' - Aparna Sen An Indian man writes to a Japanese woman. She writes back.

The pen-friends fall in love and exchange their vows over letters, then live as man and wife without ever setting eyes on each other - their intimacy of words tested finally by life's miraculous upheavals. The twelve stories in this collection are about the unexpected.

An American professor visits India with the purpose of committing suicide, and goes on a desert journey with the daughter of a snakecharmer. A honeymooning Indian couple is caught up in the Tiananmen Square unrest.

A Russian prostitute discovers her roots in the company of Calcutta revolutionaries. A holocaust victim stands tall among strangers in a landscape of hate.

These are chronicles of memory and dreams born at the crossroads of civilizations. They parade a cast of angels and demons rubbing shoulders with those whose lives are never quite as ordinary as they seem.

His backlist titles are now available with HarperCollins India (less)

Abelmoschus moschatus L. 2.

Abies pindrow royle. 3.

Abies spectabillis. (D.

Don) spach. 4.

Abrus precatorius L. 5.

Abutilon indicum (L.) sweet.

6. Abutilon theophrastii Medic.

7. Acacia dealbata link.

8. Acacia catechu (Willd.

). 9.

Acacia nilotica (Lam.) Willd.

ex Del. 10.

Acer caesium Wall. ex Brandis.

11. Acer Mono maxim.

12. Acer oblongum wall.

ex. DC.

13. Acer pentapomicum J.

L. Stewart ex Brandis.

14. Achillea millefolium L.

15. Aconitum balfourii stapf.

16. Aconitum chasmanthum stapf.

ex Holmes. 17.

Aconitum dienorrhizium holmes ex.stapf.

18. Aconitum ferox wall.

ex ser. 19.

Aconitum heterophyllum wall, ex royle. 20.

Aconitum palmatum D.Don.

21. Acorus calamus L.

22. Acorus gramineus Solander.

23. Adenosma indianum (Lour.

) Merr. 24.

Adiantum capillus-veneris. L.

25. Adiantum venustum.

G. Don.

26. Adonis aestivalis L.

27. Aeginetia indica L.

28. Aegle marmelos (L.

) Corr. 29.

Aesculus indica (Colebrooke ex Cambess.) Hooker.

30. Ageratum conyzoides L.

31. Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb.

32. Agropyron repens (less)

Introduction: 1. The Afghan state: essential characteristics.

II. Historical perspective: 2.

Policies of Amir Abdur Rehman (1880-1901). 3.

Amir Amanullah (1919-29). 4.

Failure of Communist reforms. III.

Collapse of fundamentalism: 5. The Taliban: emergence and consolidation.

6. The Taliban: experimentation and failure.

IV. Towards a stable Afghanistan: 7.

Towards a stable Afghanistan: options and challenges ahead. Appendices.

Bibliography. Index.

"The tragedy of the Afghan situation lies in the fact that both external as well as internal forces have hampered its progress towards a viable state. The peculiarities of the Afghan society and the natural dichotomy between the state and society have impeded the process of modernisation and centralisation.

The three regimes of Amir Abdur Rehman Khan (1880-1901), Amir Amanullah (1921-29) and the Communists (1978-92) which tried to reform Afghanistan considerably failed or at best succeeded only partially. The Taliban regime (1996-2001) also lacked the vision to take Afghanistan on a path of (less)

Introduction/Aparna Basu and Anup Taneja. 2.

Investigating gendered religious traditions--a review/Kumkum Roy. 3.

Gender and sexuality in ancient Punjab: a case study of the Karna Parva in the Mahabharata./Shalini Shah.

4. Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a gender perspective/Devika Rangachari.

5. A woman for all seasons: Anandibai Karve's life (1866-1950) as a Palimpsestic social narrative/Meera Kosambi.

6. The mirror of an age: the debate on widow remarriage in Indian fiction (1857-1930)/Rajul Sogani.

7. 'Brahmanizing' state, 'Sanskritizing' castes, and dowry in colonial India/Ranjana Sheel.

8. Gender, nationalism and Khadi: rendering women as domestic (ated) and not political subjects/Lata Singh.

9. Transition: gender politics and literature in Tamil Nadu/Vijaya Ramaswamy.

10. A return to the 'Purity' of Islam: Muslim women and social reform in India, c.

1914-38/Karin Deutsch Karlekar. 11.

Tribal women: resurrection, demystification, and gender struggle/K.S.

Singh. 12.

Fashioning minds and images: a case study of Stree Darpan (1909-1928)/Kamlesh Mohan. 13.

From "Perpetual Tutelage" to personal (less)

Acknowledgement. General introduction to geology of India: 1.

Introduction. 2.

Physiography. 3.

Geomorphology. 4.

General introduction to Precambrian Geology of India. I.

Dharwar Province: 1. Introduction.

2. Greenstone belts: i.

Sargur schist belt. ii.

Nuggihalli schist belt. iii.

Aladahalli schist belt. iv.

Ghatti Hosahalli schist belt. v.

