Books by Jyoti Gupta

Different Differenter is a beautifully-illustrated, full-color, activity book for children that thoughtfully addresses everyday skin color consciousness (and bias) in a way that's easy to understand.Children’s rich observations and questions about color, caste, race elicit accurate yet straightforward responses. Jyoti’s art-and-craft-based book takes you on a playful and creative discovery to find answers that work for you and your family—while creatively introducing facts of history and 15-plus new words. Make art. Perform a play for the nanas when they’re in town. Eat a yummy homemade dessert. Ooh! and aah! about how each member of the family has a different skin color.Utilize this educational tool that sets the context for the hard conversations about self-awareness, color, discrimination, and identity. Subjects included in the book are biology about skin (melanin, genes, adaptation); culturally-related aspects (food, art practices, region/ethnicity); colorism's social impact (bullying, media bias) and solutions (bystander intervention, activism, and media literacy).Illustrated by Tarannum Pasricha, Different Differenter reflects the world of the child, in all its diverse exuberance. The book’s creators have worked hard to spawn a visual culture that centers cultures and children of color. Do away with the rhetoric, the baggage of taboo topics and political correctness! And lead the dialogue with your children and help them embrace the values of social justice and equity.

It took me a couple of hours to gain the energy to get up. Reluctantly, I left my bed and headed to the shower. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the hot water running down my skin. Blood pooled on the bathroom floor, washing off from my body. I gasped loudly as a bullet whizzed past me, missing my head by a very slight margin. Somebody close by screamed loudly, jolting me awake. I had slumped against the wall and dozed off because of the heavy doses. The shower was still on and clear water ran down. I looked around, dazed. There were no signs of blood or bullets. I hurriedly got out of the bathroom. I need to get out of the house as soon as possible to remain sane.Everybody has a past; everyone lies; there's a secret love hidden in every heart. But it looks like Veronica has more than her mysterious smile. How far are you willing to go for your love? How much would you deceive? What can you do to be with the love of your life? Can you die? Can you kill?