Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Let your mind travel with the pile on your book shelf this weekend…

1. “Girls Behind the Gunfire”; Written by Trisha Ray; Published by HarperCollins-India; Priced Rs 299

Life can be hard when you’re a dork. You’re not pretty or popular - just intelligent and very bored with the world around you. Literally. Abhishikta is thrilled by the revelation that the nerdy Rikita is actually a lethal super-soldier - her geekiness belying the fact that she can kill everyone in a room, in any given situation, And Riki proceeds to induct Abhi into the Foundation, a secret organisation that claims to exist only to serve human civilisation. What she doesn’t take to, however, is the fascist control exerted by the Foundation over its soldiers. She begins to ask questions … and things start getting really messy. An action-packed story about an ordinary-girl-turned- reluctant-assassin.

2. “Amma’s Advice: Traditional Wisdom for Modern Times”; Written by Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi; Published by Konark Publishers; Priced Rs 3,500

During an address at the United Nations, Amma, as she is known, said the world was like a flower and each nation was like a petal. “If one petal is infested, does it not affect the other petals? Does not the disease destroy the life and beauty of the flower? Is it not the duty of each one of us to protect and preserve the beauty and fragrance of this one flower from being destroyed,” she told a packed house. This book captures between its pages hundreds of years of wisdom from which Amma draws her remedies for humanity to confront multiple crises. The volume is at once both simple and deeply cerebral.

3. “Birds, Beasts and Bandits: 14 Days with Veerappan”; Written by Krupakar and Senani; Published by Penguin-India; Priced Rs 250

In a comic mistaken identity, photojournalists Krupakar and Senani are rounded up by the plunderer and brigand Veerappan from their home on the edge of the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary because he thought they were important government officials. The bandits kept the hostages on the move in the forest and their only contact with the outside world was an old transistor. While Veerappan formulated his strategies to force the government to pay ransom, the duo took a good look at the flora and fauna of the jungles of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Their run gave them a opportunity to bond with the bandit and resulted in an extraordinary adventure in wilderness.

4. “The Greatest Show on Earth: Writings on Bollywood”; Edited by Jerry Pinto; Published by Penguin India; Priced Rs 499

Writers and industry watchers like Saadat Hasan Manto, Salman Rushdie, Bhisham Sahni, R.K. Narayan, Ismat Chugtai, Suketu Mehta, Shobhaa De, Dev Anand and Manna Dey write about superstars and strugglers, filmmakers and playback singers to celebrate the world of cinema.

5. “The Punjab Bloodied: Partitioned and Cleansed”; Written by Ishtiaq Ahmed; Published by Rupa & Co; Priced Rs 249

About 500,000-800,000 brutally massacred; 10 million people forced to flee their homes; 90,000 women abducted by men of the ‘other’ religion. A riveting account of the partition of the Punjab in 1947, this book is a holistic study of the first major case of ethnic cleansing after the Second World War. Besides shedding new light on the events through secret British reports, it contains poignant accounts by eyewitnesses, survivors, and even those who participated in the carnage, from both sides of the border.