Books published by Speaking Tiger Books

DescriptionBombay, 1943. The young Parsi actress who was playing Salome in the newly foundedTheatre Group's production of Oscar Wilde's eponymously titled play drew the lineat performing the Dance of the Seven Veils, a sort of 'Biblical striptease'. So directorSultan Padamsee's 19-year-old sister Roshen stepped in. And met the handsome, intense Arab who played the male lead-Ebrahim Alkazi. In 1946, they weremarried.Thus was forged one of the greatest alliances in the world of theatre and art in post-Independence India. Ebrahim Alkazi took English theatre from its early beginnings inBombay to national and even international acclaim as he directed and acted in morethan a hundred plays, ranging from Oedipus Rex, Murder in the Cathedral and Macbeth inthe 1950s, to Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Andha Yug and Tughlaq in the '60s and '70s. As directorof the fabled National School of Drama from 1962 to 1977, he launched some ofthe finest actors of our times, including Om Shivpuri, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Rohini Hattangadi, Manohar Singh and Uttara Baokar. Chief costume designer andseamstress for all his productions was Roshen Alkazi.In 1977, when Ebrahim and Roshen decided to open Art Heritage in Delhi, it gave anew dimension to the world of art, as the leading artists of the day, includingM.F. Husain, Krishen Khanna, F.N. Souza, Tyeb Mehta, K.G. Subramanyam andLaxma Goud, flocked to this space that was not just a 'commercial' gallery, but afoundation for documenting and preserving the arts.With more than 50 rare photographs, Enter Stage Right is the story of theatre in Indiaas it has never been told before...to be treasured by theatre buffs, and savoured byanyone who loves a good story.

A fascinating look into the lives, struggles and triumphs of the women scientists who spearheaded Mangalyaan-India's mission to Mars.In late 2013, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Mangalyaan-India's first inter-planetary mission-after just eighteen months, at a fraction of the cost of similar missions by foreign space agencies. The next year India became the first Asian nation to reach the Mars orbit and the first in the world to do so in its first attempt.This historic mission, among ISRO's other great successes, was spearheaded by the most talented, dedicated and badass group of women scientists that the world has ever seen. Nandini Harinath and Ritu Karidhal calculated the spacecraft's trajectory to Mars, besides overseeing the mission operations; Moumita Dutta and Minal Sampat designed the complex scientific instruments involved in the mission; while numerous other 'Wonder Women' have been instrumental in ISRO's other pathbreaking work.Those Magnificent Women and Their Flying Machines narrates the inspiring stories of these extraordinary women: how they overcame the naysayers and gender barriers in a field dominated by men to achieve the impossible. Now India is ready to launch Gaganyaan, its first space mission with humans on board, at least one of whom will be a woman. Women in science are set to reach for the stars-and beyond.

One of our most courageous and eloquent storytellers, Nayantara Sahgal's superb mastery over language and history make this bold new work a compelling story that is as disturbing as it is beautifully told. Prabhakar, returning home one evening, comes upon a corpse at a crossroads, naked but for the skullcap on his head. Days later, he listens to Katrina's stark retelling of a gang rape in a village, as chilling as only the account of a victim can be. And in a macabre sequence, he finds his favourite dhaba no longer serves gular kebabs and rumali roti, while Bonjour, the fine dining restaurant run by a gay couple, has been vandalised by goons. Casting a long shadow over it all is Mirajkar, the 'Master Mind', brilliant policy maker and political theorist, who is determined to rid the country of all elements alien to its culture-as he, and his partymen, perceive it. A professor of political science, Prabhakar observes these occurrences with deepening concern. Is the theory he put forth in his book-that it is not the influence of those who preach goodness and compassion that prevails, but the matter-of-factness of cruelty-playing out before him? In the midst of all this, he meets Katrina, beautiful, half-Russian, wearing the scars of a brutal incident as a badge of honour. Together, they discover that, even in times that are grim, there is joy to be had.

