Chinmayi

Commentary, with text, on Amr̥tānubhava, Hindu philosophical work by Jñānadeva, fl. 1290.

After the death of Lilys sister, Star, Elder Karyn assigns fifteen-year-old Lily to the office as the Light Element of Eartha role for which she feels very unprepared. She finds herself facing a foreign culture in which she must learn to avoid the Dark Elements, navigate the nuances of human society, and graspthe Elemental laws, all while struggling to control her burning hunger to find her sisters killer. With her newfound powers and weapons, Lily must learn to survive the perils of this new world. She will need every bit of her wit and skill to solve a series of murders in order to free the only living person who can protect the Elements from the unchecked dark forces. Lily and her friends face a mysterious hooded figure possessing unknown weapons with a nightmarish potential that brings a new threat to their race. With the extinction of her people looming, all have placed their hope and future in Lily.

This is not a book on astrology; it is fiction. It is also a pseudo research. Nirmal felt that Vedic Astrology was only a first approximation and that it needed reform based on research. He also felt that a life of a person was influenced by the close relatives who lived with the person; he deduced that the destiny of a person may be changed by introducing a close relative into the family or by eliminating an existing close relative in the family. Nirmal saw a vision of a batch of students on their way to attend interviews for selection into some courses of study. He was surprised to hear Visal tell him that the events in the first portion of his vision came true. Visal was afraid that the events in the remaining portion of Nirmal’s vision which involved separation of the nascent couple, might also come true and requested Nirmal to prevent that from happening. He successfully introduced a child into the family and saved the marriage. Ananda Nilayam was a small hotel run by Seenayya and his daughter Kesamma. It was situated midway on a hill Sreegiri, on whose top a temple was situated. Both under the displayed price list and on the bills issued to the customers for payment, the following line was included. “Patrons may pay what they consider reasonable for our services.” A businessman Murthy who spent a weekend tested and found that they meant what they declared. Murthy, his wife Lalitha and Nirmal were their frequent customers. In the beginning Murthy and Lalitha were close to each other. Because of his childhood experiences, he constantly feared that he might be reduced to the state of penury he suffered as a child; this turned him into a workaholic. He loved his wife ardently but was unable to express or display his love. Lalitha was unable to understand his love and, after a time, felt bored and frustrated with life. In a strange circumstance, she eloped with Naresh, son of Kesamma; they also had a baby girl. Frightened by the prospect of providing for the family, he committed suicide. Lalitha also planned to commit suicide after leaving the baby to the care of the God at the temple. When Murthy came to know that Lalitha deserted him, he slipped out of the hotel at the dead of the night, went up the hill to a solitary place, and tried to kill himself; a prank of a monkey on the tree saved his life. Nirmal happened to meet Lalitha just as she left the baby on a bench and was trying to go. He succeeded in stopping her. He went to Murthy to ascertain his present attitude towards Lalitha; he considered himself to be responsible for her deserting him; he continued to love her ardently. Nirmal restored the mother and the baby to Murthy. The news of Naresh’s death was kept concealed from others by Nirmal. Seenayya became old; to provide a support for Kesamma they try to get her married to Mallanna who almost consents. That night Nirmal had a vision where he saw an old Kesamma and a new ‘Star Ananda Nilayam’. He hoped and prayed that the vision might come true. As I mentioned, it is also a research into a peripheral issue one is forced to satisfy himself with, when the research involves dedicated workers across many generations; this researcher hopes that his attempt would induce others to delve deeper into the problem. The novel is essentially intended for youth maturing into responsible adulthood to strengthen his faith in himself and to encourage him to face and solve issues and problems with hope and confidence.

