A postman struggles to deliver the last letter on his last day of work. A prostitute elopes with the auto rickshaw driver who arranged clients for her. An inspector discovers the dead body of the boy he had an altercation with the previous evening. In seven riveting stories, Ari Gautier peels back the layers of human emotions until glimpses of greed, anger and lust can finally reveal themselves. Unsettling and irresistible, Nocturne Pondicherry is an all too realistic collection where mundane situations - featuring common people, ill-fated street dwellers and hapless immigrants - pull readers in and fling them into the abyss.

“The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling.” – Lucretius We’re excited to present the July 2024 edition of Storizen Magazine, themed "Feel the Fresh... Droplets." This issue delves into the exhilarating spirit of renewal and transformation, exploring how fresh starts can spark significant changes in our lives and communities. This month, we're honored to feature the esteemed journalist and author Bhaskar Roy on our cover, in collaboration with Jaico Publishing House for the second time! His latest work, "Fifty Year Road," intertwines personal memoir with Indian history, vividly portraying post-war challenges, the Naxalbari uprising, and the Emergency. Dive into this special feature to experience the rich emotional landscape of our nation's past. For the first time ever, we're showcasing reviews of over 60 books—our largest collection yet! We hope these reviews inspire your reading list and help you discover your next great read. A heartfelt thank you to our readers for your ongoing support and enthusiasm. Your engagement fuels Storizen Magazine’s journey. We invite you to immerse yourself in these fresh narratives, share them with your network, and consider subscribing to our digital edition to stay connected with our latest updates. Thank you for being an essential part of our community. Here’s to embracing every moment’s freshness and the stories that unfold. Storizen Magazine July 2024 is OUT NOW!

Seeking to escape captivity, Lakshmi the temple elephant sets out on a stirring journey toward freedom. On her way, she briefly experiences life as a film star and encounters a colorful cast including a three-legged dog named Tripod Dog Baba, other elephants in the Bandipur Forest, a chameleon facing an existential crisis, a moon who dances with an elephant, and a flying fish called Alphonse. Lakshmi’s Secret Diary is a remarkable Indian Francophone novel set in Pondicherry, the former capital of French India. Blending philosophical meditations, retellings of Sanskrit mythology, and social critique, Ari Gautier tells the story of Lakshmi’s attempt to escape her fate. From the point of view of animals, the novel explores concepts of destiny, freedom, and identity. It illuminates the paradoxes of animal-human relations in India, where animals are both abused and worshiped, and provides an imaginative critique of the caste system. Gautier’s vivid portrait of Pondicherry brings to life the religious, cultural, culinary, and visual diversity of the city’s districts and sheds light on the little-known history of French colonialism in India. An afterword explores issues such as reincarnation and Indian translation traditions in relation to the novel. At once tragic and comic, satirical and surreal, Lakshmi’s Secret Diary is a surprising, compelling, and moving novel from a gifted storyteller.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.

This 6-volume set of Bakers covers all musical genres, with entries written by a distinguished group of area specialists as well as the original articles of Nicolas Slonimsky. More than 15, 000 biographies span the medieval ages to the present.This work continues the tradition of offering the most comprehensive and authoritative information on the musicians, along with interesting and insightful evaluations of their contributions to the musical world. Bakers remains the most affordable, comprehensive and readable of all music reference works, providing everyone from the student to scholar a one-stop resource for all their music biographical needs. Some of the artists featured include: Louis Armstrong Johann Sebastian Bach The Beatles Ludwig van Beethoven James Brown John Cage Maria Callas Johnny Cash Miles Davis Claude Debussy Marvin Gaye Philip Glass George Frideric Handel Charlie Parker Luciano Pavarotti Arturo Toscanini Tom Waits And many more