The Madhigattan Encounter

On a trip to the Kodai Hills in Tamil Nadu, the author and his guide fall prey to the charm of the legendary Madhigattan Forest, and wander through it in a state of joint hallucination. As they journey through the woods, they meet three great souls and there is a revelation on the state of their own countrymen. Who are these three great souls? What do they reveal to the author and his guide? Does the duo manage to exit the forest or do they remain enmeshed in its illusory charms for posterity? Find out in this cosmic thriller!

The author of The Madhigattan Encounter brings you yet another astounding chain of thoughts through his second outing as a writer with Hemalkasa: 22 Hours, 22 Streaks. The author’s journey through the forests of Maharashtra’s Hemalkasa sets off a chain reaction in his life, causing him to see everything clearer. His visit gave rise to a new way of thinking and induced provocations, which he now wishes to share with the world. Venkataraman has written Hemalkasa: 22 Hours, 22 Streaks to do so, detailing his nearly daylong stay inside Lok Biradari at Hemalkasa, a social project by Dr. Prakash Amte.

On a trip to the Kodai Hills in Tamil Nadu, the author and his guide fall prey to the charm of the legendary Madhigattan Forest, and wander through it in a state of joint hallucination. As they journey through the woods, they meet three great souls and there is a revelation on the state of their own countrymen. Who are these three great souls? What do they reveal to the author and his guide? Does the duo manage to exit the forest or do they remain enmeshed in its illusory charms for posterity? Find out in this cosmic thriller!

This is Suresh Subrahmanyan’s third volume of tongue-in-cheek vignettes on a variety of subjects. There is no topic or issue under the sun that does not come under his genial and articulate gaze. He wields his pen, in a manner of speaking, with considerable panache and style. His love for the English language is amply evident in the way in which he crafts every sentence with minute care. He is greatly influenced by the British school of writing and the great authors from that formidable stable. He is unapologetic about adopting a slightly old-fashioned style, as he believes the present generation who read (and that tribe is rapidly dwindling) should appreciate that this is the language of Shakespeare and Milton, without the likes of whom we would all be talking to each other with a vocabulary that does not go beyond words like cool, awesome, shoot, OMG and lowbrow slang like my bad, I’m good, and get a life, bro. In the author’s own words, “Texting trumps writing and language pays the price.” Suresh Subrahmanyan tries to make amends.

Seven men from the southern city of Bengaluru and their motorbikes, embark upon a crazy trip to explore the isolated parts of Arunachal Pradesh. They need logistics, machines and material to carry out this wild task. Two brave mercenaries from Pune bring them the machines, material and a back-up van to help them accomplish t-his onerous mission. The nine bikers, along with the high-speed Winger, slither through the deadly terrains of the Arunachal Hills on a seven day rendezvous, passing though steep gorges, slippery off-roads, stealthy valleys, deceptive passes amidst bountiful valleys, magnificent waterfalls, winding rivers, astonishing ropeways and pouring rain. The seven-day man-machine-nature saga starts off smoothly but unbeknownst to the men and the machines, troubles envelop the machines as each day progresses. The rendezvous nose-dives into dangerous exercises as the machines fail each day and the nerves of the nine men are put to severe test. Disorientation sets into the minds of the steely men. Will they survive against all odds and triumphantly overcome obstacles or will they succumb to the pressures of their extraordinary journey? Read The Arunachal Motorcycle Diaries to get a whiff of the ultimate biking experience.

Guilt. From the missed opportunity of stopping to lend a hand to a fallen fellow on the road, to willfully paying in cash to avoid taxes, to being a silent spectator to the atrocities of those in authority; has your conscience come to terms with it or does the guilt still linger? Professor Siddhartha Kaul, a lecturer of Foundation Course in Model College, led a life as noble as his profession. Educating inside and outside the classroom, Siddhartha was an idealist and he was as popular among his colleagues as he was with his students. With them and his colleague Simi, he promoted education to the less unfortunate; an endeavor which began with his building’s security guard Bhanu. He had everything going for him, till one night, when based on his own suggestion, Bhanu had a run in with a bunch of law keepers. What happens when Siddhartha loses his first protégé Bhanu to his own advice? Did Bhanu deserve his fate and if not, how will Siddhartha face the guilt?

Two colleagues constantly chat about cricket, movies and women at work, much to the annoyance of The Mechanical Engineer. An astrologer has a strange visitor one evening, who is in a tearing hurry to know his Tomorrow, Today. The friendship between two housemates is disrupted by An Old Friend, who reconnects after a long time over a social networking site. An ardent Dravidfan is ridiculed by his playmates for his classical batting technique, but is determined to earn their respect. A boy narrates the story of The Lucky Day to the police who have come home to interrogate him. All this and more in 10½ Stories of Our Times. Set against the backdrop of an increasingly liberated, empowered and connected world, these hard-hitting stories bring to light the shifting paradigms of modern India, eager to break free from the warp of established conventions and traditional mindsets. The classic tales in this collection are full of drama and suspense. Peppered with humor and satire, the stories serve as a compelling commentary on the times we live in. Ten unique stories. Many interesting characters. Many shades of life… And, a half-a-story that will surely raise a few eyebrows.

A PEEK INTO THE MIND OF AN INCREDIBLE MANIPULATOR When a financial fraud is detected in the Treasury branch of ZNI Bank in Delhi, the fingers point at forex dealer Anand Patel, who vehemently denies it. Is he really as innocent as he claims to be or is he hiding something? Slowly, the needle of suspicion moves from Anand to six erstwhile members of the bank’s Matching Team. Is the fraudster one among them or is he or she an outsider? Just when it appears that the investigation is heading nowhere, one of the officials from the bank stumbles upon a seemingly innocuous cue that points to a larger cover-up. As the investigation deepens, several bizarre truths with links to betting emerge. The bank officials realize that this is not a simple case of siphoning money and they are dealing with a brilliant manipulator who has so cleverly covered the tracks. Or has he…?