The characteristics and reasons for urban poverty are manifold and seem to repeat across class structures: migration, culture shock, real estate costs and unrealistic expectations of city life, a lack of financial education, corporate cultures that perpetuate stereotypical workforces, a glamourised entrepreneurial culture that focuses on icons of spending instead of struggle, and economically and politically, the rise of the cashless credit economy and the demise of the thrift economy and its conservative icons. The book will use the case studies of young Indians, typically in their first or second jobs, migrants to major Indian metros, living in these conditions. The reasons for the poverty they experience are varied, and influenced by the industries they work for, their family backgrounds, other financial obligations, social stratas, and peer groups. There are so far, no studies available for this in India, and is a rising phenomenon in the US where it has been called 'poverty with no name'. Gayatri's short piece on the Urban Poor crossed 1.1 million views on Buzzfeed - the highest number for any Indian feature article to date.
When Gayatri Jayaraman embarks on a ten-day vipassana course in the Himalayas, she has no inkling of the ways in which it will transform her. Sharing the rarefied air with nine other women initiates, she begins her journey inward, learning to focus on her breath and body, and spring-clean her mind. With good humour and an open mind, she seeks to simply observe her thoughts – but as days of absolute silence sink into introspection, what comes tumbling out catches her unawares. Tugging at the thread of the breath from the tip of the nose unravels a lifetime of action and reaction – some good, some bad – and wrongdoing, both her own and those of others. She persists with this intense process and, guided by her teachers, starts to sift through the clamour and goes through a cleanse that plumbs depths no juice diet has ever reached. Sit Your Self Down is Gayatri’s witty, heartfelt, searingly honest account of what it takes to make this journey. Through serious self-exploration and with cheerful humility, she arrives at deep insights and invaluable lessons for any beginner looking to learn about vipassana and discover their inner self.
They tell us change is good for us, like a sort of magic pill. But how do we swallow it when it halts us in our tracks, disrupts our lives, and thwarts cherished plans? How do we begin to cope, let alone embrace, what seems like a destructive force? How do we build back with the ground shifting beneath our feet? In Anitya - 'impermanence' in Sanskrit - mind-body-spirit counsellor, vipassana and vajrayana practitioner Gayatri Jayaraman shows us how to navigate the pain of change by practically applying the philosophy of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths - Dukkha (Suffering), Samudaya (the Cause), Nirodha (the Cessation), Magga (the Path)-in our lives. Weaving together allegories, real-life experiences of people from different walks of life, Zen stories, Vedic and Buddhist philosophies, and guided meditative practices that involve both the mind and body, this book pushes us to challenge our entrenched resistance to change and helps us heal ourselves. Whether you're dealing with the loss of a loved one, the failure of a romantic relationship, an unfulfilling career path, or uncertainty and doubt brought on by a seemingly insurmountable global pandemic, Anitya will be your guide to making change work for you. Use the cataclysm that change renders to create the life you want for yourself and spring anew.
Shambhu Immortal is a work of magical realism about a boy who glows. Shambhu, mysteriously found and adopted, lives in the Town of the Temple Beyond Time. The luminescent Shambhu traverses the history and mythology of the sacred town from centuries past, when it withstood sieges by Malik Kafur and hostile takeovers by Chola kings, and its turbulent present. Local legend has it that you can see Lanka from the top of the gopuram, but also that the isle will sink into the sea when it is complete. It is therefore kept in a perennial state of under construction. He hears the voice of the deity speak to him, but is it he as he is now, or who he was in times past? In conversations with the Bridegroom, the past and the present, castelessness and religion, philosophy and metaphysics come together. Shambhu is filled with a childlike urge to scale the top of the Temple Beyond Time to see what he can see. In this mission he enlists the help of two unlikely friends, Kaveri, who senses Pauses in time and space, and Amrita, the mysterious landlord's daughter. Will he succeed? And what will he see? Trouble and the town erupt when Amrita contracts his glow.
The characteristics and reasons for urban poverty are manifold and seem to repeat across class structures: migration, culture shock, real estate costs and unrealistic expectations of city life, a lack of financial education, corporate cultures that perpetuate stereotypical workforces, a glamourised entrepreneurial culture that focuses on icons of spending instead of struggle, and economically and politically, the rise of the cashless credit economy and the demise of the thrift economy and its conservative icons. The book will use the case studies of young Indians, typically in their first or second jobs, migrants to major Indian metros, living in these conditions. The reasons for the poverty they experience are varied, and influenced by the industries they work for, their family backgrounds, other financial obligations, social stratas, and peer groups. There are so far, no studies available for this in India, and is a rising phenomenon in the US where it has been called 'poverty with no name'. Gayatri's short piece on the Urban Poor crossed 1.1 million views on Buzzfeed - the highest number for any Indian feature article to date.
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