#bookextract

A best-selling author and writer of 37 books and legal advisor to the UN (Human Rights), Rajesh Talwar whose The Judiciary on Trial was reviewed by Khushwant Singh and used as the lead story in his column ‘With Malice Towards One and All,’ where he praised it fulsomely and recommended that ‘it deserved to be widely read’ is back with a new crime thriller ‘The Killings In November: A Play on Toxic Terror’.

The plot of the play is compelling and engaging. Two of the world’s greatest detectives Col Ranjeet and Herlock Holms are called upon to solve the mystery behind the killings that take place each year in November in India’s capital, New Delhi. There are many twists and turns in the plot all leading up to a shattering climax.

The issues raised in the play concern everyone living in urban areas in India but are also global issues.

Excerpt  : SCENE  4

Dive into *The Goa Gambit*, Anurag Tripathi’s thrilling new novel set in Goa’s glamorous casinos. This fast-paced story blends suspense, power, and ambition with a hint of romance, delivering a gripping read from start to finish. Following his acclaimed debut *Kalayug* and *Dalal’s Street*, Tripathi’s latest work is a must-read for thriller fans and high-stakes gambling enthusiasts.

WIN SOME, LOSE SOME

Bobby dialled a number in Panaji. The phone rang and rang, but there was no answer. He cursed and called again. This time a sleepy male voice answered the phone, a little irritated, ‘State guest house, Panaji.’ ‘Son of a bitch! Are you asleep?’ shouted Bobby. The man recognised the voice and his eyes shot open and his mind came to attention. ‘Not at all, Boss,’ he lied. ‘I was watching television inside. Please tell me, how can I be of help?’

Bobby gave clear instructions before slamming down the phone. The man wrote down the instructions on a piece of paper and then he went to work, pulling out a dilapidated client register from the reception desk in front of him. This wasn’t the first time he was doing this job. He had learned from experience to leave plenty of space between client entries to accommodate VIP requests. These came at odd hours in the night without notice. There was an entry at 10:30 pm that night followed by another at 10:55 pm. He created a new entry in the name of Pankaj Adhikari at 10:45 pm, allotting him one of the VIP rooms which were always kept unoccupied for such requests.

Once the entry was made, he called Bobby to confirm that his bidding was done, and went back to sleep.

‘Boss, your alibi is solid,’ Bobby informed Pankaj Adhikari. ‘Where do I have to go?’ ‘The State Guest House at Panaji.’

‘Couldn’t you come up with a better place,’ complained Pankaj Adhikari. ‘That place is infested with rats and cockroaches.’

‘Boss, that’s the only place which still functions without a CCTV camera. Please make sure to have breakfast in the dining hall so that some people see you in the morning.’

‘Oh God! I will have to eat that watery sambhar with idly. Now get me out of here quietly.’

A few minutes later, Pankaj Adhikari had left the casino through a side staff entrance. Bobby had ensured that the relevant security cameras were switched off.

Once he was gone, Bobby headed below deck to meet Anton. Anton was upset. ‘When the opportunity came to nail the sons of bitches, you went all soft’, he complained. ‘Why? We still have the two who were caught red-handed.’

‘Oh, small fry! You let Jack walk away! He was the biggest catch of the evening.’

Jayesh claimed that Jack had told him about that extra camera. Your story didn’t add up.’

‘He was lying through his teeth.’ ‘Even if he was, it wasn’t a battle I wished to fight. I lost the battle, but won the war instead.’ ‘What! Is Jayesh out?’

‘Yes, he is gone. From this moment, we rule this place.’ ‘That is great news, Boss! But I am still disappointed about letting Jack walk away.

I really wanted to beat the shit out of him for a long time.’ ‘It is ok, we win some, we lose some,’ said Bobby. ‘But I will personally lead the investigation into this fraud to figure out what happened.’

Anton’s excitement immediately disappeared. ‘Why do you want to involve yourself in these small matters?’ he said.

‘You will be busy establishing yourself as the new CEO over the next few weeks. Let me handle it. You take care of more important things.’ Bobby noted Anton’s eagerness to take over the investigation. ‘Thanks, Anton,’ he said. ‘But you must keep me updated about your findings and progress.’

