Preview: Our Top New Releases from October

Dopehri
by Pankaj Kapur

Amma Bi is an elderly widow who lives alone in her deserted Lucknow haveli. Every afternoon, at precisely 3 o’clock, she hears the sound of unknown footsteps. Every afternoon, she peeks out … but no one is there.
In a state of growing panic, Amma Bi considers moving to an old people’s home, before finally taking in a lodger – a winsome young woman named Sabiha. Her arrival fills Amma Bi’s lonely world with love and laughter, and Jumman, the household help, is transformed as well.
When Sabiha finds herself in trouble, Amma Bi must draw on hidden reserves of skill and empathy in order to resolve the situation…
Dopehri – legendary film and theatre personality Pankaj Kapur’s first novel — is a wonderfully evocative work of great charm, wry humour and quiet power, a story that readers will fall in love with.

Made in China
by Parinda Joshi

Everyone around Raghu has made it big. His closest friends and family members all seem to be running flourishing businesses and living luxurious lives in the diamond-capital of India. And Raghu? His family-inherited handicraft imports business has collapsed, and cash is drying up quickly. His wife thinks he is a loser, his family does not respect him and society considers him irrelevant. Then, a successful first cousin tells Raghu about consumer goods that could be sourced from China and offers to take him along on his next trip, knowing full well that it won’t be Raghu’s cup of tea. But slowly, after being initially overwhelmed by the cultural oddities in China, Raghu begins to get the hang of things.
Darkly comical, Made in China outlines a soul-stirring and unusual entrepreneurial journey of a simple but ambitious protagonist, complete with dysfunctionality, heartbreak and hilarity.

Japan Made Easy
by Sandeep Goyal

For the average Indian, Japan is the land of the bullet train, zippy cars, and geisha girls, as also hard to understand. However, what appears to be opaque and insular to the world outside turns out to be a society that is friendly, intimate, and closely knit together when you get to know it better. In Japan Made Easy, Sandeep Goyal, an old hand at explaining the country, takes us on a joyous roller coaster ride through Japanese aesthetics, business, culture, food, philosophy, spirituality, and much else, to make this land of mystery and mystique familiar to us. With India’s rising number of tourists to Japan and Olympics 2020 on the horizon, this book is the best guide to a complex, nuanced and an utterly lovable country.

Dara Shukoh: The Man Who Would Be King
by Avik Chanda

Dara Shukoh – the emperor Shah Jahan’s favourite son, and heir-apparent to the Mughal throne prior to being defeated by Aurangzeb — has sometimes been portrayed as an effete prince, incompetent in military and administrative matters. But his tolerance towards other faiths, and the myths and anecdotes surrounding him, continue to fuel the popular imagination. Even today, over 350 years after his death, the debate rages on: if this ‘good’ Mughal had ascended the throne instead of his pugnacious younger brother, how would that have changed the course of Indian history?
Dara Shukoh: The Man Who Would Be King brings to life the story of this enigmatic Mughal prince. Rich in historical detail and psychological insight, it brilliantly recreates a bygone age, and presents an empathetic and engaging portrait of the crown prince who was, in many ways, clearly ahead of his times.

Lipstick
by Vish Dhamija

‘When I’m gone, some people will tell you that I was evil and insensitive; maybe even call me a psychopath. Don’t believe them. I am none of that. I am anything but irrational and impractical. Maybe just a little more detatched than your average guy on the street …’
DCP Rita Ferreira is called into an investigation after a third corpse is discovered in Mumbai — the victim’s lips are painted crimson with lipstick, confirming that the Lipstick Killer is at work again. As Rita races against time to find the killer, he continues to grow bolder — the time between murders shortens and the victims change from street-side hookers to high-heeled wives. And all the while, the Lipstick Killer watches everything and everyone — the news of his exploits, Rita and the investigation. And he talks. But only to you.

***