Ashok Mathur’s debut novel, Once Upon an Elephant, was a hilarious murder mystery steeped in Hindu mythology and starring elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesh. The Short, Happy Life of Harry Kumar, nominated for Best Book in the regional Commonwealth Writers Prize, continues Mathur’s playful jaunt through mythology, this time blending the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, with the geography of Canada and Australia. Harry Kumar is an unlikely hero who finds himself vaulted into a globe-trotting quest to rescue his closest friend and confidant who’s been kidnapped by a mysterious villain. With his travelling companion, a somewhat high-strung dog named Hanuman, Harry becomes embroiled in the odd politics that govern our world—and his own history. Harry travels a fantastic, twisting trail in search of a woman, his best friend and perhaps lover, in a twisting tale of fate and the backwards/forwards of time. "A fine, subtle look at the ancient myth of Rama and Sita. . . . Mathur’s decidedly feminist take on the Rama myth is decidedly unconventional."—Calgary Herald "A rich and multilayered story."—Georgia Straight Praise for Once Upon an Elephant: "Mathur’s novel is as funny as it is smart. Once Upon an Elephant is wry, sly, and perfectly suited to the tusk, er, task, at hand."—Toronto Star "Whimsical. . . . The novel conjures up a cosmos of mirthful chaos. Mathur’s debut is a comic celebration."—Vancouver Sun "Epic, shrewd, funny, convincing, sexed-up, and full of a kind of glittering gravitas."—Quill & Quire Ashok Mathur teaches critical studies at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver.
This fantastical historical novel, narrated by a child yet to be born, traces the lives of three generations of a Parsi family in India from the late 1800s to present day. The narrative follows the family from the intricacies of village life in the jungles of central India to the complications of urban life in turbulent pre- and post-independence struggles to contemporary diasporic realities in the United Kingdom and North America.The novel begins in 1899 with the birth of a boy named Jamshed to a rural Parsi family in central India. As he comes of age, Jamshed feels he is faced with the choice between spirituality and materiality: he has the opportunity to train to become a Parsi priest, or may follow family connections to a business opportunity as a distillery manager. Jamshed, who will become the family patriarch as a result of his choice, quickly becomes obsessed with the question of free will, and he passes on this obsession to his descendants. His preoccupations, however, are complicated by frequent, often disturbing, visitations by his as-yet-unborn grandchildren, who may or may not come into existence based on the choices he makes. After much soul-searching (and fantastical communications), Jamshed decides to take on the management of the distillery where he discovers the almost-magical properties of its main product, a much sought-after rum called Asha. This curious liquor becomes a leit-motif, reappearing in various forms and incarnations throughout the generations of the family.This beautifully told, engaging novel, by the author of the Commonwealth Writers Prize finalist The Short, Happy Life of Harry Kumar, humanizes the politics of ethnicity, culture, and colonial rule.
Once Upon an Elephant is a contemporary tale of Hindu deity Ganesh and what happens when worlds, cultures, and stories collide. A whimsical, contemporary retelling of the creation story of Ganesh--the elephant-headed Hindu deity--Once Upon an Elephant is rife with humour and political satire. When the police find unusual boy parts--a young man's head and an elephant's body--they assume a murder has been committed, and the case goes to trial. But the appearance of Vighnesvara, a manifestation of Ganesh with the body of a young man and the head of an elephant, in the courtroom of ultra-conservative Judge McEchern throws things into chaos. Around the world statues of Ganesh are drinking offered milk, and poor Judge McEchern has troubles enough with his carnival court: witnesses who testify in languages other than English, testimony from an accused who grows extra arms at will, and a murder victim, with the head of an elephant, who refuses to stay dead. Ganesh is known as the lord of obstacles, and Once Upon an Elephant is strewn with them, twisting, turning, and thwarting expectations about race, class, and sexuality, all within a page-turning murder mystery. This was Ashok Mathur's first novel; his second novel, The Short, Happy Life of Harry Kumar, is also available from Arsenal Pulp Press.
