Recommendations based on "The Hungry Stones"

Louis fischer's memorable biography of mahatma gandhi, the man who led the fight for indian independence from british rule, is reissued in time for the 50th anniversary of both india's independence and gandhi's assassination by a hindu fanatic only a few months after freedom from colonial rule was won. Fischer was an american journalist who knew gandhi well and understood his unique strategy of satyagraha, or passive resistance, which earned him the admiration of millions throughout the world.

The eighteen chapters of The Bhagavad Gita (c. 500 b.c.), the glory of Sanskrit literature, encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul. Its three central themes—love, light, and life—arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

A restlessness born of guilt and despair leads Ravi to embark on a journey that ends in the remote village of Khasak in the picturesque Palghat countryside in Kerala. A land from the past, potent with dreams and legends, enfolds the traveller in a powerful and unsettling embrace. Ravi is bewitched and entranced as everything around him-the villagers; their children whom he teaches in a makeshift school; the elders who see him as a threat; the toddy-tappers; the shamans-takes on the quality of myth. And then reality, painful and threatening, begins to intrude on the sojourner's resting place and Ravi begins to understand that there is no escape from the relentless dictates of karma... Often poetic and dark, always complex and rich, The Legends of Khasak, O.V. Vijayan's much-acclaimed first novel, translated into English by the author, is an extraordinary achievement

The greatest Indian epic, one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytellingA Penguin ClassicA sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

One of the largest rivers in the world, the Indus rises in the Tibetan mountains, flows across northern India and then through Pakistan. For millennia it has been worshipped as a god, for centuries used as a tool of imperial expansion; today it is the cement of Pakistan's fractious union. This recounts a journey along the Indus, upstream and backwards in time, through two thousand miles of geography from the sea to the source; travelling back historically, from the moment that Pakistan first came into being in Karachi, to the time, millions of years ago in Tibet, when the river itself was born.

"A rich and fascinating study of Tibetan monastic life, from an author who is not only a leading scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, but who spent many years as a Buddhist monk."—Donald Lopez, author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West"Georges Dreyfus, extraordinary person and writer, gives us crucial insights into the structure and practices of higher Tibetan education as well as his own fascinating journey leading to his becoming the first Westerner to achieve the highest rank in Tibetan education. This book both peals away myths and reveals the true depths of Tibetan techniques to train the mind."—Jeffrey Hopkins, author of Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism"A remarkable tour de force. Georges Dreyfus merges personal memoir and outstanding scholarship to draw us into the intellectual life of the Tibetan monastic college, and in so doing he transforms forever our understanding of education and the cultivation of reason in traditional and pre-modern societies. If you read no other book on Tibetan Buddhism, immerse yourself in this one and applaud."—Matthew T. Kapstein, author of The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism

The 18 chapters of "The Bhagavad-Gita" (c. 500 BC), encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul, and the three central themes of this immortal poem - love, light and life - arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.

This special gift edition brings together Devdutt Pattanaik's lavishly illustrated and immensely popular retellings of India's greatest epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.Jay- An Illustrated Retelling of the MahabharataIn this entralling retelling, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants. Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the Mahabharata version of the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. Jayareveals the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years. Sita- An Illustrated Retelling of the RamayanaDevdutt Pattanaik approaches Ram by speculating on Sita- her childhood with her father, Janaka, who hosted sages mentioned in the Upanishads; her stay in the forest with her husband, who had to be celibate ascetic while she was in the prime of her youth; her interactions with the women of Lanka, recipes she exchanged, emotions they shared; her connection with the earth, her mother, and with the trees, her sisters; her role as the Goddess, the untamed Kali as well as the demure Gauri, in transforming the stoic prince of Ayodhya into God.

'Tamas, in either Rockwell's translation or the original Hindi, remains an essential text for the times' Nilanjana Roy, Business Standard 'Tamas is a prophetic warning against the use of religion as a weapon to gain and perpetuate political power' GOVIND NIHALANI In a city in undivided Punjab, Nathu, a tanner, is bribed to kill a pig. When the animal's carcass is discovered on the steps of the local mosque the next morning, simmering tensions explode into an orgy of bloodlust. But in the midst of the ensuing carnage, despite the darkness of the times, rare moments of unexpected friendship and love also surface. Winner of the Sahitya Aakdemi Award, Sahni's iconic novel about the Partition of India tells the tale of an unfolding riot from different vantage points. In Daisy Rockwell's definitive translation, this magnificent work comes vividly to life. 'Tamas drove the point home that ordinary people want to live in peace' Guardian

With The Garden, centuries of Tibetan Buddhist wisdom are brought to life for readers by one of its greatest Western teachers, Michael Roach. Through a parable in which a young man is brought into a mystical garden by a beautiful embodiment of Wisdom, Roach presents the pantheon of great Tibetan teachers. The nameless seeker lured to the garden meets the dominant historical figures who have contributed fundamental teachings to Tibetan Buddhism, such as Tsong Khapa, the first Dalai Lama, and Master Kamalashila. Unique among works of Buddhism now available, The Garden is destined to become a classic for its lucid revelation of the secrets of the Tibetan tradition and for the wisdom Geshe Michael Roach evokes.