Battle For Bittora

Twenty-five-year-old Jinni lives in Mumbai, works in a hip animation studio and is perfectly happy with her carefree life. Until her bossy grandmother shows up and announces that it is Jinni's 'duty' to drop everything and come and contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from their sleepy hometown, Bittora. Jinni swears she won't but she soon ends up swathed in cotton saris and frumpy blouses, battling prickly heat, corruption and accusations of nymphomania as candidate Sarojini Pande, a daughter of the illustrious Pande dynasty of Pavit Pradesh. And if life isn't fun enough already, her main opposition turns out to be Bittora ex-royal, Zain Altaf Khan - an irritatingly idealistic though undeniably lustworthy individual with whom Jinni shares a complicated history.Enlivened by Chauhan's characteristic brand of wicked humour and sexy romanticism, this is a rollicking new tale of young India.

Twenty-five-year-old Jinni lives in Mumbai, works in a hip animation studio and is perfectly happy with her carefree life. Until her bossy grandmother shows up and announces that it is Jinni's 'duty' to drop everything and come and contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from their sleepy hometown, Bittora. Jinni swears she won't but she soon ends up swathed in cotton saris and frumpy blouses, battling prickly heat, corruption and accusations of nymphomania as candidate Sarojini Pande, a daughter of the illustrious Pande dynasty of Pavit Pradesh. And if life isn't fun enough already, her main opposition turns out to be Bittora ex-royal, Zain Altaf Khan - an irritatingly idealistic though undeniably lustworthy individual with whom Jinni shares a complicated history. Enlivened by Chauhan's characteristic brand of wicked humour and sexy romanticism, this is a rollicking new tale of young India.

'Why do they call you Baaz?' 'It means falcon,' he replies solemnly. 'Or bird of prey. Because I swoop down on the enemy planes just like a Baaz would.' Then he grins. The grey eyes sparkle. 'It's also short for bastard.'1971. The USSR-backed India-Mukti Bahini alliance is on the brink of war against the America-aided Pakistani forces. As the Cold War threatens to turn red hot, handsome, laughing Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera, Haryana, is elated to be in the IAF, flying the Gnat, a tiny fighter plane nicknamed 'Sabre Slayer' for the devastation it has wreaked in the ranks of Pakistan's F-86 Sabre Squadrons. Flanked by his buddies Raks, a MiG-21 Fighter, Maddy, a transport pilot who flies a Caribou, and fellow Gnatties Jana, Gana and Mana, Shaanu has nothing on his mind but glory and adventure - until he encounters Tehmina Dadyseth, famed bathing beauty and sister of a dead fauji, who makes him question the very concept of nationalism and whose eyes fill with disillusioned scorn whenever people wax eloquent about patriotism and war...Pulsating with love, laughter and courage, Baaz is Anuja Chauhan's tribute to our men in uniform.

Now in a fresh new look! 'Delightful. Wickedly accurate.' INDIA TODAY 'I'll make my sisters squirm like well-salted earthworms. I won't sell. Even my jutti won't sell. And if I die na, then even my gosht won't sell!' The late Binodini Thakur had been very clear that she would never agree to sell her hissa in her Bauji's big old house on Hailey Road. And her daughter Bonu is determined to honour her mother's wishes. But what to do about her four pushy aunts who are insisting she sell? One is bald and stingy, one is jobless and manless, one needs the money to 'save the nation' and one is stepmother to Bonu's childhood crush - brilliant young Bollywood director Samar Vir Singh, who promised BJ upon his deathbed that he would get the house sold, divvy the money equally and end all the bickering within the family. The first word baby Bonu ever spoke was 'Balls' and indeed, she is bally, bullshit-intolerant, brave and beautiful. But is she strong enough to weather emotional blackmail by the spadefull? Not to mention shady builders, wily politicians, spies, lies and the knee-buckling hotness of Samar's intense eyes?

In a sprawling bungalow on New Delhi's posh Hailey Road, Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur and his wife Mamta spend their days watching anxiously over their five beautiful (but troublesome) alphabetically named daughters.Anjini, married but an incorrigible flirt; Binodini, very worried about her children's hissa in the family property; Chandrakanta, who eloped with a foreigner on the eve of her wedding; Eshwari, who is just a little too popular at Modern School, Barakhamba Road; and the Judge's favourite (though fathers shouldn't have favourites): the quietly fiery Debjani, champion of all the stray animals on Hailey Road, who reads the English news on DD and clashes constantly with crusading journalist Dylan Singh Shekhawat, he of shining professional credentials but tarnished personal reputation, crushingly dismissive of her 'state-sponsored propaganda', but always seeking her out with half-sarcastic, half-intrigued dark eyes.Spot-on funny and toe-curlingly sexy, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is rom-com specialist Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best.

When a hunky personal trainer is found asphyxiated to death under an overloaded barbell at the posh Delhi Turf Club, on the eve of the club elections, it is first thought to be a freak accident. But soon, it becomes clear that one of the members of the DTC - all pickled-in-privilege Dilliwallahs - is a cold-blooded killer. As the capital bristles with speculation and conspiracy theories, Crime Branch veteran ACP Bhavani Singh is appointed to investigate the case. Together with his able deputies - ex-lovers Akash 'Kashi' Dogra, hottie crusader for human rights, and Bambi Todi, wealthy girl-about-town - ACP Bhavani sets out to solve a crime that seems simple enough at the surface, but turns out to have roots as deep and spreading as those of New Delhi's famous Neem trees... Anuja Chauhan returns with a bloody good romance set in the pulsating heart of Lutyen's Delhi.

Have you ever loved so much that it hurt? Has love found you even when you didn't go looking for it? Can love be timeless, forgiving and everlasting? An Atlas of Love, edited by celebrated bestselling author Anuja Chauhan, is an anthology of romantic shorts that daringly explores the many guises of romance, from its purest form to its darkest depths. 'Phoenix Mills' takes you through a young man's anguished quest for love; 'Post-Coital Cigarette' makes you flinch at a married man's interpretation of love; and 'Jilted' shows you that love can also be courageous. You will find yourself in the middle of a torrid liaison in 'The Affair', revel in the euphoria of budding romance in 'Just One Glance' and discover what it means to let go of your loved one in 'The Impasse'. Love can also be brutal and unconventional as 'The Unseen Boundaries of Love' and 'Something about Karen' will show you. But most of all, as 'Death of a Widower' and 'Siddharth' show, you will see that love is all about hope and taking the leap of faith. Selected from a nationwide Romance Contest conducted by Rupa Publications, this heart-warming collection of stories urges you to believe that love is eternal...and forever.