A glorious year that rewards all your endeavors a heartfelt prosperous, promising and fulfilling future. wishing you all the happiest NEW YEAR
The Bhagavad-Gita, along with the Vedas and the Upanishads, constitutes a basic triad (prasthanatrayi) of the Hindu religion. It is by far one of the most sacred among Hindu religious texts. It forms the foundation for most of the ideologies of Hindu religion, and is also one of the most important reasons why Hinduism is what it is today. The Bhagavad-Gita is a conscience keeper to many, acts like a compendium to many, and is source of inspiration to many. It is one of the most widely translated and read books in the world. Yet, the story of its divine origin and authorship seems a bit far stretched to modern readers. Meghnad Desai, in his book ‘Who Wrote the Bhagavad-Gita?’ makes a secular inquiry into the sacred text, and in the process, tries to unravel the identity of its author.
The book begins with giving a brief background about the text and its importance during ancient times and modern times as well. It tells us how the Gita was used as a uniting factor in our freedom struggle, and as a weapon for anti-colonial struggle. The commentary made by many famous people – Vivekananda, Tilak, Gandhi, Ambedkar etc. on the Gita is briefly explained. He also writes about the evolution of Jaya to Bharata and then to Mahabharata.
After this brief background about the Gita and its relevance in Hindu society, then and now, Meghnad Desai delves into the question on which this book is based. He mainly uses G.S. Khair’s ‘Quest for the Original Gita’ in drawing his own conclusions. Using the change in style and context across the Gita, Meghnad concludes that the Gita was written by not one but three different authors at different times. He also tells us which verse in the Gita was written by which author; of the total 700 verses, the first author wrote 126 verses, the second author 119 verses, and the third author 455 verses.
Maharaja in Denims, a historical fiction, is an intriguing narrative of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, commonly known as the Lion of Punjab, through the eyes of a teenager named Hari, who believes he is a reincarnation of the maharaja. When Suzanne, Haris girlfriend, attempts to decode Hari's past life through the practice of regression, as she is shocked to discover that Hari has had more than one tumultous past lives. This changes both their lives forever.
High on emotion, drama, politics and sex, the novel provides an insight into the history of Punjab, and the tragic after-effects of the assassination of the former prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi. Interwoven throughout the unfolding of Hari and Suzanne's present-day story, are vignettes of Ranjit Singh's life and loves, valour and conquests. There is an astonishing revelation at the end, which is set in the future and yet, has a deep historical resonance.
High on emotion, drama, politics and sex, the novel provides an insight into the history of Punjab, and the tragic after-effects of the assassination of the former prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi. Interwoven throughout the unfolding of Hari and Suzanne's present-day story, are vignettes of Ranjit Singh's life and loves, valour and conquests. There is an astonishing revelation at the end, which is set in the future and yet, has a deep historical resonance.
The library added three hundred new titles during last fortnight. Prominent title among them are The 17 day
diet / by Mike Moreno , Civilian warriors : the inside story of blackwater/
Erik Prince ,Indian financial system / Sanjay
Sinha , A thousand shards of
glass : there is another America / Michael Katakis , Maharaja in denims /
Khushwant Singh ,Who wrote the Bhagavatgita
: a secular inquiry into a sacred text/ Meghnad Desai , Single Man : life &
times of Nitish Kumar of Bihar/ Sankarshan Thakur , The red stamp / Aseem Singh
Guru ,Kindled lives / Sangeeta Shah , Sweetest mistake / Candis Terry , Say yes
to sports / O.P. Singh , Outer space : law , policy and governance/ G.S.
Sachdeva , Maps for a mortal moon / Jerry Pinto , The Hay house of cinema that heals / Ashok
Raj , The inspiring journey of a hero : learning from the life of O.P Munjal /
Priya Kumar , Things your mother never told you about love / Juhi Pande
,India’s parliamentry democracy on trial
/ Madhav Godbole , Indra’s net / Rajiv Malhotra ,Impulse : why we do
what we do without knowing, why we do it
/ David Lewis
