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of the book
Mughals, marriage and military
Akbar: The Mighty
Emperor
By Kavitha Mandana.
Penguin-Puffin. Rs 150.
FOR
Mughal emperor Humayun, the news of the birth of Akbar allowed him a
moment of quiet joy in the wilderness of a camp he was confined to. He
broke a musk pod and the fragrance wafted across the camp. The father
hoped his son's fame would spread through like the scent of
musk. Kavitha Mandana's book profiles the most charismatic of
Mughal emperors, Akbar, in the context of the times he lived in and
the life he led in the Mughal court through short and offbeat
anecdotes, character sketches of his relatives, aides and sons - who
narrate the persona of the man as they saw him in lucid, prose rich in
visual imagery. An exciting book for both the children and adults.
 Chicken
Soup for the Indian Armed Forces Soul
Eds Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Raksha Bharadia.
Tranquebar. Rs 295.
The men and women who
lay down their lives in our defence are a source of inspiration for
all of us. This collection of 101 inspiring stories reinforces the
belief. They are tales of resilience, loyalty, love, strength, courage
and friendship. They are living inspiration that no odd is
insurmountable.
The armed forces
personnel and their families from all over the country have
contributed to this book.
Bharadia is the editor
of the Chicken Soup series while Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
are New York Times’ best-selling authors, who are also
motivational speakers.
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Legend of the
Lepchas: Folk Tales from Sikkim
By Yishey Doma.
Tranquebar. Rs 200.
IN
the beginning, there was nothing but a vast emptiness on earth
and in the sky. Then, Itbu-Moo, the mother creator, shaped the
mountains, the rivers and the lakes. But something was missing.
Why did her creation feel empty? There was no man. The mother
goddess picked up a fresh ball of snow and created the first man
and then the first woman. They were the supreme deities of the
Lepchas.
Poet and
journalist Yishey Doma, author of the widely-acclaimed coffee
table book, Sikkim, The Hidden Fruitful Valley, narrates
the lores of her hills that centre on the gods, goddesses,
people, animals and nature in a cohesive world where one cannot
do without the other. Each short story is accompanied by an
illustration.
Love on
Velocity Express
By N. Sampath Kumar.
Cedar Books. Rs 125.
Shyam, a rich
spoilt brat, is jolted out of his conventional wisdom when the
girl his parents want him to wed turns out to be
"maverick". She demands to be reunited with her former
flame. Shyam battles confusion as he helps her sift for her love
with a laboured non-chalance. He is ready to pretend to become
anything — a friend, guide and confidant — to pull it off at
the aisle. The romantic comedy takes several painful detours,
some trifle artful, before Shyam and Megha marry to live out
their lives under the arclights in Mumbai.
They become
television serial producers in a spillover from the story of
their ultra-modern love. A good debut, though the prose drags
occasionally. — IANS
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