An extraordinary book that combines travel- and history-writing with brilliant storytelling to give us a portrait of Mumtaz Mahal, in whose memory Shah Jahan built the Taj, and also a portrait of India before it was changed by liberalization. In the early 1980s, researching for his bestselling novel Taj, author Timeri-Tim-Murari began the first of his journeys in the footsteps of Arjumand Bano, the precocious daughter of a Mughal nobleman. Arjumand went on to become Mumtaz Mahal, chief consort of Emperor Shah Jahan, and empress of the Mughal kingdom until her death in 1631, giving birth to their fourteenth child. Over the next two decades, the grieving emperor had the Taj Mahal built in her memory-their final resting place, and the world's most enduring symbol of love. Tim went on his journeys at a time before air travel was common in India, when they were protracted affairs undertaken mostly by train. In these travels of discovery-in Delhi; in Agra, the centre of Mughal power and site of the Taj Mahal; in the desert cities of Rajasthan, where Shah Jahan waged ceaseless campaigns, Mumtaz Mahal at his side; and in Burhanpur in the Deccan, where the empress breathed her last-the author found fascinating glimpses of an empire at its zenith, and of a consuming love. Intertwined with these insights were the shabby realities of modern India-the obstinacies of the bureaucracy that controls monuments, the industries which deface them, and a citizenry that remains unaware of its own history. A brilliant meld of travel and history writing, Empress of the Taj is not only the story of a fabled queen, and the magnificent obsessions of royalty; it is also an invaluable record of a lost era in India.

New Delhi was the grandest planned capital city of the British empire. In its meticulous urban plan it owed as much to earlier imperial traditions of Delhi as it did to Western movements such as the Garden City and City Beautiful. It is interesting to examine the process by which this plan came into being, and the interactions between the people responsible for it. This new city also became the centre of a culture at the cusp of Indian and British Indian society - centering on the shopping precinct of Connaught Place, restaurants, clubs, cinema theatres and other institutions. In the years immediately following independence and partition, came a sudden expansion of the metropolis beyond the limits of New Delhi. This left the original New Delhi as a predominantly administrative centre, with a low density of population, and an oasis of green. Far from being a sterile space however, its many cultural institutions, public spaces and thriving shopping precincts have given it a persisting vibrancy.

'The essays in Uncertain Journeys: Labour Migration from South Asia document the price people pay to earn a dignified livelihood, as well as the joy and pain of distance employment. They […] help us to understand the labour migrant from South Asia as a human being, and not a mere remittance machine for the family or a precious foreign-exchange earner for the home country.'-From the introduction by A.S. Panneerselvan The topic of labour migration appears constantly in the media, but too often, the issues take precedence over the people involved-the migrant workers who leave Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to work long hours in precarious situations across the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Here, eleven journalists explore the lived realities of migrant workers from South Asia-their aspirations, fears and dreams; how global forces determine their freedom; how they navigate the policies that attempt to regulate their lives; and their hopes for a better future which carry them through years of unrelenting toil. Uncertain Journeys asks fundamental questions about the nature and costs of labour migration. Essays about the plight of Indians stranded in Kuwait due to bankrupt employers query whether labour-sending countries can assume that their responsibilities to their citizens abroad end with enabling remittances. The horrifying stories of men and women suffering forced labour, abuse and de facto imprisonment demand whether the blurred borderlines between migration and human trafficking effectively enable modern-day slavery. Most crucially, the book questions whether human beings can be reduced to a mere commodity. Written with empathy, yet with a critical take on the stories being told, this book is an important contribution to the conversation about labour migration in South Asia.

'Elegant, lucid and funny, this book will appeal to as many readers as there are desires.'-Shohini Ghosh'The history of desire in India,' writes Madhavi Menon in this splendid book, 'reveals not purity but impurity as a way of life. Not one answer, but many. Not a single history, but multiple tales cutting across laws and boundaries.' In Bhakti poetry, Radha and Krishna disregard marital fidelity, age, time and gender for erotic love. In Sufi dargahs, pirs (spiritual guides) who were married to women are buried alongside their male disciples, as lovers are. Vatsyayana, author of the world's most famous manual of sex, insists that he did not compose it 'for the sake of passion', and remained celibate through the writing of it. Long hair is widely seen as a symbol of sexuality; and yet, shaved off in a temple, it is a sacred offering. Even as the country has a draconian law to punish homosexuality, heterosexual men share the same bed without comment. Hijras are increasingly marginalized; yet gender has historically been understood as fluid rather than fixed.Menon navigates centuries, geographies, personal and public histories, schools of philosophy, literary and cinematic works, as she examines the many-and often surprising-faces of desire in the Indian subcontinent. Her study ranges from the erotic sculptures of Khajuraho to the shrine of the celibate god Ayyappan; from army barracks to public parks; from Empress Nur Jahan's paan to home-made kohl; from cross-dressing mystics to androgynous gods. It shows us the connections between grammar and sex, between hair and war, between abstinence and pleasure, between love and death.Gloriously subversive, full of extraordinary analyses and insights, this is a book you will read to be enlightened and entertained for years.

