(IANS Books This Week)
New Delhi : Beat the chill with a load of exciting books this weekend.
1. Book: “Grit, Guts And Gumption”; Written by Rajesh Chakrabarty; Published by Penguin-Viking; Priced at Rs.499
This is the story of the carefully planned resurgence of the State Bank of India (SBI) from a laidback incumbent under threat from private players to a customer-oriented competitive organisation that has outperformed rivals despite several constraints. The SBI employs a staggering 200,000 people.
Written in a fluid and engaging style and backed by facts, figures, analysis and anecdotes – the book challenges several stereotypes and dogmas common in today’s management circles.
2. Book: “Close Call in Kashmir”; Written by Bharat Wakhlu; Published by Penguin-India; Priced at Rs.150
Terrorist violence and a nightmare drive Shamsuddin Bandey, head priest of a shrine in Aishmuqam village in Jammu and Kashmir, to find out more about some of the 300-year-old scrolls kept in his family’s custody for generations. But this action arouses the suspicion of a top bureaucrat and a history professor.
The corrupt duo believe the scrolls may point the way to a vast, buried treasure – and they will stop at nothing to get it. Along the way, others are drawn into the action to crack an illegal antique trade. A gripping tale set in times of trouble.
3. Book: “Lost and Found”; Written by C.P. Surendran; Published by HarperCollins-India; Priced at Rs.150
On a drunken party night, young and attractive Lakshmi kidnaps Placid Hari – a journalist – believing him to be the man who raped her 16 years ago. But the morning after alters the course of events.
Lakshmi and Hari find themselves taken hostage in a terrorist siege of Mumbai along with a teenage fledgling actor. The terror drama changes their lives forever.
4. Book: “Restoring Values: Keys to Integrity, Ethical Behaviour and Good Governance”; Edited by E. Sreedharan and Bharat Wakhlu; Published by Sage; Priced at around Rs.1923
This volume is a wake-up call to Indians to shape their country as an ethical nation. The articles in the compilation have been written by some of the most eminent thinkers and leaders of India in various fields – known for their commitment to living and working with integrity.
It addresses the reasons for the absence of honest, ethical and transparent dealings in all sections of the society, including legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government.
6. Book: “Jimmy, The Terrorist”; Written by Omair Ahmad; Published by Penguin-India; Priced at Rs 399
In Moazzamabad, Uttar Pradesh, too large to be a town and too backward to be a city, a young man stabs a police inspector and is beaten to death. The last words he speaks are, ‘My name is Jimmy the Terrorist’. Journalists descend on the town, ‘like shrill birds’, and a long-time resident decides to tell a story that none of them will know.
Jimmy was once Jamaal, son of Rafiq Ansari of Rasoolpur Mohalla, a Muslim neighbourhood in a Hindu town. His story goes back a long way, to the time when Moazzamabad was named after Aurangzeb’s son. Rafiq was seduced by wealth and married Shaista when the local Hanuman temple grew 10-storey high and the head priest was elected mayor. When Shaista died, a mosque was brought down in Ayodhya and Rafiq became a mullah.
As Jamaal grows up, watching both his father and his neighbourhood change and curfew reach Moazzamabad, he too changes. He becomes Jimmy – one among the countless marginalised trying to find a place in the world.