This book is about Madeleine Slade (1892-1982) and Catherine Mary Heilemann (1901-1982), two English associates of Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948), known in India as Mira Behn and Sarala Behn. The odysseys of these women present a counternarrative to the forces of imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and globalized development. The book examines their extraordinary journey to India to work with Gandhi and their roles in India’s independence movement, their spiritual strivings, their independent work in the Himalayas, and most importantly, their contribution to the evolution of Gandhian philosophy of socio-economic reconstruction and environmental conservation in the present Indian state of Uttarakhand. The author shows that these women developed ideas and practices that drew from an extensive intellectual terrain that cannot be limited to Gandhi’s work. She delineates directions in which Gandhian thought and experiments in rural development work and visions of a new society evolved through the lives, activism, and written contributions of these two women. Their thought and practice generated a new cultural consciousness on sustainability that had a key influence in environmental debates in India and beyond and were responsible for two of the most important environmental movements of India and the world: the Chipko Movement or the movement against commercial green felling of trees by hugging them, and the protest against the Tehri high dam on the Bhagirathi River. To this day, their teachings and philosophies constitute a useful and significant contribution to the search for and implementation of global ideas of ecological conservation and human development.

Gandhi’s relationship with women has proved irresistibly fascinating to many, but it is surprising how little scholarly work has been undertaken on his attitudes to and relationships with women. Going Native details Gandhi’s relationship with Western women, including those who inspired him, worked with him, supported him in his political activities in South Africa, or helped shape his international image. Of particular note are those women who ‘went native’ to live with Gandhi as close friends and disciples, those who were drawn to him because of a shared interest in celibacy, those who came seeking a spiritual master, or came because of mental confusion. Some joined him because they were fixated on his person rather than because of an interest in his social programme. Through these fascinating women, we get a different insight into Gandhi, who encouraged them to come and then was often captivated, and at times exasperated, by them.

On the life of The Mother (La Mère), 1878-1973, disciple of Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950.

From one of the world’s leading historians comes the first substantial study of environmentalism set in any country outside the Euro-American world By the canons of orthodox social science, countries like India are not supposed to have an environmental consciousness. They are, as it were, “too poor to be green.” In this deeply researched book, Ramachandra Guha challenges this narrative by revealing a virtually unknown prehistory of the global movement set far outside Europe or America. Long before the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and well before climate change, ten remarkable individuals wrote with deep insight about the dangers of environmental abuse from within an Indian context. In strikingly contemporary language, Rabindranath Tagore, Radhakamal Mukerjee, J. C. Kumarappa, Patrick Geddes, Albert and Gabrielle Howard, Mira, Verrier Elwin, K. M. Munshi, and M. Krishnan wrote about the forest and the wild, soil and water, urbanization and industrialization. Positing the idea of what Guha calls “livelihood environmentalism” in contrast to the “full-stomach environmentalism” of the affluent world, these writers, activists, and scientists played a pioneering role in shaping global conversations about humanity’s relationship with nature. Spanning more than a century of Indian history, and decidedly transnational in reference, this book offers rich resources for considering the threat of climate change today.

It is 1925 and India’s struggle for independence is in disarray, impeded by factionalism among its leaders and rising incidents of unrest across the country. Meanwhile, having withdrawn himself from active politics, Mahatma Gandhi is in an ashram immersed in what he considers the most important undertaking of his life—the creation of a community that is wholly dedicated to the highest standards of self-discipline, tolerance, and austerity. Into this world comes a young British woman named Madeline, the daughter of a British admiral. Madeline has set her heart on becoming Gandhi’s greatest disciple. Madeline’s wish to serve him soon becomes an all-consuming desire to be near him at all times. Because her adoration of the great teacher is in direct conflict with his exacting moral and spiritual codes, Gandhi struggles with wanting to distance himself from her, yet wanting not to let go of her love and friendship. Using words preserved in their letters and diaries, and drawing on the reminiscences of others, the author has created a compelling fictional narrative based on the extraordinary friendship that lasted over two decades between these two people. To learn more about the author, Sudhir Kakar, go to www.sudhirkakar.com.

Three decades into Emperor Shah Jahan's reign, while the monarch indulges in the pleasures of the flesh to divert himself from the travails of his ageing body, the country is bracing itself for the brutal-and inevitable-war of succession to the Peacock Throne. At this time of tumult, European travellers Niccolao Manucci and Francois Bernier arrive in India, and find their way into the innermost circles of the royals. While Manucci revels in his new-found fame as miracle healer to princesses and concubines, and Bernier records his cerebral interactions with the Omrah in the imperial court, they conjure up an enthralling panorama of an empire in crisis. Little escapes their discerning eye-fabled cities now spinning into decay; harems rife with gossip, lust and venereal afflictions; wily courtiers whose hearts breed malice even as they enjoy the luxuries of privilege; the tenuous ties that bind Hindu subjects to their Muslim rulers. And, most of all, the chief contenders to the throne of Hindustan: Dara Shikoh, the charismatic heir apparent with a predilection for diverse spiritual beliefs, and his younger brother, the austere Aurangzeb, self-proclaimed defender of the true Faith. Set amid the grandeur and intrigue of seventeenth-century India, The Crimson Throne masterfully probes the continuities of imperial expansion and a splintered Islam. Eloquent, richly imagined, riveting, it reaffirms Sudhir Kakar's acclaimed craftsmanship.

An extraordinary history of resistance and the fight for Indian independence—the little-known story of seven foreigners to India who joined the movement fighting for freedom from British colonial rule. Rebels Against the Raj tells the story of seven people who chose to struggle for a country other than their own: foreigners to India who across the late 19th to late 20th century arrived to join the freedom movement fighting for independence from British colonial rule. Of the seven, four were British, two American, and one Irish. Four men, three women. Before and after being jailed or deported they did remarkable and pioneering work in a variety of fields: journalism, social reform, education, the emancipation of women, environmentalism. This book tells their stories, each renegade motivated by idealism and genuine sacrifice; each connected to Gandhi, though some as acolytes where others found endless infuriation in his views; each understanding they would likely face prison sentences for their resistance, and likely live and die in India; each one leaving a profound impact on the region in which they worked, their legacies continuing through the institutions they founded and the generations and individuals they inspired. Through these entwined lives, wonderfully told by one of the world’s finest historians, we reach deep insights into relations between India and the West, and India’s story as a country searching for its identity and liberty beyond British colonial rule.

Pramod Kapoor, the founder and publisher of Roli Books (established in 1978), is a connoisseur of images. A sepia aficionado, he has over the course of his illustrious career conceived and produced award-winning books that have proven to be game changers in the world of publishing. Be it the hit ‘Then and Now’ series and the seminal Made for Maharajas, or even the internationally acclaimed New Delhi: The Making of a Capital. In 2016, he was conferred with the prestigious 'Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), the highest civil and military award in France, for his contribution towards producing books that have changed the landscape of Indian publishing and to promoting India's tangible and intangible heritage within the country and abroad. His first book as author, Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography, is the result of years of painstaking research on a subject close to his heart. Kapoor is dedicated towards decoding Gandhi for the modern generation.

Ninth Plane Spiritual Adept Mira Mai, together with eight Interstellar Warriors who have freed themselves from the endless cycle of birth and death, create an OCTAGON, an intensely powerful helix of concentrated energy that collapses time and space as we know it. Eons of time, ages of time, millions and millions of years of normal evolutionary time are bypassed in an instant. Her mission is spiritual freedom, to finally bring everyone, everywhere all the way back home at last.