In the court of the last Mughal
First published in 1885, Bazm-i Aakhir, or The Last Gathering by Munshi Faizuddin, is a rich and lively first-hand account of life in the royal court of the last Mughal emperor in Red Fort, Bahadur Shah Zafar. From meticulous details of the day-to-day happenings inside the fort-palace and the royal protocols to the celebration of festivals such as Eid, Navroz, Diwali, and even Rakshabandhan, this gives us a glimpse into the Delhi of the early nineteenth century. The translator Ather Farouqui is an Urdu scholar whose earlier works include a translation of The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar.*
On Death row
An ex bandit fights the silence of prison life with her notebook and pen. A father remembers the night his younger son was arrested for rape and murder. A woman finds out from her fellow inmates that she’s been given the death penalty. Between 2013 and 2016, Project 39A, a criminal justice research and litigation centre based out of National Law University, Delhi, conducted interviews with death row prisoners and their families. These interviews became the basis for the Death Penalty India Report, 2016 – a first of its kind empirical study on the social-economic profile of death row prisoners and their interaction with the criminal justice system. But the study also revealed something else. It brought to light the deeply human and personal stories of very real people and a snapshot of their fluctuating realities. Based on these interviews, here are 19 stories written by Jahnavi Misra. Profoundly moving and illuminating, The Punished takes us on a journey into the lives and minds of the men and women often demonised by society and discarded by the State.*
On 15 iconic Indian species
{{/usCountry}}On 15 iconic Indian species
{{/usCountry}}A profound truth of the wild, and the world at large, is that we are a part of it, not owners of it. Is there any animal we love and hate as much as the royal Bengal Tiger? Tigers are feared and poached, but they also endure, becoming pin-ups for candle light marches. Indian Elephants are trapped by railway lines and fences, but are reclaiming their bodies and colonizing new areas in central India. And in our dirty cities, the sparkling Plain Tiger Butterfly flourishes as one of our last links to wildlife. Wild animals exist beyond our control. They are harmless only occasionally dangerous. They live with us, or in spite of us. Those who know them understand that wild animals require acceptance for what they are, not enslavement for what we want them to be. In this book, we meet 15 iconic Indian species that require conservation and heart. The author explores what these creatures need, and how they exert agency and decision-making. With an equal emphasis on human and animal, science and skilled prose, Wild and Wilful reveals the magic of the wild in our daily lives. It will take you from fear to wonder.*
*All copy from book flap