Soon after the Treaty was signed, India went on to construct several hydroelectric power plants and storages on its portion of the Western rivers. Consequently, the building of these structures has become a controversial issue between the two countries, since the Western rivers are controlled by Pakistan and provide more that 90% water to that country. Although the Treaty has survived decades of acrimony and three wars, between India and Pakistan and remains one of the most successful water-sharing arrangements in the world, it has been running into more difficulties in recent times. Following the Uri attack of September 2016 and the Pulwama attack on February 2019, there have been renewed demands to stop sharing water with Pakistan, if not to scrap the Treaty altogether. This book highlights the sensitive issue of water sharing between the two nuclear powers. It explains that how, if not addressed, the dispute could well lead to yet another war. Furthermore, it examines what, within the scope of the Treaty, can be done by India to exercise its rights. What is required for that is an understanding of the nuances of the Treaty, the political will to go ahead with exercising India's rights to the fullest and the enterprise to ask engineers to design projects aimed at doing so. Well researched, balanced and concise, Ashok Motwani and Sant Kumar Sharmaprovide a valuable perspective on Indus Water Treaty.
A unique volume that highlights – tellingly and poignantly – how the impact of the Hindi film over the decades has played a significant role in trying to bring together people belonging to different faiths and different strata of society. Covering a vast time span from the silent era to the present, this work focuses on Hindi cinema’s attempts at promoting harmony and trust among various religions, communities and ethnic groups, while performing its basic function of entertaining the viewers. It identifies appropriate situations and characters in select films – such as Padosi (1941), Hum Ek Hain (1946), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Dharamputra (1961), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Ghulam-e-Musthafa (1997), Lagaan (2001) and Veer-Zara (2004) – and describes how positive messages have been articulated through them. It also examines the response of the film makers to the changes that have been taking place over the years in society vis-à-vis the communal milieu in the country and their contribution towards making a cinema that heals. Ever since its inception a century ago, Indian cinema, far more than other popular cultural medium, has consistently taken up highly appealing and socially relevant interpretations of popular religious beliefs and customs. It has often attempted to ensure that the audiences identified themselves with the characters as they enacted their roles on screen. This cinema, though dominated by love stories and romantic escapism, has, occasionally, sent out a powerful message against age-old religious orthodoxy and outdated traditions by emphasizing that such factors have caused tremendous social tensions and suffering. In a very significant way, Indian cinema has tried to systematically break down religious and other barriers (say, ethnic, language, caste and class) and has endeavoured to engender an egalitarian society despite numerous obstacles. Here is a work that all readers, film buffs or not, will find stimulating, engrossing and informative.
Featured as One of the Best Hinduism History Books To Read by Book Authority https://bookauthority.org/books/new-hinduism-history-books About the Book: The book is journey through 5000 years of evolution of Hinduism, and is outcome of seven years of study to understand the roots of Hinduism. Tracing the genesis of Hinduism to pre-Indus Valley period, the book explains Hindu, Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma, before it takes one through Hinduism’s oldest scriptures - the four Vedas, the four components of each Veda, and what they contain. How all original translations of Vedic texts were done by Western Sanskrit scholars, and why their works have left scope for doubt about the fidelity of translations. The yajnas (yagya) like Ashvamedha, Rajsooya, Vajpeya, etc., about which we only hear on TV serials and talk shows, have been demystified. The reader will be taken aback reading the sheer size and scale of Soma yajna, described step by step, in great detail. Hinduism’s journey to the Age of Reason, the Upanishads, its encounter with Buddhism, and its transformation into idol worshipping society with many gods and a multitude of stories about its millions of gods is lucidly explained. Puranas, what they contain and what was the reason they were created, has been described and explained next. Hinduism's journey to its modern form - idol worship, the modern puja, detailed description of puja and Sanskaras like Vivaha, their detailed description, the meaning of each action and how they are conducted, the gift to the priest, types of idols, their consecration, all are explained to help a reader understand the why and the how of what we do as a Hindu. The book concludes with a discussion of - Do mantras have power? & Do rituals have meaning? About the Author: Author, Ashok Mishra, a double post graduate in electronic engineering was CEO of a Indo Japanese manufacturing venture and Director of International Management Consultancy. He runs manufacturing business producing defense grade electronic components for US & other markets.
