BOOKS
The Visible Invisibles: Stories of Migrant Workers in Asia
- Penguin Random House
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Told in their own voices, the stories presented in this collection paint an intimate portrait of the lives of low-wage migrant workers in Asia. By exploring themes of employer-employee power imbalance, love, death, religion, racism, friendship, alienation, family dynamics, digital inequality, social liberties, and migration’s transformative capacity, the collected stories provide a nuanced understanding of domestic and international migration, one of the defining trends in our world today.
REVIEWS and extracts: Nikkei Asia, Straits Times, Kyoto Journal, New Straits Times, BFM 89.9
The 'Other' Shangri-la: Journeys through the Sino-Tibetan frontier in Sichuan
- Konark Publishers (India, USA)
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‘The ‘Other’ Shangri-La’ is a work of narrative non-fiction based on the author and his wife’s journey through the Sino-Tibetan frontier-land of western Sichuan. The book describes the rugged landscape of this region that comprises of 7000 meter high mountains, deep gorges, vast grasslands, and the world’s most dangerous roads. It also explores the region’s history and the peculiarities of its scattered settlements: Litang - the world’s highest town that is also the birthplace of important Lamas; Larung - the world’s largest monastery and highest slum; Danba - a ‘Beauty Valley’ famed since antiquity for its good-looking and strong-minded women; Yading - a pilgrim circuit once terrorized by bandit monks; and Kangding - a small town that gave birth to China’s favourite love song.
Sacred Love: Erotic art in the temples of Nepal
- Adarsh Books/ Mandala Publications
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‘Sacred Love: Erotic art in the temples of Nepal’ is an exploration of the erotic art in the temples of the Kathmandu valley. Through extensive fieldwork with craftsmen, sociologists, historians, priests and even Maoist rationalists, the author examines the reasons behind their existence, the enduring beliefs of the culture that gave birth to them, the principles of Nepalese temple architecture, the lives of the craftsmen who carve these images, the attitude of Nepalese society towards them, and the reconstruction efforts underway following the tragic earthquake of 2015. The book also presents an extensive collection of captivating images of the erotic carvings from all around Nepal and comparable art in other cultures.
Angels by the Murky River: Travels off the beaten path
- Yoda Press
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Angels by the Murky River is a collection of travel narratives that stay off the beaten track. During the course of his travels, the author encounters people who would not typically attract a tourist's attention - homeless people in Mumbai and Seoul, ageing anarchists in Melbourne, the crew on board a container ship, poverty-stricken diamond miners in Indonesia, renunciant monks in the material city of Singapore, farmers-turned-painters in Morocco and China, an elderly couple who scribble love poems on walls of small-town China while not daring to meet each other, Filipino women boxers and beauty pageant specialists, and a group of migratory mothers-in-law, to name a few.
Journeys with the caterpillar
Travelling through the islands of Flores and Sumba, Indonesia
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Elaborate funeral rites with sacrifices, volcanic lakes that change colour every few years, animist societies living in isolated villages, giant Komodo Dragons lurking behind kitchens.
Journeys with the caterpillar, is a humble and humorous attempt to capture the dramatic simplicity of Nusa Tenggara Timur(NTT) in Indonesia, covering the islands of Flores, Komodo, Rinca and Sumba
The Great Lockdown
Lessons Learned During the Pandemic from Organizations Around the World
Wiley, USA
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In The Great Lockdown: Lessons Learned During the Pandemic from Organizations Around the Globe, expert strategists Shivaji Das, Aroop Zutshi , and Janesh Janardhanan deliver an insightful exploration of this once-in-a-lifetime event to unearth invaluable learnings for the future. Told through the experiences of CXOs at billion-dollar companies, star start-ups, and non-profits from around the world, the book chronicles the ups and downs of sophisticated organizations as they navigated the COVID-19 crisis through initiatives impacting people, processes, and technology.