Holenarasipur schist belt. vi.

JC Pura schist belt. vii.

Kalyadi schist belt. viii.

Krishnarajpet (KR Pet) schist belt. ix.

Nagamangala schist belt. x.

Mayasandra schist belt. 3.

Dharwar Supergroup: i. West Dharwar Subprovince (Block).

4. Shimoga Superbelt: i.

North Kanara-Goa Belt. ii.

Western Ghat (Kudremukh) Belt. iii.

Dharwar - Shimoga schist Belt. iv.

Bababudan Belt. v.

Sigegudda Belt. 5.

Chitradurga Superbelt: i. Chitradurga schist belt.

ii. Gadag schist belt.

iii. Javanahalli schist belt.

iv. East Dharwar subprovince (Block).

6. Ramagiri-Penakacherla-Kushtagi-Hungud Superbelt: i.

Ramagiri-Penakacherla schist belt. ii.

Hungud-Kushtagi-Hagari schist belt. 7.

Kolar-Kadiri-Jonnagiri-Hutti Maski Superbelt: i. Kolar schist belt.

ii. Kadiri schist belt.

iii. Jonnagiri schist belt (less)

2. Physiography of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

3. Floristic.

4. Table 1: Habitat wise distribution of the birds of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

5. Terms and abbreviations used.

6. Systematic account.

7. Table 2: Systematic list with status, habit and habitat.

8. Table 3: Intergrading species and subspecies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Summary. Acknowledgements.

References. From the Introduction: "The present paper is based mainly on the findings of various field trips undertaken by the present authors in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in recent times, collections present in the National Zoological Collections and previous accounts.

Species and sub-species recorded in earlier literature but not present in the National Zoological Collections or could not be found by the authors in the field are also dealt with. Altogether 449 species and sub-species of birds from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are discussed here.

Manakandan and Pittie's (2001) classification of taxa has been adopted in the (less)

The present book is an endeavour to foster that much needed acquaintance. Over nine thousand terms, arranged alphabetically in a dictionary fashion, have been elucidated and whenever necessary discussed a bit elaborately with utmost simplicity, lucidity and precision, keeping in mind a general readership of the subject.

The compendium has been enriched by the addition of an elaborate appendix on relevant information and data on earth's material and human resources, endangered flora and fauna, environmental quality standards, units and physico-chemical constants, and physico-chemical laws and principles governing nature and natural processes. The compendium apart from its usefulness to (less)

Romance blossoms between the two, the pen-friends exchange vows over letters, then spend the next fifteen years as a married couple without ever setting eyes on each other, until the intimacy of words is tested finally by the intimacy of life. Like 'The Japanese Wife', the other stories in this collection are also about residents and non-residents.

In 'Grateful Ganga', an American rock queen shares her love tunes with a Punjabi businessman even as she mourns her dead husband; in 'Snakecharmer', a retired Israeli American professor arrives in India with the intention of committing suicide, only to be saved by a snakecharmer's daughter. Father Tito, the emigre Yugoslav of Father Tito's Onion Rings, is haunted by the Holocaust as he intercedes between Hindu and Muslim riote The stories here are about unexpected love and accidental gifts; about finding oneself among strangers; about living elsewhere and living in one's dreams.

They (less)

. In a seedy D.

C. porno house a patron is swiftly garroted to death.

..

The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal brief.

..

To Darby Shaw it was no more than a legal shot in the dark, a brilliant guess. To the Washington establishment it was political dynamite.

Suddenly Darby is witness to a murder -- a murder intended for her. Going underground, she finds there is only one person she can trust -- an ambitious reporter after a newsbreak hotter than Watergate -- to help her piece together the deadly puzzle.

Somewhere between the bayous of Louisiana and the White House's inner sanctums, a violent cover-up is being engineered. For somone has read Darby's brief.

Someone who will stop at nothing to destroy the evidence of an unthinkable crime. About the Author : John Grisham has contributed to The Pelican Brief as an author.

John Grisham is the renowned author of numerous novels, and he is a former legislator originally from Mississippi (less)

Introduction to phonetics: 1. Introduction to phonetics-1.

2. Introduction to phonetics-2.

3. Introduction to phonetics-3.

II. Main course: 4.

Introduction to plural of nouns, verbs. 5.

Introductions to adjectives adverbs and Russian verbs. 6.

Second group of verbs and verbs of motion. 7.

Verb "to be" tense and nouns in the accusative. 8.

Prepositional of nouns and adjectives. 9.

Reflexive verbs and prepositional plural. 10.

Verb aspect. 11.

Nouns in the genitive case. 12.

Animate plural nouns in the accusative case. 13.

Dative case dative plural. 14.

Verbs of motion with prefixes accusative and dative of direction. 15.

Instrumental case instrument plural. III.

Additional reading material: Text 1 to 4. Dictionary.

"The book introduces basic Russian grammar and has approximately 30 texts. The book reinforces Grammatical and Lexical material with the help of texts.