Nisha and Jack made quick stops at each of their houses and packed essentials and valuables and set off for Bangalore. It was still dark when they crossed the border of Panaji. Nisha had booked an evening flight out of Bangalore. They would have to drive the whole day to make it in time. In all the rush of packing and leaving, Nisha had forgotten about the stuff that her father had left for her. It was only after they had crossed Panaji that she remembered the envelope in her purse. She pulled it out, opened it, took out the letter inside and began to read.

With every passing word, her expression became grimmer. Finally, she said, ‘Stop the car.’ ‘What happened?’ asked Jack, bewildered. ‘Stop it now,’ she yelled. Jack immediately put his foot on the brakes. The vehicle came to a screeching halt on the side of the highway. Nisha got out and ran to the back of the car, calling out to Jack to open the boot. Jack complied and got out to join her. Nisha had already opened the briefcase that had been handed to her and was staring at the bundles of notes in it.

‘What the hell!’ said Jack, when he saw the stacks of cash. Nisha didn’t reply. She searched and found the gunny bag, pulled it open and overturned it. The contents fell out. She recognised Kumar Saurabh’s wallet and his favourite pen.

Tears started rolling down her cheeks. ‘You can’t do this to me,’ she yelled, as she began to frantically dial his phone number.

Shashank Mani’s Middle of Diamond India: National Renaissance through Participation and Enterprise reveals the hidden stories of those in the Middle, that is those in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities, who have been overlooked owing to their location and language.

In today’s India, the greatest determinant of whether a person will progress to health, wealth and prosperity is if he or she is lucky to be born at the Top of the Diamond. The definition of New India is that those from the Middle can do so with equal felicity and ease. That upward movement need not be led by the government. Our democratic systems and the arrangement of our polity, economy and society should allow millions to do this on their own, with the state enabling this process. That was the promise our founding fathers made—that swaraj would go beyond political freedom to encompass ‘the freedom to be yourself’ and that ‘Swaraj was more than making India free; swaraj is the becoming Indian of the self of millions and millions of people.

The Middle as an anchor

The Middle can become a new fulcrum where Top, Middle and Bottom work in tandem for national renewal. An example of this mutuality and benefit is the story of Parvati11, a young twenty-seven-year-old from a village near Deoria. Not highly educated, Parvati was roundly criticized by her brother and father when they observed her spending time on her rooftop peering into her smartphone. The signal for the smartphone was the best there, and Parvati was looking at designs of jewellery on the Internet.

Gaining confidence, she retailed some bracelets to shops in her village and then took her products to bazaars in nearby Deoria and Kushinagar. Her real break came when she came on board the Jagriti Yatra as a participant and sold some jewellery while the train circled India, proving that as a salesperson, there were very few who could beat her. Courageous and persistent, Parvati was not only making jewellery, she was also able to talk about her products with conviction and passion. She stayed back in Mumbai after the Yatra and decided that she would go back only after selling her stock.

Around this time, at a social gathering in Mumbai, she met Prerna, who instantly saw the beauty, both in the product and in the personal conviction that this girl from a Tier 3 district exuded. Over a couple of conversations, an unusual relationship formed between Prerna and Parvati. Prerna worked for a television company but had always wanted to do something on her own. In Parvati, she saw a mirror image of herself, but from a village of the type she had never visited. This bond was of common conviction and purpose as both wanted local women to benefit. Modern communication, logistics, the Internet and our network connected them in the unusual setting of a cocktail party in Mumbai. Prerna, a high-flying executive in Mumbai, and Parvati, the rebel daughter of a farmer from Deoria, came together to form a handicraft company.

Parvati and Prerna became equal partners in the venture. Parvati brought production knowledge and a team of locally trained women for jewellery and other artefacts to be produced in Deoria; Prerna brought business acumen and marketing flair. Prerna came up with an elegant design that positioned the brand such that the company could connect with the sophisticated upper end of the jewellery market. In a year, the duo had started creating jewellery that caught the attention of Fabindia and the first order was delivered. In subsequent years, their products were retailed overseas in Dubai and a graph of growth was charted. The small village from where Parvati hails has turned an unusual leaf. Those who were critical of Parvati’s rooftop activities are now looking up to her. What a generation of women’s emancipation could not achieve, this connection made possible within a few years.