'A rare treasure trove.' - Arundhati Roy '[An] important and timely contribution to the study of religious-cultural populism.' - Pankaj Mishra 'A powerful and original work of historical scholarship.' - Ramachandra Guha' 'Mukul rolls out a remarkably detailed map of print Hinduism.' - Shahid Amin In the early 1920s, Jaydayal Goyandka and Hanuman Prasad Poddar, two Marwari businessmen-turned-spiritualists, set up the Gita Press and Kalyan magazine. As of early 2014, Gita Press had sold close to 72 million copies of the Gita, 70 million copies of Tulsidas's works and 19 million copies of scriptures like the Puranas and Upanishads. And while most other journals of the period, whether religious, literary or political, survive only in press archives, Kalyan now has a circulation of over 200,000, and its English counterpart, Kalyana-Kalpataru, of over 100,000.Gita Press created an empire that spoke in a militant Hindu nationalist voice and imagined a quantifiable, reward-based piety. Almost every notable leader and prominent voice, including Mahatma Gandhi, was roped in to speak for the cause. Cow slaughter, Hindi as national language and the rejection of Hindustani, the Hindu Code Bill, the creation of Pakistan, India's secular Constitution: Kalyan and Kalyana-Kalpataru were the spokespersons of the Hindu position on these and other matters. The ideas articulated by Gita Press and its publications played a critical role in the formation of a Hindu political consciousness, indeed a Hindu public sphere. This history provides new insights into the complicated and contested rise to political pre-eminence of the Hindu Right. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India is an original, eminently readable and deeply researched account of one of the most influential publishing enterprises in the history of modern India. Featuring an extraordinary cast of characters - buccaneering entrepreneurs and hustling editors, nationalist ideologues and religious fanatics - this is essential (and exciting) reading for our times.

This book was really begun in 1963 when I attended a creative writing course in college. Having been an avid reader all my life it seemed a great way to see a story from the writer’s perspective. It became a comfortable, relaxing escape. Most of my inspirations came unexpectedly through dreams. Some of the stories took place over several nights. There is really no on going theme in this book. Rather a randomness of thoughts. This book contains, in a sense, an analysis of sadness, love, anger and frustration. As well a child’s view of simplistic events. I wrote these poems and stories because I wanted to. I published them in a book because I can.

The Heinous Offence of Rape has been dealt with under the Indian Penal Code not as a mere provision with a limited scope but has acquired a very wide dimension in terms of its definition as well as scope. The rape laws in India have evolved with time due to growing brutality of this barbaric crime in the country. The provision has seen important amendments over the years on the recommendation and suggestion of various Law Commission Reports and various landmark judgements highlighting the growing need for a much more stringent law to curb the gravity of the offence of rape. Even though the IPC was codified in the year 1860 i.e., about 160 years ago with provisions considered very stringent in terms of the punishments laid down for different offences therein, it has somewhere failed to achieve its purpose. The ever increasing number of such offences being committed in the society is the best evidence of its shortcomings. The gravity and brutality of the offence has drawn concerns from all quarters yet the offence has continued unabated, with abysmally low conviction rates, even lighter and sometimes, erratic sentencing patterns and unsympathetic treatment of its victims. This book is an attempt to bring in perspective, the reason for the increase in number of rape cases in India and the lacunae in the practice of such a stringent law. This book is a collection of scholarly articles by authors from various domains of law and they have provided a narration of the Anti-Rape Laws prevailing in the country. The subject has been dealt with comprehensively, while describing the historical influences in the laws. The journey of the entire development of the law has been traced by taking into focus the shifting concerns and growing need for the amendment of the provisions. The numerous legislative amendments redefining the offence, enhancing punishment and procedural aspects have been discussed. The judicial developments through landmark precedents laid by various courts have also been discussed in length to show the adversity of the crime and the need for looking into the law due to the practical shortcomings in the law. Appropriate references to international developments and municipal laws of nations have been provided in order to give a comparative treatment to the subject. Emerging issues in rape laws in India and practicable suggestions find a place in the book. Overall, it attempts an informative and critical study of the subject from diverse perspectives. Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. Despite such harsh penalties against it, the gruesome act that has penetrated in the form of Rape has only escalated. This calls for an in-depth analysis so as to ascertain the loopholes in the current law in force. During the process of writing this book the authors came across shocking events and instances of Rape that shows the inhumanity that prevails in the country which is much beyond any law. The most distressing fact was the inhumane conditions that victims have to suffer due to the taboo of Rape and the stigma attached with this crime. Despite going through such a horrific crime, the victims rather than receiving a proper relief have to undergo severe mental and physical agony. The inspiration for this book was derived from the fact that India is a democratic country with a robust legal framework, however, it lacks a stringent legal enforcement mechanism due to which such a gruesome and barbaric act of inhumanity is on the rise. The objective of the book is to bring in view of the readers the various aspects of Anti-Rape Laws in India, the evolution of the rape laws in the country, need for gender-neutral laws by criminalising Male Rape, the growing cases of Marital Rape and need for making a law against it, prevailing misuse of anti-rape laws and majorly looking at the practicality of the law as contrary to how it is laid down in the statute.