The level of difficulty of the texts given through out the book increases depending upon the grammatical and (less)

Julie Buxbaum is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School. The Opposite of Love is her first novel (less)

Morphology of palms. 2.

Propagation of palms. 3.

Palm culture and pests and diseases. 4.

Distribution of Palmae (Arecaceae). 5.

Family: Palmae (Arecaceae). Key to the subfamilies: I.

Subfamily: Coryphoideae. ii.

Subfamily: Calamoideae. III.

Subfamily: Nypoideae. IV.

Subfamily: Ceroxyloideae. V.

Subfamily: Arecoideae. Glossary of botanical terms used.

References. Index.

From the introduction: "The purpose of this manual is not just to enlist by name the palms that are cultivated in India but to give an overall impression on palms to those who wish to know their biology, propagation and culture and try to identify palms in the field or in their own garden. We hope that this will be possible by the simple key and description aided with photographs and map.

All examples of palms given in this book are cultivated in India. In some exceptional cases examples of some palms not yet cultivated in India have also been cited because those (less)

Introduction. I.

Physical stress: 2. Salt tolerance.

II. Water stresses: 3.

Water logging tolerance. 4.

Drought tolerance. III.

Temperatures stresses: 5. Heat tolerance.

6. Cold tolerance.

IV. Oxidative stress: 7.

Oxidative stress tolerance. V.

Metal toxicity tolerance: Introduction. 8.

Aluminium toxicity tolerance. 9.

Iron toxicity tolerance. 10.

Other metal toxicity tolerance. VI.

Non-metal toxicity tolerance: 11. Non-metal toxicity tolerance.

VII. Atmospheric stresses: 12.

Air pollution. 13.

Radiation stress tolerance. 14.

Climate change. Colour versions of original plates in text.

Index. "Abiotic stresses have become an integral part of crop production.

One or other persist either in soil, water or in atmosphere. The information in the areas of injury and tolerant mechanisms, variability for tolerance, breeding and biotechnology for improvement of crop plants against abiotic stresses are lying unorganized in different articles of journals and edited books.

The information provided in this book is organized in an up to date citation, which will (less)

List of contributors. Keynote address.

I. Demographic, socio-economic and cultural perspective: 1.

The added years of life--elderly women in Tripura/Paramita Saha. 2.

Problem of loneliness among the elderly persons of Tripura/Satyadeo Poddar. 3.

Elderly people in the tribal society of Tripura--a case study of the Kokborok speaking people/Sukhendu Debbarma. 4.

Elderly persons of Tripura: an empirical study/Anjali Chakraborty. II.

Health and medical aspects of ageing: 5. Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) among elderly in Tripura--lessons and directions/Atanu Ghosh and Beenapani Doley.

6. Study of the health aspect of elderly at Sandhyanir-Bridhyashram at Gandhigram/Arun Ghosh.

7. Geriatric medical services in Tripura--a future guideline/Susanta Sen.

III. Social security: issues and initiatives: 8.

Old Age Traumas and attempts for its alleviation in Tripura/Dhananjoy Gan Choudhury. 9.

Magnitude of the problems of elderly persons of Tripura/Harekrishna Chakraborty. 10.

Social security of old age persons in rural areas: an empirical study/Jayanta (less)

The Manticore's Secret Is The Spellbinding Sequel To The Simoqin Prophecies: Part One Of The Gameworld Trilogy. Once Again Samit Basu Creates A Mesmeric Landscape Bursting With Weird And Wonderful Characters And A Gripping Narrative That's Complex, Playful, Sometimes Sombre But Always Dazzlingly Inventive.

A Mysterious Dark Lord And His Grotesque Army Threaten All That Is Good On Earth& Or Do They? (less)

Conflict and peace-building in Afghanistan: the experience so far: 1. Thanking of security in the shadow of conflict/Binoda Kumar Mishra.

2. Challenges and dilemmas of reconstruction and institution building: social, economic and political factors/Shahmahmood Miakhel.

3. State-building and stabilization in Afghanistan--design constraints to effectiveness/Shakti Sinha.

4. Indigenisation of Afghan reconstruction/Jamal Rehman.

5. Challenges of peace-building in Afghanistan/Sanaullah Tasal.

6. The geo-political dynamics of Afghanistan and the American strategic perspective/Sanjeev Bhadauria.

7. America's coming war in Afghanistan: the bloody Iraq model/Jagmohan Meher.

II. Regional approaches to peace in Afghanistan: 8.

Developing a regional approach to development and security in Afghanistan/Gulshan Sachdeva. 9.

Role and relevance of the region in Afghanistan/Aunohita Mojumdar. 10.

Idea and politics of reconciliation with the Taliban in Afghanistan/Vishal Chandra. 11.

Empowering grassroots through capacity building measures: Indian initiatives in Afghanistan/Mondira Dutta. 12.

The Afghan cauldron beyond Kabul/P.L.

Dash. 13.

Afghanistan: a security challenge for Eurasia/Sreemati Ganguli. III.

Mitigating war (less)