Indian Preview: Our Top New Releases from June

1. Devil’s Advocate by Karan Thapar

In this memoir, narrated in Karan Thapar’s trademark incisive style, the author relates different stories from his life, from personal anecdotes about his childhood,     college days and marriage, to his encounters with various well-known personalities in the course of anchoring his TV shows.

Find out about Karan Thapar’s friendship in university and later with Benazir Bhutto; his short-lived yet memorable stint as a foreign correspondent with The Times under the tutelage of Charles Douglas-Home; his entry into news television; and why no one from the BJP agrees to appear on his shows any more.

 

2. Micro-Meltdown by Vikram Akula

Vikram Akula founded SKS Microfinance with a clear mission: improve the lives of poor people in India by providing small loans. These small loans, used to start or expand business and generate earnings, were a proven path out of poverty for thousands around the world. The company was applauded for blending philanthropy and capitalism, and Akula appeared on the covers of the Wall Street Journal and TIME magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.

But just as he thought he was making a difference, a storm was brewing. In 2010, fierce political backlash in India created an implosion. Micro-Meltdown is the story of SKS’s tremendous success, the oversights that led to disaster, the eventual resurgence, and the lessons learned.

 

3. The Night of Broken Glass by Feroz Rather

‘History didn’t greet us with triumphal fanfares:

It flung dirty sand into our eyes.’

The Night of Broken Glass novelizes the incidents of violence that took place in Kashmir in 1989, the year the insurgency broke out. The book not only registers the incidents through visceral imagery, but explores the psychological impact of violence through a set of fictive characters. ‘Rosy’ is an internal monologue of a progressive, jeans-wearing ‘upper-caste’ girl who is disillusioned about her family planning to send away the eloquent ‘lower caste’ Jamshid whom she is madly in love with. Although preserving moments of courage and beauty, violence remains a dominant theme with the book touching upon the issues of caste and gender in Kashmir.

 

4. Job Be Damned by Rishi Piparaiya

Do you think you’re a hardworking professional who has a lot to offer? Are your ideas brighter than everyone else’s in your team?

Even if the answer to these questions is a resounding yes, do you still find yourself trailing behind corporate losers – the boss who takes all the credit; the slimy politician who stole your promotion; the sweet-talking weasel whom everyone adores?

Job Be Damned is the wake-up call you need. This book recognizes you are an average employee and ensures that, by the time you’re done reading it, you’ll still be an average employee but with better bullshit-handling capabilities. After all, isn’t that what corporate success is all about?

 

5. I Didn’t Expect to be Expecting by Richa S Mukherjee

Tara is living a blessed life in the maximum city with her husband Abhimanyu, the love of her life. At the pinnacle of her career, she is the apple of her parents’ eyes and hasn’t spotted a wrinkle yet – so far, the 30s are looking great!

Nothing fazes Tara – not a foul-mouthed best friend or a food-burning arch-nemesis in the form of her maid – not even a landlady who chats with ghosts.

And then, Tara discovers that she’s pregnant, and suddenly, all that well-honed composure crumbles. It doesn’t help that she’s got an equally jittery (if supportive) husband by her side. Now, Tara must face her anxieties about parenthood as she navigates friendships, marriage and career, all the while dealing with the fact that her body and mind are steadily feeling like they belong to someone else.

An irreverent, honest and funny journey down the road – potholes and all – to (accidental) parenthood!