Those Pricey Thakur Girls National Bestseller

Now in a fresh new look! 'If there's one word that describes [Anuja's] writing, it's chic.' THE TELEGRAPH In a sprawling bungalow on New Delhi's posh Hailey Road, Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur and his wife Mamta spend their days anxiously watching 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 Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best.

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?

'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! '[India's] funniest and most entertaining novelist.' MINT When the younger players in India's cricket team find out that advertising executive Zoya Singh Solanki was born at the very moment India won the World Cup back in 1983, they are intrigued. When having breakfast with her is followed by victories on the field, they are impressed. And when not eating with her results in defeat, they decide she's a lucky charm. The nation goes a step further. Amazed at the ragtag team's sudden spurt of victories, it declares her a Goddess. So when the eccentric IBCC president and his mesmeric, always-exquisitely-attired Swamiji invite Zoya to accompany the team to the tenth ICC World Cup, she has no choice but to agree. Pursued by international cricket boards on the one hand, wooed by Cola majors on the other, Zoya struggles to stay grounded in the thick of the world cup action. And it doesn't help that she keeps clashing with the erratically brilliant new skipper who tells her flatly that he doesn't believe in luck...

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.

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.

Backsides Have A Frontal Position In Indian-English. In Cluttered, Crowded Alleys There Can Be Seen The Notice Entry From Backside , A Usage Not Exactly Meant As A Come-Hither Line To Gays. From The Early Days Of The Raj, The Indian Version Of English Has Been On A Growth Trajectory That Has Led To The Evolution Of What Is, For All Practical Purposes, A Language Of Its Own. A Hybrid Form Of English Stalks The Land, Flaunting Its Illegitimacy, Brashness And Popularity. The Rise Of Indian-English Runs Parallel To Tectonic Changes In Social Aspirations. English, Says The Author, Is The Porsche On The Porch Of The Arriviste. There Can Be No Social Advancement Without The Glittering Sword Of English In Your Hands. This Compendium Is Thus A Journey Through A Sub-Genre That Has Evolved Against All Odds. It Entertains As Well As Educates While Weaving Together A History Of Verbal Patterns That Reflect Social And Cultural Trends.

A no-holds-barred expose of the Hindi film industry's sordid underbelly. Ali Amjad comes from Benares to make it as a scriptwriter in Bombay, only to experience the absurd and tragic reality behind the film world's glamour as he navigates through it with his fellow strugglers. A short, fascinating novel set in the Bombay of the 1970s, Rahi Masoom Raza's Scene: 75 is a crazy kaleidoscope of stories within stories populated by a cast of extraordinary and memorable - but also cynical and manipulative - characters, from struggling directors and wealthy lesbians to film-obsessed social climbers and sleazy producers. In this irreverent, surreal, deeply satirical and darkly humorous work, the author's biting prose takes an unflinching look at both Hindu-Muslim and class relations, as well as at how human ties corrode and wither because of ambition and self-interest. Superbly translated by Poonam Saxena, this lost classic from Rahi Masoom Raza rips off the tinsel curtain that hides the film industry's hypocrisy, insecurity and desperation for success. It is a novel that will delight and disturb in equal measure.