Dogged Pursuit :THE MADRAS TEA SALESMAN SERIES Volume 1


Book Description

This is the first volume of a 2-part series, a bio-historical fiction, centred in Madras and covering a period of 4 decades from the late 1920s. Raju, the main protagonist, was born a posthumous child. After losing his other parent at the age of 15 and tossed from one school to another and later from one job to another, he finally finds his home in the historic, but rapidly modernising city of Madras. Disgusted with the Endowment Department’s collusion with an artefact thief in his first job as a Temple Inspector, he shifts to a job as a Tea Salesman in a multinational company in Madras. The artefact thief happens to be Sankar, his childhood nemesis. Gaining insight from his earlier encounters with Sankar, Raju’s keen mind takes him into the dangerous realm of international antique and gold smugglers. His first mentor, Natarajan, guides him in his risky endeavours to put Sankar behind bars. It will take a lot of innovation and tenacity for Raju to make a breakthrough in the investigations. While one part of him is a daring investigator, the other part is a loving husband and father, a hard working employee and a caring friend to his other childhood friends, the communist-minded Sekar and the fickle Ganesan. The main storyline has two parallel narratives. The first is related to the growth of Madras and the other with the behind-the-scenes twists and turns in Tamilnadu




Bedazzle


Book Description

What makes a person confident? What affects a person's confidence adversely and why is that even important? Did you know that one's childhood can have a deep impact on one's self-confidence? Have you ever wondered how a sportsperson performs repeatedly even after multiple failures? Where does that confidence come from, despite past failure? What can we learn from this? How do animals with lesser thinking capacity step out to hunt, deeply motivated, every single day, despite a previous failed attempt? Did you know that our environment can affect the ways our confidence is built every day? Bedazzle deconstructs the core aspects of subconscious motivation in all such scenarios and handpicks the triggers to understand confidence at a deeper level so that anyone can use it to their best advantage. Successful people are often perceived as confident but it is less acknowledged that it is immense confidence that makes people successful. Author Shamoly Khera reveals multiple action plans that can aid a person in developing and maintaining consistent confidence, awakening deep motivation in the self and actualising one's full self-potential. It's not just inner confidence, however. Portraying this externally is equally essential in dominating today's world-whether at work or in life. From your body language to your voice, the way you walk or your elevator pitch-all of it matters. Bedazzle unravels the perceptions of the human mind and how we can rewire our inner programming to reinforce positive perceptions. Because only when people master both inner and outer confidence, can they truly bedazzle!




A Patriot's History of the United States


Book Description

For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.




Rajaraja Chola: Interplay Between an Imperial Regime and Productive Forces of Society


Book Description

When Rajaraja Chola ascended the throne, the land of Tamils entered upon centuries of grandeur. He left behind a stupendous legacy, which has not lost its sheen even after a thousand years. During his regime, we see powerful productive forces at work, newly liberated by the advances made in manufacturing and trade. Through interesting facts and riveting analyses, the reader can vividly experience the tumultuous developments of this perioud. It bring to life the social, political and economic underpinnings of that time - expansion of agriculture, rise of nagarams, maturing of self-governing corporate bodies, phenomenal increase in inland and overseas trade networks, and overall strengthening of the administrative and military apparatus, which would later bring South-east Asia under its influence. Equally important to the stability of the empire was the compelling iconography of Saivism, which this book presents in a sublime and engrossing style. Written by Raghavan Srinivasan, the author of Yugantar, this book recreates the history of a South Indian king and his imperial empire, in a form that would appeal to the academia and the wider public audience alike. "A rousing attempt at piecing together the lives and times of the Tamil country's most remarkable medieval personality, Rajaraja Chola, who despite the rich artistic legacy, plethora of inscriptions and maritime amnbtions, has remained an enigmatic figure." - SHARADA SRINIVASAM, Professor, School of Humanities, National Institute of Advanced Studies.




Yugantar: The Dream of Bharatavarsha Takes Shape 2300 Years Ago


Book Description

The fourth century BCE is full of dangers and opportunities. Old republics are giving way to empires and cities. ‘Naastik’ sects are challenging the established varna system. The intellectual life of India is bristling like new shoots after the monsoon. The domination of the Kshatriyas and the Brahmanas is being challenged. State power is up for grabs. And the Macedonians are at the gates! Most people believe that Bharatavarsha is only a dream. But not the Yugantar, a brotherhood of the wisest and most selfless thinkers of ancient India. Interesting turn of events bring ordinary people from different parts of the subcontinent into the fold of the Yugantar -- a rebel blacksmith from Ujjayini, a Siddha doctor from Madurai; a doughty mariner from Muziris; a trader from Pataliputra and a widow nun from Kaushambi. They represent a microcosm of the sub-continent. Each of them is drawn towards the Yugantar by a strange turn of events. Each has a prowess which the Yugantar can mould into a formidable force. They converge in Takshashila, the centre of learning and transformation. This is the story of how their wit and determination contribute to a united Bharatavarsha.




Imperialism


Book Description




A Book of Golden Deeds


Book Description




3 & The Emerald Stone of Irene


Book Description

A legend for many, a bedtime story for a child; but the Occult Stone that Empress Irene gifted Harun-al-Rashid during his conquest of Byzantium in 782 AD, the stone with the light of fortune, referred in history as Noor-e-Abbasid, lies deep-buried at an ancient, unearthed desert city Al-Rafika. With every common man pushing Al-Rafika as one of the stories from the Scheherazade’s Arabian Nights, the legend reaches a flashpoint, when 3 high profile assassinations sweep the world. The only common link between the killings was a glittering golden arrow found near them. The Order of the Nine Angels, a dangerous neo-Nazi Satanic Organization, has set itself in the quest of the stone, to accomplish its greatest dream – The New World Order. As the dark horses of terror start riding across the world, an adventurer, a historian and a spy come together to unearth a deadly macabre of events. Battling the Berbers of Tunisia, to the cryptic and perilous Caucasus Mountains, through the necropolis of Turkey, to the mystics of the Tigra, and then finally to Al-Rafika, the ‘3’ follow the deadly trait unraveling the marvels of the glorious Islamic Caliphate, to stop the dark lord, Nergal, and his mission of a GLOBAL RAGNAROK. THE ADVENTURE BEGINS…




Wings of Fire


Book Description

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, The Son Of A Little-Educated Boat-Owner In Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, Had An Unparalled Career As A Defence Scientist, Culminating In The Highest Civilian Award Of India, The Bharat Ratna. As Chief Of The Country`S Defence Research And Development Programme, Kalam Demonstrated The Great Potential For Dynamism And Innovation That Existed In Seemingly Moribund Research Establishments. This Is The Story Of Kalam`S Rise From Obscurity And His Personal And Professional Struggles, As Well As The Story Of Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Trishul And Nag--Missiles That Have Become Household Names In India And That Have Raised The Nation To The Level Of A Missile Power Of International Reckoning.




The Hidden Persuaders


Book Description

A discussion of how modern advertising attempts to control our thoughts and desires in order to make us buy the products it produces. Exploring the use of consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including subliminal tactics, this book shows how advertisers secretly manipulate mass desire for consumer goods and products. In addition, Packard also discusses advertising in politics, predicting the way image and personality rapidly came to overshadow real issues in the televised age.