Considered one of the most innovative research directions, computational intelligence (CI) embraces techniques that use global search optimization, machine learning, approximate reasoning, and connectionist systems to develop efficient, robust, and easy-to-use solutions amidst multiple decision variables, complex constraints, and tumultuous environments. CI techniques involve a combination of learning, adaptation, and evolution used for intelligent applications. Computational Intelligence Paradigms for Optimization Problems Using MATLAB®/ Simulink® explores the performance of CI in terms of knowledge representation, adaptability, optimality, and processing speed for different real-world optimization problems. Focusing on the practical implementation of CI techniques, this book: Discusses the role of CI paradigms in engineering applications such as unit commitment and economic load dispatch, harmonic reduction, load frequency control and automatic voltage regulation, job shop scheduling, multidepot vehicle routing, and digital image watermarking Explains the impact of CI on power systems, control systems, industrial automation, and image processing through the above-mentioned applications Shows how to apply CI algorithms to constraint-based optimization problems using MATLAB® m-files and Simulink® models Includes experimental analyses and results of test systems Computational Intelligence Paradigms for Optimization Problems Using MATLAB®/ Simulink® provides a valuable reference for industry professionals and advanced undergraduate, postgraduate, and research students.
India and the Indians have made some progress in 75 years after Independence. The number of literates has gone up. The Indians have become healthier and their life expectancy at birth has gone up. The proportion of people below the poverty line has also halved. But the shine from the story fades when India is compared with that of the East Asian Tigers and China. It looks good but not good enough. India looks far away from the glory it seeks. This issue forms the core subject matter of this book. It tries to argue why India could not achieve more and what all it could have achieved. It paints a picture of its possible future and highlights the areas that need immediate attention.
This book will bring fundamental change in our understanding of phenomenon of gravitation, after Newton and Einstein, by taking it to quantum level as QUANTUM GRAVITATION. So far scientists have been using only four dimensions to describe universe, out of which three dimensions of Space describe WHAT, fourth dimension of Time describes WHEN and for the first time author has included Energy as fifth dimension which explains HOW UNIVERSE WORKS. In this simple book we will Study basic of all basics, to examine ‘the world around us’; which will change our picture of universe for ever. Here the author explains in a different perceptive both to common man and serious scholars of Science; what is space, time, unit photon, unit electron, magnetism, unit mass, graviton, unit charge, unit black hole, all universal constants, method of construction of elements, formation of gravitational coloumns, rule of positioning and motion of planets etc. The alphabets of His script (Planck’s units) were found way back in 1900 by Mr. Max Planck but His Script is now deciphered in this treo model. The Four basic forces are described as ‘Load dependent deformation of space matrix in increasing number of all four dimensions of space time’; and this unify all forces.
This volume traces the growth of the indigenous Hindi film hero from the silent era up to Dilip Kumar. The film hero is depicted as a credible representative of the social, cultural and political milieu of his era. The author contends that the development of Hindi cinema has been largely centered round the frontal figure of the hero. In the course of the narrative, the subject matter presents a compact history of mainstream Hindi cinema by placing personalities, events and trends in specific time frames.
In his memoir, former Hindustan Unilever chairman Ashok Ganguly invites readers to journey with him as he looks back fondly on his extraordinary life - from his childhood to his upbringing in the metropolitan Bombay of the 1930s, to his PhD in Illinois and his eventual return to India. After joining Hindustan Unilever's R&D department, Ganguly quickly rose up the ranks as a talented young professional, eager to discover and learn new things. The story spans across eighty years of his life, its edges tinged by the tumultuous events in India in the twentieth century, and interspersed with fascinating people, from the mysterious Kishen Khanna, who accurately predicted events in Ganguly's life, to encounters and friendships with well-known historical figures such as Mother Teresa and Rajiv Gandhi. Ashok Ganguly's journey was interspersed with failures, but he doesn't shy away from talking about these and the sacrifices that went on to define his life. Honest, reflective, personal and revelatory, Afterness provides valuable insight into his thinking process and decision-making skills that enabled Ganguly's meteoric rise and sustained his legendary career.
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