Part of the bestselling 'Little Book' series, a new title by India's favourite author Ruskin Bond What can a flower teach us about courage? Or a little red ant?When is speaking up brave, and when holding one's peace?Why must we look on with suspicion at all that comes easy? What is the ultimate measure of man?Ruskin Bond, India's favourite writer, draws from his own experiences, and those of some of the world's greatest thinkers and doers, to offer words of inspiration and wisdom. A Little Book of Courage is the perfect guide-to dip into and to gift-for the good times, and the tough.

A beloved tale of genies, a magic lamp, an evil villain, and the remarkable adventures of a boy called Aladdin.Fifteen-year-old Aladdin is befriended by a stranger who says he is Aladdin's uncle. Charmed by his generosity and friendliness, Aladdin accompanies the man to a cave somewhere in the wilderness outside the city. From the cave, Aladdin gathers all kinds of astonishing jewels-and a lamp that looks old and ordinary. But when the stranger reveals himself as a magician, and locks Aladdin in the cave, the boy discovers there is magic everywhere, including in the old ring he is wearing on his finger. From here start the extraordinary exploits of Aladdin. Will he be able to become a rich man with the help of the genie of the lamp? Will he win the hand and heart of the Princess Badroulboudour? And how will he rescue her when his lamp is stolen from him by trickery?An everlasting story of genies and enchantment, love and deceit, a poor boy and a beautiful princess, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp will capture the hearts of readers once more, in this beautiful edition introduced by Ruskin Bond.

Janice Campbell Paul was just an ordinary American woman, not particularly religious or spiritual, when she was stricken with fibromyalgia, an illness so inexplicable that even the doctors were left puzzled. Slowly, as the sickness took over, she lost the life she had known. As friends and family eased their way out of her life, she was left alone, completely dependent on a wheelchair as she struggled to adjust to her new world.It was then that she discovered love. First, the love of God, which, she believes, created a series of miraculous events that set her life on a different course completely, and enabled her to walk again. The other love, no less powerful, was for a young man, many years her junior, in faraway West Bengal. Their long-distance relationship gave her the courage to dream again. It also gave her the courage to follow her calling and, equipped with a Bible and a heart full of faith, she travelled to the remote village of Bhat Bandh in Bengal. Together, she and the young man built a church, worked with an orphanage and struggled in a culture that would never accept their love or secret marriage.The couple moved to Kathmandu, where Janice lived for many years, though the struggles and challenges they faced eventually destroyed their marriage and their faith in their purpose together. Now 64, Janice is still walking...a bit slower but still determined to go out and tell the world about her healing, about a God that lives in a most imperfect woman and to show others that there is hope in a very dark world.

'The memoirs of a self-confessed maverick wildlife biologist, full of fascinating information, and stories told with Rauf's inimitable caustic humour. A must for wildlife lovers and all who enjoy a unique read.'-Mark TullyBeginning with his interactions with Dr Salim Ali, the legendary ornithologist-who was also his grand-uncle-wildlife biologist Rauf Ali takes the reader on a journey through India's natural history and the beginning of ecological studies in India.Rauf was one of the first Indians to complete a PhD in wildlife biology-he researched the social behaviour of bonnet macaques in the forests of Mundanthurai region in Tamil Nadu. In the late 1980s, he was instrumental in setting up one of India's first Masters programmes in ecology, and later, as an ecologist, Rauf undertook the task of delineating Protected Areas in the Palani Hills of the Western Ghats. He was also among the first to conduct environmental research in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and in this book, he provides eye-opening information on the environmental damage caused by the introduction of chital and other species alien to the region.Enlivening the narrative are anecdotes drawn from a career spanning over three decades: of encountering wild elephants; dealing with red tape; and whiskey-laced brainstorming sessions with students and Nobel laureates alike.Through these personal accounts, Rauf reveals the state of environmental conservation in India, and the complex relationship between locals, wildlife researchers and forest officials. He also emerges as a person who was influential in creating policies for the conservation of the environment and who had little patience for the corruption and bureaucratic processes that came in the way. Quirky, candid and informative, Running Away from Elephants is an invaluable addition to writings on natural history in India.