Prakash Shenoy's Diary

 

  Hussain Zaidi earned his stripes as an investigative journalist, and later as a non-fiction crime writer, with the stories that featured in Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia. But it also came with the criticism that he was writing only about the Muslim mafia and not Maharashtrian gangsters. He followed up Dongri to Dubai with detailed profiles of Arun Gawli, Chhota Rajan and Amar Nayak, which would go on to feature in his 2014 book, Byculla to Bangkok. Criticism followed him again (that he was only writing about the underworld), and Zaidi was determined to pacify his critics; the result was writing about terrorism. A third challenge presented itself when the ex-journalist was approached by publishers, who observed that he had not written a book about police officers and the police force. This piqued his interest, and encouragement from his protégé Bilal Siddiqi (author of Bard of Blood, The Kiss Of Life, The Stardust Affair) prompted him to begin work on a possible pro

 

     

कालातीत राजकीय भाष्य करणारी कलाकृती ! सत्तेचा विचार उघड करणारं अद्भुत वास्तव-कथन म्हणजे १९८४ ! माणसाच्या नैसर्गिक विपर्यासालाच अंतिम, सत्य व समर्थनीय ठरवणारी सत्ता, त्यातून घडत जाणारी बिनचेहर्‍याची माणसं आणि यात नैसर्गिक संवेदनशीलतेला पडत जाणारा भकासपणाचा विळखा ही कादंबरी कथानकाबरोबर अधिकाधिक घट्ट करत जाते. सत्तेच्या आकांक्षेनुरूप घडत व बदलत जाणारी समाजाच्या मनाची रचना व त्यासाठी सत्तेने राबवलेल्या मूलगामी पद्धती यांचं अफलातून भविष्यकथन जॉर्ज करत जातो. हे कथन पुढे सरकताना कल्पनेपलीकडचं वाटावं इतकं अस्सल उतरतं. म्हणूनच १९४८ साली लिहिलेली ही कादंबरी आजच्या घडीलाही तिचे कुठलेही संदर्भ हरवत नाही आणि कालातीत होते! ‘समाजवादी लोकशाहीची स्थापना’ या भूमिकेवर निष्ठा असणार्‍या जॉर्ज ऑरवेलचं एकूण लेखन म्हणजे ध्येयवादी स्वप्नांना पोखरत जाण्यार्‍या सत्तेचा आलेख आहे. केवळ ‘टेबली लेखक’ म्हणून न मिरवता त्याच्या लेखनातून कृतिशील आणि निर्भीड कार्यकर्ता आपल्यासमोर येत जातो. त्यामुळे उद्ध्वस्त होतानाही वास्तवाशी सामना करण्याची त्याची अभूतपूर्व ताकद वाचकाला घेरून टाकते! सध्याच्या हुकुमशाही मो

  A peaceful land of plenty, built on hard work and a strong sense of community. Except, it wasn't always so, and once the chosen few have discovered the truth of their past, will they be able to go back to it ever? Will wars have to be fought again to keep the peace? Discover the beginning of a stunning new dystopia by bestselling author Ashwin Sanghi. The book takes you to a dystopian world where the present civilization that we are already in is destroyed completely by the man-made hazards and havocs. And the story begins with four individuals (children), two boys and two girls, who accidentally come across a magical pendant each with a unique gemstone from their workplace. And somehow one night while having a look at the pendant they are transported to an alternate dimension which is a magical land and it belongs to Shantiputra, the protector of the different realms of the universe. Shantiputra endows all these individuals with extraordinary powers and makes them

  In Rebel Sultans, Manu S. Pillai narrates the story of the Deccan from the close of the thirteenth century to the dawn of the eighteenth. Packed with riveting tales and compelling characters, this book takes us from the age of Alauddin Khilji to the ascent of Shivaji. We witness the dramatic rise and fall of the Vijayanagar empire, even as we negotiate intrigues at the courts of the Bahmani kings and the Rebel Sultans who overthrew them. From Chand Bibi, a valorous queen stabbed to death, and Ibrahim II of Bijapur, a Muslim prince who venerated Hindu gods, to Malik Ambar, the Ethiopian warlord, and Krishnadeva Raya on Vijayanagar’s Diamond Throne – they all appear in these pages as we journey through one of the most arresting sweeps of Indian history. A good and concise book about medieval Deccan and its rulers. The history is viewed through congress lens where they try to see a secular India and both Hindu and Muslim rulers at par with each other. The author was assist