A grim tableau
When Uma moves to Manamadurai, a dismal backwater town, with her husband, Jayan, who has been posted there as the police chief, she is immediately uneasy. Despite its sleepy exterior, there have been undercurrents of communal tension and violence for years. Moreover, Jayan’s predecessor, ASP Manu, dubbed ‘a brute and a reprobate’ by the locals, met a gruesome end, and the aftershocks persist.
Within days of their arrival, Uma’s worst fears come true. A man arrives at Uma and Jayan’s doorstep, holding the severed head of a woman, the jasmine in her braid till intact. This is only the beginning of what turns out to be a long chain of grisly, interlinked events that threaten to destroy Manamadurai’s peace as well as the precarious marital bliss of Uma and Jayan. Meanwhile, there’s a theft at the local zamindar’s house, and a secret long buried by the family is threatening to surface. Uma soon finds herself at the heart of the mystery, as she becomes privy to a covert network of gossip and hearsay. And over this grim tableau, a severe cyclone is brewing.
As Jayan grapples with the ever-widening vortex of fear, suspicion, and criminal behaviour that the murder of the woman has set in motion, Uma joins forces with her husband and makes a startling discovery that breaks the case wide open and leads to the truth.*
{{/usCountry}}As Jayan grapples with the ever-widening vortex of fear, suspicion, and criminal behaviour that the murder of the woman has set in motion, Uma joins forces with her husband and makes a startling discovery that breaks the case wide open and leads to the truth.*
{{/usCountry}}Inequality, citizenship, and the role of the state
This book asks a simple but urgent question: when the state provides food, healthcare, education, pensions, or employment support, are these ‘freebies’ — or are they rights that make a dignified life possible?
Drawing on over two decades of field research across rural India, economist Reetika Khera examines how social policies actually shape everyday life. From anganwadis and school meals to the Public Distribution System, maternity benefits, pensions, public healthcare, and the MGNREGA, the book traces India’s evolving welfare architecture from ‘cradle to grave’.
Blending rigorous research with vivid stories from villages, classrooms, government offices, and field surveys, the book moves beyond political rhetoric to ask deeper questions about inequality, citizenship, and the role of the state. Do welfare programmes create dependency, or do they expand freedom and opportunity? Why are social protections, considered essentials in many countries, often dismissed as handouts in India?
Written for students, concerned citizens, policymakers, and sceptics alike, this accessible yet deeply informed book is both an introduction to social policy in India and a compelling argument for viewing social protection not as charity, but as a foundation for dignity, justice, and democratic life.*
Discovering the divine within Nature
Like other towns in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, Santiniketan is not merely about gods and goddesses, though a few major temples nearby, including Kankalitala and the Dangali Kali Mandir, attest to this. It is a humble yet rich sanctuary of Nature, abundant even now — humble because it coexists peacefully with humans, offering them the chance to live harmoniously in its embrace, and ever attentive to its genuine admirers. In December 1901, Tagore initiated Brahmacharyasrama, which was renamed Patha-Bhavana in 1925. Inspired by ancient Indian tapovan traditions, he established an open-air educational system that emphasised experiential learning. Tagore viewed Nature as both a teacher and a dynamic classroom. Santiniketan: Nature’s Gateway to Spirituality is an endeavour to discover the divine within Nature and in modern life, conveyed through photographs accompanied by prose and poems.*
*All text from book flap.