critical role in India’s federal structure since 1952. Every five years, this constitutional body produces a report recommending what share of the Union Government’s divisible tax pool should be devolved to the states, and how this aggregate should be distributed among the different states, among other recommendations on fiscal governance. In between its appointment and submission of its Report, the Finance Commission tends to spend the intervening period in the relative secrecy of internal discussions and state visits.
Despite the excitement about the Commissions in the media, and among the public, leaders and bureaucrats in states, little is publicly known about the rich experiences that the members and staff of the Commission gain while visiting all the states of our large and diverse country, and their interpersonal interactions.
‘Those Were the Days’ captures vignettes of such experiences of the 15th Finance Commission. It is a book not of history or economics or even secret deliberations within the Commission, but one that captures the joys of working as a team, a sense of discovery of the unity in diversity that is India and the great camaraderie that it enjoyed with leaders and civil servants in the different states.
Made in Lockdown: India’s Medtech Growth Powered by AMTZ – By Jitendra Sharma
AMTZ is India’s premier medical technology park with common manufacturing and scientific facilities that include specialized laboratories, warehousing and testing centres such as the centre for electromagnetic compatibility and safety testing, centre for biomaterial testing, centre for 3D printing, centres for lasers, MRI magnets, gamma irradiation, moulds and many other industrial service centres.
This book highlights the real strength of AMTZ – not just the products to fight the pandemic, but a broader ambit of the healthcare value chain. ‘Made in Lockdown’ is all about how AMTZ showcases modern India as a leader in the medical technology global stage.
Every Mother Is a CEO: Management Lessons From My Mother – By Dhanjit Vadra
Homemaker-CEOs can teach MBAs, corporate managers and businesses much more than you ever imagined.
Doesn’t managing a home’s finances, nurturing the family’s nutritional and emotional needs and planning the workflow of everyday activities of different family members count as management?
‘Every Mother Is a CEO’ answers these questions and more. In a breezy, conversational style, the author Dhanjit Vadra – Managing Director, Allen &Alvan Pvt Ltd and CEO, Allen & Alvan Defence & Aerospace – recounts the ways in which his mother Urmil Vadra worked tirelessly towards managing a large household, raising a family and assisting his father build a hardware manufacturing empire from scratch.
Heal With Foods: Magical Ingredients That Will Change Your Life – By Manjari Chandra
A vibrant, healthy you starts with your gut!
Our food choices are driven by what we subconsciously feed to our brain, influenced by advertisements, peers, societal norms and many environmental factors. Immaculately designed packets and their strategic placement on store shelves compel us to buy foods that, in reality, we do not need. These are the foods that deteriorate our overall health, particularly the gut, when in fact, the gut defines and influences every aspect of our health – from digestion and body weight, to mood, hormonal balance and immunity. And gut health can only be enhanced by eating nutritionally rich, wholesome foods.
Premier Amour: First Love – By Abhay
A love story that is at once exciting and tender!
The fact and fiction about love stories inevitably merge at some point, and one becomes the other. The proof lies between these pages.
Just like the lovebirds in real life, Bhanu and Bhushan experience the ecstasy and agony of falling and failing in love. But will they rise again in love? Will their first love give them a second chance? Those who have loved will get a clue from these lines:
A woman’s heart in love is like a peacock in the rains. It has to give in to much singing and dancing, flutter its rainbow feathers and spread them in an oversized arch, then strut all over the place wearing that colourful cloak, announcing to the world that it is the season of love.
First love is a rare lucky charm. Always wear it close to your heart.
To love and to lose in love is worse than not to love.
I am still recovering from a fractured heart, and it is unfair to give someone something that is broken.
Some women prefer to win their man, not steal him.
Let’s ride the tide, love is by our side. (IANS)
